Members of the National Police prepare before going out to patrol the streets of Duran, city neighbouring Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Nov. 5, 2022. Special police forces continued on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022 to transfer imprisoned criminal gang leaders who have unleashed terror in Guayaquil as part of the government’s “open war” against drug trafficking. / Photo by RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP via Getty Images
CNA Newsroom, Nov 7, 2022 / 16:15 pm (CNA).
Drug trafficking gangs in Ecuador have reacted to the government’s efforts to retake control of the prisons by launching a series of attacks — including the use of car bombs — that have left several dead, including five police officers.
In an effort to quell the violence, on Nov. 4 the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, extended to the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas the state of emergency that has been in effect in the provinces of Las Guayas and Esmeraldas since Nov. 1.
The state of emergency suspends for 45 days the rights to freedom of association and assembly, the inviolability of the home, and personal correspondence. The decrees of Nov. 1 and 4 also establish a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
In a Nov. 5 statement, the Ecuadorian bishops called on the crime gangs to stop the violence and to take the path to conversion.
“The power, the money that you now have from so many dirty businesses, from so many mafia-style crimes, is blood money… Convert; there is still time to not end up in hell. This is what awaits you if they continue down this path,” they warned, citing the words of Pope Francis.
They also called on politicians and social actors to seek the welfare of the people and not partisan interests. “It depends largely on political and social action for the mafias to not fill their ranks with the poor,” the bishops said.
After expressing their solidarity with the families of the victims, the prelates said that “each one of us will have to render an account not only to history but to God himself for our actions.”
“It’s time for national unity, to rebuild the social compact that unites us and fight that common enemy which is organized crime … that seeks to destroy the most valuable treasure we have, our children and young people, and that finds fertile ground in a society in which, unfortunately, poverty and inequality seem to have no end,” the bishops said.
The Ecuadorian bishops announced Sunday, Nov. 6, as a day of prayer in all parishes, chapels, and oratories to ask God for peace and the end of violence in the country.
The bishops asked that the following prayer be offered that day:
“Almighty and merciful God, Lord of the universe and of human history. Everything you have created is good, and your compassion for man, who abandons you again and again, is inexhaustible.
“We come today to implore you to protect Ecuador and its inhabitants with peace, taking far away from it the destructive waves of violence, restoring friendship, and pouring into the hearts of your creatures the gift of trust and readiness to forgive.
“Giver of life, we also pray to you for all those who have died, victims of brutal criminal acts. Grant them recompense and eternal joy. May they intercede for Ecuador, shaken by anguish and misfortune.
“Jesus, Prince of Peace, we pray for those injured in attacks by crime gangs: children and young people, women and men, the elderly, innocent people and those who have been randomly attacked. Heal their bodies and hearts; may they feel strengthened by your consolation. Keep away hatred and the desire for revenge from them.
“Holy Spirit the Comforter, visit the families that mourn the loss of their relatives, innocent victims of violence and drug trafficking. Cover them with the mantle of your Divine Mercy. May they find in you the strength and courage to continue being brothers and sisters to others, bearing witness to your love with their lives.
“Move the hearts of the violent so that they recognize the evil of their actions and return to the path of peace and goodness, respect for life and the dignity of every human being.
“God, Eternal Father, compassionately listen to this prayer that rises toward you amid the din and desperation of Ecuador. Full of trust in your infinite mercy, trusting in the intercession of your Most Holy Mother, we turn to you with great hope, imploring the gift of peace and asking you to remove from us scourge of violence away. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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We pray for the full recovery of Honduran Cardinal Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the people of Honduras and Central America plagued with criminal invasion of murderous gangs forcing them to leave their country. San Pedro Sula, Honduras is a particular hotspot.
Honduras has been one of the three central American ravaged by gangs like MS13 so horrible that citizens fear for their safety and that of their children and their families are fleeing.
There is a poignant article in the February edition of National Geographic magazine that covers the plight of migrants and their children traveling, some by bloodied feet, 1,200 miles through Mexico to seek asylum in America. Focus is on the LGBTQ horror of citizen rejection. They are much more in danger since Catholic Honduras citizens abhor them, disparage, threaten and attack them. Is the Vatican out front and visible on the danger and displacement? If yes, what is being done?
To exacerbate their plight the Trump administration, using their “zero tolerance” order, incarcerated Hispanic children in cages separating them from their migrant parents attempting asylum. They were turned back. Trump said “they were not sending their good people. They are sending “criminals and rapists”. Trump issued “build the wall”. Since Trump was defeated he left an unfinished monolith after spending $billions of taxpayer’s money. Only 400 of 1200 miles was completed. Some observers of the wall said “the wall was not built to keep the migrants out, it was to keep Trump in.
Today, there are more than 600 children waiting for reunion with their loved ones.
The three Central American presidents are pleading for the US to help restore order. I believe that there should be a confluence of western nations appointed by the UN to help the local police quell the violence and allow the residents to return home.