According to the government, numerous prisoners held by gangs in Ecuador have been freed, following a period of intense turmoil in the country lasting nearly a week.
The Ecuadorian presidency announced on social media on Saturday night that all hostages have been released.
The number of rescued captives from Ecuador’s overcrowded jails was uncertain, but the government reported that 158 prison guards and 20 other employees were being held. Videos on social media depicted fearful prison guards being threatened by gang members armed with machetes, who had taken control of numerous detention centers in the country.
The sibling of a prison employee who was kidnapped in Ambato, a town located 95 miles south of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, verified that their family member was freed on Saturday afternoon. “I am grateful that everyone returned unharmed and my brother is now back home with us,” they stated on Sunday morning, as news broke that authorities were entering multiple prisons where inmates had staged rebellions.
Ecuador’s week of mayhem began in the early hours of last Monday when a notorious gang leader known as Fito reportedly vanished from his cell. His whereabouts remains a mystery. A nationwide eruption of violence and turmoil unfolded in the subsequent days, as gangsters torched buildings, attacked security forces and planted car bombs in what was one of the most extreme outbursts of violence in Ecuador’s recent history.
Ecuador’s leader, Daniel Noboa, has declared a state of “internal armed conflict” and has commanded a forceful response from the police and army to combat the gangs. As of now, 1,105 individuals have been apprehended and five suspected “terrorists” have been eliminated, while two police officers have also tragically passed away, according to official reports from the government.
In Guayaquil, a city greatly impacted by the situation, the Guardian observed heavily armed air force and police special forces teams forcefully entering several homes on Thursday night using battering rams and bolt cutters. Two individuals suspected of belonging to Los Águilas (the Eagles), one of 22 criminal organizations deemed as terrorist groups by Noboa’s administration, were apprehended in a two-story residence.
Ecuador has long been considered one of Latin America’s safest countries but its murder rate has quadrupled since 2018, in large part because of a vicious squabble for control of cocaine trafficking routes used to smuggle drugs to Europe and the US.
During an interview with BBC on Friday, Noboa expressed his determination to prevent his country from becoming a “narco-state.” He strongly believed that a strict crackdown was the only solution to achieve this goal.
Noboa stated to Telemundo that although they are not actively seeking out and murdering individuals, they are currently engaged in a war against well-equipped and coordinated enemies. These individuals have support from both domestic and international sources, as well as a network of terror and illegal activities that extend beyond the borders of Ecuador.
Source: theguardian.com
