holding people hostage. telemundo has more from ecuador. reporter: yes, we re here in the largest city in ecuador and it is one of the most dangerous places in south america. violence spiral has increased in the past few days. as you well reported and as we well know, criminals really went into a tv station and delivered some of the most brutal images of this war against crime in ecuador. and today we have an exclusive interview with the president noboa declared war against the criminal groups. and he is calling them criminal organizations and also terrorists and deploying the army, the army is out on the streets trying to fight this
Ecuador s President Daniel Noboa declares his country "at war" with drug gangs holding prison guards hostage. He names 22 gangs as terrorist organizations and makes them military targets. The surge in violence includes gunmen taking over a live TV broadcast and explosions in multiple cities. With a state of emergency declared and plans for high-security prisons, the government aims to address the security crisis linked to rising drug trafficking. The president pledges to deport foreign prisoners, particularly Colombians, to reduce prison populations. The U.S. offers aid, condemning criminal attacks by armed groups.
Ecuador is in the grips of a crime wave blamed on drug trafficking gangs, and Ecuadoreans worry that violence will only escalate in a country where a presidential candidate was assassinated last year