Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso on Friday declared a 60-day state of emergency, including curfews in some areas and the deployment of thousands of security forces, in three of the country's 24 provinces, citing a rise in crime.
It marks the second time Lasso has used emergency powers to counter violence that has shot up since late last year in the Andean country. His government blames drug trafficking gangs who use the country as a transit point for exporting narcotics to the United States and Europe.
