- President Guillermo Lasso has declared a state of emergency in Ecuador.
- At least five people died in an explosion in the port city of Guayaquil. An attack believed to have been aimed at two men linked to a criminal gang.
- Organized crime will not be allowed to rule the country, Lasso wrote on Twitter.
“We will deploy all security forces to restore control of the city,” Lasso continues. Another 16 people were injured in the explosion, according to risk and disaster control. Eight houses and two vehicles were also destroyed.
There have been repeated outbreaks of violence between gangs in the affected province in recent months.
Legend:
The explosion is said to be linked to a criminal gang.
Keystone / Magdalena Moreira
Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said at a press conference that the attack was aimed at a local resident alias “Cucaracha”. This and another man with the alias “Júnior” are believed to have connections to the “Los Tiguerones” criminal gang. Carrillo had previously written on Twitter that the explosive attack was a “declaration of war on the state”.
Bloody gang fights and bomb threats
President Lasso had previously declared a state of emergency in April due to the increasing violence in the province of Guayas with the capital Guayaquil. There had been reports of explosions outside the prison and bomb threats in courthouses.
In September, 118 people were killed in bloody gang fighting in a prison near Guayaquil. Prisons in Ecuador, like elsewhere in Latin America, are overcrowded. Many prisons are controlled by gangs. Numerous imprisoned bosses run their criminal organizations from prison. “The enemy is the drug trade,” said Guayas Governor Pablo Arosemena.