Ecuador's prison authorities said Thursday that gangs are holding at least 178 people hostage in seven prisons across the country as part of a broader war between the country's organized crime syndicates and President Daniel Novoa's new government. confirmed.
Novoa, the 36-year-old son of a banana king, began his presidential term in November with a policy aimed at combating organized crime in the country. On January 4, Noboa announced it had given the green light to plans to build two new “mega-prisons” in the country, modeled after a vast prison complex built in El Salvador. In El Salvador, President Nayib Boucle has similarly waged war against Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). ) and other violent gangs.
Newly sworn-in President Daniel Novoa waves from the balcony of the Carondereto Presidential Palace in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)
Jose Adolfo “Fito” Macias, leader of Ecuador's most powerful gang, Choneros, said Sunday, shortly after Noboa promised to destroy the gang. Had disappeared from the prison holding him. Macias is considered Ecuador's most dangerous criminal, having served a 34-year sentence since 2011 for various crimes including drug trafficking, murder and extortion. He was scheduled to be transferred to a high-security prison on Sunday, but when prison guards went to pick him up, they did not find him in his cell.
In this military distribution announced on August 12, 2023, Adolfo Macias, also known as Fito, the leader of the criminal organization Los Choneros, will be transferred to The Rock, a maximum security prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador (Ecuadorian Army). , AFP).
Macias' disappearance sparked riots among gang members across the United States, including jailbreaks and attacks on police officers. President Novoa responded to the escalation in gang violence against civilians by declaring a “state of exception,” a formal emergency decree that allows the president to impose curfews and restrict freedom of assembly. After a particularly disturbing incident in which gang members stormed a state television studio and took anchors and staff hostage while on air, Novoa characterized the situation as an “internal armed conflict,” essentially a civil war. We escalated the situation and escalated the response.
Decide on special initiatives with special expertise @PoliciaEcuador para retmar el control en @tctv. pic.twitter.com/fWRQYnbQsw
— President of Ecuador (@Presidencia_Ec) January 10, 2024
Within the prison system, organized inmate rebellions have resulted in mass abductions of correctional officers and administrative staff. Ecuador's National Service for the Holistic Response to Adult and Juvenile Offenders Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), the national-level institution in charge of prisons, Confirmed On Thursday afternoon, 178 people were held hostage in seven prisons around the world.
| LO ÚLTIMO: Ecuadorian President Daniel Novoa, 11th-hour prison sentence, resumes surveillance of armed groups, pistols and armed groups. pic.twitter.com/rBy1j4C4Eq
— UHN Plus (@UHN_Plus) January 9, 2024
A statement published online by SNAI said: “Due to the chaos and incidents in the prison, security operations and procedures have been implemented to release 158 prison guards and 20 administrative service personnel who are currently in custody. “There is,” the report said. “We work persistently, continually and responsibly to protect the integrity of our systems. [hostages]”
“We urge the public to follow reports from official channels and refrain from creating disinformation while our work to protect lives continues,” the agency added.
Information: pic.twitter.com/4zcrE2mQ43
— SNAI Ecuador (@SNAI_Ec) January 11, 2024
SNAI also confirmed the escape of three inmates on Wednesday, but that number is expected to rise as prison authorities quell the prison riot and begin identifying those remaining in the facility. .
The agency did not provide details about who these people were or their conditions inside the prison. The situation remained fluid at press time, but there was no reason to believe there were any casualties among the hostages. As of Wednesday, Ecuadorian military commander Jaime Vela said: Said Reporters said no hostages had been killed since the gang war broke out.
The declaration of an “internal armed conflict” authorized Noboa to deploy military forces against Ecuadorian citizens. The president announced that 22 gangs, including the largest of them, the Chonero, will be listed as “terrorist organizations.” make They are a legitimate target for the Ecuadorian military.
“We are at war,” Novoa says flatly. declared “And we cannot make concessions to these terrorist groups,” he said in an interview Wednesday.
The president estimated that more than 20,000 gang members were targeted, most of them young people, and accused the previous presidential administration of allowing the threat of organized crime to spill into the country.
“This government is taking necessary steps that no one has asked for in the past few years,” he said. Noboa declared that serious gang warfare requires “ostrich eggs, not cardboard eggs,” using the Spanish word for “ball.”
“We are living in very difficult times. … We are struggling for national peace,” he continued. “We are also fighting against an unnamed and unidentified terrorist group, which currently numbers more than 20,000 people.”
Ecuador's largest city woke up Thursday to an infestation of soldiers patrolling the streets and responding to localized gang attacks and bomb threats. Quito, the capital of Ecuador documented Three bomb threats were received in a five-hour period on Thursday, but all were reportedly neutralized.
infomamos
👉Blow away the rain in Guajara #UIOspecial special day @PoliciaEcuador Verification and adjustment of post-explosion control.
#CompromisoInquebrantable
para precateral la #Seguridad Ciudadana pic.twitter.com/mUGfKzCZH2— Policia DMQ Zona 9 (@PoliciaDMQZona9) January 11, 2024
Ecuadorian news agency Primicias explained Soldiers have been combing the streets of Guayaquil, the country's largest city, looking for young people with gang identification such as tattoos, and in some cases suspecting young people to make sure they don't have gang insignia on their bodies. Sometimes they made people take off their clothes and shoes.
Ecuadorian authorities have tallied 14 people killed in gang violence this week as of Thursday morning.
