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Guayaquil, Ecuador currently looks like something out of an action movie with a drug cartel bringing gun battles to the streets after a prison uprising aided in the escape of gang leaders. Flight crews that were scheduled to work flights departing José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport (GYE) are now being told to stay in their hotel rooms with guards posted outside of their doors.
For those who haven't seen this: chilling that this is so to say current news and not something from a documentary…
January 9, 2024 Guayaquil, Ecuador. pic.twitter.com/8y1I1hUJKD— Bliksem v2.oH™ 🇿🇦🇬🇧 (@TheFarEastFiles) January 10, 2024
The BBC is reporting that Ecuador has instituted a 60-day state of emergency after cartel members busted into a television station during a broadcast and forced the staff to the ground. Schools and offices have been closed and at least 10 people have been killed since Monday. Scenes like the one above are occurring throughout the area.
Aeromexico, Air Europa, American Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Iberia, JetBlue, KLM, LATAM, and Spirit Airlines all serve José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport (GYE) in Guayaquil.
Flights began cancelling yesterday and are continuing to cancel today.
It would appear things are very unstable in Ecuador.
Text exchange from a colleague with a JetBlue crewmember.
We expect our airlines to be aware of geopolitical conflicts and large criminal activities, including cartels.
Hopefully all crewmembers get out safely. pic.twitter.com/B2bPH4j6HM
— Josh Hjemvick 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@JHjemvick) January 9, 2024
Flight crews that were scheduled to work flights departing the airport are being told to remain in their hotel rooms with guards positioned outside of their doors.
All of this chaos stems from a surge in violence inside and outside its prisons caused by drug cartels who are fighting over control of cocaine routes to the US and Europe.
Anthony’s Take: This is a crazy situation and I feel bad for the innocent people that are caught in the middle of all of this mess. Hopefully, the government will be able to get control without too many lives lost.
(Featured Image Credit: @TheFarEastFlies via Twitter/X.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
