Panama  monitoring events in Ecuador

Kidnappings of police officers, two drug lords escaped from prison, riots in prisons, and attacks with explosives in the streets: drug traffickers challenge the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, in his first crisis after assuming power in November.

For two days the country has been experiencing nights of terror. Seven police officers were kidnapped amid the state of emergency ordered by the government on Monday amid an outbreak of violence linked to drug trafficking.

“These are extremely difficult days because (…) the important decision is to face these threats with terrorist characteristics head-on,” said the government’s Secretary of Communication, Roberto Izurieta,

The prison escape of Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”, head of the main criminal gang known as Los Choneros, sparked the crisis on Sunday.

On Tuesday, the authorities reported the escape of another drug leader, Fabricio Colón Pico, one of the leaders of Los Lobos, arrested on Friday for the crime of kidnapping and his alleged responsibility in a plan to assassinate the attorney general.

There were also explosions against a police station, the home of the president of the National Court, and vehicles set on fire.

Noboa, 36, is the youngest president of Ecuador and came to power with the promise of attacking drug groups, linked to Colombian and Mexican cartels, with a strong hand.

Executions Threat
In an unverified video on social networks, three agents appear sitting on the floor. One of them is forced to read a message addressed to the president: “You declared war and you are going to have war (…)Anyone who is in the streets starting at eleven at night will be executed”.

The state of emergency applies for 60 days throughout the country, including prisons. The measure includes a six-hour curfew, between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.

Noboa announced last week that he will build two maximum security prisons in the provinces of Pastaza and Santa Elena in the style of those established by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in his war against gangs.

The indigenous people of the Amazon called for peaceful protests this Tuesday in rejection of this prison project in their biodiverse and oil-producing territory.

Panama President, Laurentio Cortizo, said he continues to monitor the current crisis in Ecuador and asked the Panamanian embassy in Quito to provide the necessary assistance and protection to Panamanians who are in that nation.