QUITO.- In response to the increasing level of violence in the country, Ecuador announced a set of broad and coordinated measures to address the escalation of daily crimes. Police and military authorities have outlined a comprehensive strategy focused on security and control of public order.
The police commander, General César Zapata, revealed in a press conference the key actions of this initiative. He highlighted the formation of a security bloc composed of police and military forces that will operate in a “strategic” and “tactical” manner in areas where violence is most pronounced.
The measures, presented as a renewed strategy, seek to address the effectiveness and need for a substantial change in the existing security strategy. To achieve this, operations are being implemented in the preventive, investigative and intelligence axes, with a specific focus on the identification and neutralization of “medium value targets”, individuals responsible for generating problems and territorial disputes to carry out criminal activities.
The first phase of application, which began on November 25 and is still ongoing, yielded encouraging results in coastal cities such as Durán and Machala. In Durán, the rates of intentional homicides per week have decreased from 20.5 to 13.7, and in Machala, from 2.8 to 0.5, according to the average, according to Commander Zapata.
The strategy will expand to other cities, including Quevedo, Esmeraldas, Manta and the Nueva Prosperina district, south of Guayaquil, which concentrate 31% of violent deaths and serve as points of origin for the spread of violence to other areas. as detailed by the commander.
These measures take on special relevance amid recent incidents, such as the tragic mistaken murder of four minors and their mother in Guayaquil, perpetrated by hitmen five days ago, as well as the kidnapping of the honorary consul of the United Kingdom last weekend, whose whereabouts are still unknown.
Ecuador among the most dangerous countries
Despite these advances, Ecuador is among the most dangerous countries in the region, with an alarming increase in murders in recent years. Until September 30, available public figures showed a total of 5,700 violent deaths, exceeding the 4,600 homicides recorded in all of 2022, which already doubled those of 2021.
Former military intelligence colonel and security advisor, Mario Pazmiño, points out that there are still no “clear signs of a change in the country’s security scheme.” He warns about the increase in crime, highlighting the recent action of the prosecutor’s office that “has made it possible to discover the penetration of organized crime into all State structures,” including the police.
With the recognition of the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, about “the power that organized crime has achieved in the country”, it is expected that these measures will be part of a comprehensive plan that includes training, equipment, intelligence and international cooperation to dismantle these criminal structures and return peace and security to the nation.
Source: With information from AP
