Four police officers died, several were injured and eight prison guards were taken hostage and later released this Tuesday in another escalation of violence in prisons and streets of Ecuador linked to the power dispute between drug gangs and which led President Guillermo Lasso to suspend his visit to the United States and establish a state of emergency in Guayaquil and Esmeraldas.
Drug trafficking organizations perpetrated 12 attacks with explosives and bullets as a presumed response to the transfer of prisoners from the Guayas 1 prison in the port of Guayaquil, one of the main scenes of bloody massacres among inmates that have already left some 400 dead since February 2021.
“We have had reactions” to “organized crime” in Guayaquil and in the oil port of Esmeraldas, Interior Minister Juan Zapata said at a press conference in Quito.
The official rejected what he called “acts of violence that sadly tarnish the police ranks today” and lamented the “loss of two police officers” in Guayaquil.
Later it was reported another attack with two other policemen shot to death, this time in Durán. The AFP agency spoke of 5 dead, but did not give details about the fourth victim.
Another attack against a police facility, also in Guayaquil, left two officers injuredZapata added.
The state body that administers the prisons, SNAI, reported on its side that “there are eight servers who are being held” in a penitentiary in Esmeraldas.
In the joint press conference with the Minister of the Interior, the Commander of the Police, General Fausto Salinas, stated that four guards had already been released, without offering details.
Two alleged prison guards with explosives attached to their bodies appeared in a video released by Twitter, in which a prisoner denounces “corruption” in the management of prisons.
“If they want war, they are going to have war”, says the man with his face covered. And he adds: “we are going to exploit these guides”.
With the support of the military and police, the SNAI initially transferred 200 prisoners from the Guayas 1 prison in Guayaquil to other prisons to carry out planned “repairs” in the cell blocks.
This situation led to the retention of guards in Esmeraldas, according to the prisoner in the same video.
Faced with acts of violence, President Lasso called off a planned trip to the United States.
“I canceled the planned trip (from the 2nd to the 6th of this month) due to the critical moment that our country is experiencing. We are meeting to take immediate action in Guayaquil and Esmeraldas. We will face the crisis with tough measures within the law”expressed the ruler on Twitter.
“The head of state will continue to lead the frontal fight against the threat posed to the country by drug trafficking and organized gangs,” says a statement from the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency.
The text of the Executive assures that the Government has “as a priority” to guarantee peace to Ecuadorians, for which it faces “head-on” this “serious problem inherited from previous governments.”
Hours later Lasso gave a speech in which Guillermo Lasso announced his decision to “act harshly within the framework of the law” and revealed the state of emergency in Guayas and Esmeraldas and a curfew from 9 pm today.
“They already understood that our hands will not shake when it comes to responding as it should. And be careful with appealing to human rights, to cover up crime, “Lasso warned in his message, broadcast on radio and TV.
For the president, “it is time to unite all of us against the mafias.” “Did you want answers? They will have answers”, he sentenced.
Our actions against organized crime have been forceful, your reaction will not intimidate the actions of the @PoliceEcuador and the @FFAAECUADOR. The work of our institutions will continue firm and in favor of the security of Ecuadorians. pic.twitter.com/OeNSDD787u
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) November 2, 2022
He considered that the acts of sabotage and terrorism of transnational organized crime are “a declaration of open war against the rule of law, the Government and against all citizens” and judged that the attacks show “clearly the limits that it is willing to cross” .
The Government faced a penitentiary census that will make way for pardons to reduce prison overcrowding by around 15%.
The war for power between drug organizations extends to the streets, where the homicide rate, which in 2021 almost doubled to 14 per 100,000 inhabitants, grew to 18 between January and October 2022.
Official figures indicate that in the first half of the year alone there were more than 2,000 murders, of which a third occurred in Guayaquil, which implies an increase of almost 100% compared to the first six months of 2021, the agencies reported. AFP and Sputnik news.
