Surviving SHTF: Chaos In Quito, Part 12

This is the continuing coverage of the unfolding SHTF situation in Ecuador being reported by an American Partisan reader and expat living in the nation. It is going from bad to much worse, with reports of violence among the large scale demonstrations. It won’t be long now.

Previously I had been helping him remotely to build up the local Red Cross chapter off-grid communications, which was left in shambles from neglect and no serious attitude towards them amid more convenient methods. And now here they are, with periodic outages just in the beginning phases of what looks like a long term bad situation playing out.

What about you? Got training?

Expat ‘Fred’ has collected a series of news articles covering the incidents in real time. At this time it appears the real players have unfolded- Maduro (and Russia, and China) are seeking to destabilize the entire region, piece by piece. Still wondering where those 50K AK-103s being built per year in Caracas are headed? And where will they go after that? I’ll give you a hint- I suspect they’ll be coming north. 

Recap:

Here’s his updates:


In a statement by Conaie from earlier posted to their twitter account for all of their members
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We will leave the mandate of the peoples and nationalities to the President of the Republic, the former is repealing the decree 883. Meanwhile the mobilizations are maintained in different parts of the country.” affirms @jaimevargasnae in Assembly, Ágora of the House of Culture.
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So from what we are hearing on the ground, Conaie and the indigenous are going to probably keep the pressure on locally with demonstrations and nationally with continued roadblocks demonstrations and continued occupation of government buildings in smaller towns…..  Various people in the indigenous community here in Cotacachi when asked earlier today say that they expect much of what we have now to continue for  possibly another 10 days.  Due to lack of supply in food, medicine, consumer goods and moreover the closed businesses and scarcity of money,  the depth of hardship the people are enduring can not be overstated.
Elsewhere locally –earlier today a military helicopter circled once and landed at the hospital, was on the ground for a few minutes and took off again headed south. EVERYONE was out of their houses.  Info from the hospital  was  what we witnessed was medical transport of a child from Cotacachi to Quito to one of the hospitals there. People are on edge.  In my conversations with  members of the indigenous community  this morning…they are angered by  support  indicated by  US  vice president  Pompeo’s  statement  supporting the Moreno government for its implementation  of the austerity measures dictated by  the IMF agreement.  Locally, rumors abound. Earlier I was told that the government of Colombia sent 5 truckloads of tear gas  rounds via highway to the Ecuadorian government, that indigenous forces captured 2 of them and they had one truck load in one of the cemeteries here….
The Defensora del Pueblo de Ecuador, the human rights  organ  of the  Ecuadorian government, raised the count of dead  this afternoon, from  the protests
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Quito, Oct. 13 (EFE) .- The Ombudsman’s Office of Ecuador raised this Sunday to seven the number of deaths in social protests against the economic adjustments applied by the Government, which broke out on October 3.

In its sixth executive report released on its website on Sunday, the Ombudsman’s Office indicated that it has also registered a total of 1,152 people arrested and 1,340 injured.

The Ombudsman specified the names of the seven deceased : Raúl Chilipe, Marco Otto, José Daniel Chaluisa, Inocencio Tucumbi, José Rodrigo Chaluisa, Vega Caizaguano and Silvia Marlene Mera.

He also explained that of the information recorded from October 3 until this morning, 1,152 detainees are counted, 97 percent of which correspond to men and the rest to women.

The largest number of people arrested took place in the province of Pichincha, whose capital is Quito, with 499 apprehensions; followed by the coast of Guayas (whose capital is Guayaquil) with 309, Tungurahua (Ambato) with 59 and Azuay (Cuenca) with 55.

In addition, the Ombudsman tabulated a total of 1,340 people injured, most of them (913) in Pichincha, followed by 122 in Azuay and 46 in Guayas.

The agency indicated that “it continues to monitor the human rights situation”, within the framework of the national demonstration convened by the indigenous movement and other social organizations, as well as by the declaration of the “State of emergency” applied on October 3 by the President of the country, Lenín Moreno.The Ombudsman’s figures have not yet been confirmed or replicated by the central government authorities, which since last Friday have kept the record of four dead and more than 650 detainees.

