Ecuador continues in a state of war against drug trafficking, after organized crime sowed terror on Tuesday with several armed actions in different parts of the country, especially in Guayaquil. Since then, and until last night, a similar offensive had not occurred again. In the early hours of yesterday there was an “arson” fire – according to the police – in a nightclub in the Amazonian city of El Coca, resulting in two deaths and nine injuries, and five cars were burned in the town of Pasaje, in the province of El Oro, but it is not clear that both events are part of the challenge launched by drug traffickers.
However, prison riots – which are at the root of this crisis – not only continued yesterday, but increased. Last night there were already seven prisons where drug trafficking gangs have taken hold, with a total of 178 officials taken hostage, of which 158 are guards and the rest administrative staff, according to the Government.
President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday ordered the Armed Forces to take to the streets to fight organized crime at the service of the Mexican drug cartels, which has earned him the support of the entire parliamentary arc. In this sense, former president Rafael Correa proposed yesterday that Noboa constitute a government of “national unity,” according to what he said in an interview with the EFE agency.
For its part, Human Right Watch (HRW) is critical of the militarization of public security, a measure that is part of the declaration of a state of emergency and night curfew decreed by Noboa. “Trying to fight crime as if it were a party to an armed conflict has never been the appropriate response,” declared yesterday the director for the Americas of HRW, Juanita Goebertus, adding that “it can lead to abuses” by the Armed forces.
