“Any activity contrary to the law, in any area of society and the state, must be considered a betrayal of the homeland, the most sacred values of what it means to be Ecuadoran, and God, who will be the judge of our lives,” the bishops stressed.
Violence, state of emergency in Ecuador
President Daniel Noboa decreed a state of emergency Jan. 8 with a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time. The president announced this measure after the dangerous leader of the Los Choneros gang, Adolfo Macías (alias “Fito”), escaped from prison and in the midst of various disturbances in several cities in the country such as prison riots, police officers being kidnapped, and vehicles being set on fire.
In his decree, the president stated that in Ecuador there is an “internal armed conflict” and designated “transnational organized crime gangs as terrorist organizations and belligerent nonstate actors.”
On the list are the following gangs: Águilas, Águilas Killer (Eagles, Killer Eagles), AK47, Caballeros Oscuros (Dark Knights), Chone Killer, Choneros, Corvicheros, Cuartel de las Feas, Cubanos, Fatales, Gánster, Kater Piler, Lagartos, Latin Kings, Lobos (Wolves), Los p.27, Los Tiburones (Sharks), Mafia 18, MafiaTrébol, Patrones, R7, and the Tiguerones.
“I have ordered the Armed Forces to carry out military operations to neutralize these groups,” the president said on X.