Stefano Ritondale

Just the gangs, the gang violence and how they kind of- Oh, it's insane. What I tell people is like, hey, if you don't- I think one of the interesting aspects of the Western hemisphere is we're seeing gangs, organized crimes, cartels, mafia. It's international, by the way. It's not just Mexican- The Mexican cartels- spread their violence to Ecuador, like Ecuador gang violence.

Just the gangs, the gang violence and how they kind of- Oh, it's insane. What I tell people is like, hey, if you don't- I think one of the interesting aspects of the Western hemisphere is we're seeing gangs, organized crimes, cartels, mafia. It's international, by the way. It's not just Mexican- The Mexican cartels- spread their violence to Ecuador, like Ecuador gang violence.

Just the gangs, the gang violence and how they kind of- Oh, it's insane. What I tell people is like, hey, if you don't- I think one of the interesting aspects of the Western hemisphere is we're seeing gangs, organized crimes, cartels, mafia. It's international, by the way. It's not just Mexican- The Mexican cartels- spread their violence to Ecuador, like Ecuador gang violence.

In a lot of ways, you can tie it directly to Mexican cartels exporting their violence into Ecuador. And you saw that a lot in 2023 and 2024 specifically, a lot of that violence. because of Mexican cartels expanding their operations south and exporting the violence everywhere. But you also see like the Albanian mafia, the Russian mafia, et cetera, right? So you see that.

In a lot of ways, you can tie it directly to Mexican cartels exporting their violence into Ecuador. And you saw that a lot in 2023 and 2024 specifically, a lot of that violence. because of Mexican cartels expanding their operations south and exporting the violence everywhere. But you also see like the Albanian mafia, the Russian mafia, et cetera, right? So you see that.

In a lot of ways, you can tie it directly to Mexican cartels exporting their violence into Ecuador. And you saw that a lot in 2023 and 2024 specifically, a lot of that violence. because of Mexican cartels expanding their operations south and exporting the violence everywhere. But you also see like the Albanian mafia, the Russian mafia, et cetera, right? So you see that.

But in the Western hemisphere as a whole, you're seeing gangs and all these groups really challenging state authority without a political motivation, which is kind of interesting when you're analyzing this from a foreign policy and kind of like national security aspect. It's not a political, it's a greed aspect. That grievance, greed, this is greed.

But in the Western hemisphere as a whole, you're seeing gangs and all these groups really challenging state authority without a political motivation, which is kind of interesting when you're analyzing this from a foreign policy and kind of like national security aspect. It's not a political, it's a greed aspect. That grievance, greed, this is greed.

But in the Western hemisphere as a whole, you're seeing gangs and all these groups really challenging state authority without a political motivation, which is kind of interesting when you're analyzing this from a foreign policy and kind of like national security aspect. It's not a political, it's a greed aspect. That grievance, greed, this is greed.

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, I mean, the favela violence there is insane. I would keep an eye out for the Brazilian gangs, just as the Mexican cartels replaced the Colombians. If the Mexican cartels drop in power, the one place I would be looking at, Brazil. Really? Brazilian gangs.

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, I mean, the favela violence there is insane. I would keep an eye out for the Brazilian gangs, just as the Mexican cartels replaced the Colombians. If the Mexican cartels drop in power, the one place I would be looking at, Brazil. Really? Brazilian gangs.

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, I mean, the favela violence there is insane. I would keep an eye out for the Brazilian gangs, just as the Mexican cartels replaced the Colombians. If the Mexican cartels drop in power, the one place I would be looking at, Brazil. Really? Brazilian gangs.

But why did I bring up Haiti is I think Haiti is like the worst case scenario that if you don't take this problem seriously, what can happen? Because Haiti basically is there's no functioning government and you have gangs in many aspects being the power players of the country. And Kenya deployed, you know, UN backed peacekeeping force. They have police and all that and they're fighting, but...

But why did I bring up Haiti is I think Haiti is like the worst case scenario that if you don't take this problem seriously, what can happen? Because Haiti basically is there's no functioning government and you have gangs in many aspects being the power players of the country. And Kenya deployed, you know, UN backed peacekeeping force. They have police and all that and they're fighting, but...

But why did I bring up Haiti is I think Haiti is like the worst case scenario that if you don't take this problem seriously, what can happen? Because Haiti basically is there's no functioning government and you have gangs in many aspects being the power players of the country. And Kenya deployed, you know, UN backed peacekeeping force. They have police and all that and they're fighting, but...

You know, they can't even achieve stability and security within their own country. And how can you have a political conversation, a political solution to a country who don't even control their own capital? I'm not so sure you can. And so that's why I said the Haiti aspect is, you know, that's the worst case scenario.

You know, they can't even achieve stability and security within their own country. And how can you have a political conversation, a political solution to a country who don't even control their own capital? I'm not so sure you can. And so that's why I said the Haiti aspect is, you know, that's the worst case scenario.

You know, they can't even achieve stability and security within their own country. And how can you have a political conversation, a political solution to a country who don't even control their own capital? I'm not so sure you can. And so that's why I said the Haiti aspect is, you know, that's the worst case scenario.

But if the Mexican cartels get weakened seriously, look at 10 years from now, we might be having a similar conversation, but about Brazilian gangs.

But if the Mexican cartels get weakened seriously, look at 10 years from now, we might be having a similar conversation, but about Brazilian gangs.