DEFENDING. Special Actions teams prepare to go into action. Photo: Armed Forces
The provinces with current exception decrees will be the priority in the fight against crime.
The decision announced by the Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón, to declare organized crime gangs “terrorist groups” has generated multiple reactions. But in the Armed ForcesThey are only waiting for the “political contribution” of the Government to act.
This reclassification of criminal organizations implies a series of transformations, no snot only in the type of jurisdiction that would be in charge of judging the people linked to these groups, but also in the punishment and even in the actions of the security forces.
For the former Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, the decision of the Government should have been meditated “for a long time and with great awareness”.
For Carrillo It is a step that will allow the State security forces to “use all force”to control the “irrational actions” of criminal groups.
action zone
Sources linked to the Armed Forces. informed LA HORA that the actions that are being carried out today are part of the “daily and recurring” actions of the institution, but that at the time of signing the reclassification of groups will “intensify”.
“When we have the order, we will enter another stage, where we will intensify the combat of these groups and we are not going to stop”, the sources pointed out.
They specified that the actions will be more forceful in the provinces and regions in which the state of exception (Esmeraldas, Guayas and Los Ríos). But especially in Esmeraldas.
In addition, the security forces will take as main targets criminal organizations that have generated “terror” in recent weeks. Before the consultation was held, Police Intelligence had identified 25 criminal organizations in the national territory.
legal treatment
Criminal lawyer Mariana Yépez explained to LA HORA that the actions of organized crime gangs had been transformed.
When comparing the types of crimes and the penalties contemplated in the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code (COIP), the reclassification of the groups implies an important change.
While a person accused of a crime related to Organized crime, provided for in article 369 of the COIP, faces sentences of 5 to 7 years. A defendant of terrorism can receive from 10 to 15 years in prison, according to article 366. This in case the death of one or more innocent people has not been registered. If that’s the case, the punishment could be between 22 and 26 years.
The attacks that occurred in November 2022, in which 12 bomb detonations were recorded in Guayaquil and Esmeraldas; the killing of the nine fishermen in Esmeraldas; the alarms for explosive devices in Quito, as well as the USB-bombs sent to the media and journalists, marked a change in the way criminal groups operate.
This, precisely, has led to their being classified as “terrorist groups”., because they attack the innocent population in an effort to generate terror. (ILS)
vision against terrorism
In Latin America, particularly in Ecuador, it is not the first time that there is a need to engage in an iron fight against terrorism.. In the 1980s, for example, the Government of León Febres Cordero, the Armed Forces. they had to harshly confront the rise of the Alfaro Vive Carajo (AVC) group.
The participation of the Armed Forces in this type of scenario has also been registered in countries such as Mexico, in which the drug cartels have degenerated into a situation of extreme violence and in which the dispute over border territory has forced the Government to act forcefully. Although the war has not been won.
In Brazil, likewise, the fight against criminal gangs that had taken over the favelas, especially in Rio de Janeiroforced an action by the military forces in the fight against crime.
Another reference for the military It is the conception of terrorism after the events of September 11, 2001, when 2,996 innocent people were murdered, with the sole objective of generating terror in the population..
special units
Por this weekend, the FF.AA. plan to act throughout the territory, framed within the current state of exception, mainly in Esmeraldas, Guayas and Los Ríos.
At the moment, joint actions are being carried out between the armed forces. and the National Police, but Members of the specialized forces in the fight against terrorism have not yet acted.
in the country exists “specialized, qualified and trained personnel to successfully carry out these operations”, assured military sources.