TERRORIST ESCALATION IN ECUADOR; POLICE CONTROL ATTACK ON TV CHANNEL IN ECUADOR
The assault on the TC Televisión facilites, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, is the latest chapter in a terrorist wave unleashed in Ecuador since the night of Monday, January 8.
The attack to the media was registered after 14:00, this Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
Before the signal went off the air, it was possible to see live how armed men entered the set from where the news is transmitted. They pointed their guns at journalists and staff members and were heard saying “We are on the air to let you know that we don’t play with the mafia”.
There were tense moments because the situation of the media workers was unknown.
Towards 16:00, the Police managed to control the situation. Police authorities at the scene reported that they were able to negotiate with the assailants and they surrendered. It was reported that some workers were beaten, but there were no serious victims.
The police arrested 13 assailants, who were in possession of weapons, ammunition and explosives. They were taken to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to initiate the respective judicial process.
RESPONSE TO THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
The government had decided to transfer Adolfo Macias, alias Fito, head of a criminal group called Los Choneros, to a maximum security prison. On Sunday, January 7, when the transfer operation was to be carried out, the authorities found that Fito had escaped from the prison where he was being held in Guayaquil.
The government then decided to declare a state of emergency so that the Armed Forces could support the police in confronting criminal groups. It included a curfew from 23:00 to 05:00.
The response of the criminal groups was a series of attacks unleashed even before the first curfew was initiated.
THE ATTACKS
On Monday, at 18:30, there were three attacks -two with explosives- in the coastal province of Esmeraldas, in the north, on the border with Colombia.
In the capital Quito, on Monday night there was the burning of a vehicle, the kidnapping of a policeman and the detonation of an explosive on a pedestrian bridge.
In the southern city of Cuenca there were reports of detonations. Also, near that city, in the Turi parish, a military truck was attacked, close to where one of the country’s large prisons is located, with no injuries. Also, an explosive detonated in a central avenue of Cuenca, inside a garbage can. Two vehicles were set on fire and a bomb exploded in an area near a gas station and the airport.
Also on Monday night, a device exploded in Quito, in front of the house of Ivan Saquicela, president of the National Court of Justice, as he denounced.
In the province of El Oro, in the extreme southwest of the country, on the border with Peru, three policemen were kidnapped. Until Monday afternoon their whereabouts were unknown. In the same province, the burning of three vehicles was reported.
In the early morning of Tuesday 9 it was reported that in the province of Cañar, in the center south of the country, a trailer transporting new vehicles was set on fire.
In the coastal province of Los Ríos three policemen were kidnapped and an explosive detonated in the patrol car in which they were riding.
In the southern province of Loja, also bordering Peru, simultaneous attacks occurred on Monday night. Three vehicles were set on fire in the provincial capital of the same name. In this case, the police captured six suspects.
In the province of Guayas, whose capital is Guayaquil, there was a grenade attack on the facilities of a Community Police Unit (small detachment). There were no victims, but there was material damage.
In the city of Riobamba, in the center of the country, there was an explosion of a vehicle. There was also an escape of 32 inmates from the local prison. Among them was Fabricio Colón Pico, one of the leaders of the criminal gang known as Los Lobos, who had been identified by the Attorney General, Diana Salazar, as the person who was planning his assassination.
THE GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS THEM TERRORISTS
Can such numerous and coordinated attacks be carried out by a single criminal organization? The Government understands that no.
While the crisis at the TV channel was unfolding, the President of the Republic issued a new decree.
In this decree, the Government recognizes “the existence of an internal armed conflict”.
It also provides for the “mobilization of the Armed Forces and the Police in the national territory to guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity against transnational organized crime, terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors”.
And the decree establishes which are those groups. Citizens and the international community may have heard of criminal groups such as Los Choneros, Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones. However, the list is longer. In total, 20 criminal organizations are mentioned.
The Government convened the Public and State Security Council, where the highest authorities of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the country participate.
News in development…