Ecuador meets this Sunday eleven days since a wave of protests broke out against the increase in fuel prices, through an executive decree that eliminated the gasoline subsidy, as part of the conditions set by the Monetary Fund International (IMF) for a loan of 10 billion dollars.

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It is important to remember that Conaie, while they speak for a majority  of the indigenous culture, do not speak for the entire indigenous in Ecuador. Its also important to remember that the indigenous (and Conaie) are not the only groups represented by protesters, there  are labor unions, transportation unions and various other groups involved.


Weapons and strategies used in protests in Ecuador generate surprise in security experts

The training, weapons and analysis of who would be behind the protests in Ecuador in relation to acts of vandalism and violence cause surprise in security experts.

This is assured by a report by the Colombian network RCN , which states that the protest escalated to “levels that border on terrorist acts.”

The report of the Colombian chain emphasizes two scenarios of the protest: the use of artisanal rocket launchers and the training strategies of protesters.

The rockets, launched from tubes by protesters who hide their faces, can be 200 or 300 meters in range, according to John Marulanda, Colombian security and defense consultant cited, who says that these rocket launchers can be 200 or 300 meters in range, depending on the driving load that can be placed.

Craft rocket launcher This type of explosives can reach 200 or 300 meters, according to specialists. Photo: AFP

Marulanda, who among his experience has been the Officer of the Cavalry Weapon, specialist in Military Intelligence and Psychological Operations and Colonel of the active Reserve of the Army of Colombia, also thinks about the atypical organizational capacity at the level of training of the protesters . On the images that show the Protestants who go ahead and protect those behind, holding shields, says it is a strategy of the special forces.

“They are formations in line, they are formations at an angle, they are formations with support to the center. They are very well-known formations that especially use riot units,” Marulanda explains.

Protesters during the protests in Quito. Photo: AFP

As for the tube that sends the artisanal rocket, Marulanda adds that it is very probable that what is happening in Ecuador, “as it is proven”, means that not only are there agents from Cuba and Venezuelans working in infiltrated way, but that “with all security “there are Colombian agents of indigenous organizations that have experience in this type of mobilization.

Day of protests in Ecuador: attacks on various media outlets; clashes in the streets; implementation of curfew and militarization of Quito https://t.co/VnxFSvuPQT pic.twitter.com/UNsp1rTNc6

– RCN News (@NRC News) October 13, 2019

From minute 4:10, explanation in RCN about strategies and use of artisanal weapons.

Use of craft shields

The endowment of the Protestants has also drawn attention and generated reactions. Former President Rafael Correa himself , accused by Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno , of being part of a strategy of destabilization and violence set in advance, retweeted images of opponents of the regime on his Twitter account, including that he ensures that the people join together to make shields for their defense.

Image retweeted by former president Rafael Correa.

The Municipality of Quito, in its Facebook account, confirmed that this image is real, and that it corresponds to material that “was donated to protesters by the citizens of Otavalo”.

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One Comment

  1. Bryce Sharper October 16, 2019 at 12:08

    The training, weapons and analysis of who would be behind the protests in Ecuador in relation to acts of vandalism and violence cause surprise in security experts.

    This is assured by a report by the Colombian network RCN , which states that the protest escalated to “levels that border on terrorist acts.”

    The report of the Colombian chain emphasizes two scenarios of the protest: the use of artisanal rocket launchers and the training strategies of protesters.

    Security “experts” are always getting surprised by things. How can they be experts if they have no models that predict capabilities and techniques of non-state actors?

    In the early ’90s, our security experts – the CIA – failed to predict the collapse of the Soviet Union. Later, they failed to predict 9/11 though they were warned numerous times, including by the terrorists themselves.

    On the images that show the Protestants who go ahead and protect those behind, holding shields, says it is a strategy of the special forces.

    Funny autocorrect there. Sounds like the protesters are really putting the “protest” in “Protestant.” It’s also interesting that no technology – such as shields – ever disappears.

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