“That money, which will be used to pay mercenaries who don’t know Ecuador, should be used to equip the police and the armed forces,” the presidential candidate emphasized this Thursday in a radio interview.

Last March, President Daniel Noboa, a candidate for reelection, announced the alliance with the company, founded by Erik Prince, amid the security crisis in this Andean nation.

Ecuador’s Defense Minister, Gian Carlo Loffredo, reported this week that a group from that company “is already arriving in the country these days.”

The official indicated that they will begin “the first working sessions” with them, which will initially focus on consulting and training. However, the minister emphasized that work with Prince’s forces “will not necessarily be limited to those two topics” and pointed to military bases, despite the fact that they are prohibited by the Constitution, and personnel, since “everything counts and nothing is superfluous in this war.”

For the moment, Ecuadorian authorities have not provided any other details about the type of services being negotiated with Prince, a controversial figure for his past activities.

Blackwater gained worldwide notoriety when it was subcontracted by the United States Army to operate in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where it faced repeated allegations of excessive use of force and other controversies.

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