Quito, January 2 (Prensa Latina) The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, today assigned Arturo Félix Wong, Minister of Public Administration, an additional responsibility, namely the management of the Secretariat of Public and State Security.
The appointment is contained in Executive Decree No. 105, signed this Tuesday, and comes shortly after the announcement that the country ended 2023 as the most violent country in Latin America, with more than seven thousand murders during that period.
The Secretariat of Public Security was created during the administration of former President Guillermo Lasso and is an institution attached to the Presidential Office of the Republic. Its role is to develop public policies, comprehensive planning and coordination between the organizations responsible for the sector.
Arturo Félix Wong is not the only official in Noboa's team with more than one role, as government minister Mónica Palencia also heads the Interior Ministry and is responsible for managing the police.
The escalation of insecurity remains the main concern of Ecuadorians, although there are only two days left until the start of 2024.
Citizens are demanding concrete and urgent action from the head of the executive branch, who presented the so-called Phoenix Plan to end the violence during the election campaign.
In interviews with local media this Tuesday, Minister Palencia highlighted that the Fénix plan has already been implemented in the country and has seen a decrease in violence rates.
But despite his statements that the strategy has already been implemented, headlines about criminal activity continue.
In the municipality of Durán in the coastal province of Guayas, five people were murdered in their home the day before, a crime that authorities say is part of clashes between criminal gangs over control of areas for drug trafficking and extortion.
rgh/avr