Ecuador’s President Faces Gang Threats Despite taking on the Army

(V.News) – In response to the deployment of troops to combat armed gangs, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa has challenged them to fight the military rather than civilians. As a result of gang violence sweeping through the Andes on Monday, Noboa declared a state of emergency.

Armed men assaulted a television station and threatened its employees during a live broadcast in the most dramatic event. The state of emergency has resulted in the arrest of over 300 people.

Mr. Noboa’s tone in Wednesday’s radio interview was rather rebellious. Even though he has only been president for two months, the 36-year-old president took a stand against the gangs.

He admonished them, “Be brave, fight the soldiers,” alluding to the reality that the majority of gang victims have been defenseless citizens or parolees. Gang members have been responsible for the recent explosions, car fires, and kidnappings of at least fourteen people, including police officers who were on duty.

According to authorities, 158 prison guards and 20 personnel of the jail system have also been kidnapped. No hostages have been murdered thus far, according to an army officer who announced this on Wednesday.

Despite stating that Ecuador is going through “a very tough moment,” President Noboa threatened retaliation against gangs and “any judges or prosecutors who back these gangs” if continued.

An effort to transfer the notorious gang leader known as “Fito” from the jail he mostly controlled to a more secure facility appears to be what sparked the recent increase in attacks. However, when authorities entered his cell at the Regional Jail on Sunday, they discovered it abandoned.

The news of his escape sparked rioting in neighboring jails, and Fabricio Colón Pico, one of the Los Lobos gang’s commanders, also fled. Fito (Adolfo Macías Villareal) and Colón Pico have yet to be located. The Ecuadorian government has offered a reward for information that leads to their capture.

They’re also giving incentives to 17 additional gang bosses. Ecuador, which was previously considered a reasonably secure country in comparison to the rest of the region, had its murder rate more than double between 2018 and 2022 as drug-trafficking gangs grew in power.

Ecuadorian President Noboa designated 22 of these groups

On Tuesday, President Noboa designated 22 of these groups “terrorist gangs” and said that his country was embroiled in an “internal armed conflict.”. Ecuador’s Congress overwhelmingly passed the proposal, which authorizes soldiers to patrol the streets and search residences for weapons and suspects.

Residents of Guayaquil, the port city struck the hardest by the recent violence, are still trying to make sense of the gang rampage, according to the BBC’s Will Grant, who is in Guayaquil.

Primicias, an Ecuadorean news site, spoke with a journalist who was present during the invasion of the TC television studios in Guayaquil and described the threats made by the assailants.

She went on to say that the host was forced to announce in front of an armed crowd. “They wanted my colleague to say: ‘The mafia is in power; the president can’t beat us.'”

The assailants, she said, did not have any further specific requests. The police ultimately subdued the group and took 18 members into custody.

Trending Topics:

Breaking: A Magnitude 6 Earthquake Shakes Islamabad, Lahore, and KP