Para ver la versión en español, dirígase a Plan Ecuador: Ideas prácticas o sobreestimadas?
Currently, Ecuador is confronting a wave of violence previously unknown in the country. Organized crime, sicariatos (brutal contracted killings), drug trafficking, and kidnapping contribute to increased violence. The internal conflict
in neighboring Colombia has been a determining factor in the region’s growing instability that has begun to infiltrate
Ecuadorian society. In response to the alarming situation that both countries are now facing, the Ecuadorian government
has generated Plan Ecuador to provide for increased security and reliable development along its northern frontier region.
On April 24, 2007, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa formally introduced Plan Ecuador, which is based on the idea of “oponer la paz a la guerra” (“replacing war with peace”). The plan consists of a series
of key elements that focus on strengthening international and regional relationships, social development of the area,
and defense of the population and Ecuador’s national territory.
Given Ecuador’s current surge in criminal activity, the creation of a focused program to address relevant national
social and security issues was considered necessary to maintain the country’s security and sovereignty. However,
Correa’s proposed plan has invited criticism for failing to apply specific initiatives capable of achieving the
idealistic goals built into the proposal’s grand design. Furthermore, the lack of specificity in Ecuador’s plans is
unlikely to impress potential providers of international aid, whose funding is considered essential to effectively
implementing the project.
The Challenging Reality of the Ecuadorian Frontier
Ecuador’s northern frontier encompasses five provinces: Esmeraldas, Carchi, Imbabura, Sucumbíos, and Orellana. According
to documentation found in the 2001 report of the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC), approximately 1.1
million people live on the northern frontier, which is predominately indigenous and spans the Colombian-Ecuadorian
border.
Although its abundance of natural resources represents a potential for significant development, the region remains
intrinsically poor. Despite oil found in the area, the overwhelming economic activity is subsistence farming. The
unemployment rate in the region has now reached 69 percent, about 20 percent higher than the national average (INEC
2006). Unfortunately, the population has limited opportunities for education, which is essential to industrial
development and attracting investment. Only half of the region’s population finishes primary school, and just a small
percentage of those continue on long enough to obtain a university or technical degree (INEC 2001). These statistics
demonstrate the precarious state of Ecuador’s frontier. Given the influx of drugs and organized crime infiltrating the
border from Colombia and a lack of stable jobs, employment possibilities, and education in the region, its inhabitants
are more likely than not to turn to some form of delinquency in order to achieve an adequate income.
Compounding such matters is the area’s lack of basic services. Waste sanitation, drainage systems, and water piping need
to be improved in order to combat the spread of communicable diseases affecting the region. Furthermore, public
hospitals and the rest of the health infrastructure are often unable to deal with the growing demand for medical
treatment. Since the majority of clinics are private, the population is generally unable to pay for essential health
services.
A growing source of stress on this already tenuous situation is the increasing influx of Colombian refugees to the
region. According to the Office on Refugees in the Ministry of Foreign Relations, 45,381 immigrants applied for refugee
status in Ecuador between 2000 and 2007. In addition to registered refugees, there are close to 250,000 foreign
residents in the country without formal legal status. These residents do not pay taxes, exploiting Ecuador’s public
health care and education systems, which already face woefully inadequate funding. Moreover, as these residents are
largely undocumented, it is difficult for the state to monitor the illegal activity found in the immediate region.
Plan Ecuador is viewed as a necessity due to the aforementioned problems. The risk posed by insurgent groups and drugs
entering Ecuador has increased, bringing with them a significant impact on the local economy. These complex elements
make it necessary to develop an effective plan to protect the border while engaging the rural population sufficiently to
discourage the entrance of the Colombian conflict into the daily life of the area’s residents.
Strategies with Little Substance
Plan Ecuador is based on seven principle ideas that together aim for the development of the provinces bordering Colombia as a
non-violent method of addressing the problem of organized crime and narco-trafficking in the region. However, the
strategies put forward to execute each of the seven points are idealistic and non-comprehensive, and often fail to lay
out specific plans that will guarantee the effectiveness of the program. It remains to be seen whether or not it will be
dependable enough to serve as a basis of public policy and to warrant international aid.
1) Institutional strengthening for peace and development
Plans for community development and a new system of political management are laid out in the initial section. While this
is a commendable idea, the scheme does not name the specific steps that the government will take in order to implement
this strategy, leaving the process vulnerable to later corruption and failure. In addition, creating coordinated
networks that connect society with a development model have been proposed. Finally, the government aims to increase
confidence in the judiciary by strengthening social movements and improving the transparency of government function and
spending. However, this idea lacks sufficient clarification of the social movements capable of increasing judicial
confidence, not to mention the difficulty of strengthening a legally established system through these movements.
