Ecuador to charge 13 people with terrorism people for breaking into TV studio

A screen grab of live video from the TC Television network shows a masked, armed person standing over journalists during a live broadcast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo / TC Television network via AP

Masked men broke on to the set of a public television channel in Ecuador, waving guns and explosives during a live broadcast, and the president issued a decree declaring the South American country had entered an “internal armed conflict”.

The men, armed with pistols and what looked like sticks of dynamite, entered the set of the TC Television network in the port city of Guayaquil shouting that they had bombs. Noises similar to gunshots could be heard in the background. It was not immediately clear if any station personnel were injured.

Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks, including the abductions of police officers, following a powerful gang leader’s apparent escape from prison. President Daniel Noboa this week said he would declare a national state of emergency, allowing authorities to suspend people’s rights and mobilise the military in places such as prisons.

Shortly after the gunmen stormed the TV station, Noboa issued another decree designating 20 drug trafficking gangs as terrorist groups and authorising Ecuador’s military to “neutralise” these groups within the bounds of international humanitarian law.

The government has not said how many attacks have taken place since they announced Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”, was discovered missing from his cell in a low-security prison on Monday. He was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security facility that day.

Soldiers patrol Inca prison during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador. Photo / AP

Authorities also have not said who is thought to be behind the attacks, which included an explosion near the house of the president of the National Justice Court and the Tuesday kidnappings of four police officers, or whether they think the actions were co-ordinated.

Police said one officer was abducted in the capital, Quito, and three in Quevedo city.

The government has previously blamed members of the main drug gangs for similar strikes. In recent years, Ecuador has been engulfed by a surge of violence tied to drug trafficking, including homicides and kidnappings.

Macías’ whereabouts are unknown. Prosecutors opened an investigation and charged two guards in connection with his alleged escape, but neither the police, the corrections system nor the federal government confirmed whether the prisoner fled the facility or might be hiding in it.

In February 2013, he escaped from a maximum security facility but was recaptured weeks later.

On Tuesday, Noboa decreed a national state of emergency for 60 days, allowing the authorities to suspend rights and mobilise the military in places such as prisons. The government also imposed a curfew from 11pm to 5am.

Noboa said in a message on Instagram that he wouldn’t stop until he “brings back peace to all Ecuadorians,” and his government had decided to confront crime. The wave of attacks began a few hours after Noboa’s announcement.

States of emergency were widely used by Noboa’s predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, as a way to confront the wave of violence that has affected the country.

Macías, who was convicted of drug trafficking, murder and organised crime, was serving a 34-year sentence in La Regional prison in Guayaquil.

Los Choneros is one of the Ecuadorian gangs authorities consider responsible for a spike in violence that reached a new level last year with the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The gang has links with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, according to authorities.

Experts and authorities have acknowledged gang members practically rule from inside the prisons, and Macías was believed to have continued controlling his group from within the detention facility.