Overview
- President Daniel Noboa announced the deployment on Monday, ordering 2,000 additional police and 2,000 additional military personnel to reinforce security in the capital.
- The Plan de Protección concentrates forces at high-traffic sites and peak hours with 100 vehicles, motorcycles and 20 drones for patrols, checkpoints and controls at city entrances.
- The announcement followed a spike in violent incidents, including a wrapped, decapitated body found on Avenida Simón Bolívar on July 29 and reports of rising robberies near university campuses.
- Human rights groups and lawyers have warned that militarized operations risk racial profiling and excess force, with Afro-descendant communities singled out as especially vulnerable.
- The move updates a state of exception in Pichincha and builds on past joint security work with U.S. partners, but analysts caution heavy local deployments can displace criminal activity to other cities or provinces.