The violent acts are recorded while a state of emergency has been in force since last July 24 throughout the Ecuadorian territory.
A crisis of insecurity, violence and politics is being experienced in Ecuador, just over a month after holding the ballot for the early presidential elections, in which Luisa González, candidate of the Revolución Ciudadana (RC) movement, will face off against Daniel Noboa, of the National Democratic Action (ADN) alliance.
Wednesday night and Thursday morning, two car bombs exploded in the center of Quito, the capital of the country. According to the National Police, the first explosion occurred at approximately 7:00 p.m. [hora local] yesterday on Robles and Amazonas streets, in the La Mariscal sector, near a building where the National Comprehensive Care Service for Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) previously operated, the state department in charge of guarding and manage Ecuador’s prisons. Two gas cylinders and, apparently, wads of dynamite were found in the vehicle.
“After preliminary verifications, it is established that individuals would have left the parked vehicle abandoned, on Robles and Amazonas streets, in Quito, the same thing that would have been found with a slow fuse device. Subsequently, two citizens who were moving on a motorcycle would have thrown flammable liquid, which caused the explosion of the car, “detailed the Police. six people were arrested for his alleged involvement in this incident.
Later, around 02:00 in the morning, a van with two gas cylinders inside exploded on 12 de Octubre avenue, between Wilson and Foch streets, causing damage to the exterior of the SNAI buildingaccording to accurate police.
In none of the explosions were victims to be regretted, detailed the security forces.
In addition, the mayor of Quito, Pabel Muñoz, reportedwithout giving further details, that three grenades were detonated in a controlled manner in the Ecuadorian capital.
Detained prison officers
While these explosions occurred in Quito, prison agents remain kidnapped by inmates in the Turi prison, in the Andean city of Cuenca, Azuay province, in the south of the country.
The prisoners have rioted climbing on the roof of the prison compound, one of the many where violent acts have been recorded in recent years in the South American country.
Wagner Bravo, Secretary of Public and State Security, in an interview with FM Worldcommented that with these actions, both in prisons and in the streets (with car bombs), organized crime groups they want to “intimidate the state” to prevent them from continuing to fulfill their role of controlling prisons.
Regarding the car bombs, he considered that they could be linked to a repercussion for the transfer to different prisons of the six people who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the assassination of former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, which occurred on August 9.
Likewise, according to the SNAI, the riot in the Cuenca prison is in protest against the intervention, with more than 1,800 members of the National Police and the Armed Forces, carried out on Wednesday in the Latacunga prison, capital of the Cotopaxi province. . These actions were carried out with the purpose of “taking out weapons, ammunition and explosives” and “avoiding violent acts,” according to the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso.
All these facts are recorded while governs a state of exceptiondecreed by Lasso on July 24, throughout Ecuador, a country that in 2022 experienced the most violent year in its history, with 4,823 intentional homicides in the 12 months, and this year is shaping up to be even worse.
Reports to the Government
Along with these events in the streets and in prisons, a new accusation against the Lasso government arises. Journalist Andersson Boscán, from the Ecuadorian digital portal La Posta, revealed on Tuesday that the Police and the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) they knew since last April that there was an attack plan underway to attempt against him, Villavicencio (who was serving as an assemblyman at the time) and Colonel José Luis Erazo.
«Three and a half months later, Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated […] This information was in the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office and in the hands of the Police, and despite this information, they never opened an investigation,” he denounced.
Boscán links the threats of attacks with the revelations made by La Posta since last January, in the case they called ‘Great Godfather’what exposed the existence of an alleged network of corruption in public companies in Ecuador, in the administration of Guillermo Lasso, which would be led by the president’s brother-in-law, Danilo Carrera, his trusted operator, Rubén Cherres (assassinated on March 31). , and the former head of the Public Companies Coordinating Company (EMCO) Hernán Luque, who fled the country.
It also relates the attack alerts to a document known as ‘Lion of Troy’, a police report about the alleged links between the Albanian mafia and Carrera, via Cherres. That investigation was led by Erazo.
Villavicencio had already warned last February that the team of police investigators that participated in the “León de Troya” case was “under threat from drug traffickers.”
On Wednesday, relatives and lawyers of these police officers confirmed their fears and, at a press conference, warned of the risk of death. “My husband is next on the list. I don’t want to be the next widow.”said Erika Mena, Erazo’s wife, who, like Lieutenant Ronny Rengel —another of the investigators in the ‘León de Troya’ case—, fears for her life.
At the press conference, they denounced persecution by the national government and the Ecuadorian State, through actions such as raids on offices and homes. They hold Lasso, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, and the Commander General of the Police, Fausto Salinas, responsible for the lives of these officers.
«On Sunday, August 27, between 00:15, shots were fired outside my house. My son’s room was raided, his phones were taken away,” said Orlando Rengel, Ronny’s father. Given the lack of guarantees for the uniformed officers, his lawyers announced the request for precautionary measures before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) so that the State gives them protection.
Before the relatives and lawyers of these police officers spoke out, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Government issued statements responding to Boscán’s revelations. The FGE said that “the information made public is decontextualized, is imprecise and inaccurate and that, furthermore, it has been obtained irregularly”.
Meanwhile, the government defended itself, pointing out that He has never “harassed, persecuted or prosecuted journalists, politicians or citizens in general”but that “he has always been respectful of freedom of expression, even in the face of statements that can easily be considered infamy.”
Second round in doors
In the midst of all this situation, on October 15, Ecuadorians will go to the polls to elect the new president of the country, between González and Noboa, who were the most voted candidates in the first round held on August 20, but whose results they were not enough to win the victory on that occasion.
These elections were called after Lasso decreed a death cross and dissolved the National Assembly, in addition to shortening its mandate, last May; decision he made when Parliament was impeaching him.
Therefore, the authorities elected in these elections will only govern until May 2025, to finish the period that began in 2021.