Riot in Ecuadorian Prison Leaves 15 Dead
Security forces monitor prisoners at the Litoral penitentiary, Guayas, Ecuador, Nov. 12, 2024. / @Christo60629593
November 12, 2024 Hour: 1:05 pm
Since the right has taken over Ecuador, this nation has become the Latin American country with the highest homicide rate.
In the early hours of Tuesday, a riot at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil left at least 15 inmates dead and another 14 injured. Residents in neighborhoods near the penitentiary reported hearing gunshots and explosions during the night, according to local media.
RELATED:
Ecuador: Noboa Appoints Sariha Moya as Temporary Vice President
Several hours later, the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) informed that the security forces had carried out a search operation and achieved “absolute control of the penitentiary.”
Currently, the Litoral Penitentiary is the largest prison within the Guayaquil prison complex, which comprises five prisons holding approximately 12,000 inmates. Since 2020, this prison has been the site of the worst massacres among inmates recorded within the wave of criminal violence affecting Ecuador.
The new massacre occurs as preparations advance for the 29th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place on Nov. 14 and 15 in the city of Cuenca. A broad security operation is already in place, with armed soldiers patrolling the streets of this Andean city.
Ecuadorian prisons have been under military control since January, when President Daniel Noboa declared an internal armed conflict against criminal groups linked to drug trafficking, now considered “terrorist” groups.
Among the most recent violent events linked to the prisons is the murder in September of Maria Daniela Icaza, director of the Litoral Penitentiary, which occurred just days after the killing of Alex Guevara, director of the prison in the city of Lago Agrio.
Between 2021 and 2023, over 500 inmates have been killed in Ecuadorian prisons, most of them in a series of massacres triggered by confrontations between rival criminal gangs. In 2023 alone, around 70 violent deaths were recorded in Ecuador’s prisons. The largest massacre occurred during a riot at the Litoral Penitentiary, which left 31 dead over three days.
Since right-wing political forces have governed Ecuador, this Andean nation has been facing a security crisis, positioning it as the Latin American country with the highest homicide rate—47.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: Pichincha Comunicaciones – EFE
