Ecuador declares war on armed gangs

after TV station attacked on air

Media caption,
Watch: Armed men interrupt live broadcast and threaten presenter
(contains distressing scenes)
By Marita Moloney & Patrick Jackson
BBC News
Ecuador's president has ordered that criminal gangs be
"neutralised" after days of violence culminated in an attack on a
television studio.
Masked gunmen broke into public television channel TC's live studio
during a broadcast, forcing staff to the floor.
Police made 13 arrests following the attack, which injured two
employees.
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
(esfumarse, desaparecer) 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.
President Noboa said on Tuesday that an "internal armed conflict" now
existed in the country and he was mobilising the armed forces to carry out
"military operations to neutralise" what he called "transnational organised
crime, terrorist organisations and belligerent non-state actors (actores no
estatales beligerantes)".
In neighbouring Peru, the government ordered the immediate deployment
(despliegue) of a police force to the border to prevent any instability
spilling over into (inundar, desbordar) the country.
The US has said it condemns the "brazen ((shameless, overly bold), descarado)
attacks" in Ecuador and is "co-ordinating closely" with President Daniel
Noboa and his Ecuadorean government and stands "ready to provide
assistance".
Ecuador is one of the world's top banana exporters, but also exports oil,
coffee, cocoa, shrimps and fish products. A surge (ola, aumento) in
violence in the Andean nation, inside and outside its prisons, has been
 linked to fighting between drug cartels, both foreign and local, over
control of cocaine routes to the US and Europe.
 How Ecuador descended into gang violence
 Ecuador inmates seize (tomar por la fuerza) guards after drug lord's
escape
 Curfew (toque de queda) in Ecuador after jailed gang boss vanishes
 Daniel Noboa becomes Ecuador's youngest president-elect
 US offers $5m reward in hunt for Ecuador assassins

During Tuesday's assault at the TV station, one gunman pointed a pump-

action shotgun (escopeta) at the head of one of the captives, who was also
threatened with a revolver.
A woman could be heard pleading, "Don't shoot, please don't shoot," AFP
news agency reports, while a person could be heard screaming in
apparent pain.
"Please, they came in to kill us," a TC employee told AFP in a WhatsApp
message. "God don't let this happen. The criminals are on air."
One cameraman was shot in the leg, and another's arm was broken in the
attack, the deputy director of news said.
"Through our earpieces the producers told us, 'Be careful, they are trying
to enter, they are stealing, they are mugging (asaltar) us'," Jorge Rendon
told the Reuters news agency.
"The doors in the studio are very thick, almost bullet-proofed, and they
were trying to get in because they wanted to gain access to the studio so
we would say whatever they wanted us to say," he said.
Posting video of the suspects arrested on social media - and their
weapons - police said the perpetrators would be "punished for terrorist
acts".
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,
Police showed suspects detained after the TV station invasion
State of emergency
President Noboa's emergency declaration responded to a wave of recent
jail riots (disturbios) and escapes from prisons and other acts of violence
blamed by authorities on criminal gangs.
His decree listed the Choneros (named after the town of Chone in Manabi
Province) as well as 21 other gangs.
The order built on the state of emergency declared on Monday, which
ordains a nightly curfew in an attempt to curb (frenar) violence following
Fito's escape. Security forces have been trying to re-establish order in at
least six jails where riots broke out (estallaron disturbios) on Monday.
Eight people were killed and three injured in attacks linked to criminal
gangs in Guayaquil on Tuesday while two police officers were killed by
"armed criminals" in the nearby town of Nobol, police said.
In the city of Riobamba, nearly 40 inmates (reclusos), including another
convicted drug lord (narco), broke out (se fugaron) of a prison.
At least seven police officers were also kidnapped and a video circulating
on social media shows three of the kidnapped officers sitting on the
ground with a gun pointed at them as one is forced to read a statement
addressed to President Noboa, AFP reports.
"You declared war, you will get war," the officer reads out. "You
declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to
be the spoils (botín) of war."
Police have ordered the evacuation of the government compound
(complejo gubernamental) in Quito over security concerns (motivos de
seguridad).
Quito residents told Reuters news agency the city was in chaos since
news of the attack at the TV station in Guayaquil.
"There's too much nervousness in the city," said Mario Urena. "At work,
people are leaving earlier. All the people are leaving, you see a lot of
traffic and alarms everywhere. There's a chaos."
Other people in the city of Cuenca told AFP of their shock at seeing the
TV station seized (tomada).
"In Ecuador, we have never seen this kind of thing, where a channel has
been practically hijacked (secuestrar) and a broadcast starts with
shootings, with kidnappings," said Francisco Rosas. "So what kind of
security situation are we in? And if a television station is capable of
receiving this type of robbery (robo), this type of insecurity, imagine
restaurants or shops."
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
Soldiers patrolled the metro in Quito on Tuesday
In recent years, the country's prisons have been plagued by violent feuds
(between two groups, pleitos) between jailed members of rival gangs,
often resulting in multiple massacres of inmates.
The Choneros are a powerful prison gang thought to be behind many of
the deadly riots and prison fights which have erupted in Ecuador's jails
over recent years.
Fito is thought to have absconded (flee secretly, fugarse) just hours before
his planned transfer. Two prison guards have been detained on suspicion
of helping him escape.
His escape is also a blow (duro golpe) to the government of President
Noboa, who was sworn in in November after winning an election
tarnished by (empañado por) the assassination of presidential candidate
and journalist Fernando Villavicencio.
Villavicencio had reported receiving death threats from Fito just days
before he was shot dead while leaving a campaign rally (acto electoral) in
Quito.
Additional reporting by Vanessa Buschschlüter