Schools and stores sat shuttered, many people stayed home and soldiers roamed the streets of EcuadorB次元官网网址檚 biggest cities Wednesday, the day after armed men invaded a television stationB次元官网网址檚 live afternoon newscast and the president told the security forces to wipe out the .
The flashed across the televisions of Ecuadorians for 15 minutes on Tuesday as the intruders threatened and assaulted employees of the TC Televisi贸n networkB次元官网网址檚 station in the city of Guayaquil. No one was killed and 13 suspects were arrested, but the violent broadcast stunned much of the region B次元官网网址� and elicited a wide-ranging government response.
issued a decree saying his country was in an B次元官网网址渋nternal armed conflictB次元官网网址� and designated 20 as terrorist groups that the military had authorization to B次元官网网址渘eutralizeB次元官网网址� within the bounds of international humanitarian law.
B次元官网网址淲e are in a state of war and we cannot give in,B次元官网网址� Noboa said during an interview with Radio Canela on Wednesday.
HeB次元官网网址檇 already declared a national state of emergency Monday after the leader of one of EcuadorB次元官网网址檚 most powerful drug gangs . Since Adolfo Mac铆asB次元官网网址� apparent escape, Ecuador has seen police officers kidnapped and at least 125 corrections personnel taken hostage inside prisons.
The government said nearly 330 people, including the TC Televisi贸n suspects, had been arrested for alleged acts of terrorism as of Wednesday afternoon. Security forces across Ecuador guarded hospitals, public transit and newsrooms. The government ordered teachers and students to hold classes remotely until Friday.
In the radio interview, Noboa promised to crack down on drug trafficking groups and consolidate peace in the Andean nation of 18 million.
B次元官网网址淲e are fighting against terrorist groups made up of more than 20,000 people,B次元官网网址� Noboa said. B次元官网网址淭hey wanted to be named as organized crime groups B次元官网网址� but they are terrorists.B次元官网网址�
The president warned that judges, prosecutors and officials who collaborated with the gangs would be considered part of a terrorist network.
Even in a country where a last year, the show of force streamed into EcuadoriansB次元官网网址� homes and workplaces was unprecedented. The motive for targeting the station remained unclear.
B次元官网网址淲e are on air, so you know that you cannot mess with the mafia,B次元官网网址� one of the assailants said during the broadcast attack. The words sounded like a warning addressed to Ecuadorian authorities and the nation at large.
NoboaB次元官网网址檚 resolve was welcome to many Ecuadorians, who have watched their nation descend into chaos. While wedged between major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has been comparatively peaceful. But traffickers tired of doing business in more militarized countries have set up shop there.
Humberto Poggi del Salto, 50, a businessman in Guayaquil, urged the government to come down on the armed groups with B次元官网网址渁 firmer hand, to have no mercy, no tolerance or (respect for) the human rights of criminals.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淧resident Noboa must do what El Salvador did,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he situation has gotten out of control. And it is because of lack of extreme measures.B次元官网网址�
El SalvadorB次元官网网址檚 president, , two years ago suspended constitutional rights to wage an all-out war on violent gangs. Sharp declines in criminal violence since then have made the 42-year-old leader highly popular at home and .
Yet mass arrests of tens of thousands of suspected gang members B次元官网网址� many of them innocent B次元官网网址� and the opening of a controversial B次元官网网址渕ega-prisonB次元官网网址� have fueled accusations of in El Salvador.
An advisor to Bukele, who asked for his name to be withheld because he was not authorized to speak on the subject, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Ecuador would not be seeing its current levels of violence if it had followed El SalvadorB次元官网网址檚 example.
Experts tracking criminal groups in Latin America said that while an immediate strong response is needed to show the government is in control, simply militarizing the country may only make things worse in the long term.
B次元官网网址淓xtreme policies might seem like the logical consequence weB次元官网网址檝e seen,B次元官网网址� said Ivan Briscoe, Latin America and the Caribbean director for the International Crisis Group. But B次元官网网址渋f you move to a security policy which is purely based on repression and killing, youB次元官网网址檙e going to enter an extremely violent spiral.B次元官网网址�
Countries like Colombia and have warred with armed cartels for decades, targeting drug lords as a strategy to take down entire criminal organizations. But warfare has caused such groups to splinter into factions and forced them to adapt, Briscoe said.
Over time, that has made it more difficult for authorities to dismantle criminal enterprises; when one armed group is taken down, five more pop up to take its place, he said.
What needs to happen in the long term, Briscoe said, is for authorities to root out corruption within the government that has allowed gangs to take control of prisons and many port cities, and to create a judicial system that breaks any links between organized crime and law enforcement.
B次元官网网址淭o be sent to prison in Ecuador is to be sent to the home of a criminal organization,B次元官网网址� Briscoe said.
Juanita C. Francis Bone, a leader of the human rights group Mujeres de Asfalto in the coastal city Esmeraldas, worried that the path Noboa is taking could lead to a criminalization of poorer communities.
Esmeraldas has seen massacres of local fishermen, bodies hanging from bridges by nooses, and rounds of car bombs going off. A normal day there B次元官网网址渋s waking up and fearing that what youB次元官网网址檙e hearing arenB次元官网网址檛 fireworks, but gunshots.B次元官网网址� Francis Bone said.
She said years of government neglect and poverty have fed the ranks of armed gangs with young people who see few options for themselves. More than additional guns on the streets, such Ecuadorians need access to education, health care and jobs, Francis Bone said.
B次元官网网址淒eep inequality is always going to be the breeding group for recruiting people into criminal groups. ItB次元官网网址檚 very hard for someone to speak of peace and security when theyB次元官网网址檙e starving,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 simply wash your hands of any blame by just saying youB次元官网网址檙e going to militarize.B次元官网网址�
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