Los prisoners in ten prisons in Ecuador declared themselves in hunger strikeafter the clashes the weekend between criminal gangs in a prison in the city of Guayaquil left at least six inmates dead and another 11 injured, the country’s penitentiary agency reported, SNAI.
The clashes between organized crime groups (GDO) were recorded between Saturday afternoon and Sunday at the Guayas No. 1 Deprivation of Liberty Center, said an official statement, which reported that a crisis committee was activated between the police, armed forces and prison surveillance bodies. Initially, the authorities reported five prisoners dead, but hours later they raised the number of victims to six.
“Security protocols remain activated in all prisons in the country,” added the SNAI. Following the incidents, inmates in ten of the 36 prisons that operate in Ecuador declared a hunger strike, including the Guayaquil prison, where the clashes took place, the agency said.
It added that the prison security agents were still being held in the Cotopaxi, Azuay, Cañar, El Oro and Napo prisons. Earlier, the SNAI said that “the retained servers are in good condition.” Prison authorities did not specify the reason for the prisoners’ hunger strike, nor what they were demanding from the government, Reuters reported.
The South American country has suffered a string of serious prison riots since 2021, which have left hundreds of inmates dead. The government of Guillermo Lasso He has attributed the violence to power struggles between gangs linked to drug trafficking.
