Ecuador: insecurity and violence hit the population

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Organized crime groups, urban gangs, muggers, and common thieves threaten security in Ecuador, and while citizens are demanding protection, the murder rate is on the rise.

Meanwhile, the government has taken decisions such as taking the army to the streets but has not been able to control the situation as a whole.

In an intervention in the National Assembly, the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, stated that it is a joint effort and not only a government one.

“If we are not capable as a society, as a whole, of breaking the negative cycles that produce insecurity, if we are not capable of changing the negative attitudes of citizens that influence their violent and criminal behavior, sadly, we will have to continue observing a trend of growth in violence and insecurity,” he said.

GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTS ACTIONS AIMED AT PROVIDING SECURITY

Civil society needs to feel safe, and the government is implementing three axes to achieve this:

• The help of municipalities to work in the prevention of crimes and violence;
• The fight of the police and the army in the fight against organized crime in the streets with society’s help;
• The process of rehabilitation of the penitentiary system.

For political analyst Rodrigo Jordan, the importance of civilian security is paramount.

“For the first time in the country’s history, insecurity is in the first place of concern. Society feels that its rulers are not working to solve its main daily problems; we are close to a social explosion”, he pointed out.

The warning comes after knowing the results of the Citizen Perception Study on Crime, laws, and human rights in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo, and Manabi.

Eighty-two percent of those surveyed think that the judicial system is corrupt, and 78% that there is little response from the authorities to solve the problem.