2) Reinvigorating the economy and increasing employment
Plan Ecuador describes the strategies that will be used to reinvigorate the economy by attempting to grant easier access to credit
for small businesses at lower interest rates and to supply the necessary technology and resources to spur development.
It is important to note that this process can provide the economic base for the creation of new businesses and,
consequently, increase employment.
3) Improving the basic social infrastructure
This section lays out two strategies to “boost the design, preparation, and execution of programs and projects through
sectional governments” with the aid of regional, national, and international cooperation. Rather than presenting a clear
proposal for improving the border area’s social infrastructure, the Ecuadorian government has simply laid out a very
broad description of the three steps necessary to reach this desired goal. The idea is followed by their intention to
promote citizen participation and observation in the “design, preparation, and execution” process needed to assure the
quality of basic services. Once again, however, the government has not described how it will promote citizen
participation, much less how it would potentially function in the light of Ecuador’s current high risk economic system.
4) Sustainable management of natural resources
Strategies in this segment aim to offer incentives for sustainable development and the maintenance of the various
ecosystems found in Ecuador’s northern region. To achieve this, the government also hopes to protect certain ecological
zones and national parks, as well as financially support technical assistance and training programs for sustainable
development. These goals are all possible; however, they will be difficult to achieve. Due to high levels of poverty and
unemployment in the region, the people are more concerned with day-to-day survival than with protecting the environment.
Changing this attitude will require implementing an aggressive educational campaign, which will be challenging due to
chronic low attendance rates in schools. Furthermore, the government has failed to specify how it will provide aid, be
it in subsidies for cleaner technology or by sending technical experts to the area to aid in the transition to
sustainable development.
5) Administration of justice and control of illicit activities and products
Correa’s administration hopes to strengthen preexisting regulations meant to prevent crime and to reduce delinquency
will be particularly focused on narco-trafficking, arms possession, and money laundering. These measures also modernize
the institutions that investigate and process illegal activity and provide them with the required financial resources to
accomplish the task. Plan Ecuador only outlines the form in which the government hopes to strengthen the financial resources for these new programs, and
leaves out the more detailed plans that will effectively influence and contribute to the reduction of illegal activity.
In relation to the energy sector, the government has mandated the application of the Plan de Soberanía Energética (Sovereign Energy Plan), which works toward reducing the smuggling of oil by-products, and the Seguridad Integral del Sistema Hidrocarburífero (Integrated Security of the Hydrocarbon System), which protects oil industry operations.
6) Human rights, humanitarian assistance, and sheltering refugees
The government hopes to expand the recognition of human rights across the region, as well as the technology and
engineering skills necessary to ensure their implementation and enforcement. Instruction on basic human rights
observance and protection also will become an integral part of military training procedures, which should lead to a
greater understanding on the part of the armed forces regarding the conflicts they are likely to confront. Moreover, the
government hopes to promote transparency and justice with respect to any violations of civil rights taking place on the
frontier. This point shows the government’s general idealism, but also, in failing to explain how it will achieve
transparency and justice, is likely to breed skepticism within the population concerning government intent.
7) Protection of national sovereignty and the integrity of the state
Quito aims to strengthen the presence of the military on the northern border in order to protect the region’s cultural
and governmental institutions, which would allow them to function more effectively, while at the same time permit
increased development to take place. The military will also contribute to preserving the environment. Meanwhile, local
authorities are planning to update the civil registry, which will allow a more complete analysis of the population in
the area and its needs. The government continues to stress that programs in San Lorenzo, El Dorado de Cascales, Tulcán,
Sucumbíos, Lago Agrio, and Putumayo will be prioritized. With the exception of Sucumbíos, none of these areas are
mentioned previously in the document. For the first time, the plan provides details as to where specifically it will be
implementing these programs; however, it does so without ever citing statistics or providing concrete evidence as to why
these areas are prioritized over other underdeveloped areas.
Ecuador hopes to resolve the problem of overlapping zones of political power in state institutions, clearly defining the
legal limits of each governmental body. This will likely cut down on superfluous bureaucracy, allowing the government to
function more efficiently and to increase the government’s transparency. Separately, the Ecuadorian government will work
toward improving the nation’s recently strained relationship with Colombia and increasing the level of trust between the
two countries.
High Expectations
Plan Ecuador’s goals are germane to the needs of the Ecuadorian population. The proposal targets security and humanitarian ideas,
evidenced by the president’s efforts to take action against the proliferation of violence in the country’s northern
frontier. However, when working for a society that has suffered through innumerable difficulties, it becomes crucial not
to rely on vague formulations, but to present an effective and meticulously thought-out plan to solve the problems. With
this in mind, the principal weakness of Plan Ecuador is that it fails to present a proposal practical enough to reach the planned objectives.
