Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has granted preemptive pardons for police and military personnel responding to an armed attack that killed at least 22 in the southern city of Guayaquil yesterday.
“We need you to act decisively and without fear of reprisal,” Noboa wrote in a post on X on Friday morning. “Defend the country, I will defend you.”
It’s not the first time the increasingly hardline Noboa has offered pardons to security officers fighting crime in Ecuador, even before they have been deployed or accused of wrongdoing.
“Among the deceased and injured, several have a history of robbery, drug trafficking, and weapons possession,” police wrote.
Ecuadorean authorities raided “several homes” overnight and early in the morning after the attack, arresting 14 individuals and seizing weapons and ammunition, Ecuador’s Ministry of Defense announced in a post on X on Friday.
Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, has suffered grievously in the country’s ongoing drug-fueled violence epidemic. In 2024, the city recorded nearly 2,000 homicides, government statistics show.
Noboa has sought to crack down on Ecuador’s spiraling security crisis since becoming president in 2023, declaring several states of emergency and designating 22 criminal organizations as terrorist groups, moves that have prompted criticism from some rights groups domestically and abroad.
Instability in Ecuador, fueled by the international drug trade, has been the backdrop of Noboa’s campaign for a second term this year. He fell short of securing an outright majority in the first round of voting in Ecuador’s general election last month.
A second-round vote in the coming months will decide if the Latin American country will stick with Noboa’s approach or seek an alternative voice in leftist candidate Luisa González.