When a video clip spread of armed men storming a live broadcast studio on state television in Ecuador two weeks ago – and they brandished their weapons in front of the cameras at 2 p.m. – Ecuadorians realized the reality of the collapse of the state, and the country experienced a state of shock and alarm, which prompted its people to leave their places of study and work, and go to… towards their homes; To take refuge in it.
Although this unprecedented incident reflects a systematic rebellion by gangs, some have begun to doubt the gunmen’s willingness to do it alone, and believe that it was either fabricated or intended to spread terror among citizens and pass a specific political agenda, especially after developments related to the incident occurred. Questionable.
Striking with an iron fist
In the beginning, when some accounts on social media doubted the credibility of what happened on television; Based on a short video clip other than the one that was circulated, from inside the studio, this reading was met with a barrage of insults, and accusations of seeking to incite opinion against the government at a sensitive moment.
This led to a decline in the voices of skepticism, in the face of a growing wave of calls for the government to deploy the army in the streets and strike every suspect with an iron fist, to eliminate the state of fear that has gripped everyone.
The video clip published by the skeptics depicts the gunmen talking in the studio with some media professionals with suspicious “calmness,” as they divide the roles of directing the scene live, in a way that shows how the gunmen kneel down the employees, who appeared for hours, some of them crying and some of them trembling; For fear of any bullet being fired at him.
The point that surprised skeptics was the relief that appeared on the faces of some media professionals as they taught the gunmen how to deal with the camera. In addition to the question of how about 30 armed men stormed a government television building, located in an area protected by three checkpoints, and 500 meters from a security center, especially since Ecuador has been on a state of security alert since the escape of “Vito,” the most dangerous prisoner, two days before the incident.
Armed conflict
A day after the incident, the country’s president announced that the country had entered a phase of “armed conflict with gangs, classifying their members as terrorists,” and issued a decree granting the police and army not to prosecute if they committed criminal acts against “terrorists,” as the president described it.
In parallel, the government welcomed the preparations of friendly countries to provide logistical and military support to Ecuador, led by the United States, Israel, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom.
In the same context, last week, the government submitted a proposal to Parliament regarding economic reforms, the most important of which is permanently raising the value-added rate from 12% to 15%. In order to provide budget revenues to cover the cost of the “war on terrorism,” it seems that the proposal will not receive a majority of parliamentary votes.
But the government continues to persuade the parties, and the presidential spokesman went as far as declaring the following: “I say it with all pain, we are at a stage where awareness in the Ecuadorian street has reached a higher level than awareness in Parliament! The people know the necessity of raising the added value and are ready to sacrifice, and some parties oppose that”.
Although the opposition stipulated that the government, in exchange for its approval, approve raising the percentage for a temporary period only, and demanded transparency in disclosing the management of these revenues, which will amount to approximately one billion and $300 million during the current year, the government refused.
American presence
With the arrival of a US delegation of senior officials to Ecuador this week – led by the US ambassador to meet with President Daniel Noboa and the ministers of defense, interior and economy, to discuss the details of US-Ecuadorian military coordination – the narrative of “questioning” the credibility of the TV raiding incident recovered, and some accounts on social media sites returned. Social to raise the topic.
Some noted that the president’s statement last week, that establishing military programs with international coordination is possible, represents a clear statement to prepare public opinion to accept the idea of opening the door to American support in the first place.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that it will allow American military missions to carry out their duties, in areas owned by the Ministry, by means of “renting,” not ownership, which is reminiscent of the Colombian scene, in which seven American military bases have been stationed since the year 2000, “but they are Do not raise the American flag,” as the right used to justify.
Shock doctrine
On the other hand, since the president declared war on gangs, the police and army forces have been flooding news networks with video clips documenting their arrest of members of some gangs, abusing them in front of the cameras, confiscating weapons here and there, discovering drug stores, and miscellaneous news that relieves the public of their suffering. The people.
However, a small group of public opinion was skeptical about the effectiveness of the security performance, and warned that these campaigns were purely populist, and that if the authorities were truly capable of defeating the gangs, they would have arrested the escaped “Vito” and about 50 other prisoners who escaped after him, and would have proceeded to confiscate the drugs that Bananas and fish are smuggled in shipments from the ports, but no voice is louder than the voice of, “Forward, Mr. President, in your war against the terrorists.”
Returning to those who doubt the credibility of the attack, or its fabrication, or intentionally facilitating the militants’ path for it to occur, they see that everything that happens falls within the framework of the “Shock Doctrine,” based on the famous book; “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” by Canadian author Naomi Klein, published in 2009.
Disaster capitalism
Among the ideas presented by the book is how the doctrine of disaster capitalism is based on exploiting a disaster, whether it is a coup, a terrorist attack, a market collapse, a war, or an earthquake, in order to pass economic and social policies that people would reject in the natural state, and in the event of An invader or internal gangs, for example, the people unite with the will of the existing ruler, and forgive him all his policies; In order to confront this enemy, which is what is currently happening in Ecuador, according to these skeptics!
What is astonishing is that, in the midst of security vigilance, and in light of the state of emergency, Ecuador witnessed a massive liquidation crime, in which the public prosecutor in charge of investigating the television break-in incident, last week, died after being exposed to 20 gunshots in broad daylight, 100 meters away. meters from the security center.
An incident prompted a former Interior Minister to publish a tweet in which he said: In this country, either you shut up, or they shut you up, or they kill you!
Exciting developments that give those who doubt the spontaneity of what happened the right to present their reading with complete confidence.
