Ecuador: Hooded armed men take over a television channel in live broadcast

Hooded armed men entered the canal this Tuesday television TC, in the city of Guayaquil in the southwest of Ecuador, and subdued his staff during a live broadcast.

In the live images, several hooded men with weapons were seen holding channel workers on the floor, demanding that they ask the Police to leave the place live.

The broadcast lasted just over 15 minutes before cutting off and the screen initially showed the television set and then what looked like the internal facilities of the media outlet.

The Ecuadorian Police confirmed that they deployed “specialized units” outside the TC television channel, in the city of Guayaquil, after armed men subdued the media’s staff during a live broadcast.

This situation occurred in the midst of an atmosphere of chaos and violence that affected a good part of the country, which is why the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa, decreed a state of exception and night curfew for 60 days after confirming the disappearance of the Fito prison, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

In addition, the Secretariat for the Care of Persons Deprived of Liberty confirmed in a statement on Tuesday the escape during the early hours of the morning from a prison in Riobamba, in the central Andean part of the country, of Fabricio Colón Pico, regional leader of the criminal gang Los Lobos and accused by Attorney General Diana Salazar of preparing an alleged attack on his life.

Colón Pico had been arrested only on Friday as part of an investigation for alleged kidnapping, according to the police.

Fito is the leader of one of the main organized crime groups, known as Los Choneros, with close ties to the Sinaloa cartel, according to authorities. His whereabouts remain uncertain.

The photographs of Pico and Macías appeared on a joint page of the Ecuadorian armed forces and police that offer financial rewards for information leading to the capture of dangerous criminals. On this occasion the amount for each one is not mentioned, but they are part of a publication from the last few hours.

The emergency measure decreed by the government was followed at night and early in the morning by more than 30 acts of violence in the capital and other cities in nine provinces, in addition to prison riots, including the escape of Colón Pico, and the kidnapping of at least four police officers in separate events.

For its part, the police confirmed on the social network another member of that body in the country’s capital.

He also reported the arrest of several citizens suspected of one of the explosions registered in the south of the capital. He said that a firearm and 16 pieces of explosives were found on the subjects.

The explosion on a bridge and the fire of a vehicle with gas cylinders in a populated neighborhood south of Quito, as well as a motorcycle on fire in a satellite town of the capital of the Andean country, were reported on social networks and digital media. No injuries were reported in these events.

For its part, the Ministry of Education ordered the suspension of in-person classes and the start of virtual activities in educational facilities that are near state prisons.

The president of the National Court of Justice, Iván Saquicela, in an interview with local radio Democracia said on Tuesday that around midnight an explosion occurred near his home in Quito. “It could be a coincidence or not but it should be investigated because it happens in front of my home,” he said. The judge asked that his security be increased.

Several burned cars were also recorded in the cities of Esmeraldas and Riobamba, the city where Colón Pico and an undetermined group of other inmates escaped, of which 12 have already been recaptured, according to the Secretariat for Attention to Private Persons of the Freedom.

Rodrigo Cáceres, governor of the province of Chimborazo, whose capital is Riobamba — 160 kilometers south of Quito — declared to the digital media Diario de Riobamba that Colón Pico had to be relocated on Monday to another prison and that when that provision was going to be carried out, The incidents that ended in the escape occurred.

Given the violence unleashed, the mayor of Quito, Pabel Muñoz, through a statement demanded “all the protection of the State, the government and its security forces to safeguard the right to life” and called for the militarization of strategic areas of the capital. The capital’s metro has registered permanent military security inside during the last hours.

Meanwhile, the governor of Azuay, Milton Benítez, in a press conference, pointed out that in the Turi prison in Cuenca, – 300 kilometers south of Quito – the inmates have taken over that prison and are holding 49 agents and 12 employees of the prison kitchen.

The Minister of the Interior, Mónica Palencia, said in a statement that the government is working “for the recovery of a state of peace” and? “At this moment, prisons are the specific focus of attention.”

When declaring the state of emergency, President Noboa warned that he will not “to negotiate with terrorists” and that will not rest “until we return peace to all Ecuadorians.”

The situation occurred in the midst of an environment of chaos and violence that affected a good part of the country, after the alleged escape of two criminal leaders from prison and more than 30 acts of violence, in less than 24 hours, such as explosions, attacks and kidnappings of police officers.

With information from EFE and AP