Ecuador has imposed a state of emergency and night curfews in three coastal provinces on Monday, following a weekend wave of violence in the Andean country that left at least eight people dead.
After Agustin Intriago, the mayor of coastal city Manta, was shot dead on Sunday, Lasso proclaimed a state of emergency in the provinces of Manabi and Los Rios, as well as the city of Duran, near Guayaquil.
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It also follows disturbances over the weekend at Guayaquil’s Penitenciaria del Litoral prison, which involved fighting between gangs inside the facility.
As Ecuador deals with jail disturbances and floods of migrants, Lasso has regularly declared states of emergency throughout the country.
“We cannot deny that organised crime has permeated the state, political organisations, and society itself; this has been a problem for more than a decade,” Lasso stated following a security cabinet meeting.
The provinces will be under state of emergency for 60 days, with curfews varying over that time, according to the government.
According to Lasso, the murder of Manta’s mayor is being investigated.
According to the SNAI jail authorities, at least six inmates were killed and 11 were injured in Sunday’s rioting.
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Prisoners have kidnapped 96 guards in jails in Cotopaxi, Azuay, Caar, El Oro, and Napo, and are continuing a hunger strike that began on Sunday in 13 Ecuadorean prisons, without explaining why.
The South American country’s prison system has been plagued by structural issues for decades, but inmate violence has skyrocketed since 2021, killing at least 400 people in frequent clashes that have caught the attention of the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
