Ecuador's 60‑day emergency: Drug gangs push nation to brink

In Ecuador, a surge of violence perpetrated by armed drug gangs is intensifying. President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency in the country's capital, Quito, and in six out of twenty-four provinces on Thursday. He noted that the violence has assumed the dimensions of an "internal armed conflict."

Daniel Noboa, President of Ecuador, declared a 60-day state of emergency in Quito and six provinces of the country. The decision was made due to the escalating violence from armed drug gangs. Noboa described the current situation as nearing an internal armed conflict.

The 36-year-old Noboa, who took office as president in November 2023, stated that the country is entering a "new phase in the fight against organised crime in Ecuador." Using strong language, he emphasised that the Ecuadorian government is committed to confronting these threats.

We are at war. We cannot surrender to these terrorists – Noboa said, referring to the brutal riots instigated by gang members who are incarcerated in Ecuadorian prisons.

As the head of state emphasised, gang members are responsible for hundreds of murdered Ecuadorians. Over the past three years, more than twenty heavily armed criminal groups have been operating in the country, associated with powerful Mexican drug cartels, among others.

The areas where the state of emergency will be enforced include not only the capital, Quito, but also coastal provinces such as Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, El Oro, Santa Elena, and Orellana, and some mining districts such as Camilo Ponce Enríquez. In these areas, military and police forces will be concentrated to combat the actively operating gangs.

In these areas, the activities of organised gangs, well-armed terrorist bands at the service of international drug traffickers, have created a very tense situation (…) We are at war and cannot yield (...) to terrorists operating in our country – stated the presidential decree introducing the state of emergency.

According to media reports, the number of members in Ecuadorian drug gangs exceeds twenty thousand. They possess modern weapons.

This marks another recent decree of the state of emergency. In January of this year, riots occurred in several Ecuadorian prisons after Fito – one of the most dangerous criminals, escaped from jail. Noboa then announced the introduction of a 60-day state of emergency and a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. throughout the country.

Fito, whose real name is Adolfo Macias Villamar, was serving a sentence of 34 years in prison for involvement in organised crime, murders, and drug trafficking. He was in a high-security unit. After his escape, 4,000 police officers were deployed to the prison to try to control the situation.