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This article requires pre-publication review by an uninvolved reviewer (one not substantially involved in writing the article). –Article last amended: Feb 15 at 0:13:37 UTC (history) |
| This article requires pre-publication review by an uninvolved reviewer (one not substantially involved in writing the article). –Article last amended: Feb 15 at 0:13:37 UTC (history) |
Friday, February 14, 2025
On Friday, authorities said Ecuadoran air force general Colonel Porfirio Cedeño was shot down by a hired gun in the country’s capital city of Guayaquil in a suspected drug-related gang attack.
20 rounds were fired, and 20 bullet casings were recovered from the scene. Cedeño was traveling by van en route to a military ceremony in Manta, which was several hours away. It was said that the van’s driver was shot in the leg. Authorities said they believed the attackers were traveling by car.
The condition of the van following the ambush was described as “stalled in the middle of the road with broken windows and riddled with bullet holes” by Associated Free Press.
Former Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa paid his condolences on X, and called Cedeño a “dear friend”.
Both cities were said to be racked with violent drug crime. 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants were figured in the country in 2023. President Daniel Noboa responded in January 2024 with what was described as a “state of internal armed conflict,” with a subsequent “military crackdown.” Official data indicated that the country’s homicide rate dropped from 47 homicides per 100,000 people to 38 in 2024.
Specifically, this crackdown followed an incident involving gunmen storming a TV station, and an incident involving “bandits” making death threats against civilians and security forces. A prosecutor involved in the litigation of these cases was ultimately shot dead.
