© EPA-EFE
Ecuador is in a “state of war”. The president of the South American country said this on Wednesday after days of violence. More than a hundred guards are being held hostage by detainees.
Violence in the country has escalated after notorious criminal Adolfo Macias – nicknamed ‘Fito’ – managed to escape from a maximum security cell in Guayaquil prison on Sunday. At least ten people have already died. On Tuesday afternoon, armed men entered the television studio of the public channel TC.
According to President Daniel Noboa, there are more than 20,000 members of criminal gangs in the country. “We are in a state of war, and we must not give in to those terrorist groups,” he said on the radio. He had already declared a state of emergency on Monday.
Ecuador is plagued by violence from violent gangs and drug cartel. The country has become a major trading point for cocaine produced in neighboring Peru and Colombia.