[News] Massacre in Ecuador: among the victims is a Colombian, what else is known?

[Draeno]

 

Nine people, including one of Colombian nationality, died after the violent incursion of about thirty attackers in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, a border area with Colombia. According to what Juan Zapata, Minister of the Interior, said to the Ecuavisa channel, the events took place around 9:00 a.m. m. on Tuesday, when "heavily armed people" arrived at the artisanal fishing port aboard several boats and fired indiscriminately against the workers who were there. A video broadcast at night shows that those involved entered the warehouse area and shot at the fishermen and merchants who were carrying out their activities normally.

Among the fatalities there are seafood merchants, artisanal fishermen, workers and cargo personnel. Jefferson Spain Cuero, 28 years old, whose body was recovered in the maritime zone of the port, is the Colombian identified by the authorities. According to reports from the Metro Ecuador news portal, four other individuals were injured in the middle of the shooting. They were taken to different health centers in Esmeraldas.

The head of the Interior portfolio added that the armed attack would respond to a reprisal by a criminal group. "The indications are clear: here the fishermen, according to the versions of human sources that we have had, preferred the security of an Organized Crime Group (GDO) and, in retaliation, another GDO generated this issue." Although the minister did not indicate names, in the middle El Universo it is read that there are several hypotheses. Among them, for example, that the attack would be directed at alias Papá, who would be a relative of a local group known as Los Patones.

According to some human sources, this would have been ordered by alias Lala or 06 for the recent murder of Ricky Palomino Clavijo, alias Lele or 05, which occurred on Saturday, March 11, 2023. It is said that he was in charge of a group of The Tiguerones in the New Horizons sector. As read in Metro Ecuador, agents of the Prosecutor's Office and Dinased have recorded nearly 200 ballistic evidence of 9 mm and 2.23 mm caliber.

The Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture points out that Esmeraldas has the third most important port in the country, after Guayaquil and Puerto Bolívar. In addition, it has the Esmeraldas Artisan Port, which has a four-lane access, docks, a tourist area, a boardwalk, and 50 wineries. According to reports from the local media, the boats are flying black flags and little by little they are returning to normality in the area where the events occurred.

 

https://www.elespectador.com/mundo/america/masacre-en-ecuador-entre-las-victimas-hay-un-colombiano-que-mas-se-sabe-noticias-de-hoy/