An American tourist who was left stranded in Ecuador has witnessed the civil unrest after the president ordered the army onto the streets.
Steven Donovan shared the terrifying footage from his hotel in the port city of Guayaquil, which shows military personnel storming down a section of highway.
Donovan said he had been forced to stay in the city following the disastrous Alaska Airlines Boeing plane that blew out earlier this week, causing air travel chaos.
Dozens of armed personnel can be storming the area near the airport in the city, equipped with assault rifles after violence erupted on the streets.
On Tuesday, hooded gangsters seized a state TV news studio, while a university was attacked and 130 jail guards were held hostage.
Dozens of armed personnel can be storming the area near the airport in the city, equipped with assault rifles after violence erupted on the streets
Steven Donovan, seen here, shared the terrifying footage from his hotel in the port city of Guayaquil, which has been at the center of the conflict
Donovan added a post to his Instagram account, saying, ‘I’m not sure if this has made international news yet but the current situation in Ecuador is very intense.
‘The president has issued a state of emergency for the entire country and yesterday gangs took the news station hostage right down the street from our hotel in Guayaquil.
‘I’m hoping things don’t escalate and I can get out this evening on a flight. There’s talks of an all out civil war happening but for the moment I’m safe at a hotel and very close to the airport.’
Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks including explosions and the abduction of several police officers after the government imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the escape of a powerful gang leader from prison.
Adolfo ‘Fito’ Macías, 44, the leader of Los Choneros gang, was found missing from his cell in a low security prison on the same day he was supposed to be transferred to a maximum security facility, on Sunday.
A manhunt is underway for Macías and Los Lobos leader Fabricio Colon Pico, who also escaped prison on Tuesday since his arrest last Friday for alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Ecuador’s attorney general.
Peru also declared an emergency on Tuesday along its northern border with Ecuador because of the ongoing violence.
Macías, who was convicted of drug trafficking, murder and organized crime, was serving a 36-year sentence in La Regional prison in Guayaquil.
Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks including explosions and the abduction of several police officers after the government imposed a state of emergency
Men with their faces covered entered the set of the TC Television network in the port city of Guayaquil and shouted that they had bombs
Adolfo Macias, aka Fito, leader of the Los Choneros criminal gang, is seen here while being transferred to The Rock maximum-security complex
Los Choneros is a huge criminal organization that authorities have linked to extortion, murder and drug trafficking, among other crimes.
Their network of members is massive and pervades many of the country’s prisons, with the group standing accused of controlling many penitentiaries from the inside.
Members carry out contract killings, run extortion operations, move and sell drugs, and are the law inside a number of prisons.
President Daniel Noboa, who took office on November 23, has promised to eradicate violence through his so-called Phoenix Plan, the details of which he has not revealed to the public.
To face up to the crisis, Noboa decreed a state of emergency and curfew on Monday, tasking police and armed forces with enforcing compliance.
It restricts the rights to move freely, to assemble and allows police entry into homes without a court order.
The attack on the television elicited another decree, this time recognizing that the country possesses an armed, domestic conflict and identifying more than a dozen organizations as ‘terrorists and belligerent non-state actors’.
The decree also enabled the armed forces to carry out military operations ‘to neutralize the identified groups’, while observing international humanitarian law.
President Noboa, seen here, has ordered the army onto the streets and declared a state of ‘internal armed conflict’
President Daniel Noboa, who took office on November 23, has promised to eradicate violence through his so-called Phoenix Plan. Soldiers are seen here walking the streets of Quito
Ecuadorian authorities have launched a major manhunt to track down Fito, who is presumed to have escaped his cell
Ecuadorean police squad enters the premises of Ecuador’s TC television channel after unidentified gunmen burst into the state-owned television studio live on air
Military stand guard at Litoral Penitentiary after the disappearance of ‘Fito’ on January 7, 2024
Noboa named 22 gangs as terrorist organizations on Tuesday, making them official military targets.
Los Choneros and other similar groups, primarily Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones have all be named as targets, and have been fighting over territory and control.
The gangs have links to cartels from Colombia and Mexico, including the infamous Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation groups.
Noboa was elected in October on a pledge to fight rampant drug-related crime and violence in the South American country – once considered a bastion of peace, but now a key stop on the US and Europe-bound cocaine trade.
He vowed Monday to bring the fight to the cartels after Macias escaped from prison the previous day.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan wrote in a post to social media: ‘We strongly condemn the recent criminal attacks by armed groups in Ecuador against private, public, & government institutions.
‘We are committed to supporting Ecuadorians’ security & prosperity & bolstering cooperation w/partners to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.’
