In recent years, the world has witnessed a disturbing trend of escalating attacks in various countries. The most recent incident that has shocked the global community occurred when a group of armed gunmen stormed a television studio live on air. This brazen act of violence serves as a grim reminder of the growing threat to public safety and freedom of expression.
The attack unfolded in a country already grappling with internal conflicts and political instability. As the assailants barged into the studio, chaos ensued, leaving journalists and staff members terrified for their lives. The live broadcast abruptly turned into a scene of panic and fear, as viewers watched helplessly from their homes.
At least 10 people have been killed since a 60-day state of emergency began in Ecuador on Monday.
The emergency was declared after a notorious gangster vanished from his prison cell. It is unclear whether the incident at the TV studio in Guayaquil was related to the disappearance from a prison in the same city of the boss of the Choneros gang, Adolfo Macías Villamar, or Fito as he is better known.
In neighbouring Peru, the government ordered the immediate deployment of a police force to the border to prevent any instability crossing into the country.
Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks, including the abductions of several police officers, in the wake of a powerful gang leader's apparent weekend escape from prison. President Daniel Noboa on Monday declared a national state of emergency, a measure that lets authorities suspend people's rights and mobilize the military in places like prisons.
Shortly after the gunmen stormed the TV station, Noboa issued another decree designating 20 drug trafficking gangs operating in the country as terrorist groups and authorizing Ecuador's military to "neutralize" these groups within the bounds of international humanitarian law. It also said the country had entered an internal armed conflict.
Macías, who was convicted of drug trafficking, murder and organized crime, was serving a 36-year sentence in La Regional prison in the port of Guayaquil.
Located on South America’s Pacific coast between Peru and Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador has become a key transit point for the drug in recent years. Much of the violence suffered by the country comes as drug gangs fight each other and the government for control of ports and smuggling routes.
Los Choneros and other similar groups linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels are fighting over trafficking routes and control of territory, including from within detention facilities, where more than 450 inmates have died since 2021, according to authorities.
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