131 prison guards held by inmates in five prisons in Ecuador released

A total of 131 prison guards and officers, held in five prisons in Ecuadorhave been released this Tuesday, according to the National Comprehensive Care Service for Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI), in charge of the 35 prisons of the Andean country.

according to SNAIinitially 106 prison officers were released who were being held by inmates in prisons in Archidona (Napo), quicksilver (canar), Basin (Azuay) and shopand later to 25 who were being held in a prison in the province of Latacunga (Cotopaxi).

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The number of penitentiary personnel retained is higher than that reported on Monday by the SNAI, which indicated 96 agents in the hands of the inmates.

The guards were retained amid incidents in the prisons, which began last Saturday in the Litoral Penitentiarythe largest and most populous in the country, where a confrontation between inmates from rival criminal gangs has left 18 dead and 11 injured, including a police officer.

During those clashes, a hunger strike began by prisoners in 13 of the 35 prisons in Ecuadorwhere in at least five of them the inmates detained prison guards and officials.

So far there is only confirmation that the prisoners have ceased the hunger strike in the El Inca jailof Quito.

The SNAI has not reported on the number of prisoners on strike, the reasons for this measure of force or if it continues in the prisons of the provinces of the provinces of imbabura, Napo, Chimborazo (2), tungurahua, Azuay, canar (2), GoldShop, Guayas and Cotopaxi.

In previous months, other groups of prisoners linked to an organized crime gang held a similar protest to demand transfers to other prisons.

MORE INFORMATION: At least 90 guards are being held after a bloody confrontation in a prison in Ecuador

Ecuador’s prisons have been the scene of a series of massacres since 2020 in which more than 468 prisoners have been murdered, as a result of clashes between rival gangs that dispute internal control of the detention centers.

To this is added the prison conditions, with overcrowding that can reach 50% of the prison’s capacity in some cases.

The situation of violence has also spread to the streets, with organized crime groups in a dispute over control of drug trafficking routes, especially in the coastal area, where the ports are that have made Ecuador one of the main springboards for cocaine arriving in Europe and North America.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.