On Tuesday afternoon, January 9, hooded gunmen burst onto the set of TC Television, a state-owned TV channel in Guayaquil (southwestern Ecuador), and took journalists and other employees hostage, according to live images broadcast by the channel. The president has declared the country in a state of "internal armed conflict."

For the past four days, Ecuador has been facing an unprecedented security crisis. The country declared a state of emergency after mutinies and hostage-taking in some prisons, following the escape of Fito, a powerful drug trafficker.

Once a peaceful country, Ecuador has been ravaged by gang violence for the past five years. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of homicides rose by 800%, from 6 to 46 per 100,000 inhabitants.