‘The FARC were in Ecuador with the authorization of Rafael Correa’

Overwhelming. “The FARC were there (in Ecuadorian territory) under authorization from (Rafael) Correa. Correa knew that the FARC were there. If we (the Colombian government) told him, Correa would notify them before…”.

Former Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, in the Álvaro Uribe government, refers to the number two of the Farc, Raúl Reyes, who died in the attack perpetrated by the Colombian armed forces in Ecuadorian territory on the Farc camp, in Angostura, in 2008.

He mentioned that Correa destroyed the institutionality of Ecuador, and that is one of the biggest problems in the fight against drug trafficking that will grow.

For Santos, President Gustavo Petro has a different strategy for drug trafficking that will affect Ecuador. “What Ecuador will experience is an earthquake, if they don’t prepare now, if they don’t understand that decisions have to be made now.”

Government wrongs the way

Asked about the strategy of the Ecuadorian government to combat drug trafficking, he said that he is taking the wrong path, at least in one of the parameters. Pretending, he said, 5,000 million dollars in US cooperation is not realistic.

“The effort must be made by the Government,” he said.

According to Santos, the effort begins at home and you don’t have to wait for the money to arrive to do something. But above all what is needed most is the leadership of the president, coupled with resources, strategy and international help