Conservative Lasso declared a state of emergency, which ended in mid-December, and deployed hundreds of soldiers to violent areas, though citizens and analysts say the military on the ground is failing to address other factors linked to the violence.
“These achievements have reduced the territory of the mafias where they acted without the presence of the state,” Lasso told reporters in Guayaquil. “However, such actions also have consequences such as an increase in violent deaths on the streets.”
Lasso also reported that he replaced the commander of the National Police, without giving further explanations, and that he will allocate some 9 million dollars to equip the uniformed officers.
Lasso’s announcement comes at a time when police are investigating a violent attack in a popular Guayaquil neighborhood that left at least five people dead and nine injured on Friday, according to local media. Days before, a Dutch tourist was murdered in a tourist sector.
The president reported that, so far in January, Ecuador has seized 15 tons of drugs, which is equivalent to triple what was seized in the same month of 2021, and that drug trafficking through the port of Guayaquil has been reduced to almost zero for the installation of a police intelligence center.
The president will send a reform to the National Assembly to authorize the progressive use of force by the police and adapt some legal bodies to combat organized crime.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia. Editing by Javier Leira)
Source From: Ambito
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