Juan Zapata, president of the national COE: A decision is never made because someone thinks of it, it is made technically

Juan Zapata Silva is 53 years old and during 25 of these He was part of the National Police. He is director of ECU911. As presidential delegate he has directed, since December 15, 2020, the National Emergency Operations Committee (COE) in the governments of Lenín Moreno and Guillermo Lasso. He is president of the Technical Committee for Safety and Emergencies of the OAS. He was Secretary of Security of the Municipality of Quito and directed the metropolitan COE.

Faced with criticism from business sectors or doctors, in an interview with this newspaper defends the entity’s decisions regarding the management of the pandemic; is optimistic about what can happen in the coming weeks with the epidemiological situation due to COVID-19.

What is the national COE?

It is an Emergency Operations Committee that is within the Public Security Law and within the Risk Management Manual. It is an institution that articulates all the institutions when an emergency already overwhelms an institution, that is, you cannot do the health crisis only from the Ministry of Health, therefore, it is necessary that the COE be activated because we are there 20 institutions, 14 ministries have voice and vote. They are not only from the executive level, but also the AME (Association of Ecuadorian Municipalities), Congope (Consortium of Provincial Autonomous Governments), the Red Cross and the commander of the Fire Department in the place where the COE is activated. It articulates all the institutions and whoever generates the administrative act is the institution that has the competence, for example, in the matter of a sporting event if we say that the match is with the suggested 50% capacity, we send the communications via that resolution . For example, you determine the Ministry of Government to generate the administrative act ordering the mayor to give permission for that event, but that also needs a risk report, depending on whether it is high risk or low risk, a capacity is given. or not. The plenary is the one that makes the final decision with votes.

As an ordinary rule we base ourselves on our powers, when we are in a state of emergency, then the (executive) decree empowers us to assume powers, such as that of the GADs (decentralized autonomous governments).

What role do the AME or the Congope have?

They are members of the plenary because we have to be very articulated with the GAD. So the AME is our link with all 221 cantons. Everything that we resolve in plenary is being landed towards its 221 cantons. The same provincial councils.

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Criticisms have been generated about the decisions made by the COE.

The decision does not go through the members of the plenary, it goes through the technical reports, for example, who presents the technical report, table 2, which is on health, and the Minister of Health presents us. So when the technical report tells us that all health indicators are going down, you have the possibility of opening and expanding measures. If the epidemiological indicators say that everything is on the rise, the same table asks us and suggests measures. They suggest to us, who makes them effective, the plenary through the vote of the members of the COE. When you decide to restrict a holiday, do not think that everyone agrees, because it is logical, each one defends his own: the Minister of Productivity, the Minister of Tourism make it clear that this is going to affect their sector and they do not necessarily have to be ok, but what weighs more? The health issue, because we are dealing with an issue of lives and public health. We respect those criticisms, however you have to lead a COE and make decisions based on what the experts tell you, not what they say on social networks or the people who feel affected. Unfortunately, in the cantonal COE they do not have this structure and many times the decisions in their territories do not go through the technique but go through -sometimes- even through the subject, let’s say, of pressure from citizens, of a political issue, an issue that there is no attrition.

But in the case of the Ecuador-Brazil party, you make a decision on January 24, the next day the president asks you to analyze again and two days later you change your position, that is a flexible decision.

There are two different things there. First, the president of the COE is the president of the Republic, and within the possibilities it is possible to put any point on the plenary agenda. In that case there was a request from the Ecuadorian (Soccer) Federation that I analyze again and because for any decision I first ask for the health report. The dynamics of (the variant) ómicron is different from that of the original COVID and the delta, where the processes lasted between ten and fifteen days; here it is from three to five days, that is, our scheme changes daily. In that week we had the biggest drop in the number of infections. You also had to check the background. The Ecuadorian Football Federation always complied with protocols. They are open issues and all are vaccinated and had the online purchase system. (With) soccer teams we have not had major problems except for specific issues, the case of Emelec. I would like the judge who issued this precautionary measure to see what happened yesterday (Wednesday) at the stadium (Capwell), if they fulfilled the capacity, if they complied with the biosecurity measures; there we had flares.

