South American chaos played out on live TV as masked gunmen were seeing taking over a broadcast in the midst of a national state of emergency.
(Video: NBC News)
Viewers tuning in for the afternoon news instead witnessed broadcasters become the headline when a gang forced their way onto the set of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s TC Television Tuesday.
In what would later be dubbed “a terrorist act,” the gunmen were seen for at least 15 minutes waving firearms and explosive devices in front of the cameras as employees were made to lie facedown. At one point, one of the masked men even took fused-explosive and tucked it into the pocket of a newsman seen begging.
Watch: BREAKING: ECUADOR TV STATION raided by the criminals.
Many held hostages on live tv. pic.twitter.com/eQMV0yjGdh
— Geopolitical Kid (@Geopoliticalkid) January 10, 2024
“We are on air, so you know that you cannot play with the mafia,” one of the 13 individuals who were later arrested could be heard saying during the broadcast.
Watch: BREAKING: #ECUADOR TV STATION SAFE
New video shows cartel members who stormed the news station in Ecuador are under arrest by government police. pic.twitter.com/VKGOBevzTx
— Geopolitical Kid (@Geopoliticalkid) January 10, 2024
The national police of Ecuador documented their action against the masked gunmen that ended with all the hostages being released without a single casualty. Their commander, César Zapata told Teleamazonas, “This is an act that should be considered as a terrorist act.”
In her own remarks following the incident, TC Television’s head of news Alina Manrique told the Associated Press during a telephone interview, “I am still in shock. Everything has collapsed…All I know is that it’s time to leave this country and go very far away.”
“They aimed the gun at my head,” she recounted. “I thought about my entire life, about my two children.”
The incident followed Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declaring a national state of emergency Monday after Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macías, known as Fito, had escaped a low-security prison Sunday. Macías had been slated for a transfer to a maximum-security facility at the time of his disappearance.
Noboa’s order went into effect with a duration of 60 days and imposed a curfew while allowing for he government to “suspend rights and mobilize the military in places like prisons.”
The president had issued a decree “designating 20 drug trafficking gangs operating in the country as terrorist groups and authorizing Ecuador’s military to ‘neutralize’ these groups within the bounds of international humanitarian law.”
Tuesday he shared video of the police action thwarting the takeover of the television studio, referring to it as “Courageous and determined action of the specialized units of @PoliciaEcuador to regain control in @tctelevision.”
Valiente y decidido accionar de las unidades especializadas de la @PoliciaEcuador para retomar el control en @tctelevision. pic.twitter.com/fWRQYnbQsw
— Presidencia Ecuador (@Presidencia_Ec) January 10, 2024
Since Macías’ escape, the Ecuadorian government had confirmed at least 30 attacks had taken place. Additionally, officials had announced Tuesday that Los Lobos gang leader Fabricio Colón Pico had also escaped prison after he had been captured on Friday.
Los Choneros were said to to be linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and have been held responsible for a rise in drug trafficking related violence.
At the time of this post, President Joe Biden had not issued a statement regarding the latest state of emergency in Ecuador.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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