QCOSTARICA — Costa Ricans in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, are being urged by the Costa Rican embassy to stay at home or in their hotels, in light of the acts of violence that are occurring in Ecuador.
Through various communications channels, the embassy advices Costa Ricans to contact the consulate by email concr-ec@rree.go.cr, telephone 224 7219 or 244 7690, in addition to the emergency service via WhatsApp at the number 0983801863.
At the moment, the departure of tourists from the country is full of uncertainty since special measures were taken at the Mariscal Sucre Quito International Airport (UIO) in Quito.
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The advisory came on Tuesday when the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, declared the his country is in the grip of “internal armed conflict” amid growing violence across the country.
Read more: In Ecuador, Armed Men Storm TV Station During Live Broadcast
Noboa made the declaration hours after a group of masked men armed with guns and explosives stormed a public television station in the port city of Guayaquil during a live news program and fired shots in the studio.
👉 En medio de la crisis de seguridad que atraviesa Ecuador y luego de la fuga de dos líderes de sendas bandas criminales, un grupo armado se tomó el canal de televisión TC, en Guayaquil. https://t.co/sxFB4a9mlY pic.twitter.com/2GNazA8BK0
— Voz de América (@VozdeAmerica) January 9, 2024
Police later seized control of the station and arrested 13 suspected gunmen and charged them with terrorism. No one was hurt in the incident.
The crisis began over the weekend with the apparent prison escape of Adolfo Macias, better known as Fito, the leader of the notorious drug gang Los Choneros, linked to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel
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Several police officers have been abducted and numerous bombs have been detonated across Ecuador.
Authorities Tuesday said another drug-trafficking boss, Fabricio Colon Pico of the Los Lobos group, accused of being involved in a plot to kill the country’s attorney general, had escaped from police custody from the town of Riobamba.
On Monday, President Noboa declared a state of emergency on response to the violence.
Ecuador has been plagued by violence for years as the once-peaceful nation has become a major transit route for cocaine smuggling between South and North America.
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Peru has declared a state of emergency along its shared border with Ecuador, while Brazil, Chile and Colombia have expressed support for Ecuador’s leader.
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