2024-01-11 12:41:06
Ecuador was shaken by a wave of violence in recent days, with schools and businesses closed, a nighttime curfew in effect and residents afraid to leave their homes.
Violence continues in Guayaquilwhere three bodies were found in a burned-out car, and two police officers were murdered in the province that is home to Ecuador’s largest city.
President Daniel Noboa launched a military offensive once morest the gangs, in order to restore order, while criminal groups are holding more than 100 prison officials hostage and following armed men broke into a television studio and a live broadcast.
Chronologically: the latest events that led to the crisis:
April 3, 2022 – A riot in a prison in Cuenca, a city in southern Ecuador, causes the death of at least 20 inmates.
May 9, 2022 – A prison riot broke out between members of the rival gangs Los Lobos and R7, causing more than 40 deaths.
2023 – The government said 8,008 people lost their lives in the violence, more than double the previous year. Authorities pointed to the growing reach of international drug gangs moving cocaine produced in South America.
May 17, 2023 – President Guillermo Lasso brought forward the elections to avoid his probable dismissal, and his successor must finish the remaining 17 months of his term.
July 25, 2023 – More than 30 inmates were killed in a Guayaquil prison, and Lasso deployed thousands of soldiers to regain control of the overcrowded facility.
August 9, 2023 – Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was running on an anti-corruption platform, was assassinated. Villavicencio became known as a journalist denouncing alleged criminal activities by politicians, members of the business community, and various gangs.
September 2023 – A wave of violence has hit the Andean nation as gangs blow up a bridge, attack prisons and kidnap guards and police.
November 23, 2023 – Noboa, son of a billionaire businessman, was sworn in as president. He pledged to combat violence with a series of security measures.
January 7, 2024 – Police said gang leader Adolfo Macías escaped from prison before a scheduled transfer to a maximum security unit, a move that was pushed to increase security in prisons. Macías had already escaped from prison in 2013.
January 8, 2024 – A wave of violence broke out in at least six prisons, with around 150 guards and prison officers taken hostage by inmates. Some hostages were later released. Noboa declared a state of emergency.
January 9, 2024 – Violence reached the streets of Ecuador with the murder of two police officers and the kidnapping of seven others. Three of the captives were freed.
An armed group broke into a television studio during a live broadcast and held journalists at gunpoint. More than a dozen people from the group were arrested. Noboa named 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations and launched a military offensive.
January 10, 2024 – Noboa announced that Ecuador will begin to deport foreign prisoners, especially Colombians, to reduce its prison population.
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