Violence, prisons, hostages: What's happening in Ecuador? Summary

What we know:

• Hooded and armed men stormed a TV station on-air in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil on Tuesday, December 9. 13 people have been arrested after taking channel staff hostage and engaging in gunfire with the police. Witnesses reported they were carrying long-range guns, grenades, and dynamite.

• Since Adolfo Macias, the leader of the Los Choneros criminal gang, allegedly escaped from prison on Sunday, December 7, violence has erupted in the country's prisons. Until Monday, incidents were reported in at least six prisons, with at least 150 guards and other staff taken hostage by prisoners. 39 inmates also escaped from a prison in Riobamba, although authorities said that several have already been recaptured.
• Violence has also spread to the streets. Authorities reported attacks on several hospitals, along with explosions, shootings, looting, and burning vehicles.
• President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency on Monday, involving military patrols, including in prisons, and establishing a national curfew.
• At least eight people have died, and two others have been injured in Guayaquil until Tuesday afternoon, said the city's mayor, Aquiles Álvarez. This coastal city, also the largest in Ecuador, is considered the most dangerous in the country.
• Insecurity in Ecuador has risen dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2022 to 2023, violent deaths increased from 4,500 to 8,008 according to official figures. The government attributes the situation to the growing drug trafficking. An anti-corruption candidate for the presidential elections was also killed last year.

What they said:

On Tuesday, President Daniel Noboa acknowledged the existence of an internal armed conflict and, through a revised decree, designated 22 gangs as terrorist groups to be pursued by the military. “I have signed the executive decree declaring an Internal Armed Conflict and identified the following transnational organised crime groups as terrorist organisations and belligerent non-state actors: Águilas, ÁguilasKiller, Ak47, Caballeros Oscuros, ChoneKiller, Choneros, Covicheros, Cuartel de las Feas, Cubanos, Fatales, Gánster, Kater Piler, Lagartos, Latin Kings, Lobos, Los p.27, Los Tiburones, Mafia 18, Mafia Trébol, Patrones, R7, Tiguerones. I have ordered the armed forces to carry out military operations to neutralise these groups,” he said on X. 

Admiral Jaime Vela, head of the joint command of the armed forces, responded to Noboa's decree through an official statement, also published on X. "Mr. President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa, through the executive decree number 111, has given us a very clear mission. From this moment on, every terrorist group identified in the mentioned decree has become a military target. The present and future of our country are at stake. No act of terror will make us give in. We will not back down or negotiate [...] Ecuadorian people, this struggle will succeed with the support of each and every one of you [...] Rest assured that the armed forces and the national police will fulfill our oath to defend you with our lives if necessary."