Quito, Jan. 2 -- Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has declared a new 60-day "state of emergency" in nine provinces and three municipalities as an increase in criminal violence has caused serious internal commotion, local media said on Thursday.
The decree, signed on Wednesday by the president, has been in force since Thursday in the provinces of Guayas, Manabi, Santa Elena, Los Rios, El Oro and Esmeraldas in the coastal region, in the central-northern provinces of Pichincha and Santo Domingo, as well as in Sucumbios province in the Amazon region.
The measure is also applied in the municipality of La Mana in the central province of Cotopaxi, along with the municipalities of Las Naves and Echeandia in the Andean province of Bolivar.
The p...