President of Ecuador Daniel Noboastated new state of emergency in seven of the country’s 24 provinces, citing an increase in crime in those jurisdictions.

According to the decree signed by Noboa, the measure will be in effect for 60 days in the provinces of Guayas, El Oro, Santa Elena, Manabi, Sucumbios, Orellana and Los Rios, as well as in the area of ​​​​Azuay province. who in January declared Ecuador at war and recognized 22 criminal groups as terrorist.

The decree will be submitted to the Constitutional Court, the government previously stated.

The court declared the state of emergency unfounded

This month the court ruled that the application from previous state of emergency in five provinces This was not sufficiently substantiated.

According to the decree, security forces will be able to enter homes and intercept correspondence in targeted provinces.

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“The national government has determined that narco-terrorist groups have gained a foothold and concentrated their criminal activities mainly in these areas,” Noboa’s press office said in a statement, noting that the measure was taking effect. the second stage of the security plan.

Noboa blames the violence, including a January militant invasion of a television station and a mass hostage-taking of prison guards, on drug gangs transporting cocaine from Colombia and Peru via Ecuador.

It has previously used emergency declarations to step up police and military operations to combat thousands of killings and other crimes.

The government says violent deaths fell 28% in the first two months of the year compared with the same period in 2023, although it acknowledged other crimes such as kidnapping and extortion had risen.

The attorney general’s office is investigating eight cases of possible extrajudicial killings that allegedly took place during the country’s last state of emergency, amid warnings from rights groups that authorities were failing to take action to prevent abuses. (Reuters)