Ecuador City attempts to get back to normal after terror of gangs

Slowly and with nervousness, things are starting to get back to normal in Guayaquil.

Only a few people in the city have fully recovered from the shock and chaos of this week. It was a very unforgettable moment for everyone in the city.

But Dina Moreno can’t stay at home anymore because she doesn’t have enough money. She sells phone accessories at the big market in Guayaquil. Like others, she has opened her business to start working again.

“I have never seen anything like it,” she remembers with a shiver. “When we saw trouble at the TV station and heard gunshots, everyone panicked and closed their shops to go home. ”

As Dina talks, her seven-year-old son plays with some phone covers. City schools are still closed because of gang violence. Dina didn’t make any money for two days, so she had to bring her son to work.

The same thing is happening in other parts of the big market. Street food sellers, delivery boys, and a person reading from the Bible are making the place noisy and busy again. This hasn’t happened since the attack.

The threat of drug-gang violence is still present. One seller, Jorge, said that the stall owners were all taking care of each other under the big white covers of the market, looking for any hint of trouble or the return of armed men to the streets.

“I’m not afraid of dying,” he said confidently. “I want Ecuador to be peaceful again. ”

However, Andres is not able to go back to his usual business in Guayaquil, even though other small businesses are trying to. His brother is one of 178 prison workers, most of them guards, who are still being held captive by the gangs.

“We have only heard from the guards who were able to escape. ” “They are the only ones who have said that our family members are alright,” he says to me from outside the Ambato prison, where he has been waiting for hours to hear any updates.

The police will let the worried family know they are waiting for permission to go into the prison. Andres says he hasn’t seen them do anything for days.

He says that the guards had told them something bad was going to happen in the prison, but the people in charge didn’t listen.

The government says the country is in a war with the gangs and won’t give in to threats from inside or outside the prisons. “President Daniel Noboa said that taking people as hostages is a terrible part of war. ”

But Andres is not comforted by that. He says the government is not doing enough and has forgotten about his brother.

“I just hope they don’t use them as disposable soldiers,” he says.

During a very chaotic situation, the most bold act of gang violence happened in the TC television studio in Guayaquil. Armed men held the staff hostage and showed their weapons to the journalists while they were on live TV.

During the scary situation, the host Jose Luis Calderon told the gang members to stay calm, even though they were holding a shotgun to his head and putting dynamite in his pocket.

“He said he felt surprisingly relaxed even though he knew we were in danger,” he remembered when we saw him later. Jose Luis told how he and some coworkers hid in a bathroom because they heard shouting and gunshots. However, they were quickly found and forced to join the rest of the staff on the set at gunpoint.

“They sent children, heavily armed, to make people scared, unsure, and worried, and to cause chaos,” he says. “They were there to show that they can come in and control one of the largest media companies in the country. ”

The police have arrested many gang members. During the night, not many people are on the streets of Guayaquil because of a curfew. But during the day, more people are out and about, going about their usual business.

As the days go by after a very scary event, it seems like Ecuador is going back to normal.

The danger is that it is rapidly heading towards a long-lasting armed fight and getting closer to becoming a complete “narco-state”.