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Reuters has left at least 68 people dead and dozens injured in prison violence in Ecuador

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© Reuters. PHOTO PHOTO: PHOTO PHOTO: Prisoners in the Guayaquil region hold banners saying “We want peace,” “The law kills us,” “Peace, not violence,” after denouncing unrest since the country’s worst riots. a few days ago in Penit

By Alexandra Valencia and Yury Garcia

GUAYAQUIL (Reuters) – At least 68 prisoners have been killed and more than two dozen injured in nighttime violence at Ecuador’s Penitentiary del Litoral prison, the government said on Saturday, officials defined as a clash between rival groups.

The prison, located in the southern city of Guayaquil, is the same prison that killed 119 prisoners at the end of September, the worst violence in the country’s recent history.

The government has blamed violence over prison controls over clashes between drug trafficking groups.

Dozens of people gathered outside the jail on Saturday afternoon, waiting for news of their loved ones, and many said they had no news since Friday afternoon.

Cristina Monserrat, 58, has yet to hear about her younger brother who has been in prison for a year.

“What’s going on inside is reprehensible, people are killing each other and the saddest thing is the lack of awareness,” Monserrat said. “My brother is alive, my heart tells me so.”

President Guillermo Lasso, Monserrat added, must do more to help the poor. Ecuador’s prison system has undergone a sharp focus in recent years due to the overcrowding of prisoners and poor health and living conditions.

Lasso imposed a 60-day state of emergency in the prison system in September, which freed up government funding and allowed military aid to control prisons.

On Saturday, the president asked the constitutional court to allow the military to enter prisons, instead of offering only external security. The court said in a statement that more than temporary emergency measures would be needed to resolve the prison crisis.

More incidents on Saturday night were under control at the jail this afternoon, the government said it was meeting with rights groups and the United Nations to manage the situation.

A WAVE OF MIXTURES

The latest unrest was sparked by a power vacuum caused by the release of a gang leader, Guayas provincial governor Pablo Arosemena said at a news conference.

“The context of this situation is that there was no leader of the gang with that cell block because that prisoner was released a few days ago,” Arosemen said. “They wanted to control other cell blocks with other groups, go inside and carry out a total massacre.”

Videos allegedly posted on social media last night by detainees were shown asking for help in stopping the violence while gunfire and explosions were heard in the background. Reuters was unable to independently verify the origin of the videos.

Since the assassination of the leader of the Los Choneros group ‘Rasquina’ in December 2020, there have been incidents in prisons in the South American country with about 39,000 detainees, a month after his release from prison.

His death, officials said at the time, prompted lesser-known groups to compete for influence in the country’s prisons. Gang competition with international cartels is linked to competition from drug trafficking alliances, former officials said.

Officials said a February incident that killed 79 detainees was a response to Rasquina’s death. Another 22 people were killed in a July incident.

At least two other inmates in Azuay and Cotopaxi provinces were refusing food on hunger strike on Saturday in solidarity with Coastal prisoners, the SNAI prison authority said on Twitter (NYSE :).

Some of those killed in the September violence at the Penitenciaria del Litoral were burnt to the ground or burned, the Attorney General’s Office reported, and dozens were injured.

“I don’t know anything, what we are asking for are answers,” Estefania said, refusing to give her last name, and said her husband is jailed for a robbery. “I don’t know if he’s alive or dead.”



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