North Coast, Ecuador: Eight Recent Crimes, Taxi Drivers Protest

According to ElComercio.com taxi drivers are protesting the increased murders of their compatriots in the past year. Taxi drivers took to the streets Monday June 13th to protest the continuing deaths of their peers in the Esmeraldas province that boarders Colombia. The president of the Provincial Taxi Drivers Union, Segundo Gallegos, says that even though police announced a new elite group of police to patrol the streets and strengthen controls against crime, none of this has been able to stop the killings of taxi drivers. About 500 vehicles participated in the protest yesterday. The taxis stopped outside the Esmeraldas governor’s office. The governor, Lenin Lara meet with the taxi driver representatives at 3 p.m. this afternoon to discuss the ‘urgent’ matter. Police say that these cases were isolated events, but the taxi drivers complain that this is the work of organized crime groups.Read Article