(Quito) Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared on Wednesday the country in a “state of war” against criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking at the origin of an unprecedented wave of violence in the country which has left at least ten dead since Monday .
Hundreds of soldiers are patrolling the almost deserted streets of the capital Quito, with residents hiding in their homes for fear of a new episode of violence that is causing concern in the international community.
“There is fear, you have to be careful, look here and there, if I take this bus what will happen? » A 68-year-old woman, who goes to work in the north of Quito, told AFP on condition of anonymity. She claims to be “terrorized” by the ongoing violence in the country.
Sunday’s escape from Guayaquil’s high-security prison by the feared leader of the Choneros gang, Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, and mutinies in many of the country’s prisons triggered a muscular response from President Daniel Noboa, 36, elected in the fall on the promise of restoring security in the country.
FREELANCE PHOTO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Soldiers are visible in the streets of Quito.
“National peace”
“We are in a state of war and we cannot give in to these terrorist groups,” Mr. Noboa assured Wednesday after declaring the country in “internal armed conflict” the day before.
“We are fighting for national peace, we are also fighting against terrorist groups which today have more than 20,000 members,” he added.
The youngest president in the history of Ecuador on Monday declared a state of emergency for 60 days throughout the country, including in prisons which have become centers of operation for drug traffickers.
“Fito” had already escaped from a high security prison in 2013, before being recaptured after three months. His name made the headlines after the assassination in early August of one of the main presidential candidates, who had reported death threats from the leader of the Choneros shortly before his execution.
This gang, of around 8,000 men according to experts, has become the main player in the flourishing drug trade in Ecuador.
Several mutinies and hostage-taking of guards have affected various prisons since Monday, relayed by frightening videos broadcast on social networks showing captives threatened by the knives of masked inmates and the execution of at least two guards by firearm and hanging.
More than a hundred guards and administrative agents are being held hostage in at least five prisons, according to the prison administration, which communicates very little on the subject.
“Concrete measures”
Armed men even burst into the set of a public television station in Guayaquil on Tuesday, taking journalists and employees hostage until the police intervened.
PHOTO VICENTE GAIBOR DEL PINO, REUTERS
Police present the inmates who stormed the TC television studio during a live television broadcast.
The same day, another gang leader (Los Lobos), Fabricio Colon Picole, also escaped.
The United States, the European Union, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and even Venezuela have rejected this violence.
White House spokesman John Kirby said the United States was ready to take concrete steps, but ruled out any “military support.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “very alarmed by the deterioration of the situation” in Ecuador, said his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
France and Russia have advised their nationals against traveling to the country and Peru has declared a state of emergency along its border. Colombia also announced reinforcements on its border with Ecuador.
Ecuadorian security forces have released images of their interventions since Sunday in various penitentiaries, showing hundreds of detainees in their underwear, hands on their heads and lying unceremoniously on the ground.
These images recall the communication of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, credited with having restored, thanks to his “war” against gangs, security in his country, at the cost of restricting the rights of detainees according to rights organizations of Man.
Ecuador, once a haven of peace, is wracked by violence after becoming the main export point for cocaine produced in neighboring Peru and Colombia. Assassinations there increased by 800% between 2018 and 2023, going from six to 46 per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2023, 7,800 homicides were recorded and 220 tonnes of drugs seized.