One of the bloody events of the weekend took place last Saturday night in the town of Guasmo Sur in Guayaquil city, where nine people were killed and ten others were injured while watching a volleyball match.

The following day, in the same neighborhood, a man was shot while going to throw the garbage.

In the province of Manabí 20 homicides were registered in the last three days and one of the most shocking cases was the kidnapping and murder of five tourists who were staying at a hotel in Puerto López.

The police reported that three of those involved in this incident were arrested.

Other cases of violent deaths were reported during the holiday in other towns, reported the local media.

This is the highest upturn in violent deaths of the year in the midst of the so-called Phoenix Plan, an initiative of President Daniel Noboa with which he promised to curb insecurity, and also occurs despite the state of emergency decreed in January and which will end on April 8.

This new wave of violence is also taking place when the country is preparing for a popular consultation and referendum on April 21, when Ecuadorians will have to answer 11 questions on security and employment, a process considered unnecessary and useless by political and social sectors of the opposition.

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