Ecuador declares a ‘state of exception’ in regions torn by violence

Quito, Oct 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has declared a 60-day “state of exception” in six provinces and two cities, including the capital Quito, to quell recent outbreaks of violent crime, the president’s office said .

“Serious internal unrest and armed conflict required a targeted state of emergency to strengthen the work of the armed forces and the national police to defend the sovereignty and integrity of the state, the security of citizens and public order,” said a statement from the Police. General Secretariat of Communications, reports Xinhua news agency.

The executive order temporarily suspends certain constitutional rights in the mentioned regions, such as “the right to the inviolability of the home and correspondence” and “the right to freedom of assembly”.

The measure covers the provinces of Guayas, Los Rios, Manabi, Orellana, Santa Elena, El Oro, the metropolitan district of Quito in the province of Pichincha, and the city of Camilo Ponce Enriquez in the province of Azuay.

The state of emergency also imposes a daily curfew in 19 cities mainly plagued by violence and crime.

The government is “committed to defending the security of citizens and the sovereignty of the country,” and is therefore “taking bold decisions to strengthen security strategies that would reduce the level of violence,” the secretariat said.

Following a wave of gang killings, Noboa declared on January 9 that the country was in a state of “internal armed conflict” against 22 criminal organizations classified as “terrorists.”

Following the introduction of the measure, military forces were deployed on the streets and in high-crime areas to combat criminal groups linked to drug trafficking.

Since taking office on November 23, 2023, Noboa has declared states of emergency several times and militarized conflict areas in an effort to stem rising crime, including murder, kidnapping and extortion.

Ecuador ended 2023 as one of Latin America’s most dangerous countries with a murder rate of 45 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, the National Police said.

Source: IANS

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