Some 150 professors from 21 universities in the country, Europe and the United States signed a statement repudiating the declaration of internal armed conflict that makes the presence and operations of the Armed Forces in the streets possible.

The militarization process that would seek to counteract criminal violence renamed “terrorist” generates more violence than it aims to combat, the manifesto states.

According to professionals, resolving insecurity does not involve arming oneself, succumbing to arbitrariness and disrespect for human rights, while justifying the plundering of nature, labor exploitation and social cuts.

The complex solutions we need involve demanding other policies and other approaches that allow us to rebuild the links, also through education, they noted.

The manifesto also questions the police raid on the Mexican embassy.

This fact – they affirm – shows that the government has taken militarization and repressive force as the only way out, and that has spread in territories that resist mining, in popular neighborhoods and communities, and mainly affects impoverished and racialized people.

They also criticized the popular consultation proposed by Noboa and which will take place on April 21, a procedure that “seeks to radicalize this situation with questions that further reinforce the militarization of society and make the lives of workers precarious.”

“No to militarization, yes to education” was the slogan repeated by the group of teachers who gathered in Quito this Monday.

100 days ago, President Noboa decreed the existence of an internal armed conflict in the country as a way to confront the criminal gangs that he classified as terrorists.

This measure, accompanied by the recently completed declaration of a state of emergency, left more than 13,000 detained amidst complaints of human rights violations.

The Government assures that violent deaths have been reduced, however, news about massacres, extortions and other crimes continue.

ef/ro/avr