Brazil puts federal police at the disposal of Ecuador

The Brazilian Federal Police made themselves available Government of Ecuador to help alleviate the outbreak of violence that is happening in the country, said the director general of the institution, Andrei Rodrigues, this Wednesday in an interview with EFE.

A senior official also offered support Police Association of America (Ameripol)as executive secretary of the organization, and of the Brazilian representation in Interpol.

According to Rodrigues, the idea is to achieve “a great cooperative environment in America,” where information sharing and intelligence work are the initial basis of support, rather than sending personnel or weapons into the country.

“Much more than weapons and ammunition, intelligence is important,” he said.

The head of the federal police reminded that, since Brazil does not have a border with Ecuador, he invited police attachés to Colombia and Peru “so they monitor (the situation) and closely monitor all the developments in the region and the possible impacts (that can happen) in Brazil.”

He also said that since last October, Brazil has had a police agent from Ecuador in the Center for International Police Cooperation (CCPI) from Rio de Janeiro.

“(He) works together with our team and (representatives) of other countries in the region, which also allows us to have a fluid exchange of information,” he said.

Although Rodriques did not specify whether he knew of any connection between criminal groups in Ecuador and Brazilian criminal factions, such as First Principal Command (PCC)he pointed out that the facts point to the activities of organized groups.

“I would not be able to specify which criminal group is interacting with another group. What we are seeing here in the regional scenario is that there have been large drug seizures that point to that,” he asserted.

On Tuesday, the country experienced a day of terror, with at least eight dead in various acts of violence, including the temporary takeover of a television channel in Guayaquil, burning of vehicles and threats against universities, government institutions and businesses.

The incidents began shortly after authorities launched an operation at a prison in Guayaquil in search of José Adolfo Macías, alias ‘Fito’the leader of Los Choneros, considered one of the most dangerous crime groups in the country due to alleged ties to Mexican cartels, who apparently escaped over the weekend.

President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboawho took over as president last November, on Monday declared a nationwide state of emergency for 60 days and declared an “internal armed conflict”, which entails the immediate mobilization and intervention of security forces against organized crime.