Ecuador deploys 13,000 troops to Guayas and other provinces amid state of exception

President Daniel Noboa declared a new state of exception covering roughly half of Ecuador and launched a "total war" against organized crime. Thirteen thousand military personnel are being deployed to four of the country's most violent provinces: Guayas, Manabí, El Oro and Los Ríos.

In Guayas, about 6,000 soldiers will join permanent forces in Guayaquil, which recorded 1,521 murders out of a national total of 3,485. The deployment includes intensified land and maritime patrols, tighter controls on weapons, ammunition and explosives, and support for operations against armed groups that traffic drugs to Europe and North America.

On 19 June, an elite contingent of 145 Iwias commandos arrived at Guayaquil's Simón Bolívar Air Base to reinforce the offensive. The Iwias, drawn from indigenous Pastaza communities, are integrated with Army, Air Force and Navy units already assigned to Guayas (5,000 troops) and the other provinces.

The government says the goal is to reduce violent deaths and restore security in the most conflict‑prone cities. While foreign troops have not yet been deployed, the United States is providing advisory and technological assistance to the operations.