QUITO – Prolonged gun battles between rival gangs inside Ecuador’s largest prison killed at least 68 inmates and injured 25 on Saturday (11/13).
It took the authorities almost a day to get the situation under control at the Litoral Penitentiary.
The riots erupted before dawn at a prison in the coastal city of Guayaquil in what officials said was the latest outbreak of fighting among prison gangs linked to international drug cartels. Videos circulating on social media showed bodies, some burned, lying on the ground inside the prison.
Officials said the shooting lasted about eight hours. Then new clashes were reported in some prisons in the afternoon.
Also read: Prison Riot, 68 Prisoners Killed
Presidential spokesman Carlos Jijón finally announced after nightfall that “the situation is under control throughout the prison.” He said about 900 police officers had brought the situation under control.
“In the initial battle, the inmates tried to blow up the walls to get into Pavilion 2 to carry out the massacre. They also burned mattresses to try to drown (their rivals) in the smoke,” said the governor of Guayas province, Pablo Arosemena.
Also read: At least 100 people killed in war in Ecuadorian prisons, victims beheaded
“We are fighting drug trafficking. It’s very difficult,” he continued.
Arosemena said authorities in Ecuador would deal with prison overcrowding by granting pardons, relocating inmates and moving some foreign inmates back to their homeland.
“There will be more than 1,000 pardons, but this is part of the process,” he said.
“For example, installing an item scanner at the Guayaquil Penitentiary to prevent the entry of weapons will cost $4 million,” he explained.
He also said Ecuador would receive international assistance from countries such as Colombia, the United States (US), Israel and Spain to deal with the crisis in its prisons. The assistance will be in the form of resources and logistics.
The bloodshed comes less than two months after fighting between gangs killed 119 people at the prison, which houses more than 8,000 inmates.
Police commander General Tanya Varela said in the morning that drones flown over the chaos revealed that inmates in the three pavilions were armed with guns and explosives. Authorities say weapons and ammunition are smuggled into custody via vehicles delivering supplies and sometimes by drone.
The prison violence comes amid a national emergency declared by President Guillermo Lasso in October that empowers security forces to fight drug trafficking and other crimes.
On Saturday (11/13), Lasso tweeted that “the first right we must guarantee is the right to life and liberty, which is impossible if the security forces cannot act to protect.” He referred to the Constitutional Court’s recent refusal to allow the military to go to prison despite the state of emergency. The army is currently outside Litoral.
Ecuador’s prisons are experiencing a wave of brutal violence.
Previously, a bloody battle inside the Litoral prison that killed 119 inmates occurred at the end of last September. The incident was described by authorities as the South American nation’s worst prison massacre. Officials say at least five people were beheaded. Last February, 79 inmates died in simultaneous riots in various prisons. So far this year, more than 300 prisoners have died in prison clashes across Ecuador.
Outside the prison, inmates’ relatives gather for news about their loved ones.
“Enough of this. When will they stop the killing? This is a prison not a slaughterhouse, they are humans,” said Francisca Chancay, whose sister has been in prison for eight months.
Some are calling for the Ecuadorian military to take over the prison.
“What is Lasso waiting for? Anyone else died? Pity, where are human rights. We thought this would change, but it turned out to be worse,” said Maritza Vera, a mother of a child who is being held there.
Ecuador has about 40,000 inmates in its prison system, which is well above the capacity of 30,000. Of these, 15,000 have not been convicted.
Vera said the situation made the inmates’ families desperate.
“I feel sad and sad because there are too many deaths,” he continued.
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