Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso has appointed retired General Luis Lara Jaramillo as the new defense minister, hours after Luis Hernández resigned from his post.
Lasso highlighted the “trajectory at the service of the Ecuatorioans” of the new head of Defense and his professionalism. “I fully trust in his positive contribution to the security of the country,” said the president, noting that the new minister successfully completed all the courses and assents during his military career.
The new head of the defense ministry said that the threats are internal, caused by crime and the insecurity of drug trafficking, so the Armed Forces will work to dismantle these structures and annul the threats.
This is the third defense minister so far in the government of the current Lasso administration, which assumed the presidency in May 2021.