At least Eight people died and three were injuredincluding a police officer injured by a gun, in Guayaquil as part of the “internal armed conflict” declared the government of Ecuador, led by Daniel Noboa, due to the spiral of violence triggered by the activities of “narco-terrorist” groups.
The fatalities occurred in separate incidents in different parts of the city, as the police explained in a press conference held jointly with the city's mayor, Aquiles Álvarez, at the facilities of the Municipal Public Company for Risk Management and Security Control of Guayaquil, Segura E.P.
The agents They managed to arrest 14 people suspected of being involved in the violencewhile The takeover of five hospitals and the Ecuadorian canal was recorded TC Televisión by a group of armed, masked men and damage to infrastructure and vehicles. According to one posted on her online social profile.
The mayor of Guayaquil has stressed that his commitment is to “the security” of the city: “We will work proactively and cooperatively with the public forces, which we fully support. We will continue to work with our local security contingent to strengthen the common response to the serious security crisis”. He also called for “national unity” and expressed confidence that “the armed forces and the national police” will take the necessary measures to restore order and peace in the country. The mayor expressed his solidarity with the families of the victims and sent his order to the President.
This came after Noboa declared a state of emergency to allow police and military commanders to intervene in prisons after ensuring the country was alive “A prison security crisis”after authorities confirmed the escape from the Guayas Regional Prison in Guayaquil of “Fito”, one of those involved in the recent wave of violence and instability in Ecuadorian prisons.
The government of Daniel Noboa in Ecuador has now identified 21 criminal gangs in his country are terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors, says a presidential decree signed on Tuesday afternoon, declaring the existence of an internal armed conflict. “I have ordered the armed forces to carry out military operations to neutralize these groups,” the president said.
With this, the new President of Ecuador, who was sworn in at the end of November last year, declared war on organized crime in this country, which had already triggered a wave of violence since the publication of a first decree declaring a state of emergency. .
Ecuador started the week with a low a state of emergency valid for 60 days and suspends the right to freedom of association, inviolability of home, inviolability of correspondence in prisons and freedom of movement between 11 o'clock in the evening and 5 in the morning. In addition, “it allows the mobilization of the armed forces to provide complementary support to the internal security work of the National Police, whether in detention centers or generally on the streets,” the executive reported.
It was his reaction to the escape of Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito,” who, according to authorities, escaped from the Deprivation of Liberty Center (CPL) in Guayaquil on Sunday evening. Without knowing when he escaped, they noticed the absence of the leader of the Los Choneros mega-gang as they prepared to transfer him to a maximum security prison to continue his 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime and murder. It was the turning point.
The gangs responded with even more violence. During the day on Tuesday, Ecuador witnessed live criminals breaking into Guayaquil's TC Noticias television station, which continued broadcasting while the hooded men displayed their weapons and explosives. The journalists called on the police to leave the area on behalf of their captors. The uniformed officers entered the location and arrested 13 people.
Parallel to, Criminal attacks have been recorded at the University of Guayaquil, at the Teodoro Maldonado Hospital and at a shopping center in the same city. In all cases there were kidnappings and exchanges of fire. As if that were not enough, videos began circulating on social networks showing masked men murdering kidnapped prison guards since the weekend, attempts to loot commercial premises, rob pedestrians and gunmen opening fire on police patrols in several parts of the country. At press time, events were still developing.
Since Monday they had warned with a video recorded from Turi prison in which a group of masked men sent a message to the president: “Just as you don't care about the lives of the people taken away in Ecuador, neither do we.” I don’t care either.” The lives of your officers matter: the prison leaders and the police. Your state of emergency does not intimidate us. We’re already dead.”
In the recording, there was a “recommendation” to citizens not to go out at night as there would be confrontations with state forces on the streets. “They will face consequences that have never been seen in the entire history of Ecuador.”
Hours later, four police officers were kidnapped in two cities, almost a hundred prison officers were held in prisons, car bombs exploded and vehicles burned in the capital Quito, but also in Guayaquil, Cuenca, Esmeraldas and Loja.
Likewise, several explosive devices exploded, including on a pedestrian bridge in the capital and near the home of the President of the National Court of Justice (CNJ), Iván Saquicela, in Cuenca. Additionally, a patrol car exploded Tuesday morning on a side road that runs through Quevedo on the Ecuadorian coast.
In addition, 39 inmates escaped from a prison in Riobamba, 216 kilometers south of Quito, including Fabricio Colón Pico. The escape was confirmed by Mayor John Vinueza, with particular attention to “El Salvaje,” alias Colón Pico, whom Attorney General Diana Salazar had suggested he wanted to kill. The leader of Los Lobos, the country's most violent gang, was detained for three days before he managed to escape. 12 people were recaptured.
For their part, economic sectors have reacted with concern to the state of emergency. Mónica Heller, president of the Quito Chamber of Commerce, said that “the curfew will cause serious damage to night-time productive activities.” Not all provinces have the same insecurity rates; This decision should be adapted to the situation of each locality.”
Diego Vivero, from the Pichincha Restaurant Association (Agrepi), complained that “in the face of all the difficulties, the curfew is the solution.” The businessman even believed that the Constitutional Court should intervene to regulate the application of the state of emergency. Agrepi issued a statement saying: “The curfew is absurd at the national level.”
During his presidential campaign, Daniel Noboa promised quick results to solve the problems of insecurity. The president's term is only one and a half years because he won an early election.
Ecuador closed 2023 with a new record in homicides for the third consecutive year, reaching nearly 7,600 violent deaths. Last year there were 4,600, in 2021 there are just over 2,100.