President Daniel Noboa seeks not only guns but also scholarships, employment and decent housing.
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa gives an interview at Casa America in Madrid, on May 17, 2024, as part of his European tour.
Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP
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PARIS, France (AFP) — Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa appealed to Europe Thursday for help tackling his country’s crippling drug problem “at its source.”
In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, Noboa said the challenge was a global one, with drugs flowing from South America to Europe and the United States (US), giving rise to violence everywhere.
“There should be a joint effort, because if you manage to stop the problem at its source, I believe many problems can be solved. It is not only a defense or security solution, it is also a solution to social issues,” Noboa told AFP.
“Help isn’t just giving us a rifle or giving us a gun. It is helping us with scholarships for young people of 18 who today do not have the opportunity to study,” he said.
“It is investing in developing areas in Ecuador so that there is employment... and decent housing programs, because it generates employment in construction and improves the lives of families.
“All these measures help the war against narcoterrorism because if an 18-year-old in Ecuador who graduates from school and has a sick mother, has younger siblings and does not have an income or ability to study, what does he end up doing? He often ends up in the hands of organized crime,” Noboa added.
Noboa also said he has asked the US to help us with control of the northern border, with Colombia, also to the southern border towards Peru.
“There are people who come to Ecuador on flights and go on foot to the north, cross the border with Colombia, from there to Darien (the jungle between Colombia and Panama) and end up in Mexico,” he said.
“The drug route is also becoming a route for human trafficking, violence, immigration.”
