The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, said this Monday (22) that his government is winning the battle it declared against organized crime, whose groups were classified as terrorists and belligerent non-state agents, following a wave of violence in the country.
“We had everything against us, but we are winning this battle,” Noboa said during a ceremony to hand over new equipment to the National Police.
He highlighted that, after declaring a situation of internal armed conflict last week, the number of violent deaths plummeted from 38 to six per day.
“This is not a time for indecision and ambiguity, because this is a historic moment in which the country was one step away from slipping out of our hands, but the police and the Armed Forces have shown that they are up to these challenges,” he declared.
“It is a historic moment, because the people are suffering from violence, extortion and drugs that poison and kill our children and harm the future of our country,” he added.
Noboa added that Ecuador has been weakened by several political crises, the pandemic, populism and the political irresponsibility of not knowing how to respond to the country's financial needs.
“We went from years on the defensive and now we are on the offensive. Today we are clear that we have a common enemy: the 'narco-terrorist' mafias, who are trying to weaken us as a nation,” he declared.
The head of the Ecuadorian government highlighted the success of the forces of law and order in subduing the armed group that, on January 9, invaded the studios of the TC Televisión channel during a live broadcast and kidnapped its employees for several hours.
“They subdued the kidnappers in a professional manner, avoiding a tragedy that could have plunged the country into despair,” said Noboa, also highlighting the release of at least 170 hostages in a series of simultaneous prison riots.
Noboa called for a minute of silence for civilians who have been collateral victims since the start of the conflict and demanded: “Not a second of silence for the criminals and terrorists who take away our freedom.”
Likewise, the Ecuadorian president assured that the government will continue to fight for resources to face the conflict and promised not to rest until all police and military personnel are well equipped, properly armed and fully protected.
Noboa said that “it is now up to Parliament to provide financial support”, in reference to his project to increase value-added tax from 12% to 15% with the aim of obtaining more resources to sustain operations against organized crime.
Among the new equipment received by the police this Monday are around 22,000 bulletproof vests, valued at US$11.5 million; 1,752 portable communications equipment, valued at more than US$5.2 million; four anti-explosive robots, four disruptor cannons, four frequency inhibitors and four x-ray machines.
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