These territories serve as primary routes for cocaine shipments to the United States and Europe.

On Wednesday, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a new state of emergency in El Oro, Manabi, Los Rios, and Guayas.

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These four coastal provinces concentrate most of the country’s criminal activity, as they serve as primary routes for cocaine shipments to the United States and Europe.

Since early 2024, this Andean nation has been formally under an “Internal Armed Conflict,” a policy adopted to address the crisis of violence caused by drug-related criminal gangs.

The state of emergency suspends key constitutional rights — including the inviolability of the home and of private correspondence — in order to facilitate security operations, particularly forced entry into homes and properties suspected of criminal ties.

The Noboa decree seeks to incorporate the guidelines of the Constitutional Court, which has previously moderated the scope of emergency measures.

The Constitutional Court has urged the Noboa administration to combat gangs using standard legal tools and warned against perpetuating emergency conditions in communities that have faced suspended fundamental rights for over a year and a half.

In a previous state of emergency, the Constitutional Court struck down the measure as it applied to prisons. The Ecuadorian prisons had been militarized since Noboa’s declaration of “war” to regain control of correctional facilities.

The July 6 decree, which must once again undergo review by the Constitutional Court, comes at a time of growing confrontation between Noboa and the constitutional judges. Recently, the court partially struck down several controversial articles from laws backed by the president.

Among the suspended articles was a provision that would have allowed Noboa to issue “preemptive pardons” to police and military personnel prosecuted for crimes committed in the context of the “internal armed conflict.”

The Constitutional Court also ruled against allowing the national intelligence system to use agents with false identities and to manage funds outside the public procurement law.

The ongoing wave of violence has placed Ecuador at the top of Latin America’s homicide rankings. In 2025, the situation has worsened, with the country averaging more than one murder per hour.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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