Ecuador intensifies security efforts, says Interior minister hours after car bomb attack

Record ID: 1983367

  • Title: Ecuador intensifies security efforts, says Interior minister hours after car bomb attack
  • Date: 14th March 2025
  • Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR (MARCH 13, 2025) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ECUADOREAN MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR, JOHN REIMBERG, SAYING: "The issue with cars has an important point, and that point is called fear. It is called fear because they saw a meeting that President Daniel Noboa had with Erik Prince. This was the first result; it is calle
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Drug trafficking Ecuador Gang violence Insecurity Security strategy
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, ECUADOR
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, ECUADOR
  • Country: Ecuador
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA00A871113032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A car bomb explosion in Guayaquil on Thursday (March 13), resulted in significant damage, leaving vehicles destroyed and causing injuries and fatalities, according to local reports.
    During an interview with Reuters later on Thursday, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced that security measures were being reinforced with the help of Blackwater founder Erik Prince to address escalating crime.
    Ecuador's security forces will "very soon" receive advice from Erik Prince, the private security executive, to fight crime gangs, which are attempting to increase violence in the country ahead of an April presidential run-off, Interior Minister John Reimberg said.
    President Daniel Noboa, who is locked in a tight contest with his leftist rival, this week announced the country would work with Prince, who renamed Blackwater and sold it after several employees were indicted on charges of unlawfully killing Iraqi civilians. The men were convicted but later pardoned by President Donald Trump.
    Noboa has declared a war on gangs as he tries to control violence with military presence on the streets and state of emergency declarations in dangerous areas.
    "Erik Prince's group will help us and we are going to do what it takes to achieve it," Reimberg said. "It's everything we have to do, we don't rule out absolutely anything."
    "People will come who are prepared to give the necessary support to our police and military forces to get out of this crime problem," he added.
    Reimberg said the explosion of at least one car bomb outside a major Guayaquil prison on Thursday morning, which killed one guard, was a reaction to Noboa's meeting with Prince. "That's fear about what we are willing to do to reduce crime," Reimberg said. Crime gangs are trying to stoke violence ahead of the April 13 run-off, Reimberg added.
    Leftist Luisa Gonzalez, a protege of former President Rafael Correa, has challenged Noboa's security strategy and promised more social programs alongside security efforts. The 2023 election, where Noboa won his truncated term, was marked by violence, including the assassination of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Vilavicencio.
    (Production: Tito Correa, Hugo Monnet)
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