Ecuadorean authorities Thursday confirmed drug-trafficking gangs continued to have a total of 178 hostages in prisons nationwide while the number of casualties after four days of internal turmoil was updated to 16 as the outlaws retaliated following law enforcement forces operations. In this scenario, daily life is gradually getting back to normal.
Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa underlined Wednesday that we are at war and I will not give in. He made those remarks one day after multiple uprisings by drug trafficking groups particularly in Quito and Guayaquil resulted in at least 18 deaths and over 300 arrests, in addition to the people wounded, for which the head of state declared an internal armed conflict against terrorist organizations believed to be 20,000 strong.
At least eight people were killed, many others were wounded and scores were arrested as a wave of drug-trafficking gang violence spread throughout Ecuador -specifically in Quito and Guayaquil- on Tuesday, targeting specifically the country's prisons, a TV station, and a university campus, it was reported.
The Peruvian government of President Dina Boluarte Tuesday ordered the deployment of troops and law enforcement forces to the 1,500-kilometer-long border with Ecuador to prevent the violent uprising of drug-trafficking gangs from crossing over, it was reported in Lima.
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa Monday decreed a state of emergency after riots erupted in at least six prisons nationwide, with inmates taking guards hostage and starting fires by burning mattresses. The measure allows the Armed Forces to intervene in support of law enforcement agencies.
Ecuadorian authorities confirmed Sunday the detection of the first case of the so-called Pirola variant (BA.2.86) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a woman in Quito, who has been reported to be stable and receiving outpatient treatment at home, according to a statement from the Health Ministry, which is carrying out an epidemiological follow-up and monitoring of the patient.
Daniel Noboa, aged 35, was sworn in Thursday as Ecuador's new president during a ceremony at Quito's Legislative Palace. He will be at the helm of this country for 18 months to complete the term of office left unfinished by Guillermo Lasso, who activated the so-called crossed-death mechanism to avoid impeachment and called for snap elections.
In a move to solve the current energy crisis affecting some Ecuadorian towns, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced on X after a meeting Saturday with Gustavo Petro at the Casa de Nariño in Bogota that Colombia would be supplying 450 megawatts of electricity.
Ecuadorian towns in the Amazon region have been reported to be undergoing power outages that might drag on at least until December if current drought conditions are to persist, according to local authorities. The power cuts have caused havoc and traffic chaos in a country where violence reigns supreme and darkness only adds to the insecurity condition.
Presidents Dina Boluarte of Peru and Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador Wednesday ratified a “historic friendship and cooperation ties” between the two countries, 25 years after the signing of the Comprehensive and Definitive Peace Agreement, which in 1998 put an end to the armed conflict over a territorial dispute.