Venezuelans arrested for theft of gas tanks, which Ecuador suspects they would use in attacks

Ecuadorian Interior Minister, John Reimberg, reported this Wednesday the arrest of four Venezuelan citizens, who allegedly stole a truck with fifty cylinders (pipes or gas bottles) of domestic gas, with which he presumes they were going to perpetrate attacks within the framework of the indigenous protests against the Government. In his X social media account, Reimberg reported that the arrest took place on Tuesday in the Andean city of Riobamba, in the province of Chimborazo. It was about "4 Venezuelans, who stole a truck full of 50 gas tanks and kidnapped its driver," the official said. "The gas, presumably, was going to be used to carry out explosive attacks, in the context of the protests. These criminals will be placed at the disposal of the justice system for due process. The arraignment will be today," added the head of the Interior Ministry. Reimberg added that "there will be no impunity for anyone who intends to attack the State, order, and security" in Ecuador, where -on other occasions and in other contexts- the use of gas cylinders to perpetrate attacks has been recorded. Last Wednesday, for example, a vehicle exploded outside a nightclub located in downtown Guayaquil. The vehicle had three gas cylinders inside, and the authorities are investigating the motives behind the incident. Tren de Aragua Last Monday, authorities arrested two Venezuelan citizens, allegedly members of the transnational criminal gang Tren de Aragua, a group originating in Venezuela, and which the President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, classified as "terrorist". Those arrests took place in the city of Otavalo, where hundreds of protesters attacked a police detachment, destroyed its facilities, and set fire to police and private vehicles.

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Noboa denounced the day before that the protesters in Otavalo tried to shoot down a helicopter "by throwing firecrackers", referring to images that circulated on social media where it can be seen when they try to reach one of these aircraft with a projectile launched from a kind of homemade bazooka. The Minister of Government, Zaida Rovira, described the events in Otavalo as "terrorist acts." The head of state traveled there on Wednesday. He was in Latacunga, the capital of Cotopaxi province, the temporary seat of the Executive since September 12, when the protests began over the elimination of the diesel subsidy. Both Cotopaxi and Imbabura are areas with a high concentration of indigenous population, where sporadic road closures have been recorded within the framework of the protests against the elimination of the diesel subsidy and other government decisions.