60% of Ecuador gang members are ‘children’, expert says; VP Verónica Abad investigated for influence peddling; Lasso says he’s done with politics

A survey conducted by security consultant and university professor Katherine Herrera reports that 60% of Ecuador criminal gang members are under the age of 18. Her study also found that more than 50% of those arrested for alleged gang activity since the beginning of 2024 are minors.

In a Teleamazonas interview, Herrera said that children as young as 8 or 9 are being recruited by criminal gangs. “The gangs are taking advantage of the lack of family supervision and the children’s need for a sense of belonging,” she said. “It is no coincidence that the highest rates of violence in the country are occurring in areas with the highest rates of broken families, in Guayas, Esmeraldas, Los Ríos and Manabí Provinces.”

Vice President Verónica Abad

She also says there exists an “indisputable correlation” between poverty in the coastal provinces and the number of children joining gangs. “This region has a poverty rate of 35% or higher,” she says. “The rate is much lower in the sierra region, which explains why there is so much less violence in cities such as Loja, Cuenca and Riobamba. It is obvious that if we want to control crime and violence in the country, we need to address social problems, such as poor education, lack of youth activities and lack of employment.”

She added that school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 “contributed significantly” to the rise in gang activity. “The dropout rate of students in Guayas, Manabí, and Los Ríos Provinces was the highest in the country, 17% in some cases at the higher levels, and now we know what those children are doing after they left school.”

In the interview, Herrera said that minors can earn $2,000 to $4,000 for high-profile killings and receive additional bonuses for committing other crimes that produce income for gang leaders.

VP Verónica Abad investigated for influence peddling
The Attorney General’s office is investigating Vice President Verónica Abad for participating with her son in an extortion scam of an employee in the vice president’s office. According to prosecutor Carlos Alarcón, recently obtained evidence, including telephone records, shows Abad knew that her son planned to demand payment from the employee for his hiring.

Abad’s son, Sebastián Barreiro, was arrested March 21 in Cuenca after the employee, identified as Daniel Lenin Redrován, told prosecutors that Barreiro was demanding half his first month’s salary of $3,500. Redrován claimed Barreiro told him that his employment came with Abad’s understanding that he would pay Barreiro.

According to Alarcón, the new information “clearly links” Abad to Barreiro’s attempted extortion. “We have turned over all evidence to the National Court of Justice and believe it shows that the vice president was involved in the crime of influence peddling.”

Depending on rulings from the Justice Court and the Constitutional Court, an impeachment trial, which could lead to Abad’s dismissal from office, could be initiated in the National Assembly.

Abad, who has been assigned by President Daniel Noba to the Ecuadorian embassy in Israel, claims all charges are a “scam and a circus” orchestrated by Noboa to remove her from office. “The charges against me are entirely bogus as are those against my son,” she said Monday in Tel Aviv.

Lasso says he’s done with politics
Former President Guillermo Lasso says he is through with politics. “I have started a new stage of my life and have no plans to run again for public office,” he said in an interview on Guayaquil radio. “From now on, I will focus on the private aspects of my life, including my family and personal business matters.”

In the interview, Lasso said the months leading to his cross death declaration, which dissolved the National Assembly and called for new elections, were the most difficult of his life. “I was subject to endless stream of lies and false accusations that also affected my family,” he said. “As others have said, the political forum in Ecuador has become poisoned by self-interest and corruption and I have no interest in participating in it.”