All the hostages, or 136 people, who remained held by mutineers in Ecuadorian prisons were released during the night from Saturday to Sunday, the prison administration announced in a press release. “Security protocols and the joint action of the police and the national army allowed the release of all the hostages,” said this press release.
“Congratulations to the patriotic, professional and courageous work of the armed forces, the national police and the SNAI (…) for obtaining the release of guards and administrative staff detained in detention centers d’AzuayCañar, Esmeraldas, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, El Oro and Loja,” President Daniel Noboa reacted immediately on the X network (formerly Twitter).
A week of ordeal
According to the police, 46 guards and one official were released from Cotopaxi prison (center), 13 from Tungurahua prison (center), and 15 others from El Oro prison (southwest), where the lifeless body of a civil servant was found. Images released by police showed the guards, including many women, in tears, exhausted and supported by their colleagues shortly after their release.
For a week since their ordeal lasted, these same hostages, under threat from mutineers armed with knives or firearms, regularly called on the authorities for help and restraint, according to videos regularly broadcast on social networks. At least two of them, one of whom was hanged, were executed by the mutineers, again according to these videos. Nearly 175 people, guards and prison administration officials, were taken hostage at the end of last week.
“Fito” kicked off
The announcement of the escape on January 7 from the Guayaquil penitentiary (southwest) of the feared leader of the Choneros gang Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, provoked a wave of mutinies with hostage-taking in at least five prisons , attacks against law enforcement and other acts aimed at sowing terror. At least 19 people were killed, according to the latest official update.
The 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, with land, air and sea patrols, searches and all-out operations were carried out in prisons, while a curfew was imposed.