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Ecuador is facing a crisis.
On Tuesday, President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency in the country’s prisons, following a series of violent incidents including shootings and explosions at one of the most dangerous prisons.
This is the second state of emergency that has been declared in less than 24 hours, this time for 60 days.
As part of this initiative, the military and police are being mobilized to regain control of the prison system.
The trigger for this situation was an event that shocked Ecuadoreans -the shooting of Manta city mayor Agustín Intriago on Monday.
Consequently, President Lasso declared an immediate state of emergency in Los Ríos and Manabí provinces as a response to this incident.
Things took a drastic turn when riots erupted at Litoral prison on Saturday afternoon and escalated into Sunday morning with gunshots and explosions heard by people living nearby.
The initial clashes left six dead and 11 injured, but unfortunately the disturbances have only gotten worse since then with no updated information from authorities yet available.
Litoral prison is located within a complex about 160 miles southeast from Quito – it has capacity for 9500 inmates but by early 2021 it had already exceeded that number by 3000 prisoners!
It is well known as one Ecuador’s most dangerous prisons; last year 119 inmates were killed during gang battles and just April 12 inmates died during another riot there leaving three injured persons behind.
As if things weren’t bad enough already, prisoners across 13 other detention facilities began hunger strikes on Monday demanding better sanitary conditions as well as food among other issues while holding 100 guards hostage.
It remains uncertain how these demands will be met or how authorities will respond to restore order in what seems to be quickly spiraling out of control situation inside Ecuador’s prisons right now.
