The latest toll of violence in a prison in Ecuador is terrible. On Tuesday, a new massacre between rival gangs in a prison in the southwest of the country left at least 116 dead. To respond to this dramatic crisis, President Lasso on Wednesday declared a “state of emergency” in all Ecuadorian prisons.
“The reports tell us that there are 116 dead and nearly 80 injured. All are inmates, ”the president said at a press conference in Guayaquil, the city where the prison is located. These latest clashes, the deadliest this year, took place in the large prison complex of Guayas.
Months of violence
Guillermo Lasso announced earlier Wednesday that he had “declared a state of emergency throughout the prison system at the national level”, while Ecuadorian prisons have for months been the scene of recurrent violence between criminal groups linked to drug trafficking. “In Guayaquil, I will chair the crisis committee responsible for coordinating the actions necessary to control the emergency, guaranteeing the human rights of all those involved,” he said.
The question now is whether the measure will work. In July, the Head of State had in fact already declared a “state of emergency” in prisons, after the death of twenty prisoners in a new bout of violence. He then promised “a process of total restructuring of the prison system”, replacing the director of the prison administration by a soldier. “The state of emergency” marks an additional step in the action of the authorities and a direct handling of the subject by the Head of State.