Internal conflict and transnational problem: the articulation of war narratives

Abstract

The article traces the origins of the policy for controlling organized crime. It presents some elements to understand why a framework of ‘internal armed conflict’ is configured around notions such as ‘organized crime’ and ‘terrorism’ in Ecuador. The political construction of these notions is discussed, highlighting how declarations of war result from the interplay of local, national, and global discourses. In other words, language, although ambiguous and biased by North American experience and international politics, can define military responses as a solution to the problem.

Given this panorama, it is suggested to comprehend the dynamics between crime and high rates of violence as a result of the imbalance between state capacities and the profitability of crime as a business. A better understanding of criminality and its attractiveness to illegal entrepreneurs and the entire beneficiary chain could offer an alternative perspective.

From the Ecuadorian case, international law that serves as the basis for declaring an internal armed conflict and its connection to terrorism is analyzed. Finally, from the political dimension of social organization, a question is raised about the appropriateness of defining it as a civil war in the fight against organized crime.