The fight between the Government of Ecuador and organized crime gangs continued for the fourth consecutive day with tension centered on prison riots and the unexpected proposal to raise the value added tax (VAT) presented by President Daniel Noboa, who visited the television station attacked on Tuesday by a group of armed men.
At the end of Friday there were still more than 150 prison officials detained since Tuesday in six prisons (Esmeraldas, Latacunga, Ambato, Azogues, Cuenca and Loja) where simultaneous riots have been recorded, with a balance of three prisoners dead.
A deceased prisoner was removed from the Cuenca prison, while the bodies of the other two were thrown from inside the Azogues and Machala prisons, and in the latter the riot that had occurred days before was controlled.Thus, there are at least 16 fatalities in this crisis of violence.
The persistence of this unresolved situation led a group of relatives of prison guards to demonstrate in Latacunga to demand that the Government release their relatives.
859 arrested in four days
However, the Executive maintains its position of not negotiating and continuing the “war” declared on organized crime through the “internal armed conflict” decreed at the national level, with which it considers these criminal gangs as terrorist groups and actors. belligerent non-states.
Outside the prisons, police and military operations take place that in four days have accumulated four dismantled criminal groups and 859 people detained, 94 of them for alleged terrorism, while five alleged criminals have also been killed.
In the capital Quito, the operations are concentrated on urban public transport, where police and military carry out identity checks and search belongings in search of possible members of these criminal gangs now classified as “terrorists.”
Noboa proposes raising VAT: “War costs”
In this scenario, Noboa, who had promised in the electoral campaign not to raise taxes, surprised by presenting a bill to increase VAT from 12% to 15% with the aim of increasing revenue and obtaining resources to finance the “war” that has declared organized crime mafias.
“We must take tough, economic measures, and we must be aligned because a war costs and costs money,” Noboa said in a recent radio interview.
This VAT increase proposed by Noboa to the National Assembly (Parliament) would not affect basic food items or those in the basic basket, nor health, education and transportation, and yet with it it is estimated that They could raise about $1.3 billion.
He immediately received a categorical refusal from both Correismo, which is the first party represented in the chamber, and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), the largest social organization in the country, as well as the main union centers.
Presidential visit to raided canal
After the commotion caused by this bill sent to the Assembly, Noboa visited the facilities of the TC Televisión channel after it was attacked on Tuesday by a group of armed and hooded men who took the workers hostage during a live broadcast that He could see the whole country.
Noboa did not grant any interviews or answer questions from the journalists who arrived at the scene, as he limited himself to greeting the channel’s staff and journalistic team and touring its facilities to the studios where the assailants arrived and where the bullet holes they left were still there. .
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, Gabriela Sommerfeld, achieved the unanimous support of the Organization of American States (OAS) from Washington, which condemned the escalation of violence that Ecuador is going through and offered its “technical” and “political” support. to the Government of President Daniel Noboa.
The OAS promised to “continue monitoring” the situation in the country in order to offer “political accompaniment” and technical support to the current Executive.
Violence in Ecuador affects the world, says President Noboa
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, considers that the violence affecting his country is a problem for the world and it is necessary to resolve the root of the actions of narcoterrorists, as he stated in an interview with the BBC.
In recent days, Ecuador has had to deal with the escape of one of the most dangerous men in the country, Adolfo Macías alias “Fito” – leader of the criminal gang Los Choneros -, and also with the chaos of violent riots in six different prisons. from the country.
To address the situation, Noboa declared a “state of exception” and authorized operations for the military and police to try to restore order in the prisons.
By Ch Fahad Khan Janda
