Neoliberalism and 'Subservience to the US' Cause Political Violence in Ecuador, Activist Says

The recent killing of Ecuadorian political figure Fernando Villavicencio has underscored "the reality that Ecuador is now what you’d describe as a failed state," political commentator and socialist activist Phil Kelly told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Kelly told Sputnik Radio's Political Misfits that while Villavicencio’s role in the political situation in Ecuador has been overblown since his assassination, the government did try to benefit from the assassination.

"It was interesting that in the week of this assassination there was immediate attempts by the political establishment in Ecuador to pin this murder on Rafael Correa and the left," Kelly said. "Of course it is not and the family of Villavicencio have laid the blame firmly at the door of the government."

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The cause of the rising violence and influence of Colombian cartels in Ecuador, Kelly said, is the return to neoliberal policies after Correa left office, saying that crime in the country is up “500%” since Lenin Moreno came into office in 2017. [Note: as of 2022, homicides in Ecuador have increased from 5.6 per 100,000 in 2016 to 25.9, a 362.5% jump.]

Kelly indicated that Ecuador and other Latin American countries that are seeing an increase in cartel activities will be unable to deal with them as long as they continue down the neoliberal path.

"I think the important thing when we discuss cocaine and the cartel as they are in Latin America, as cancerous as they are in any society, they are in fact a sideshow or symptom of the real addiction within Latin America among some people and that's an addiction to the US dollar, an addiction of some across Latin America to be 'good little Yankees' who are a small sliver of the population," Kelly said, adding that many leaders are “happy to for go their sovereignty in subservience to the US."

Kelly says the main story in the upcoming Ecuadorian elections is leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez, who is running for the Citizen Revolution Movement headed by former President Rafael Correa and is leading in the polls.

Asked if there is anything Ecuador can do to stop the growing cartel influence in the country, Kelly reiterated that nations must assert their sovereignty. “At the end of the day, until countries in Latin America assert their sovereignty, until they take control of their own destiny, they won’t be able to deal with these groups," he said.

"The cartels will not be dealt with by the mainstream political establishment in Latin America, we need to see change, we need real fundamental change and political alternatives before these groups can be dealt with in the way they need to be.”