Quito, Apr 28 (EFE).- The State and Public Security Council (Cosepe), Ecuador’s highest advisory body on the matter, recommended the use of lethal weapons to combat the wave of crimes and offenses in the country, attributed to gangs of criminals whom he described as “terrorists”.
This is one of the main Cosepe resolutions that met this Thursday at the Carondelet Palace, in the historic center of Quito, headed by the head of state, Guillermo Lasso.
The Security Secretary, Wagner Bravo, read a document containing the Cosepe resolutions.
This body is made up of the heads of state functions and the military and police high command.
Lasso is asked to use lethal weapons
In that letter, the Council recommended President Lasso “to issue an executive decree establishing coercive, urgent measures that include the use of lethal weapons to combat this serious threat that affects the Ecuadorian people.”
Likewise, it declared terrorism “as a threat that threatens the structural elements of the State.”
It was also stated that it affects “integral security, as it is conceived in international regulations and Ecuadorian legislation.”
Cosepe declared “that the terrorist threat is going to be faced firmly.”
In addition, it will have “the participation of all functions and institutions of the State, in accordance with the provisions of article 226 of the Constitution of the Republic.”
Onslaught of crime in Ecuador
The body decided to “lift the reservation on this resolution” so that the population knows the details of the debate around the fight against crime.
The meeting was delayed at the request of President Lasso, for reasons of his health, it should have taken place a couple of weeks ago.
The decisions came as the country grapples with rising crime.
According to the authorities, the escalation of violence is due to an action by criminal gangs that are trying to create chaos and control territories in Ecuador.
Decision amid impeachment
The wave of violence has generated deep concern among the population, which for the past two years has seen the news of murders published daily in the media rise and which, according to analysts, seems to have surpassed the control of law enforcement. .
Cosepe’s decision also came at a time when the National Assembly (Parliament) is processing a political trial of censorship against President Lasso.
Lasso is accused by the opposition of an alleged crime of embezzlement in a public company.
But the accusations against him do not stop there, since they also blame the security, economic and social crises that the nation is suffering.