This is the situation in Ecuador a week after declaring internal armed conflict

Ecuador is gradually returning to normality in the midst of the situation of “internal armed conflict” declared last week by President Daniel Noboa, following a chain of riots with hostage taking in seven prisons in the country and the violent occupation of a television channel by an armed commando that was finally dismantled.

(Read also: This is how the violence in Ecuador reflects a deep-rooted crisis in Latin America).

The streets of Quito, the capital, have begun to recover traffic this Monday, although partially, since some offices and public organizations maintain teleworkingwhile the Ministry of Education has ordered that classes be taught in virtual mode until next Wednesday.

Shops have opened their doors and street food vendors have returned to serving hurried passers-by on the corners.

La Carolina park, one of the most emblematic and busiest in the commercial area of ​​Quito, woke up this morning with several people doing sports in an urban landscape that mixed with those who were heading to their work centers.

On Sunday, the children were entertained in children's games or riding their bicycles, Adults walked or jogged and cyclists toured the surrounding streets, despite the fact that the municipal authorities suspended the traditional Sunday bike ride, which forced the closure of several roads.

Banks, medical services, restaurants, bus transportation and taxis operate normally, as well as the so-called 'blue zone' corresponding to the sector where vehicle parking is allowed, for a fee. All this makes Quito not look like a militarized city.

Last week there was fear of leaving vehicles on the streets after images circulated of a subject breaking the glass of a vehicle and throwing flammable liquid inside before setting it on fire.

Airports also maintain normal operations, but have reinforced security measures, while the Police remain attentive to the so-called citizens reporting abandoned objects in public areasdue to fear that they could be explosive devices.

(Keep reading: Ecuador: President Daniel Noboa proposes raising VAT in the midst of the conflict with gangs).

Operations underway

The focus of the local news this Monday was no longer the explosion of car bombsexplosions on pedestrian bridges, riots and hostages in prisons, nor kidnappings of police, but they did report acts of violence that occurred in the last few hours, such as the murder of two people in a pool hall in Quito.

Over the weekend, more than 150 hostages who were being held by prisoners in different prisons were released, and the Government assured that it quelled the disturbances in seven detention centers.

The relative calm that the Ecuadorian capital is experiencing this Monday contrasts with the tension that remains in areas, such as the province of Guayas, whose capital is Guayaquil, the epicenter of the violence crisis that affects Ecuador.

The military and police maintain surveillance, especially in the most conflictive areaswhere commerce operates at half throttle and the atmosphere remains tense.

More than 1,300 detainees

The Armed Forces have detained more than 1,300 people, 143 of them under charges of terrorism, in recent days after the application of a state of emergency declared by the Government, with which he tries to overcome the wave of violence unleashed by criminal gangs in the prisons and streets of the country.

The most recent balance released on Sunday by the so-called Security Axis – made up of military, Police and Government commanders -, realizes that since last Tuesday, the day the assault on the TC Televisión channel in Guayaquil took placesecurity forces have carried out a total of 12,974 operations nationwide.

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These operations were carried out in compliance with the application of the state of emergency and the night curfew decreed by President Noboa on the 8th for a period of sixty days to stop the spiral of violence.

In that last decree, the Government identified at least 22 organized crime groups and classified them “as terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.”

According to experts, classifying these groups as belligerents opens a legal door for the Armed Forces, together with the Police, to act with all their resources to neutralize them.

EFE