Over a ten-year time span, Plan Ecuador hopes to increase production and employment though small-scale industrialization. Although necessary for the region,
this goal represents a potential contradiction to another stated goal of the plan – conservation of the various
ecosystems on the frontier. Extending agriculture, oil drilling, and industrialization will negatively affect
under-protected and fragile ecosystems, unless approached in the most environmentally-conscious manner. While educating
the people on green technology will aid in preservation, training and providing the appropriate technical tools will
undoubtedly be more expensive than Ecuadorian officials appear to be prepared to spend.
Even so, the quest to improve the quality of basic services such as water piping, sewage systems, and solid waste
processing are included in the plan.
Within the next four years (coinciding with the presidential term of the current administration) Ecuador will create and
impose a Strategic Operative Plan, which will allow the progress and results of Plan Ecuador to be measured. The plan will be carried out with the participation of the principle leaders from each province, under
the oversight of public opinion.
Financing Plan Ecuador
Plan Ecuador will be financed through the country’s various ministerial institutions, sectional governments, community resources,
and international aid. According to declarations made on July 24, 2008 in Washington D.C. by the Minister Coordinator of
Internal and External Security, Gustavo Larrea, the country can afford to spend close to US$140 million on Plan Ecuador. This year, Ecuador has received US$43 million in designated international aid.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the country hopes to receive a total of $129,603,928 in international
aid. The amount is apparently the product of a minute analysis of the projects that the government hopes to put into
effect; however, there is not a single mention of a detailed action in the document that would lead to the justification
of this sum. Without a detailed strategy laid out for scrutiny, it is impossible to know if Ecuador’s requested funding
is appropriate for the desired earmarked reforms, or no better than a pipe dream.
Following in the Footsteps of Plan Colombia?
On June 8, 1998, then-Colombian President Andres Pastrana proposed Plan Colombia in an attempt to launch “A Peaceful Policy for Change,” addressing the hugely complex drug cultivation and pattern of
violence instigated by Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (The Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC) and the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Colombian Self-defense Forces, AUC) paramilitary vigilantes.
The initial Plan Colombia focused on a peaceful strategy to develop the southern region of the country through economic, social, and
environmental initiatives. The proposal was clearly spelled out by President Pastrana, who called for “an agricultural
frontier that will be respected… offering different alternatives to drug cultivation to the campesinos (rural workers)… [and] increasing investment in the social and agricultural sectors and in regional infrastructure.”
The initial proposal also promoted taking a hard-line approach to human rights violations.
Despite the gradual militarization of Plan Colombia by the end of the Clinton administration, it is impossible to ignore the similarities between the two plans,
particularly at inception. Although Colombia had a much larger emphasis on coca eradication (due to the lack of symmetry
in cultivation magnitudes between the two countries) both plans aimed to strengthen and modernize their security forces
in order to fight drug trafficking.
Ecuador, like Colombia, will aspire to promote industrialization of the region in order to generate employment.
Strengthening the judicial system and other governmental institutions to eliminate corruption and reduce impunity,
especially in regard to punishing human rights abuses, is central to both plans. Finally, both plans seek international
financial help and participation.
Proposals
Below is a series of proposals that might enhance the concept of Plan Ecuador:
Increase productivity in the region by studying the potential output of the area’s present enterprises in order to
design more efficient pathways to economic development and increased employment.
Carry out specific studies to identify markets that work well in the region and provide residents the greatest amount
of benefits, given the capacity of the population and the available natural resources.
Explore the possibility of aid from the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund,
United Nations Environmental Program, and the Food and Agriculture Organization, to learn which new technologies can
best help integrate the population with the environment.
Improve the country’s penal system so that drug traffickers cannot influence or control the system after capture and
detention, and work to establish a rehabilitation program to reintegrate such individuals into society upon their
release.
Provide adequate protection for witnesses and judges in cases pertaining to human rights violations to guarantee their
safety against threats and provide justice through a fair trial.
Strengthen a specialized anti-kidnapping police force.
Promote respect for human rights through the mass media and, if possible, train journalists in basic international
human rights law.
Follow the recommendations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ June 1998 Plan Nacional de Derechos Humanos del Ecuador (National Human Rights Plan for Ecuador), which includes proposals to increase protection of civil and political
rights, foreign residents, minorities, women, and the media.
While Plan Ecuador presents numerous admirable goals, the proposal itself lacks the strong detailed structure necessary to attract
international aid. Compounding the issues are amiable relations between the Ecuadorian government and such Washington
adversaries as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales. President Correa will have to somewhat distance
himself from their more conceptualized socialist policies in order to gain substantial support from the White House.
With Plan Ecuador, the Correa administration has the opportunity to prove to the people, as well as Latin America’s other governments,
that peaceful methods of dealing with the conflict along Ecuador’s northern frontier can be successfully implemented.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associates Lydia Pardini and Raylsiyaly Rivero
August 18th, 2008
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