Ecuadorian carnival rampage ends in governor’s dismissal
Carnival celebrations in the Ecuadorian seaside resort of Salinas got out of hand.
They included destruction and attacks on drivers on the streets, to the point of leading to the dismissal of the local governor. In another city, a group of young people had no better idea than to throw a Twingo into a swimming pool.
Every year, hundreds of Ecuadorians gather to celebrate Carnival in Salinas (southwest), one of the country’s leading seaside resorts located in the province of Santa Elena, 140 kilometers from Guayaquil.
However, what began as a popular celebration culminated in dozens of complaints of public disorder, chaos, violence, and rioting.
Dozens of social network users published images of the lack of control of a “scene repeated year after year” in which “hundreds of people provoke disorder on Malecón Avenue, one of the most important avenues in Salinas”, reported the Ecuadorian media Primicias.
In the recordings, the carnival members “threw water, foam, and flour at the people who were walking around the place”, reported the media.
One of the favorite attractions was intercepting passing vehicles and opening their doors by force “to wet their occupants”.
One of the scenes “that attracted the most attention” was when “the driver of a vehicle shoots into the air with what appears to be a firearm to prevent his car from being vandalized”, added the local media.
Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism, Nielsen Olsen, told the local press that “some cities like Salinas exceed their capacity to accommodate tourists”.
In any case, tourists also “complained about the lack of police presence to prevent chaos from reigning” and of being victims of “delinquents who took advantage of the crowd to steal their belongings”.
The magnitude of the incidents even reached the national government since the president, Guillermo Lasso, decided to dismiss the governor of the province of Santa Elena, Fulton Anchundia, reported Ecuador’s Communication Secretariat.
In his replacement was appointed José Ángel Álava, a leader who assumed the position “with the slogan of taking care of security in the province”, in a decision made official by Executive Decree N°677.
A TWINGO IN THE POOL
However, the lack of control in the celebrations for the carnival holiday in Ecuador was not the exclusive patrimony of Salinas.
The scenes of excessive celebrations multiplied in various parts of the country.
An example of this was seen in the Amazon province of Morona Santiago (southeast), where a group of young people even threw a Renault Twingo car into a swimming pool, according to images published on social networks and reported by the media Minuto y Medio.
#Carnaval2023
En Morona Santiago, no se quedaron atrás en los excesos por la época de carnaval que tiraron un Twingo a una piscina pic.twitter.com/3dISmITNTl— Minuto & Medio (@MinMedio) February 22, 2023
With information from Sputnik
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