Through decree 527, President Guillermo Lasso ordered a new state of emergency in Guayaquil, with the purpose of reestablishing order and security in the city. The measure occurs after the explosion in Cristo del Consuelo.
Policemen amid rubble in the Cristo del Consuelo neighborhood, in Guayaquil, on August 14, 2022.
A Task Force, between police and military, was activated again in Guayaquil, as announced by the Security Cabinet , this August 14, 2022.
The measure complements Decree 527, which establishes a state of emergency in the city starting this Saturday and which will last 30 days. It will be signed by President Guillermo Lasso in the next few hours.
Both provisions were issued after a large-scale explosion that shook the neighborhood of Cristo del Consuelo , southwest of Guayaquil. The attack, described as a terrorist act by the president himself, has left five dead and 17 wounded. Two of the injured are in critical condition.
The Task Force will serve, according to the Secretary of Public Security, Diego Ordóñez, to restore “order and punish those who seek to generate chaos in the city through terrorist acts.”
So far this year, the Ministry of the Interior reports 58 minor terrorist acts.
In addition, the minister of the branch, Patricio Carrillo, assured that until now the wounded have not provided further details or complaints of the possible perpetrators.
“After 10 hours of the event and six hours after the reward was announced (of USD 10,000 for information provided), we did not find a single call,” said Carrillo.
So far, Carrillo added that the National Police has indications that the Los Tiguerones gang was behind the attack .
This gang, linked to drug trafficking, has spread terror with several messages and explosive attacks in the city. It has also starred in the most recent prison massacres.
Explosives used were homemade
Minister Carrillo also reported that the explosives used were homemade and not military grenades. “These are hobbyists who learned to mix the chemicals at home,” he said.
Despite being of homemade origin, the explosives had metal fragments and splinters encapsulated, which were found in the remains of the houses and in the wounded. In addition, the detonation had a shock wave from 50 to 70 meters deep.
Another detail provided by Carrillo was that the attack was aimed at alias ‘Cucaracha’ , an inhabitant of the Cristo del Consuelo sector.
The relationship of other criminal acts and violent deaths reported in Guayaquil during the weekend is being investigated, such as a murder in the south and the seizure of three tons of drugs.
A similar measure in Guayaquil
It is not the first time that a state of emergency has been decreed in Guayaquil, before there were similar measures to deal with insecurity and drug trafficking.
The most recent was decreed on April 30, 2022, when the Government ordered an emergency in three provinces : Guayas, Manabí and Esmeraldas. And in Guayaquil, a curfew was ordered focused on sectors impacted by violent deaths.
Asked about the state of emergency, Minister Carrillo assured that the tool allows intensifying police and military operations, and coordination between institutions.
According to the Minister, after the last emergency, violent crimes in the city decreased from seven a day to four.
