Ecuador has in recent years been faced with an unprecedented wave of violence that the authorities attribute to gang conflicts for control of drug trafficking routes, as well as prisons.
A new state of emergency has been declared in seven of Ecuador’s 24 provinces, where violence has escalated in recent weeks, with a series of murders, President Daniel Noboa’s government, which has been waging a “war” on gangs since January, has declared.
The decision — in particular allowing the deployment of the army in the streets — is valid for 60 days and concerns the coastal provinces of Guayas, El Oro, Santa Elena, Manavi and Los Rios, the provinces of Sucumbio and Oreyana in the Amazon, as well as the canton of Camilo Ponce Enriques ( in Assuai, in the Andes), according to a press release from the presidency.
In January, President Noboa declared the country in a state of “internal armed conflict” and deployed the army inside, as part of operations to “neutralize” more than two dozen gangs.
The new measure is, however, subject to approval by the Constitutional Court, which earlier this month annulled the declaration of a state of emergency in five provinces, ruling that the justification for the measure was insufficient.
Once an oasis of peace and tranquility in Latin America, Ecuador, between Colombia and Peru, the two countries with the largest cocaine production in the world, has in recent years been faced with an unprecedented wave of violence that the authorities attribute to gang conflicts linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels to control drug trafficking routes as well as prisons, among others.
President Noboa’s government says murders fell by 28% in the first 5 months of this year compared to the same period in 2023 thanks to the measures it imposed, but acknowledges that other crimes, such as kidnapping and extortion, are on the rise.
The attorney general’s office has announced that it is investigating at least eight extrajudicial killings during the period of exemption measures.
The imposition of a new state of emergency was announced on a day when the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Quito to reverse measures of this nature, denouncing the commission of “serious violations” by security forces.
Source :Skai
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