U.S. Airlines Send Guards To Protect Crewmembers As Drug Gangs Riot In Ecuador

by Gary Leff

Ecuador is under a 60-day state of emergency, including national curfew and military control of prisons and patrols of the streets, after explosions and looting following prison uprisings and the escape from prison of gang leaders. At least 8 people are dead in Guayaquil, and many schools and offices are closed. The government has declared war on gangs, which are being called terrorist organizations.

U.S. airline flight crew are stuck on the ground, and carriers are beginning to cancel Ecuador service. According to one JetBlue crewmember, “JetBlue is sending guards to sit out of our rooms” in Guayaquil.

JetBlue’s Tuesday flight from New York JFK to Guayaquil and back was cancelled. American cancelled its Tuesday evening and Wednesday nights from Miami to Guayaquil. American’s Miami to Quito flights continue to operate at this time.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. What about the tourists in the Galapagos Islands observing the birds and lizards ? The tourists are also important , no ?

  2. Whatever their politics may or may not be, it’s easy to slap a label of “terrorist” on violent groups who oppose the state. Before that term was in widespread use they were “Communists”. And before that during the Banana Wars (when the U.S. invaded various countries to support corporate interests) they were “bandits”. One thing is certain though, so long as the demand exists in the U.S. and Europe, and drug use and sale are treated as criminal issues, they will remain very lucrative They will keep corrupting everything, lead to more violence and make vast profits for those “fighting” an endless and unwinnable “war”.

  3. Ecuador is a mess right now. The airlines flying there should restrict their flights so that they won’t lose people and aircraft. The people trying to get out will have to shelter in place until control is reestablished.

  4. The current batch of ruling party types in too many countries have gotten ever more into a habit of calling people out as “terrorists” even when those “terrorists” aren’t engaged in anything more “violent” than a war of words. That violent drug dealers get flagged as “terrorists” is at least somewhat more justifiable than a lot of the use of the term nowadays.

  5. Ecuador is not a mess. The city of Guayaquil is a mess. It’s like saying Texas is a mess because the city of Lubbock is a mess. Ecuador in general is a safe place with lower crime rate than the U.S., where everything is more affordable and with amazing sites, people, and weather, especially Quito.

  6. Jake-1 is correct. The gangs are unhappy because President Noboa started cracking down on the criminals immediately after he took office only a few weeks ago. Gee, the criminals did not like that and rioted. Noboa then declared an emergency and put the army on the streets with shoot-to-kill orders. Shucks, guess what? The gangs quieted down. Let’s hope beautiful Ecuador will have law and order win this battle, and the criminals surrender and go to prison. Time will tell.

  7. It is hard to believe the ignorance and stupidity that is thrown around as fact by those who have no first hand experience or who haven’t taken time to study a situation completely. I lived in Guayaquil for over 6 years and have traveled to many areas within the country. I continue to travel to GYE every 6 weeks due to work in the security field. Ecuador has always been a place where great caution is warranted but over the last 3 years the problem has gotten completely out of hand. On my last trip a family friend was shot in the head due to resisting a car jacking 6 weeks before that a client was killed in a similar situation. This situation is not isolated to Guayaquil or Duran. Murder for hire is rampant throughout the country, especially in the coastal regions. The cartels use fear and “terror” to continue to leverage power and influence if that isn’t a terrorist I am not sure what is.

  9. @Construction – what comment? I didn’t delete anything in this thread, and you posted this at 4:04 a.m. I promise you I wasn’t moderating comments at that time.

  10. The original comment was from the day you posted this. I asked something along the lines of….

    What the hell is wrong with you, posting a video of a lynching without a graphic content warning?

    Then I seem to recall saying this blog sucks.

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