Schools and stores in Ecuador’s biggest cities were shut down after armed men stormed a television broadcast Tuesday.
The armed gang members “aroused new levels of fear in a nation experiencing a wave of criminal violence,” according to The Associated Press. The attack took place at TC Television in Guayaquil, a coastal city plagued by violence.
“The hooded intruders who stormed TC Television’s offices and studio with guns and explosives unleashed at least 15 minutes of on-air threats while menacing journalists and other terrified employees,” per AP.
No one was killed, and police arrested 13 people.
The attack happened after President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency because of the prison break of criminal Adolfo Macías, Axios reported.
What’s next in Ecuador?
Since the attack on the television broadcast, Noboa has given orders to “neutralize” criminal gangs, according to CBS News. Soldiers were patrolling “near-deserted” streets in the capitol Quito on Wednesday with the nation “plunged” into crisis due to “transnational cartels who use its ports to ship cocaine to the U.S. and Europe.”
The emergency order from Noboa includes a nightly curfew meant to curb gang violence in Ecuador, per BBC.
Gangs have also declared war on the government, CBS News reported.
“Much of the violence suffered by the country comes as drug gangs fight each other and the government for control of ports and smuggling routes,” according to AP.
Axios noted that the crisis could increase migration from Ecuador to the U.S.