Some 15 dead and another 21 injured are the preliminary result of a new brawl between inmates at a prison in Ecuador, adding another violent act to the country’s recent prison record and fueling debate over the lack of oversight in these types of facilities.
The fight took place Monday at the Cotopaxi Deprivation of Liberty Center near the city of Latacunga, about 80 kilometers from Quito, according to the National Service for Comprehensive Care of Adult Deprived of Liberty and Juvenile Offenders (SNAI). Twitter.
According to Jorge Flores, deputy director of the SNAI, the incident began after a census was conducted to collect data on the prison inmates at this center in Cotopaxi, one of the largest in the country and with a capacity for 4,300 inmates.
According to the Chinese government channel CGTN Noticias, the causes could lie in rivalries between national and international drug trafficking groups.
Last April, 12 prisoners died in a riot for control of El Turi prison in the city of Cuenca.. In 2021, 316 people were killed in clashes in Ecuadorian prisons.
That The most violent prison confrontation in recent memory took place in Guayas province in September 2021, leaving 24 dead and 48 injuredin various pavilions of the so-called Litoral Penitentiary.
In October 2021, the government of Ecuador declared a state of emergency for 60 days for its entire territory due to the general escalation of violence.
“In recent years, Ecuador has gone from being a country of drug trafficking to a country that also uses drugs. This is reflected in the number of crimes linked directly or indirectly to the sale of drugs today,” Guillermo Lasso said on October 18, 2021.
During this period, the ruler warned that a heavy military and police presence would be detected in the streets, patrol operations, inspections, drug requests and other actions, but no exceptional or permanent measures regarding control were announced. prisoner
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