Authorities imposed state of emergency to address drug-related violence, and series of prison riots erupted. President Lasso 29 April declared 60-day state of emergency in Guayas, Manabí and Esmeraldas provinces, involving curfews and deployment of some 9,000 security forces, to address drug-related violence. This is second time since taking office last year, Lasso is using emergency powers to curb violence, while violent deaths and crimes allegedly connected to drug trafficking continue to rise. Notably, leadership dispute among prisoners 3 April sparked riot in El Turi prison, Cuenca city (south), which reportedly left over 20 inmates killed; prison riots also erupted in subsequent days, including 5 April in Latacunga, Machala, Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo cities, and 25 April in El Inca prison in capital Quito, which left 15 inmates injured. Ecuadorian court 22 April requested former President Rafael Correa be extradited from Belgium; move follows court’s eight-year sentence on Correa for bribery in 2020, and Brussels granting political asylum 19 April to Correa, who has been living in his wife’s native Belgium since 2017.
Ecuador has been Latin America’s most unstable democracy for a decade. Starting with the ousting of President Abdalá Bucaram by Congress and street protests in 1997, weak, temporary governments have been the rule.
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