Ecuador is in a state of crisis to say the least. Back in October, 35-year-old businessman Daniel Noboa became the youngest person to be elected president of Ecuador. Flanked by heavily armed soldiers, Noboa gave a victory speech saying that he would "give back a smile and peace to the country".
The election campaign was overshadowed by unprecedented levels of violence, which saw one of the candidates, Fernando Villavicencio, assassinated just days before the first round of voting in August. The murder rate in Ecuador quadrupled between 2018 and 2022 and opinion polls suggested that security was voters' main concern going into the election. Analysts pointed out that Noboa, who has little political experience, would face an uphill struggle to tackle Ecuador's security problem.
Over the weekend, a 60-day state of emergency has declared in Ecuador after a convicted gang leader vanished from his prison cell. Adolfo Macías Villamar, better known as "Fito", is the leader of Los Choneros, a powerful gang which is thought to have been behind some of the deadly prison riots in recent months. He was being held in the maximum security wing of a jail in Guayaquil. The emergency measures include the suspension of the right of assembly and a nightly curfew.
Fito is a notorious criminal suspected of having played a role in last year's killing of Villavicencio, whom he had sent death threats.Police said they had noticed his absence early on Sunday and could not find him anywhere in the prison wing. He often defies the authorities, most recently by releasing a "narcocorrido", a slick music video glorifying his criminal exploits, which was partly recorded inside the jail.
To make matters worse, prison riots broke out in six jails after the president declared the state of emergency. Inmates have reportedly taken a number of prison guards hostage and have threatened to kill them if soldiers are deployed to regain control of the penitentiaries. The unrest was sparked by the escape of the notorious gang boss known as Fito. Ecuador's security forces are still trying to re-establish order in at least six jails. Four police officers were also kidnapped after President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency.
Overnight, reports emerged that masked gunmen broke into the country's public television channel studio during a live broadcast, forcing staff to the floor. One gunman pointed a pump-action shotgun at the head of one of the captives, who was also threatened with a revolver. A woman could be heard pleading, "Don't shoot, please don't shoot," while a person could be heard screaming in apparent pain. "Please, they came in to kill us," a studio employee sent out in a WhatsApp message during the attack. "God don't let this happen. The criminals are on air." One cameraman was shot in the leg, and another's arm was broken in the attack, the deputy director of news said.
Posting video of the suspects arrested on social media - and their weapons - police said the perpetrators would be "punished for terrorist acts". Police have made 13 arrests following the attack, which injured two employees. At least 10 people have been killed since the 60-day state of emergency began.
President Noboa said on Tuesday that an "internal armed conflict" now existed in the country and he was mobilizing the armed forces to carry out "military operations to neutralize" what he called "transnational organized crime, terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors". In neighboring Peru, the government ordered the immediate deployment of a police force to the border to prevent any instability spilling over into the country.
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