The Metastases tax investigation shows that the work that still needs to be done is enormous. The implications that have been found – and if we continue to connect the dots will be even greater – in justice, in public power, in politics, are enormous. It is not new, if you look at it in the light of other tax investigations carried out between 2007 and 2009, which put officials of the Government of the Civil Revolution on the line after the police operations of Huracán Verde and de la Frontera.

In these 16 years – which means three governments and a fourth that has just started – there have been, on the one hand, more seizures of tons of drugs, hundreds of operations and arrests of some drug traffickers (not necessarily the big brains). or lords or bosses). On the other hand, the country has gone downhill by turning it into a haven for organized crime, which has been rumored for at least five years, without any attempt to seriously confront the problem.

The fight against drug trafficking, which goes along with impunity and widespread corruption, does not depend only on the political and personal strength of a group of officials who are in the prosecutor’s office, judicial police and to some extent in the intelligence system. It requires the support of the political class, the decision of the state as a whole, and that is another part of the problem, because it means sacrificing political capital, exposing oneself to risk, making complicated, complex and very delicate decisions. In good Quito, get your poncho wet.

Daniel Noboa, as the President of the Republic, is at a crucial moment and the decisions he makes can mark before and after. It would not be prudent or good for the country for her to try to rein things in during her 2025 presidential campaign, to kick the ball forward. Not only because re-election can be difficult with the economic crisis, but because there won’t be much room to govern, given the strength of organized crime and the faster and stronger captures they will try to make for their own protection and survival.

Noboa now has several points in its favor: it has a prosecutor who is playing his part and will continue to do so, the political support of the United States government – it was not for nothing that the State Department pulled the visas, and the ambassador made statements that, like it or not, are very important because of the message it sends to the members of criminal groups – the political base resulting from the presidential elections themselves. The groups that are currently affected by the case of Metastasis are in full regrouping.

Apart from the risk of additional violence, it bought some time, which is invaluable.

Mr. President, you can still distance yourself from political groups that are directly or indirectly involved in the case. This is your chance to chart a new political course for the country, or the hopes, dreams, and desires of the non-criminal will be diluted in your hands. (OR)