QUITO, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who took office last week, swore in new chiefs of the armed forces on Thursday and called on them to work closely with the government in the "war" against rampant crime.
"I appeal to you ... to fight for Ecuador, to work together with this government for a country that is seriously wounded and submerged in violence, where inequalities have become a totally negative constant," Noboa said during the swearing-in ceremony at the Carondelet Palace in Quito.
The president renewed the military leadership this week by decree, appointing a new head of the Armed Forces Joint Command, as well as new commanders of the army, air force and navy.
He expressed his full confidence in the capacity of the new military authorities, as well as in Defense Minister Giancarlo Loffredo, a security and martial arts expert with extensive anti-terrorist training.
Loffredo welcomed the new appointments, saying "every society sooner or later needs to reinvent itself" and the government must focus its efforts "on a single enemy: crime."
The South American country is experiencing an escalation of violence, which the government has blamed on criminal organizations involved in extortion, murder, robbery and other crimes. ■
