Desolate streets, closed businesses and the center of Quito militarized. A Ecuador immersed in “state of war” faces the power of drug traffickers this Wednesday for the third day under a climate of panic and fatigue.
“(Today I feel) a little anger, fear was yesterday”Fernando Escobar, owner of a cafeteria in the Ecuadorian capital, tells AFP.
Since Sunday, the numerous criminal and drug trafficking gangs have displayed their strength in retaliation for President Daniel Noboa’s plans to subdue them with an iron fist: more than a hundred police and prison staff held by prisoners, attacks on journalists and countless attacks armed groups that have left 14 dead according to the most recent report.
“We are in a state of war and we cannot give in to these terrorist groups,” Noboa said this Wednesday to radio Canela, after declaring to the nation on Tuesday in “internal armed conflict”.
Dozens of soldiers guard the presidential headquarters in the center of Quito, while in the north the La Carolina park, one of the largest in the city of almost three million inhabitants, is empty without its usual athletes.
Few cars circulate on the avenues of the capital and Guayaquil (southwest), the port city that in recent years has become the epicenter of drug trafficking to the United States and Europe.
The offensive by criminal organizations, linked to cartels in Mexico and Colombia, included an unusual and spectacular break-in recorded live on Tuesday. Men armed with rifles and grenades took over a public television channel during the midday news, threatened journalists and shot two workers. There were no deaths and several perpetrators were arrested.
The attack in Guayaquil on the headquarters of the TC Televisión channel increased panic among the population, who quickly left the streets to take refuge in their homes.
“The scare we went through yesterday was tenacious (…) Today we are not sure, anything can happen,” says Luis Chiligano, a 53-year-old security guard who prefers “hide” before facing “to crime that is better armed.”
“Ostrich eggs”
Due to its strategic location and dollarization of the economy, Ecuador has become a bastion of drug trafficking.
Faced with the new wave of violence, President Noboa announced a frontal war against twenty organizations that have some 20,000 members and granted them belligerent status.
“This government is taking the necessary actions that in recent years no one wanted to take. And for that you need large ostrich eggs, not cardboard eggs,” the 36-year-old president said in his radio interview.
Terror prevailed after the escape of Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”head of the country’s main criminal gang known as Los Choneros, who was held in a Guayaquil prison and was detected on Sunday.
Hundreds of soldiers and police are searching for the kingpin, while a state of emergency is in force throughout the country, including prisons, and a six-hour curfew, starting at 11:00 p.m. local time (04:00 GMT).
On Tuesday, another criminal boss escaped from prison, Fabricio Colón Pico, one of the leaders of Los Lobos, accused of kidnapping and planning the murder of the attorney general.
The prisoners rioted in different prisons and detained more than one hundred prison guards.
International concern
The United States said Wednesday it was willing to deal with violence, although it ruled out a “military support”. Peru declared its entire border with the country in crisis under a state of emergency and Colombia militarized its border line.
Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Spain, the European Union and the UN rejected the attack. France and Russia warned their citizens not to travel to Ecuador.
Located between Colombia and Peru, the largest producers of cocaine, Ecuador was for many years a country safe from drug trafficking, but in recent times it has been transformed into a new bastion of drug trafficking with gangs fighting for control of the territory, but united in their war against the State.
2023 closed with more than 7,800 homicides and 220 tons of drugs seized, new records in the nation of 17 million inhabitants.
Noboa came to power in November as the youngest president in the nation’s history to govern for 18 months to complete the four-year term of his predecessor Guillermo Lasso.
Fito was serving a 34-year sentence in the Guayaquil Regional Prison for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder.
His obese figure with messy hair went around the world after the murder in August of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who had denounced him days before for threats.
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
