Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa declared a new state of emergency for 60 days in seven provinces and three cantons, including the metropolitan district of Quito.
The measure will apply in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Santa Elena and El Oro; in the Amazonian provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana; and in the cantons of La Troncal and Camilo Ponce Enríquez, in addition to the metropolitan district of Quito.
In an executive decree, Noboa justified the measure by the increase in violence, the commissioning of crimes and the prolonged presence of organized armed groups in the areas where the state of emergency will apply.
The decree suspends the right to the inviolability of homes and correspondence, and in several towns freedom of movement is restricted with a curfew from 10pm to 5am.
Since January last year, Noboa has decreed several states of emergency after declaring the existence of an internal armed conflict and identifying 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors, several of which are linked to Mexican drug cartels.
On January 9, 2023, Ecuador experienced a day of terror following violence unleashed after the escape of drug lord Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, from a prison in the province of Guayas.
On that day, a group of hooded men armed with firearms and explosives attacked a television station in Guayaquil while it was broadcasting live; several vehicles were set on fire in the province of Esmeraldas, on the border with Colombia; a car bomb exploded in Quito; three police officers in Machala and one in Quito were kidnapped; inmates escaped from a prison in Riobamba, in the central region of Ecuador; and police officers were held in another prison in the south of the country, among other actions that frightened residents.
Local analysts believe that violence will increase in the country in the coming weeks as general elections approach.
On February 9, Ecuadorans will go to the polls to elect the president who will govern the country starting May 24 for four years, along with 151 members of the national assembly.
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Publish date : 2025-01-03 07:02:00
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Author : theamericannews
Publish date : 2025-01-04 13:42:28
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