Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said on Wednesday that the country was in a “state of war” after several days of violence by members of criminal gangs he estimated at “more than 20,000” and described as “terrorists.”
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In retaliation for government pressure, drug trafficking gangs have launched a brutal offensive since the start of the week, leaving at least 10 people dead.
Additionally, more than a hundred prison guards were taken hostage by inmates, drug lords escaped, and journalists were intimidated on live television.
“We are in a state of war and we cannot give in to these terrorist groups,” Mr. Noboa told Radio Canela after declaring on Tuesday that the country was in an “internal armed conflict.”
As part of that move, he ordered the armed forces to “neutralize” gangs linked to the powerful drug cartels of Mexico and Colombia.
The crisis was triggered by the escape on Sunday of Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, the leader of the country's largest criminal organization, Los Choneros, who was imprisoned in a maximum security prison in Guayaquil (southwest).
“We fight for national peace, we also fight against terrorist groups that today have more than 20,000 members,” added Mr. Noboa, 36, who was elected in November on a promise to restore security in the country.
“We will not give in,” assured the youngest president in the country’s history.
On Monday, he declared a 60-day state of emergency across the country, including in prisons that have become operation centers for drug traffickers.
The Ecuadorian president has stoked the anger of drug enforcement officers by announcing the construction of high-security prisons in the style of his Salvadoran counterpart Nayib Bukele in his “war” on gangs.
“This government is taking the necessary measures that no one has wanted to take in recent years,” stressed Mr. Noboa.