Ecuador’s Interior Minister Juan Zapata announced, Thursday, that prisoners inside a prison in the southern city of Cuenca have been protesting since Wednesday against the transfer of prisoners to other detention facilities, who have detained 57 guards and policemen.
In the midst of a day of violence that saw two car bombs explode in the capital, Quito, Zapata said that the seven detainees were police officers, adding during a press conference: “We are concerned for the safety of our officers.”
On Wednesday, hundreds of soldiers and policemen carried out a search for weapons, ammunition and explosives in Latakunga prison, one of the largest prisons in the country.
Over the course of Thursday, hypotheses abounded about the reasons for the hostage-taking in Cuenca, and the prison administration initially spoke of the hypothesis of retaliation after the intervention of the armed forces in Latacunga.
But the authorities later said that the hostage-taking was “a sign of protest against the transfer of prisoners to other prisons”.
Habitual disturbances
Clashes between gangs formed by prisoners are frequent in Ecuador. About 430 detainees have died in the Latin country since 2021. Groups linked to drug trafficking are waging a war to impose their authority in prisons, which have turned into operations centers. In the face of this wave of violence between organizations linked to gangs, President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency on July 24 for the entire prison system for a period of 60 days, allowing in particular the deployment of the army in prisons.
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2023-09-01 02:13:09
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