The provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas have become the epicenter of crime in this South American nation, both under a state of emergency recently decreed by President Guillermo Lasso.

This week began with a massacre in a fishing port in the province of Esmeraldas. Eight persons were killed, most of them workers of the port.

A day later, at least four shrimp employees, on their way to work were injured after being attacked by criminals in the Gulf of Guayaquil, in the province of Guayas.

Hours later, a boat arrived at the dock of Posorja, a rural parish in that city on the Ecuadorian coast, with two dead and a third injured. The crew members were reportedly attacked while fishing on the high seas. This Friday, the community of Guayaquil woke up in shock after three explosives detonated in different sectors of this coastal city.

To this scenario must be added the clashes in the “Penitenciaria del Litoral”, Ecuador’s largest prison, located in that area of the Andean country. This event took place one day after three policemen, working in that prison, were murdered in a restaurant situated in front of the institution, and last Wednesday, six inmates were found hanged in the same center.

The Andean nation is suffering an insecurity crisis in which the government blames gangs, associated with drug trafficking, as the response of criminal groups to previous actions of their counterparts.

The wave of violence in Ecuador is taking place on the eve of the possible impeachment trial against Lasso, which could end his mandate.

jrr/jav/mem/nta.