As calm seemed to have returned to Guayaquil prison in southwest Ecuador, Ecuadorian police officers were attacked by gunfire from inmates, the national police said on Saturday (October 2nd). . In this prison, clashes since Tuesday have caused the worst massacre in Latin American prison history.
While the police took control of the prison on Thursday evening, “During the intervention (…) they were greeted by gunfire from people deprived of their liberty ”, tweeted the Ecuadorian National Police.
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 [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.
Prison overcrowding
Following the shootings, police said they had seized two rifles, three pistols, ammunition and cell phones in the prison, which houses 8,500 inmates for a capacity of 5,300 inmates, which represents an overcrowding of 60%.
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, with a sharply reduced budget, falling from $ 150 million to $ 99 million during the same period. Ecuador has sixty-five prisons with a total capacity of 30,000 places, but houses 39,000, an overcrowding of 30% on average at the national level.
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.