Ecuador in "internal armed conflict"

Jan. 10, 2024

Ten people were killed yesterday in Ecuador, a drastic increase in gang violence as local gangs took several police officers hostage and set off explosions in several cities. President Daniel Noboa said Ecuador is in “internal armed conflict,” yesterday. He promulgated a decree designating 20 drug trafficking gangs operating in the country as terrorist groups and authorizing Ecuador’s military to “neutralize” them within the bounds of international humanitarian law. (Associated Press)

Eight people were killed and three were injured in attacks in Guayaquil, while two officers were “viciously murdered by armed criminals” in the nearby town of Nobol, reports Al Jazeera.

“Explosions, burning vehicles, looting and gunfire were also reported across the country, and the authorities announced that a second major gang leader and other inmates had escaped from another prison,” reports the New York Times.

Riots broke out at several prisons, with reports that dozens of guards were held by armed men, reports the Washington Post. Schools cancelled in-person classes nationwide for the rest of the week.

An armed attack against a television station was aired live, as masked men armed with pistols stormed the set of news program and shouted that they had bombs, reports the Associated Press. The attackers forced staff members to the ground, kicking and hitting them, and anchors and other staff were forced to appear in a video asking the president not to intervene, reports the New York Times. Nobody was killed and authorities said all the assailants were arrested.

The wave of violence inside and outside prisons was apparently unleashed by Noboa’s declaration of a state of emergency Monday, following the prison break of a notorious criminal leader, reports the Guardian. (See yesterday’s post.)

“The government has said the violence is a reaction to Noboa's plan to build a new high security prison and transfer jailed gang leaders,” reports Reuters.

Ecuador’s armed forces chief said that his troops would neither back down nor negotiate with extremist groups, reports EFE.

More Ecuador

• Peru declared a state of emergency on the border with Ecuador, and deployed police to the area, yesterday. The United States and Bolivia expressed support for the Noboa administration. (Associated Press, Reuters)

Regional Relations

• While Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Gustavo Petro share many perspectives, the leaders of Brazil and Colombia diverge strongly on the issue of the “energy transition or, more precisely, the intention to leave fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal behind,” reports El País.

Brazil

• Lula “has insisted his government must not lose the “war” against the environmental criminals devastating Indigenous lands in the Amazon after claims that thousands of illegal miners were resisting eviction from the country’s biggest such territory,” reports the Guardian.

Venezuela

• “Hundreds of public sector workers protested Tuesday in Caracas and throughout Venezuela against “starvation wages” and demanded a ‘decent’ income that would allow them to cover their basic needs, and denounced ‘harassment at work,’” reports EFE.

Argentina

• Argentina's monthly inflation rate was likely 28% in December, which would be the highest since early 1990, with annual inflation set to top 200% for the year, one of the highest rates in the world, reports Reuters.

• Argentina is set to make a near $1 billion payment to foreign bondholders this week as the Milei administration continues talks with the International Monetary Fund, reports Bloomberg.

• The crisis of representation that catapulted Milei into power remains unresolved, with no political force properly positioned to present a credible alternative to the president’s institutionally far-fetched plans, argues Luis Bruchstein in Página 12.

• “A judge in Rome has ordered Lt Col Carlos Luis Malatto, a former Argentine army officer accused of murder and forced disappearances during Argentina’s 1976-83 military dictatorship, to stand trial in Italy for the premeditated killing of eight people,” reports the Guardian.

Foodies

• The Mater Initiative is “a contemporary culinary research institution anchored in the study of local traditions and ecological knowledge,” in Peru, and has chef Virgilio Martínez “to rock star status in the gastronomic world,” reports the Washington Post.