A live broadcast by Ecuadorean television station TC was interrupted by a group of armed people who forced staff to lie and sit on the floor, as shots and yelling were heard. The country’s president has declared 22 gangs as terrorist organizations and said that the country is in a state of “internal armed conflict.”
The incident came after at least seven police officers were kidnapped, explosions occurred in several cities, and prison inmates seized dozens of guards as hostages, a day after President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency.
In countries throughout Latin America, governments have often taken harsh measures to crack down on the production and movement of drugs, giving a blank cheque to armed forces with long records of abuse and rights violations. But as a wave of violent crime has crashed over Ecuador, politicians have looked to stake out tough positions on crime and the growing influence of narcotraffickers.
Some have pointed to the success of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who has suspended key civil liberties and swept thousands of people into prison with little semblance of due process in order to strike a blow against criminal gangs in the country.
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