2024-01-18 01:07:07
Chaos and terror continue in Ecuador. The prosecutor in charge of the investigation into the irruption of armed men live on the set of a public television channel on January 9, briefly taking journalists and other employees hostage, was assassinated, announced Wednesday the prosecution.
The live irruption of heavily armed men, pinning journalists and employees of the TC channel to the ground under threat in Guayaquil, shocked the country faced with a wave of violence triggered by drug trafficking gangs. The police quickly intervened and arrested 13 attackers, without causing any casualties.
President Daniel Noboa declared the country in a state of “internal armed conflict” after the escape of public enemy number 1, Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, the leader of the Choneros gang.
Shot by car
During the hostage-taking, thirteen attackers were arrested, without causing any casualties, and their faces presented to the press a few days later. According to the prosecution, the murdered prosecutor was in charge of determining which gang had carried out this assault.
Local media broadcast images of the prosecutor’s car with several bullet holes in the driver’s window.
Prosecutor Cesar Suarez was shot dead in Guayaquil by men who opened fire on his vehicle. – CHRISTIAN VINUEZA / AFP
“In response to the murder of our colleague César Suarez… I will be categorical: organized crime groups, criminals and terrorists will not stop our commitment to Ecuadorian society,” Attorney General Diana Salazar said in a video posted on X.
At least 19 dead
After Fito’s escape, several mutinies and hostage-taking of guards affected various prisons, relayed by frightening videos broadcast on social networks showing the captives threatened by the knives of masked inmates.
The gangs sowed terror in the streets of the country before more than 20,000 soldiers were sent to restore order, with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declaring the country “at war”. More than 200 prison officials held hostage by mutineers were released. Violence in the country has left at least 19 dead since the start of the year.
Ecuador, once a haven of peace, is ravaged by their violence after becoming the main export point for cocaine produced in neighboring Peru and Colombia. Murders in the streets increased by 800% between 2018 and 2023, from 6 to 46 per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2023, 7,800 homicides were recorded and 220 tonnes of drugs seized.
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