It started with a storming of an Ecuadorian television station. Masked men with firearms took staffers and reporters hostage. Police have since retaken the station, but like dominoes, it’s one of many stories showing that the Latin American nation could be in political freefall.
Dozens of gangs have taken to the streets, declaring open war on the public. It led to President Daniel Noboa to declare a state of emergency. Thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed to find Adolfo Macías, a gang leader who escaped custody. Noboa also empowered the military to take over prisons and patrol the streets. A curfew is in effect and will remain so for the next 60 days (via NYT):
BREAKING: Gunmen storm TV channel in Ecuador, take hostages pic.twitter.com/UYQrYoOBcC
— BNO News (@BNONews) January 9, 2024
Update: https://t.co/onkr1OLsFq
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 9, 2024
By Tuesday afternoon, at least eight people had died and two others had been injured in violent episodes in Guayaquil, according to the city’s mayor, Aquiles Álvarez, who held a news conference alongside the chief of police. The authorities also said five hospitals had been overtaken.
Explosions, burning vehicles, looting and gunfire were also reported across the country, and the authorities announced that a second major gang leader and other inmates had escaped from another prison.
Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, declared an internal armed conflict on Tuesday and ordered the armed forces to “neutralize” two dozen gangs, which he described as “terrorist organizations,” according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Shops, schools, government offices and buildings were shut down. Workers were sent home, and streets in Quito and Guayaquil were jammed with traffic.
[…]
Mr. Macías, who is the head of Los Choneros gang and is better known as “Fito,” disappeared on Sunday from an overcrowded prison in the coastal city of Guayaquil, from which he has long overseen his group’s operations.
The government had ordered the transfer of high-profile convicts, including Mr. Macías, from the cells where they have been running their criminal rings to a maximum-security facility. That decision, prison experts said, may have led to the escape of Mr. Macías and the prison uprisings.
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 9, 2024
The Government of Ecuador has declared “A State of Internal Armed Conflict”
Criminal gangs have taken up arms against the state & are storming universities, TV studios & other places
Here, armed gangsters storm the University of Guayaquil
🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/a0KKx4rXuR
The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa has announced a State of Emergency and Declaration of Martial Law across the Country due to the Existence of an “Internal Armed Conflict” which requires the Mobilization of the Armed Forced and National Police to Retake the Country from… pic.twitter.com/c579P8CnH6
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 9, 2024
JUST IN: Ecuador is in total chaos as armed gangs have reportedly stormed University of Guayaquil, attempting to kidnap students.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 9, 2024
The incident comes as a television station crew was taken hostage on live air.
The chaos is in response to President Daniel Noboa's decision to call… pic.twitter.com/49NwjeC2u2
The Times added that one-fourth of the country’s 36 prisons are now under the control of gangs. Ecuador’s government aims to retake these facilities, with the intention of a national referendum to increase penalties for murder and drugs while also expanding the military’s role in maintaining law and order. Last year, one of Noboa’s presidential opponents, Fernando Villavicencio, was assassinated allegedly by gang members.
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