WASHINGTON – He Department of State of the United States declared this Tuesday “extremely concerned” about the violence linked to drug trafficking in Ecuador, which has led the president of the South American country to declare a situation of “internal armed conflict” and deploy soldiers in the streets.
“Extremely concerned about the violence and kidnappings today in Ecuador,” the head of US diplomacy for Latin America, Brian Nichols, wrote on the social network X.
The United States “condemns these brazen attacks,” a State Department spokesperson concluded.
“We are in close contact with President (Daniel) Noboa and the Ecuadorian Government and we are willing to provide assistance,” added that source.
On Tuesday, Noboa ordered the “neutralization” of around twenty criminal groups that he called “terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.”
The decree was announced after armed and hooded men entered the TC Televisión channel in Guayaquil (southwest) when journalists were broadcasting a news program live, which caused a dramatic situation that lasted for at least 30 minutes until the police intervened. .
Terror
For two days now, Ecuador has been experiencing days of terror following the escape from prison of Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, head of Los Choneros, the main criminal gang in the country.
In response, Noboa implemented a state of emergency throughout the territory, including penitentiaries, which had become centers of drug operations.
Located in the middle of Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador went from being an island of peace to a drug war fort. 2023 closed with more than 7,800 homicides and 220 tons of drugs seized, new records in the nation of 17 million inhabitants.
Source: With information from AFP
