Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso has declared a 60-day state of emergency in three provinces. The measure is due to the increase in drug-related violence in the region.
“I have declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Guayas, Manabi and Esmeraldas,” Lasso said in a speech broadcast by state media.
A total of 4,000 police officers and 5,000 military personnel will be deployed in those three coastal provinces. In addition, some cities near the economic capital Guayaquil, in the province of Guayas, will have curfews in place between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The violence perpetrated by drug cartels has already killed 1,255 people in Ecuador since the beginning of this year. In the prisons, 350 have died in clashes between different gangs.
In all of 2021, 210 tons of drugs, mainly cocaine, were seized in Ecuador.
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