I remember the story of an English press correspondent who was assigned to Mexico City a few years ago to cover the political scene in that country; One of the first thoughts he had, after seeing the front page of a newspaper one day with a photo of some bodies hanging from a bridge, was whether that bloody and violent image ꟷwhich anywhere else would have caused a huge social upheavalꟷ would become such a repeated demonstration in Mexico that people began to consider her a tragic symbol of everyday life. In a way, the violence is so widespread that, well, you start to think there are worse things.

Who are the 5 friends who disappeared in Lagos de Moreno, a case whose heartbreaking images once again reflect the extreme violence in Mexico

Of course, the chronicler had a hard time accepting this possibility, all the more so when the collective pain produced by criminal violence is checked, but he also thought about whether perhaps the years of that violence had not forged, at least in the most affected areas, the perception that the problem has no solution and, as such, it is preferable not to have it in mind. If the memory of the average Mexican is durable, they will be able to recall that since Felipe Calderón came to power in 2006 with his declaration of war on drug trafficking, until López Obrador’s failed “hugs, not bullets” proclamation, Mexico continues to suffer very high levels of violence, without any indication of victory in the fight against drug trafficking. This is, of course, another problem, a thesis supported by prominent contemporary thinkers such as Mario Vargas Llosa, that it is almost impossible for the state to eventually defeat the drug trade when it has become entrenched in the various structures of society, as suggested by vigorous thinking about the path to legalizing drug use .

Preventive detention for alleged terrorism for the suspects in the second car bomb detonated in Quito

Under these readings, it is inevitable to make analogies with what is happening in our country in such a dramatic and dizzying way; In the last week alone, from the largest cocaine seizure ever recorded in Spain, with details that the drug left Ecuador, to riots in various prisons, murders, car bombs in Quito, thousands of stories of extortion, etc. .., to the extent of thinking that we may already be assimilating these facts as part of our daily evolution, into which we are drawn without being able to do anything, without being able to say anything. And in this way we assimilate information from the networks, from newspapers, from the news, accepting our complete vulnerability and, what is more serious, with zero hope that the state, through the government, which should be the guarantor of public peace, will do something for us.

The progressive resignation of society in the face of the maximum state of violence can also be a symbol of survival or resistance, also of decay, but in the end it is a tragedy. Is Ecuador going down that road of no return? I’m afraid so, because unless a dramatic event happens, it’s very likely that we’ll end up becoming a subsidiary in the Mexican states of Guanajuato, Chihuahua or Michoacán. How sad just to think about it. (OR)