Ecuadorian Defense Minister Luis Hernandez announced his resignation on Tuesday (April 26th) in the midst of a fight against drug trafficking, which has led to high levels of crime and the worst massacres in the country’s prisons. “This afternoon I tendered my resignation” to President Guillermo Lasso, announced the retired general on Twitter, without however specifying the reason.
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In a letter addressed to the president, revealed by this same social network, Luis Hernandez declared that during his mandate he implemented the policy of the conservative government which declared war on drug trafficking. Hernandez was present Tuesday in the port of Guayaquil (southwest) during the destruction of 2,100 firearms seized by the armed forces during operations against criminal circles.
Installed eleven months ago, the Lasso government declared war on drug trafficking. This has resulted in a rise in crime on the streets and clashes in prisons between inmate gang members which have claimed 350 lives since February 2021. Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo admitted a week ago that the Equator crossed a “crisis of insecurity” linked to crime, which has caused the death of 1,180 people this year.
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In 2021, the country seized an annual record 210 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine. In the first four months of 2022, more than 75 tons were seized there, Guillermo Lasso said in an interview with the press on Tuesday. Faced with the crisis of the overcrowded prison system and drug-related violence, Lasso mobilized the military on the streets to support the police. The military are also responsible for the external control of prisons.
A few days after Luis Hernandez took office at the Ministry of Defense, on October 18, a military radar that Ecuador had just put into service to combat drug trafficking was damaged by an explosion. The authorities denounced a “terrorist” attack.