Ecuador: Guillermo Lasso declares a state of emergency in Guayaquil after a terrorist attack that killed five people

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency in Guayaquil, one of the hardest hit by drug-related crime. This is after an explosion attributed to organized crime that killed five people.

“I have declared the city of Guayaquil in a state of emergency due to the criminal events that have taken place over the past few hours. All public force will be available to regain control of the city,” the President wrote on Twitter.

William Lasso, who took office a year ago, assured that he would not allow organized crime to try to run the country. It has been reported in recent weeks that murders committed by drug dealers are leaving scenes of horror in the streets with decapitated bodies hanging from bridges in the style of mexican posters.

The state of emergency will take effect from this Sunday in this port of 2.8 million people in the southwest of the country and will last for 30 days, Diego Ordoñez, national secretary for public and state security, said at a press conference.

In April, Lasso also declared a 60-day state of emergency in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Manabi and Guayas, of which Guayaquil is the capital, due to drug-trafficking violence.

The attack that shocked Ecuador

The explosion, which took place early this Sunday morning in the popular neighborhood of Cristo del Consuelo, killed 5 people whose identities have not been tried, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said at a press conference.

The official specified that there are 17 injured due to the explosion, some with priors. “Many of them, if not most, hide in silence and do not want to participate in the investigation,” he said. Authorities had previously reported 20 casualties.

The latest report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), published in June, indicates that Ecuador in 2020, 6.5% of all cocaine seized globally was seized.

In 2021 Ecuador seized a record 210 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine. In the first half of this year, seizures exceed 100 tons.

The country of 18 million closed last year with a homicide rate of 14 per 100,000 people, nearly double what it was in 2020.

Lasso blames drug dealing for protests in Ecuador

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso assured a few weeks ago that drug trafficking funded nearly $15 million in mobilizations that were to take place in the country within 18 days and that they were convened by indigenous organizations.

Lasso was interviewed by the digital newspaper Infobae that while he believes it is fair to demand the development of rural and peasant mobilizations, it would be an alliance of indigenous organizations and Correismo in financing drug trafficking to “produce protests against the overthrow of” their government “.

“It’s an alliance with Correismo and there’s a third party in that alliance that’s putting up money for the protests, which will be worth about $15 million over 18 days. This actor is involved in drug trafficking in Ecuador. “, detailed Guillermo Lasso, accusing former President Rafael Correa of ​​wanting to change the social order after his exile in Belgium.

(According to Europa Press and AFP)