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Spurred by the murder of a released gang member, the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, the Turi Rehabilitation Centers in Cuenca, and the Cotopaxi prison in Latacunga were “out of control” Tuesday and reporting gruesome deaths, according to Edmundo Moncayo, director of the Ecuadorian Penitentiary System.
Police were carrying out operations to stabilize the situation but 7 hours into the riots only the largest of the 3, the Guayaquil prison, was reported pacified. The rioting prisons house 70% of the 38,000 prisoners in the country. With 1500 guards in the system, a number the prison system has said is so low that it “hinders immediate response actions,” prison fights in 2020 left 51 dead.
By Milan Sime Martinic