Ecuador: police attacked by bullets in Guayaquil prison

Published on : 10/03/2021 – 08:02

Ecuadorian police officers were gunned down on Saturday (October 2) by inmates at Guayaquil prison in southwest Ecuador, where some 118 people have died – including six beheaded – in clashes since. Tuesday, the worst massacre in Latin American prison history.

As the police resumed control of the prison on Thursday evening, “during the intervention (…) they were greeted by gunfire from people deprived of their liberty,” the Ecuadorian national police tweeted. .

Even before the incursion of the security forces, a shootout had broken out between detainees, leaving four injured, said police commander Tannya Varela.

The situation was taken over by the agents and “the control of the [centre pénitentiaire] is maintained, ”she added.

A video published by the institution shows elite police officers, accompanied by soldiers and a military tank, entering the establishment.

Following the shootings, police said they had seized two rifles, three pistols, ammunition and mobile phones in the prison, which houses 8,500 inmates for a capacity of 5,300, which represents an overcrowding of 60%. .

30% prison overcrowding nationally

Between Tuesday and Thursday, violent clashes took place in Guayaquil prison between criminal groups linked to drug trafficking. Some 118 people were killed and 86 injured informed the judicial authorities Thursday evening.

The total number of prisoners has increased by 30% over the past six years, against a budget reduced from $ 150 million to $ 99 million during the same period.

Ecuador has 65 prisons with a capacity of 30,000 places, but houses 39,000, an average overcrowding of 30% nationally.

To reduce this prison overcrowding, the government has just announced its intention to build more prison infrastructure, grant pardons to some 2,000 prisoners aged over 65 and suffering from illnesses or disabilities, and repatriate them. foreigners sentenced to complete their sentences in their countries of origin.

About 10% of the country’s prison population is foreign, mostly Colombians or Venezuelans.

With AFP