Ecuadorean security forces patrol the area around the main square and presidential palace after Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa declared the country in a state of "internal armed conflict" and ordered the army to carry out military operations against the country's powerful drug gangs, in downtown Quito on January 9, 2024. Photo by Rodrigo BUENDIA / AFP
Madrid: Spain is following with "concern" the crisis in Ecuador, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday, a day after the Latin American country exploded in what President Daniel Noboa called an "internal armed conflict".
"We are of course following with concern the events that have been taking place in recent days in that country, which needless to say we will support," Sanchez said in Madrid, at an event with Spanish ambassadors.
"We are confident that normality will soon be restored," the premier said, adding that Madrid "backed democratic institutions".
Ecuador's president gave orders Tuesday to "neutralize" criminal gangs after gunmen opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions on a second day of terror in the violence-riddled country.
Gangs declared war on the government when Noboa announced a state of emergency following the prison escape on Sunday of one of Ecuador's most powerful narco bosses.
At least 10 people have been killed in a series of attacks blamed on gangs -- eight in Guayaquil, and two "viciously murdered by armed criminals" in the nearby town of Nobol, police said Tuesday.
