O dilema da (in)segurança no Equador: o combate militarizado do narcotráfico nos governos de Lenín Moreno (2017-2021) e Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023)

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the militarization of the fight against drug trafficking in Ecuador, in the discursive and non-discursive spheres, during the governments of Lenín Moreno and Guillermo Lasso. It starts with a historical and bibliographical review to understand security practices in Ecuador, covering the beginning of the combat, the dollarization of the economy, Plan Colombia, the concession of the Manta base to the United States and the development of drug trafficking in Ecuador. These practices are correlated with changes in the dynamics of criminal organizations operating in the country, which resulted in an increase in national rates of violence and insecurity. Along these changes and results, state security agents implemented a process of (in)securitization, by outlining threats and operationalizing (in)security policies and practices. This qualitative research is based on the critical perspective of Didier Bigo and the case study of the Moreno and Laso governments. Bigo's theory of (in)securitization is used to investigate the argument that organized drug trafficking crime in Ecuador corroborated the construction of a reality of insecurity and increased violence in society, and government security policies and practices resulted in the militarized combat strategy. Finally, it concludes that the militarized fight against drug trafficking caused a cyclical movement of (in)security in Ecuadorian society.