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Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency throughout the country, amid a significant increase in violence, related to drug trafficking. The measure announced on Monday, October 18, came on the eve of the visit of the Secretary of State of the United States, Anthony Blinken. The two will discuss security, defense and trade issues.
Ecuador under a state of exception for 60 days. It is an attempt by President Guillermo Lasso to curb the high levels of insecurity and violence in various provinces of the country.
“Immediately, our Armed Forces and police will feel strongly in the streets because we are decreeing a state of emergency throughout the national territory,” the president announced on Monday in a speech broadcast on the national network.
The head of state assured that the crimes are directly related to drug trafficking, while pointing out the growing role of the nation as a drug user and not just as a trafficking zone.
The increase in crime “is not only reflected in the amount of drugs consumed in our country, but in the amount of crimes that today are directly or indirectly related to the sale of narcotics,” he said.
So far this year, Ecuador has already registered around 1,900 murders, more than the 1,400 reported in all of 2020.
“When drug trafficking grows, hit men, murders, robberies of homes and vehicles also increase. More than 70% of violent deaths in Guayas are related to drug trafficking (…) There is only one enemy in the streets: drug trafficking, ”Lasso explained.
The announcement came on the eve of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit. The two will discuss security, defense and trade issues.
How does the state of exception proceed?
The measure, signed in decree 224, will allow the transfer of the Armed Forces to provinces where citizens have felt crime more strongly such as Guayas, Manabí, Santa Elena, El Oro, Los Ríos, Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Pichincha and Sucumbíos.
The military will reinforce the work of the National Police in the streets. The authorities will have the power to restrict freedom of movement, assembly and association during the two months of execution of the state of emergency.
“Our military and police forces will feel strongly in the streets, to carry out weapons controls, inspections, patrols 24 hours a day, drug requisitions, among other actions,” said the president in a speech on Monday.
Lasso also announced the creation of the Legal Defense Unit of the Public Force, with which his Government hopes to support the servants who could be sued after the execution of the new orders. “The law should intimidate the criminal, but not the police,” said the president, who asked the police and military to act with courage.
Likewise, the uniformed officers will inspect the 65 prisons of the country, after the fateful riots that attracted international attention.
Riots in the country’s prisons have killed about 240 people this year and according to law enforcement, the violence is often due to conflicts between rival drug gangs.
On September 28, an armed insurrection in a prison in the southwestern city of Guayaquil caused one of the largest prison massacres in Latin American history.
Members of groups linked to the Mexican and Colombian cartels made an attempt to take control of the prison: 119 people died in that confrontation alone.
With EFE and local media
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