The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboaattended this Monday a prison in Cuencawhere the military and police closed a tunnel that, according to the authorities, the prisoners themselves had built to escape.
The president, in the middle of a strong contingent of agents and protected with a military vest and helmet, supervised the closure of the tunnel in the Deprivation of Liberty Center (CPL) Azuay Number 1, also called prison You havein Cuenca.
During his tour of this prison center, the head of state stated that his Government will respond to the threats posed by the actions of organized crime with forceful actions.
«We are not going to stop doing our work. “We are never going to stop fighting for the well-being of Ecuadorians, we are not going to give up or give in to crime or organized crime.”Noboa said.
He added that the priority of his administration is to “return dignity to Ecuador” and assured that this is why the popular consultation on April 21 is important, promoted by the Government with eleven questions, most of them related to the fight against high insecurity in the country.
On his side, the commander of the Third Army Division, Iván Vásconezwho accompanied Noboa on the tour of the Turi prison, highlighted the incorporation of technological equipment in the surveillance and control work of that prison, within the framework of a state of exception applied on a national scale since last January 8.
Vásconez explained, for example, the incorporation of scanners to improve inspections of prison facilities and vehicles that enter that prison.
He added that it was these technological equipment that allowed the tunnel to be detected in a timely manner.
On January 8, President Noboa, who had not been in power for even two months, declared a state of emergency to try to stop the spiral of violence unleashed in prisons and streets by organized crime organizations nationwide.
In addition, Noboa declared the situation an “internal armed conflict” and began to consider organized crime gangs as terrorist groups and non-state belligerent actors.
With these measures, the Armed Forces took control of the prisons, which had been dominated by criminal gangs, whose rivalries have left more than 500 prisoners murdered since 2020 in a series of prison massacres.
Prison violence also took to the streets last year to such an extent that Ecuador became one of the most violent countries in Latin America, with 45 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. EFE (I)
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