Ecuador has confirmed 62 dead in bloody “concerted” riots in three prisons in the country

At least 62 people died, and twenty others were injured, following a series of riots on Tuesday morning in three prisons in Ecuador, in an action that the government considers “concerted” by criminal organizations with the aim of “generating violence”.

Authorities have confirmed incidents in prisons in Latacunga, Guayaquil and Cuencaand the deployment of police tactical groups to contain violence. Soldiers have also been deployed near the centers to support operations.

“In view of the concerted action of criminal organizations to generate violence in the country’s prisons,” said the Minister of Government (Interior), Patricio Pazmiño, from his Twitter account and confirmed a meeting of the post of unified command with which study the actions and “take back control” of the prisons.

Edmundo Moncayo, director of the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Young Offenders in Ecuador (SNAI), confirmed at a press conference that all the deceased were persons deprived of their liberty. And detailed that There were 33 murders in the prison of Cuenca, in Guayaquil there were 21 and in Latacunga, eight deaths.. “There are no dead officials, but we have injured police officers,” he said.

At the same time, during the press conference, Moncayo attributed the riots to the murder of a citizen in the town of Manta in December. “We expected an immediate reaction, but the reaction was delayed and this is what happened today between two groups trying to find criminal leaders,” he said.

For his part, the President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, held the “criminal organizations” responsible for these acts of violence in the country’s prisons, which, he assured on his Twitter account, are coordinated.

And during the “Before the President” program, President Lenín Moreno indicated that he had authorized “This force will be gradually used to ensure the safety of citizens in a state of isolation” in order to control the riots that occurred simultaneously in three prisons in the country.

“In a prison, this synchronized activity of this organized mafia combat which rarely occurs, but which always causes social unrest and which worries the executive and the policeMoreno added.

SNAI also added that on Monday evening a search was carried out at the Litoral prison, located a few meters from the regional prison. These events were reported as “a sign of resistance and rejection of the detainees in the face of these control actions”, according to the institution.

Moncayo also detailed in the press conference that the country’s prison system has around 38,000 inmates belonging to different criminal gangs, Among them are some of those responsible for the riots on Tuesday, such as “Los Choneros”, “Los Lagartos” or “Los ChoneKillers”.

One of these criminal organizations, Moncayo explained, allegedly anticipated attempts by one of the rival gangs in their plans to attack them by hitting first, which would have sparked a chain reaction in several prison centers.

With information from EuropaPress, EFE and AFP

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