The United States will send the head of the Southern Command, Gen. Laura Richardson, and senior anti-narcotics and diplomatic officials to Ecuador to work with President Daniel Noboa’s government to explore ways to combat organized crime, the ministry said of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

Ecuador is suffering “horrendous levels of violence and terrorism at the hands of narcocriminal elements who target innocent civilians.”State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement, recalling this “more than 100 prison guards are being held hostage.”

“We reaffirm our commitment to maintaining close cooperation with Ecuador, including in the fight against criminal organizations,” he added.

The US Embassy in Ecuador responded to the message from the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its social networks.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has been condemning for days the terror that more than twenty drug gangs have sown in the country and has shown itself willing to cooperate, but in a very evasive manner, without going into details.

American police in support

The State Department’s statement on “narcocriminal violence in Ecuador” is more precise.

“We will work with President Noboa to deepen our law enforcement cooperation through security assistance programs,” he said.

To speed up cooperation, Washington is taking a step forward and will send senior officials “in the coming weeks.”

Their goal: “to explore with their Ecuadorian counterparts ways in which we can work together more effectively to counter the threat from transnational criminal organizations.”

“This country is already tired of the conditions imposed by criminals,” President Daniel Noboa responds to a video by Fabricio Colón Pico

The officials include Gen. Laura Richardson, the undersecretary of the International Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Todd Robinson and Kevin Sullivan, a senior official in the State Department’s office for Latin America.

In addition, U.S. police officers will travel “to assist Ecuador in criminal investigations,” the statement said.

The United States will also increase “intelligence sharing, cooperation to combat malicious cyber activities, and assistance in implementing prison reform.” (JO)