Sawt Falasteen - Guayaquil mayor blames Ecuador's president as drug violence spirals

Aquiles Alvarez, 41, runs Guayaquil -- a port city of nearly three million people -- while wearing sneakers and an electronic ankle bracelet.

Prosecutors are investigating him for alleged fuel smuggling, a charge he denies.

In an interview with AFP, Alvarez accused President Daniel Noboa of failing to contain the bloodshed that has turned Ecuador into one of Latin America's most dangerous countries.

"They are the ones who control the monopoly of force and manage the country's security," he said, referring to the national government, which oversees the police and the military.

Guayaquil recorded 1,900 murders between January and September, the highest toll in Ecuador.

"People live under stress,” Alvarez said. Last week alone, there were seven bomb alerts — all false.

"They leave backpacks with dirty clothes inside and people panic, thinking they are bombs," he explained from a municipal office.

The violence, he said, has created a "collective psychosis."

Ecuador, once one of Latin America's safest countries, has become a key cocaine transit hub between top producers Colombia and Peru, and consumers around the world.

Mexican cartels have forged alliances with local gangs like Los Choneros and Los Lobos, who battle over control of ports and shipping routes.

Murder rates have soared, while car bombings, assassinations and prison massacres have become routine.

And Guayaquil, known locally as the Pearl of the Pacific, is clearly a city on edge.

Poor neighborhoods are under the thumb of organized crime, which has set up drug warehouses, armed patrols, and even hitman schools, according to authorities.

In wealthier districts, private guards protect residents behind high walls.

- 'All help is welcome' -

Noboa, 37, has responded with hardline security policies, deploying soldiers to the streets in an unprecedented show of force.

Alvarez disagrees with that strategy.

"We believe you don't fight crime with more guns, vests, helmets, and bullets, but with public policies focused on preventing violence to reduce crime," said the evangelical father of three.

He may have political reasons for attacking Noboa, whom he accuses of "political persecution."

Alvarez won the mayor's office in 2023 with backing from the party of former socialist president Rafael Correa, though he insists he is not part of Correa's movement.

He praises the ex-leader, but says he has his own style.

Correa banned foreign military bases during his decade in power; now, Noboa wants to bring them back through a referendum.

Alvarez takes a pragmatic view.

"All help is welcome for me," he said.

"If they want to contribute with military bases in strategic points of the country, they are welcome to -- but it must be coordinated with the armed forces and never at the cost of sovereignty."

- Political ambitions -

Alvarez, who holds Ecuadoran and Spanish nationality, once delivered pizzas in the United States and later was the manager of Barcelona de Ecuador, the country's most popular football club.

He jokes about being called an opposition figure but does not rule out a presidential run -- if he can end his legal troubles.

"They want to convict me so that in October 2026, when it's time to register for re-election or any other candidacy, I'm disqualified," he claimed.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST