Sputnik, Europa Press and Prensa Latina
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, September 30, 2024, p. 32
Quito. A total of 90 people have been killed in Ecuador so far through the legitimate use of forcethe Ministry of National Defense reported yesterday on the social network X.
In the brief report, the ministry specified that law enforcement They are now authorized to use lethal weapons, safeguarding personal integrity and that of third parties..
In addition, he confirmed that forceful action will be taken against threats that attack the State.
Ecuador is experiencing a state of exception until this Monday in several provinces due to the insecurity suffered by the country, attributed to clashes between organized criminal groups that dispute territory for their illicit operations.
According to the government of President Daniel Noboa, intentional homicides have been reduced by 17 percent in Ecuador so far this year.
On the 20th, the Minister of National Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo, reiterated to the soldiers the legitimate use of force in the streets and prisons of the country in defense of citizens.
Minister Loffredo then pointed out that From now on the birds no longer shoot shotguns, no one is above the Ecuadorians, our fight is for peace, even if we have to fight day and night to reach it.
On the other hand, Noboa reported that he sent a project to the National Assembly to expand the energy production ceiling to the private sector in the midst of an electricity supply crisis in the country that has caused numerous blackouts in recent months.
He recalled on his official profile on social networks that last January he presented a draft Energy Competitiveness Law, but that the National Assembly approved imposing a production cap of 10 megawatts (MW) on the private sector.
Today we insist again and we have sent an urgent economic bill that allows us to go from the 10 MW in which we were stuck to 100 MWthe president said in a series of publications aimed at defending his administration against the criticism received, particularly from the press.
Ecuador is immersed in an energy production crisis, in part due to the drought the country is going through and the decrease in hydroelectric generation. This situation has led the Noboa Executive to have to decree blackouts almost systematically.
To all this, the Risk Management Secretariat (SGR) indicated that more than 39 thousand hectares of vegetation were devastated in Ecuador by the 3,496 forest fires recorded from January to yesterday.
The institution detailed that more than one million liters of water were needed to quell these incidents, and the provinces most affected were Loja, Azuay, Pichincha, Carchi, Cotopaxi, Imbabura, Chimborazo and Guayas.
Noboa acknowledged that the country is going through the worst period of drought in 61 years.