Bulletproof vests and vehicles: the boom of the security industry in Ecuador

a factory of Quito It is not enough to serve the dozens of cars waiting their turn to be transformed into dark glass battleships. Their owners paid fortunes to shield them from the violence of drug trafficking that grows alongside the security industry in Ecuador.

Mostly high-end trucks arrive at the workshop, where workers tear them apart and reinforce every corner with specialized materials to resist bullets.

By hand and with machines, they cover any hole through which a projectile could enter and end the life of the driver or his passengers, as is the case with increasing frequency in Ecuador.

The demand for security is growing in the country of 18.3 million inhabitants: politicians of all stripes frightened by threats and attacks, businessmen who fear being kidnapped for extortion purposes, the media, among others.

Given “the level of insecurity we live in now (…) people are looking for this alternative”tells AFP Nicolás Reyes, a manufacturer of armored cars.

A little over a year ago, it inaugurated its production plant in the capital, a new focus of terror imposed by drug trafficking after years in which violence hit the Pacific port of Guayaquil (southwest) above all.

“We are not safe anywhere, that is a constant now in the country (…) It is also up to us to take care of ourselves”complains Cristian Bravo, a 46-year-old professional in foreign trade.

“Spilled the glass”

“At least in our city, here in Quito, this last year it has doubled or tripled” the sale of armored vehicles, says Fernando Sánchez, also a businessman.

The boom coincides with the outbreak of violence that besieged the capital in the run-up to this Sunday’s elections, and that on August 9 left his first assassination. A Colombian hitman shot and killed presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio as he had just gotten into his unarmored pickup truck.

Long gone are the days when the nation was a bulwark of peace in the midst of Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers. Now its ports are crucial for the export of drugs, while corruption in state agencies grows, according to experts.

The day after the assassination, calls from clients rained down asking for quotes, says Sánchez. The frenetic pace of manufacturing has led him to expand his company’s facilities due to lack of space.

Reyes agrees: The attack against Villavicencio “Without a doubt it was (…) the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Without official figures, for Carla Álvarez, an expert and academic on security issues, “there is a boom” in that industry. It is an answer “natural to perception” of lack of protection of Ecuadorians.

The Gallup poll revealed earlier this year that Ecuador was the country with the greatest sense of insecurity in Latin America (62% of respondents) by 2022.

More guards than police

Other presidential candidates protect themselves with bulletproof vests, as do journalists covering the electoral campaign. Candidate Daniel Noboa attended the only official debate on Sunday wearing this type of armored suit.

Both Villavicencio’s party and other political currents blame the current government of Guillermo Lasso for the crisis. Some claim that he handed over security to private entities, such as companies that protect buildings.

In Ecuador there are some 120,000 security guards, double the number of police officers, according to what the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, told Ecuavisa.

For expert Álvarez, the security industry in Ecuador follows in the footsteps of countries that are experts in the field that deal with cartels or guerrillas, with the aggravating circumstance that the small nation has worse murder rates.

In 2022 the country set the record of 26 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Mexico registered 25, Colombia 24 and Brazil 23, according to official figures.

Analysts estimate that this year the rate in Ecuador will climb to 40.

“massed”

The cheapest armor for cars is around 20,000 dollars, in a country with a minimum wage of 450 dollars. “People who live in elite areas feel very vulnerable,” explains Alvarez.

Small businesses without that purchasing power turn to other alternatives to face the nightmare of crime. Security expert Christopher Eggeling sells more helmets and bulletproof vests starting at $280 every day.

“Many people have bought us, doctors, teachers, they have also bought us in the shrimp sector, which are transporters, including heavy transport”says.

In Guayaquil, the shrimpers go one step further and have formed their own security forces to keep the crustaceans safe from thieves. Ecuador is the main producer and exporter of shrimp in the world.

Vests are a “product that has become massive”Eggeling remarks.

Source: AFP