The Incident
On Thursday night, armed men dressed in military-style uniforms fatally shot at least 12 people during a cockfight in a rural area of Ecuador, reported the police on Friday.
Around midnight, armed men carrying rifles entered a venue hosting the cockfight and opened fire on several attendees in the rural community of La Valencia, located on the border between Manabí and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas provinces (northwest).
Multiple individuals were injured and are receiving treatment at nearby hospitals, stated Colonel Renán Miller Rivera of the police on Friday afternoon, though he did not specify a number.
Manabí Under State of Emergency
Manabí is one of six provinces in Ecuador, along with Quito and a southern mining locality, that are under a state of emergency ordered by the government to combat narco-related violence.
President Daniel Noboa recently renewed the decree just before Sunday’s election, in which he was reelected by a margin of 11 percentage points over his leftist rival, Luisa González.
Attackers in Military Uniforms
Security camera footage circulating on social media shows a group of at least five men entering the venue and firing automatic rifles at the hundred or so attendees.
The attackers were dressed in military-style replicas, a common tactic among criminal groups in the country.
Attendees only managed to drop to the ground and most took cover under the bleacher seats.
Witness videos displayed several bodies scattered across the floor of the venue.
Authorities found “military-type uniforms” discarded and two abandoned vehicles near the scene, stated Miller Rivera. One vehicle was burned, and the other overturned.
War on Narco-Violence
Currently, the police have not identified the perpetrators and are offering a reward for information leading to the resolution of the massacre.
Narco-violence has increased Ecuador’s homicide rate from 6 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 38 in 2024, with a record high of 47 in 2023.
Noboa, who declared Ecuador in a state of internal armed conflict in January 2024, aims to eliminate violence through a firm approach. During his reelection campaign, he announced plans to request assistance from allied countries for “special forces” to aid in his war against criminal groups.
The president also announced a “strategic alliance” with Erik Prince, founder of the controversial U.S. private security firm Blackwater. Prince accompanied a police operation in Guayaquil (southwest) earlier this month.
Four Blackwater members were convicted in the U.S. for a 2007 Irak massacre. In 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned them.
Ecuador, with a population of approximately 18 million, is a transit point for 73% of the world’s cocaine production, according to an Interior Ministry report collected by the UN.
Key Questions and Answers
- Who were the victims? At least 12 people, including attendees of a cockfight in La Valencia, rural Ecuador.
- Who carried out the attack? Armed men dressed in military-style uniforms.
- Where did the incident occur? A rural venue in La Valencia, on the border of Manabí and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas provinces.
- What is the current state of violence in Ecuador? Narco-violence has increased Ecuador’s homicide rate from 6 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 38 in 2024, with a record high of 47 in 2023.
- What measures is President Daniel Noboa taking against narco-violence? He has declared a state of internal armed conflict, plans to request assistance from allied countries for “special forces,” and announced a “strategic alliance” with Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater.
