Families prefer to order food at home than to go out to the premises, due to insecurity.
The perception of citizen insecurity is high in the Guayaquil population due to the constant robberies with assaults and the almost 600 violent deaths that were registered until yesterday, according to official sources, about 200 more murders than last year, most of which have to do with organized crime, according to the Police.
In the midst of this security crisis, a child died in an apparent assault in an ice cream parlor in the south of the city, on Sunday, October 17.
This fact generated fear in families who used to walk on weekends, so they avoid leaving their homes. Now they make use of cell phone applications to order food at home.
“We haven’t been dating for a few months. You don’t know if you are attacked at the traffic light or if you are affected by a stray bullet in that war between gangs, ”says José, father of a 2-year-old girl, who prefers not to be identified by his real name.
Bertha, the clerk of a hamburger shop in the Centenario neighborhood, the sector where the death of the minor was registered, says that the clientele has decreased.
“Yes, as a result of that death the low influx is notorious. Customers who arrive prefer to buy and take their food or use the delivery men ”, says the woman in her 50s.
In an analysis of the data of the emergency reports for citizen security of the ECU911 of the last three months, it was identified that on Sundays the incidence of this type of news increases in the city, which includes robberies to people, car theft , drug use, among other situations. For example, on Wednesday, October 13, the emergency system received 1,148 calls related to citizen security incidents. While on Sunday, October 17, the day the minor died in the ice cream parlor, he received 2,363 reports of the same type.
A woman wounded by a bullet in the middle of a confrontation between the police and pencil sharpener in the center of Guayaquil
Guillermo, a taxi driver who works from Monday to Sunday, also notices the reduction in passengers that he usually had on weekends.
“Before the pandemic and the security events that we have seen, there were users. Now, at 9:00 p.m. you find an empty center due to insecurity. At that time, the restaurants are no longer crowded or are closed. I have stopped working past midnight to avoid anything, “says the transporter who works in almost all areas of the city.
Actions
According to official reports, about a thousand vehicles are inspected every day by the military in Guayaquil, as part of the state of exception that has been in force at the national level since October 18 to combat organized crime and common crime that took to public roads.
That’s 162 pencil sharpener rounds in 2021; the Police have arrested almost 100 suspects, but without complaints it is difficult to obtain sentences
President Guillermo Lasso also announced the creation of the Legal Defense Unit of the Public Force to support the servants who could be sued for fulfilling their duty. “The law should intimidate the offender, but not the police,” said Lasso, adding that he will pardon all those who have been convicted of carrying out the assigned work.
During the first week of the state of emergency, from October 19 to 25, 11,147 operations were carried out with the registration of 86,154 citizens and 70,665 vehicles in Guayas. (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.