A decision in the COE is never made because someone comes up with it and everyone raises their arm, no. It is taken rationally, nominally and technically.

But in the case of the Yellow Night, you decided to refrain from making a statement.

There are powers that are exclusive to institutions of the national COE, for example, education or health itself or income to the country, as there are powers of the cantonal COE, such as public transport. We have concurrent powers, that is, they need a permit from the GAD and they need an institution permit from the national COE through the administration and the Risk Management Service. Quito did not have that prohibition on holding massive public sports events, but in Guayaquil you had a resolution that said that massive public events are prohibited and specified sports events, and if we came with a speech that the GADs have to respect national competition , we could not fall into the same situation as the confrontation because if we approved the Yellow Night knowing that it needs a municipal permit, how do you authorize something that you know is prohibited in that city by the cantonal authority? It was not prudent to make a decision. When we take out that resolution, the Municipality of Guayaquil cancels that resolution, immediately there Barcelona could access the permit it needed.

The Chamber of Commerce of Quito has stated that the decisions of the COE affected its income in reference to capacity, according to a survey of its members.

The greatest effort that we have asked of the citizens was the second week of January, where we had more than 50,000 infections. The capacity is a responsibility and competence of the GAD. We always talk about urging the GADs so that they accept it or not. It is logical when you manage a capacity, you are going to limit the income of that productive sector. Perhaps here the most affected have been the discos, the tolerance centers, the karaoke bars, they are the places with the greatest risk. The last resolution that we just gave (last Wednesday) already practically 91% of the cantons are (at an epidemiological traffic light) in yellow and green. 75% (of capacity) is the minimum, 85 and 100% of capacity. We are giving a message that we are walking towards reactivation.

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In the case of the changes that have been made to enter Ecuador, perhaps tourism has not been affected?

Always a measure, when you put (certificate of) vaccination and the negative PCR, logically it is an issue that is going to affect tourism, but we are favoring the health issue. When the (variant) delta entered the region, all (the countries) closed airports; They told us to close airports, we could not make that decision because it was to give the final touch to an area that was hit like tourism and we played it with protocols and it went well. Ecuador has also been a benchmark for measures in the region.

In the case of the reopening of the Rumichaca bridge with Colombia, it was scheduled for December 15 gradually, but on December 17 the COE ordered the immediate and total reopening. For the Tulcán authorities it was a surprise measure.

We already had the decision for a month before, that is, Ecuador was already ready to open the border a month before, but in the case of the border it is very different because a commitment from State to State is required. What we were waiting for is for the percentage of vaccination to be increased in the border area and time has proved us right. The analysis was made that perhaps it was not necessary to wait much longer in the phases because we already had all the conditions. Has the opening of the border generated health conflicts? None.

According to the Pichincha College of Physicians, there has been political and economic pressure for the national COE to change its decision regarding the Ecuador-Brazil match. Was there no political or economic pressure?

We have always been working on the health issue and we have not had any pressure nor have we allowed ourselves to be pressured. Our only pressure has been to save lives. Since I am a delegate ratified by the president (Guillermo Lasso) he has not called me once to tell me Juan, this decision must be made for an issue, never. When the pandemic gives us a break, we have to go to the issue of economic reactivation, that is the scenario.

Regarding the pandemic law that the Assembly is dealing with, in your opinion, is it necessary that it be issued soon, would it have helped you make other decisions?

We are already two years into the pandemic, no Constitution, no law foresaw a pandemic, the state of exception is just that, an exceptional measure and we have had to play with ordinary regulations and how difficult it has been. That law was necessary in the worst moments, however, let’s hope that this scenario does not change, since European countries are practically returning to normality, we are also on that path. Let the law come in a month, two months, I don’t know how opportune it would be.

A law is needed, above all, that determines community work, that those young people who are partying and doing what happened in the (avenida de los) Shyris (in Quito) or in Ambato, or in Salinas or in Montañita, take me to do community work in a hospital where there are families outside praying for their relatives, where there are doctors risking their lives and where there are human beings fighting against COVID. I think that in his conscience he is going to change his chip of saying no, well, the country is in a health crisis and I don’t think my attitude is the right one.