Ecuador prison battle between rival gangs leaves at least 58 dead

13 Nov, 2021 06:24 PM4 mins to read

A relative of an inmate in the Litoral penitentiary demands information about their fate the morning after riots broke out inside the jail in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo / AP

A prolonged gun battle between rival gangs inside Ecuador's largest prison early Saturday local time left at least 58 inmates dead in the latest violence to hit the Litoral Penitentiary, which recently saw the country's worst prison bloodbath.

The fighting lasted for almost eight hours in the lockup in the coastal city of Guayaquil.

Authorities attributed the fighting to prison gangs linked to international drug cartels.

Videos circulating on social media showed bodies, some burned, lying on the ground inside the prison.

Inmates "tried to dynamite a wall to get into pavilion 2 to carry out a massacre. They also burned mattresses to try to drown (their rivals) in smoke," said Governor Pablo Arosemena, of Guayas province, where Guayaquil is located.

"We are fighting against drug trafficking," Arosemena said. "It is very hard."

The body of a prisoner lies next to police on the roof of the Litoral penitentiary the morning after riots broke out inside the jail in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo / AP

Police commander General Tanya Varela said authorities using drones saw that inmates in three pavilions were armed with guns and explosives and were trying to enter pavilion 2, which was without its leader who had been released earlier this week.

She said police officers entered to try to protect the pavilion and get the inmates in the other areas to return to their cells.

"These events are due to the dispute among criminal gangs over territory; there are now pavilions without leaders," she said.

Authorities said besides the 58 dead, 12 inmates were injured, and officials seized bombs and guns.

The body of a prisoner appears surrounded by police on the roof of the Litoral penitentiary the morning after riots broke out inside the jail in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo / AP

The prison violence comes amid a national state of emergency decreed by President Guillermo Lasso in October that empowers security forces to fight drug trafficking and other crimes.

Ecuador's penitentiaries are seeing a wave of brutal violence.

In late September, a battle among gang members in Litoral prison killed at least 118 people in what authorities described as the South American country's worst ever prison massacre. Officials said at least five of the dead were beheaded. In February, 79 inmates were killed in simultaneous riots in various prisons. So far this year, more than 300 prisoners have died in clashes in penitentiaries across the country.

Outside the Litoral prison on Saturday, relatives of inmates gathered for news of their loved ones.

"Enough of this. When will they stop the killing? This is a prison not a slaughterhouse, they are human beings," said Francisca Chancay, 55, whose brother has been in the prison for eight months.

Some were calling for Ecuador's security forces to take control of the prisons.

"What is [President Guillermo] Lasso waiting for? That there are more deaths?″ said Maritza Vera, 62, whose son is an inmate. "Have mercy, where are the human rights. We thought this was going to change, but it's worse."

Relatives of inmates in the Litoral penitentiary wait for information the morning after riots broke out inside the jail in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo / AP

"I feel sad and in anguish because there is too much death," Vera said. "We are desperate."

Ecuador has 40,000 inmates in its penitentiary system, of whom about 8500 are in Litoral. According to prison services' data, the Litoral prison was designed to hold only 5000 people.

Arosemena said authorities in Ecuador would deal with the prison overcrowding by granting pardons, relocating inmates and transferring some foreign inmates back to their homelands.

A relative of an inmate in the Litoral penitentiary demands information about their fate the morning after riots broke out inside the jail in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo / AP

"There will be more than 1000 pardons, but this is part of a process," he said.

The Guayas governor also said Ecuador would receive international aid from countries like Colombia, the United States, Israel and Spain to deal with the crisis in its prisons. The aid will be in resources and logistics.