Cosme Damian Parales Mercan, the director of prison number 4 in Manavi, western Ecuador, was murdered yesterday Sunday, the Penitentiary Service (SNAI) announced, on the day citizens were called to the polls to approve or reject the framework referendum package of security measures that President Daniel Noboa wants to tackle the crime wave in the Latin American country.
SNAI did not provide further details about the official’s murder. He said he would cooperate with the prosecuting authorities to find those responsible and bring them to justice.
Once an oasis of peace and tranquility in Latin America, Ecuador, between Colombia and Peru, the two countries with the largest cocaine production in the world, has been torn apart in recent years by an unprecedented wave of gang violence vying for control of trafficking routes and prisons.
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Between 2018 and 2022, murders quadrupled in Ecuador and, in 2023, a tragic record—7,500 homicides—was recorded, with the murder rate skyrocketing to 40 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.
To bring the situation under control, Ecuador’s right-wing President Noboa, who took power in November, declared a state of emergency and “war” on gangs, deploying 20,000 members of the armed forces inside.
The referendum is intended to implement a series of measures against organized crime, in particular the toughening of prescribed sentences and the involvement of the military at home.
