Ecuador Declares State of Emergency Again... "Will Not Succumb to Crime"

Ecuador, recently suffering from violent crimes such as drug trafficking, has declared a state of emergency in three western provinces.

Guillermo Lasso, President of Ecuador, announced on the 29th (local time) via Twitter that a state of emergency will be declared for two months in the three provinces of Guayas, Manab?, and Esmeraldas to restore peace and order. He stated that 4,000 police officers and 5,000 soldiers will be deployed to maintain public security, and a curfew will be imposed in some areas from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following day. He emphasized, "We must not allow gangs committing crimes to disrupt our peace."

Last October, he also declared a state of emergency to combat crimes such as drug trafficking. At that time, he pointed out that drug trafficking had led to an increase in crimes such as murder, theft, and robbery.

In Guayaquil, the capital of Guayas where the state of emergency has been enacted, a riot occurred at the Litoral prison in September last year, resulting in 119 deaths, and in November, more than 60 deaths occurred due to a firearm-related clash among inmates at the same prison. According to AFP, 1,255 murders have occurred in Ecuador this year as well.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.