41 hostages held by prisoners in Ecuadorian prisons have been released, a Notice Saturday, January 13, the Ecuadorian Prison Administration (SNAI). According to a press release issued late this afternoon, 133 guards and three officers remain held hostage in the country's prisons.
Read also: Ecuador faces the challenge of organized crime
A previous bulletin reported that 175 guards and officers have been taken hostage since the unprecedented security crisis in this country, which has been hit by violence from criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking.
The last twenty-four hours have been marked by renewed violence in prisons, resulting in the death of at least one guard and the injury of another, according to SNAI. There were “armed clashes” between security forces and prisoners, particularly at dawn in Machala prison (southwest).
Also read: In Ecuador, photos of the explosion of violence
At least nineteen dead in the violence
In six cities, the army and police carried out “interventions to restore order and normality” in prisons, such as in Cuenca (in the south of the country), where prisoners climbed onto roofs after shots were fired. Fire could be heard in the facility. At least five prisoners also escaped from the Guayaquil prison complex during the night. According to SNAI, two were withdrawn.
The announcement of the escape of feared Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito,” from prison in Guayaquil (southwest) on January 7 triggered a wave of mutinies, with hostage-taking in at least five prisons and attacks on law enforcement and other actions , aimed at sowing terror. According to the latest official report, at least nineteen people were killed.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa declares war on the gangs
Young President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency and ordered the army to neutralize these criminal gangs, now considered “terrorists.” More than 22,400 soldiers were deployed on land, air and sea patrols. Searches and multiple operations were carried out in prisons, while a curfew was imposed.
After a wave of panic across the country triggered by Tuesday's live attack on the studios of a public television station in Guayaquil, the situation has returned to relative normality.