🔴 Live: Noboa decrees protection for the cabinet; Detainees for attack on TV channel face terrorism charges

The essential:

• This January 10, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa signed Decree 112, which provides protection for senior officials of the Strategic Security Cabinet, including spouses and children.
• At least 10 people died, 70 arrested and 17 prisoners recaptured after the violent day on Tuesday, the Police reported.
• Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia expressed their support for the Noboa Administration. The Government of Javier Milei offered to send armed forces to Ecuador.
• Those arrested after an armed raid on a television channel will be accused of terrorism by the Prosecutor's Office.

Below, the main news about the violence crisis in Ecuador this January 10:

• 11:07 (BOG) Noboa: 'Judges who help terrorists will be considered members of the terrorism network'

In an interview with the local media 'Candela radio', the Ecuadorian leader declared that he remains “firm” in his measures against organized crime, despite the attacks with which criminal gangs have challenged his decisions in recent days. .

Noboa promised a tough line against criminals and warned that the magistrates who help the members of the 22 groups, which he classified as terrorists a day earlier, will also be considered as “part or members of the terrorist network.”

“The moments of lukewarm governments are over (…) We are in an armed conflict, not an international one; “We are fighting for national peace, we are also fighting against terrorist groups that today number more than 20,000 people and have not been named or determined,” highlighted the head of state.

• 10:50 (BOG) What does the declaration of internal armed conflict in Ecuador imply?

With this measure, the president applies the rules dictated by International Humanitarian Law on conflicts, including the use of force.

Among other actions, “the military can enter and end these basic guarantees of inviolability of the home” and carry out “arrests without a court order,” highlighted political analyst Esteban Santos in an interview with the local newspaper 'El Universo'.

Likewise, the Ecuadorian Government identifies the 22 criminal gangs, which it classified as terrorists, and makes all the guarantees of the State available to the Armed Forces to combat them.

It “singularizes which, for the State, are the gangs with which we go to war and that makes that list. In short, personal freedoms are over and we are in a state of war,” added the expert.

• 9:41 (BOG) Prosecutor's Office will file charges for terrorism after armed invasion of television station

The accusation will fall against the 13 men, between 16 and 25 years old, who on Tuesday broke into the headquarters of 'TC television', where they detained and threatened technicians and journalists with weapons.

“The Prosecutor's Office will prosecute 13 people for the crime of terrorism. The antisocials entered the 'TC television' facilities armed and detained the media's staff. The criminal act left no fatalities,” indicated the prosecuting body.

The detainees face their first hearing this Wednesday at 10:00 local time.

• 9:29 (BOG) Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia offer their help to the Government Ecuadorian

The presidents of the three countries in the region publicly offered their support to President Daniel Noboa, after images that showed the burning of vehicles, the kidnapping and threats to police and prison officers, attacks with explosives and the emergence of a group armed with a television channel, they went around the world.

The Argentine Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, even offered to send security forces if necessary. The Foreign Ministry expressed its “strongest support for the authorities and people of Ecuador” in their “fight against the actions of organized crime that seeks to undermine the rule of law.”

“We are attentive to all the support that the Government of Ecuador requests from us,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro through the X platform.

Meanwhile, the Bolivian president Luis Arce highlighted that “it is urgent to work on the regionalization of the fight against drug trafficking and other illicit activities, as well as the creation of supranational organizations such as the Latin American Anti-Narcotics Alliance – ALA, under the principles of sovereignty and dignity of our towns.”

• 9:18 (BOG) At least 10 dead and 70 arrested after Tuesday's violence

The Ecuadorian Police reported that the violent events of January 9 left 10 people dead and two police officers injured in different incidents in Guayaquil, a port city and one of the main ones in the country.

In addition, the authorities indicated that so far they have arrested 70 people during nationwide operations. Some of those arrested were involved in the kidnapping of police officers.

On the other hand, 17 men who had escaped from prisons were recaptured and three of the seven uniformed officers kidnapped on Tuesday were released.

• 8:45 (BOG) President Noboa provides protection for his cabinet

By signing the decree 112the president ordered this January 10 to the Ministry of Government, the Interior and the National Police provide protection to the senior officers of the Strategic Security Cabinet. The measure also extends to their spouses and children who reside in Ecuador.

The Cabinet is made up of the highest authorities of the Ministries of Defense, Government, the Interior, the National Risk Secretariat, the Strategic Intelligence Center, the ECU911, as well as the Service for Persons Deprived of Liberty.

This decision comes after President Daniel Noboa declared “the internal armed conflict” on Tuesday, January 9, in response to a series of attacks that hit several cities, including Quito, the capital, and Guayaquil.

The invasion of a criminal gang into a television channel during a live broadcast, the escape of prisoners –including Fabricio Colón Pico Suárez, accused of planning an attack against Attorney General Diana Salazar–, Explosions, prison riots and the kidnapping of police officers marked that day.

Ecuador is immersed in an uptick in insecurity, which on Sunday, January 7, led Noboa to declare state of emergency for 60 days and curfewafter the riots in six prisons in the country and the escape of the feared leader of the 'Los Choneros' gang, Adolfo Macías, alias 'Fito'.

With EFE and local media