QUITO (XINHUA) – Ecuador is facing “a critical moment” due to criminal organisations that have recently unleashed more violence in the streets and prisons, President Guillermo Lasso said recently.
“Organised crime has attacked the rule of law, and through their actions, we have lost valuable lives,” Lasso said during a ceremony here to supply the police with 18 million items of ammunition.
“The government does not and will not negotiate with criminals. What we are doing here is putting the presence of the government in the streets and also in the prisons with a firm hand,” he added.
Earlier this week, Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency at prisons nationwide to ensure order following a deadly riot that killed scores of inmates and another incident in which prisoners briefly took more than a hundred guards hostage.
The surge in violence also saw the mayor of a coastal town assassinated over the weekend.
