Guillermo Lasso, President of Ecuador.
The President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, has extended a 30-day state of emergency in 9 of the country’s 24 provinces as his government is seeking to curb allegedly related to drug consumption and trafficking. criminal activities.
The update will continue military patrols on the streets in areas with high rates of homicide and other crimes related to the drug trade.
Lasso initially promulgated a 60-day state of emergency last month. The country’s Constitutional Court shortened the period to 30 days and stated that the army can only support the police if their help is reasonable.
“President Guillermo Lasso extended the state of emergency declared on October 18, 2021… in El Oro, Guayas, Santa Elena, Manabi, Los Rios, Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo, Pichincha and Sucumbios,” Russo’s press office said Thursday evening.
Lasso said in a decree issued on Friday that the measures taken within the first 30 days of the state of emergency were effective, but did not eliminate the cause of the increase in crime.
The government stated in the decree that the homicide rate dropped from 1.84 per 100,000 inhabitants in September to 0.63 so far in November.
The Ministry of the Interior said on Twitter that the security forces conducted more than 230,000 operations in the past month, broke up 76 gangs, confiscated 16 tons of drugs and detained 7,000 people.
Authorities say that more than 70% of violent deaths in Guayas Province, where Guayaquil is located, are related to drug trafficking.
Violence in the country’s prisons is also on the rise. Last week, in the Penitenciaria del Litoral prison in Guayaquil, at least 62 prisoners died as a result of what the government said was a gang dispute.
Lasso announced that the prison system-which has long been criticized for overcrowding, poor prisoners’ living conditions and violence-entered a 60-day state of emergency in September, releasing government funds and allowing limited military assistance.
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