Lasso, a conservative, has repeatedly blamed violence, including prisons, on drug gangs retaliating against his government’s efforts to crack down on the trade. Ecuador is a transit point for drugs destined for the United States and Europe. The overnight and early morning attacks on Tuesday, including nine explosions in two cities, were an open declaration of war by gangs, Lasso said in a video clip. “What happened between last night and today in Guayaquil and Esmeralda clearly shows the limits that transnational organized crime is willing to cross,” Lasso said. “We get actions that worry them, hence the violent reaction.” He declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas, where security forces will step up operations and a curfew will be in effect from 9pm local time. A police officer looks at a bullet-riddled police car at a crime scene where colleagues were killed in Guayaquil, Ecuador November 1, 2022. REUTERS Lasso, who canceled a personal trip to the United States because of the attacks, has repeatedly used emergency declarations to try to address the violence. Six explosions rocked several areas of the western city of Guayaquil early Tuesday, police said, while two police officers were killed in an attack on a patrol car in the suburbs. Three other police officers were killed in the city and nearby later in the day, police said on Twitter. Three explosions occurred in Esmeraldas and seven prison officers were taken hostage by inmates protesting prisoner transfers. The officers were released after negotiations, the SNAI prison service said. A person takes a picture as police officers investigate the scene in Guayaquil, Ecuador November 1, 2022. REUTERS People react at the scene where several police officers were killed in attacks in Guayaquil, Ecuador November 1, 2022. REUTERS People react at a crime scene after the A state of emergency and curfew by the Ecuadorian government in Guayas and Esmeraldas provinces, after several police officers were killed in attacks in response to prisoner transfers from overcrowded prisons, in Guayaquil, Ecuador November 1, 2022. REUTERS Ecuador’s prison system has faced structural problems for decades, but prison violence has skyrocketed since late 2020, killing at least 400 people. SNAI said 515 inmates have so far been transferred from Guayaquil’s Penitenciaria, Ecuador’s most violent prison, to others around the country. The transfers are intended to reduce overcrowding and ensure the safety of the prison population, he said.
