Masked men carrying guns and explosives on Tuesday interrupted a live broadcast by Ecuadorian television channel TC as the country is rocked by several instances of violence after President Daniel Noboa issued a 60-day state of emergency. The armed men were dressed mostly in black and were wearing balaclavas as they accosted staffers before the feed ended.
TC Television, which broadcasts nationally, shares a site with another public broadcaster, Gamavision, and several radio stations. The attackers entered through Gamavision's reception, assaulted the staff there, and left dynamite behind, TC news coordinator and reporter Leonardo Flores Moreno told Reuters. No one was killed in the incident.
"We were in a meeting and they alerted us and we were able to hide," said Flores, who said two people were injured during the interruption. "We don't know what is happening, people are nervous, and there are many colleagues from Gama and TC who are hiding," he added.
Alina Manrique, the head of news for TC Television, said she was in the control room, when the masked men burst into the building, pointed a gun to her head, and told her to get on the floor. The incident was captured live but the signal was cut off after 15 minutes.
"I am still in shock...Everything has collapsed... All I know is that it's time to leave this country and go very far away," Manrique told the Associated Press. However, the Ecuadorian national police said it was evacuating the channel's studio in Guayaquil, verifying the condition of the staff and "reestablishing order".
Police in Guayaquil confirmed 13 arrests, and police social media posts showed photos of young men lying on the floor with their hands zip-tied behind their backs. Ecuador’s attorney general’s office later said the 13 would be charged with terrorism.
What is happening in Ecuador?
Shortly after the gunmen barged into the studio, Ecuadorian President Noboa issued a decree declaring 22 drug trafficking gangs as terrorist organisations, which authorised the military to "neutralise" them within the parameters of international humanitarian law. It also said the country had entered an "internal armed conflict".
Noboa has said he will not negotiate with "terrorists" and the government has blamed the recent prison violence on Noboa's plan to build a new high-security prison and transfer jailed gang leaders.
Ecuador has been rocked by several instances of violent attacks this week, with the kidnappings of at least seven police officers and a series of explosions across the country, a day after Noboa declared a state of emergency. The decision was made in response to the prison escape of one of the most powerful drug gang leaders on Sunday.
Seven police officers were kidnapped in three separate incidents in the southern city of Machala, Quito and Los Rios province, police said earlier. The police said there were explosions in the provinces of Esmeraldas and Los Rios, while mayor's offices in the cities of Cuenca and Quito confirmed others and the attorney general's office said it was investigating one in Guayaquil.
Why is Ecuador under a state of emergency?
The state of emergency was declared after Adolfo Macias, known as "Fito", the leader of the Los Choneros criminal gang, was discovered missing from his cell in a low-security prison on Sunday. He was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security facility that day.
Authorities said a group of prisoners escaped from a penitentiary in Riobamba, including Fabricio Colon Pico of the Los Lobos group, who was allegedly involved in an attack plot against the attorney general. At least 17 of the 39 escapees have been recaptured, the prosecutor's office said.
Additionally, 11 prison guards who had been taken hostage over the past two days have been released, but 139 guards and other staff are still being held, according to Ecuador's prisons agency SNAI.
Meanwhile, some Ecuadorians demanded action beyond the 60-day state of emergency. "The previous government declared them and they were ineffective. Noboa needs to take more drastic measures, go out with the police and armed forces to impose order... He must take the bull by the horns," said Marcelo Gordillo.
Noboa's predecessor Guillermo Lasso had also issued a state of emergency to enable military patrols in several areas including prisons and setting up a national nightime curfew, to little success. Noboa's coalition has a majority in the national assembly, but some have questioned why he is not taking harsher measures against gangs.
The security situation in Ecuador
Security in Ecuador has been worsening since the coronavirus pandemic, which also brutally battered the economy. Ecuador's presidential contest last year was marred by the assassination of an anti-corruption candidate. The government blames the situation on the growing reach of cocaine-trafficking gangs, who have destabilised much of the South American continent.
Los Choneros is one of the Ecuadorian gangs that authorities consider responsible for a spike in violence that reached a new level last year with the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The gang has links with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, according to authorities.
Inside Ecuador's prisons, the gangs have taken advantage of the state's weak control to expand their power. Prison violence has become increasingly common, resulting in hundreds of deaths in incidents authorities have blamed on gang battles to control the jails.
Noboa, a young businessman, took office in November touting his "Phoenix Plan" for security, including a new intelligence unit, tactical weapons for security forces, new high-security prisons and reinforced security at ports and airports. He said the plan will cost some $800 million, out of which $200 million will be provided by the US in new weapons.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Macías are unknown. Prosecutors opened an investigation and charged two guards in connection with his alleged escape, but neither the police, the corrections system, nor the federal government confirmed whether the prisoner fled the facility or might be hiding in it.
(with inputs from Reuters, AP)
