Despite the increase in violent deaths this year, according to police data, thefts in general have decreased.
If the number of violent deaths in 2021 is compared with those of last year, there is an alarming increase at a general level in Guayaquil, since only in the city of Buenos Aires it went from 250 murders in 2020 (from January to October 29) to 474 in what that goes this year. In Zone 8 (Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón) there are 540 cases.
But where the highest number of murders is concentrated continues to be the south of the city, a sector divided into the South districts (Guasmo, Floresta, Pradera, 7 Lagos and Centenario) and Los Esteros (Trinitaria Island, Los Esteros, Malvinas, Santa Mónica, among others).
More than 118 murders have been registered in the southern district, mainly in the Guasmo area. Last year, to date, there were 70 cases.
The situation is such that there are circuits like 7 Lagos, where last year 4 murders were reported and so far in 2021 there have already been 28 violent deaths. It is estimated that in the Southern District one murder is registered every 36 hours. The most recent took place last Thursday night at the coop. Win or die. A 20-year-old man died and two more were wounded by gunshot wounds. They were shot from a tricimoto, because at that time a motorcycle control was being carried out in the sector.
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Most of the crimes are motivated, presumably, by the sale of drugs, since the proximity to the port and the zone of passage of the ships makes it a strategic point for the gangs that work in the logistics of drug trafficking on a large scale, according to the Policeman. That is why they fight over territory and are willing to kill each other.
In the Southern District, it is believed that the gangs financed landfills in cooperatives in the south, from where it is presumed that the boats left to contaminate the ships that passed through the Quarantine sector with drugs.
But not only are they killed by criminal violence in the Southern District, Colonel Ricardo Manitio, the area’s police chief, considers that another of the problems is that there are inhabitants of this end of the city who are violent.
“Here they collide on bicycles and they are already playing to kill,” said Manitio, who considers that not only is a police control necessary but the intervention of other institutions such as the MIES and the MSP to work rescuing minors from these circles of violence and consumption.
Despite the rise in deaths, in this district the numbers related to other crimes have fallen. Manitio explains that robberies to people, business robberies and homes decreased by 56%, however, the rate of motorcycles and cars theft did increase.
A similar situation exists in the Esteros District (Trinitaria Island, Los Esteros, Santa Mónica, Malvinas). Colonel Patricio Zumárraga, police chief of this district, explains that robberies also fell this year compared to last year. It would be 47 fewer cases, according to statistics.
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While in the Esteros District there are 53 murders during 2021, last year, in the same period, 49 cases were reported.
Zumárraga explains that, considering the general increase in deaths, his men have managed to control criminal activities in that sector, where 280,000 people lived until the 2010 census.
In Los Esteros, about ten dock workers have been murdered this year.
Despite this panorama, Colonel Zumárraga mentions that there are several cooperatives where not a single murder has been registered, as the community has come together to improve the sector, community assemblies have been held and panic buttons have been activated, which has allowed them answer 10,260 calls for help that come directly to the UPC, without fear of going through the ECU911.
“We have reduced the response time to 2 minutes,” says the colonel. He adds that even though he doesn’t have all the staff he requires under international protocols, the men assigned to his district have been able to maintain overall control.
The policeman also mentions that at least 50 uniformed men are assigned to attend house arrests and that they continue to wait for the judges to specify other measures to release personnel and send them to patrol.
For example, there is the case of a woman who obtained house arrest when she was pregnant and despite the fact that the baby is almost 2 years old, this measure has not been reviewed by the judge. (I)
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
