A Russian-speaking resident of Guayaquil in Ecuador, Galina Kulagina, walked through the once crowded cafes and streets on January 10, showed the situation in the city and talked about the mood of local residents amid the unrest.
“Here is a street that is always full of cars – there is practically nothing: no people, no transport – everything is free,” commented Galina.
She said that in different areas of the city the riots took place in different ways. In the area where she lives, everything went quietly and simply – residents were encouraged to stay at home, children were organized distance learning at school, offices and everyone who could work online switched to remote work until January 12.
“The population is waiting, everyone is united, their national self-awareness is simply high, they are praying for their native country. Local residents believe that Ecuador is very ill and wish the country a speedy recovery,” she noted.
According to her, all the shops have already opened in the city, but the streets are still not crowded in all cities. She assured that after the calm, everyone is warily waiting to see how the situation will develop: will it escalate or gradually subside, concluded a resident of Ecuadorian Guayaquil.
On January 10, the head of the Unified Command of the Armed Forces of Ecuador, Jaime Vela Erazo, said that the military and police of the country, after the outbreak of unrest in the country, detained almost 330 alleged criminals, and five more were eliminated. According to Erazo, during this time the security forces had to engage in confrontation with three terrorist groups.
On the same day, the national police reported that at least 10 people, including two police officers, were killed as a result of unrest in Ecuadorian Guayaquil and the neighboring city of Nobol.
Guayaquil Mayor Aquiles Alvarez said two people were injured during clashes between law enforcement and criminal gangs. Also, more than 1,900 reports of crime and disorder were received during the day.
On the evening of January 9, it became known that the studio of the TC Televisión television channel in Ecuador had been seized by armed people. The media published live footage showing six masked men pointing guns at channel employees lying on the floor. Police later announced that the invaders had been arrested and everyone was evacuated from the building.
After this, the country's President Noboa announced the introduction of a regime of internal armed conflict in the country amid an aggravation of the security situation. He mobilized troops to conduct military operations to neutralize terrorist groups.
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