Bishops of Ecuador ask for the prompt return of four children missing in Guayaquil

The presidential council of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference (CEE) raised its prayers and demanded “the prompt return”, without “any delay”, of four children, between 11 and 15 years old, missing in Guayaquil since December 8.

In a statement dated December 23 and titled “We want you safe and sound,” the Ecuadorian bishops noted that “the disappearance of José and Ismael Arroyo, Saúl Arboleda and Steven Medina, not only moves the hearts of all Ecuadorians but also expresses the helplessness in which we all find ourselves facing the violence that corrodes our institutions and our relationships.”

After highlighting that “mothers and fathers who mourn the disappearance of their children need to have them back in their arms, safe and sound at home, and that without any delay,” the prelates recalled that “it is the duty of the State to defend life and integrity of all citizens regardless of their age, gender, social status.”

“Wherever it comes from, whoever is responsible, Ecuador needs the truth and everyone’s commitment to eradicating the violence that hurts and hurts our present and future,” they stressed.

At this time of Christmas, the bishops highlighted, “we as pastors of the Catholic Church, embrace the parents and relatives of Josué, Ishmael, Saúl and Steven and commit our help to support them in these moments of concern and pain, as we have facts from the first day of his disappearance.”

“We pray for his prompt return and demand that impunity and oblivion cease to be the current practice in our country. Without truth there is no justice and without justice there is no future,” they concluded.

Standing before the Prosecutor’s Office in Guayaquil

“They took them alive and we want them alive!” was one of the phrases chanted by about 100 people who held a sit-in this Monday, December 23, in front of the Guayaquil Prosecutor’s Office to demand the return of the minors, who disappeared in the sector. known as Las Malvinas, in the south of the city, according to the newspaper The Universe.

According to the newspaper The Commercethe minors were allegedly kidnapped by men dressed in military uniforms.

In a video message broadcast on Saturday, December 21, the Minister of Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo, said that he shares “the same feeling of indignation and concern regarding the disappearance of four minors in the province of Guayas by criminal groups.” .

The father of the Arroyo brothers told the media that he was able to communicate with one of his sons, who would have told him that the men who had them took them to Taura, a town about 30 kilometers from Guayaquil, where a Force base is located. Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE).

The minor reportedly reported that they were beaten and left naked in that area, but when the police arrived at the scene they did not find them.

In a message posted yesterday on Xthe president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, indicated that he has “ordered that all necessary actions be intensified with the aim of finding the whereabouts of the four children and that all those responsible be found so that they answer for their actions against the justice and the country.”