President of Ecuador tells CNN that violence crosses borders and asks for international help

Ecuador has asked the United States and other nations around the world for support following an increase in violence in the country, ranging from the attack on a television network to the seizure of prison facilities.

In an interview with Christiane Amanpour, from CNN, this Tuesday (16), the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa, said that “international cooperation” is necessary, because the issue is a “global problem”.

“I would gladly accept cooperation from the United States. We need equipment, we need weapons, we need [serviços de] intelligence and I think this is a global problem. It’s not just in Ecuador, it’s a problem that crosses borders,” she said.

“Around 35% of the drugs that leave Ecuador go to the United States, and another similar percentage to Europe. This is why we must treat this as an international problem,” she added.

The president said he was confident that Ecuador would succeed in restoring peace throughout the country.

“I'm sure we can win this war. I am sure that we can restore peace and restore stability in a country that has all the natural resources, that has a stable dollarized economy and that we can generate jobs and attract investments in the near future”, highlighted the head of state.

Amanpour asked the Ecuadorian president about the more than 40 prisoners who escaped from the prison in northern Ecuador in recent days. Noboa said his team is working in an “orderly manner” to resolve the problem, after freeing 270 hostages.

“We have restored stability in prisons at this time,” Noboa stressed, adding that “the army and police are working together and the entire nation is united to eliminate this threat.”

“People want peace. People want to be able to walk freely on the street, have their own business, have stability so that their children can go to parks, go to school and also to university”, he said.

“I think our operation is being successful at this point. We are making progress and I am sure that in the end we will achieve a complete victory”, he concluded.