Ecuador quelled a prison revolt on Wednesday in the port city of Guayaquil at the same facility from which one of the country’s most feared gang leaders escaped in January.
“We have regained control” of the prison, President Daniel Noboa said overnight in a post on social media platform X. Noboa thanked security forces “for their bravery, professional and rapid large-scale deployment” which “neutralized the revolt before a possible escalation.”
Hemos retomado el control del Centro de Rehabilitación Social 4.Agradezco la valentía del bloque de seguridad que en un operativo profesional, urgente y de gran escala desplegado por las fuerzas del orden, neutralizaron la revuelta antes de una posible escalada. Esto es un… pic.twitter.com/LJEkeZboDK
— Daniel Noboa Azin (@DanielNoboaOk) March 28, 2024
The “internal revolt” was started by a group of inmates, the SNAI prisons service said on X. AFP journalists heard gunshots coming from the prison, which is part of a vast penitentiary complex in southwestern Guayaquil from which the powerful narco-gang boss Adolfo
“Fito” Macias escaped on January 7. Macias is still on the run. He had been jailed since 2011, serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder. His escape sparked mutinies in Ecuador’s prisons and gang violence in the streets. Noboa imposed a state of emergency to restore order and declared the country to be at “war” with gangs, deploying more than 20,000 troops.
Once considered a bastion of peace in Latin America, Ecuador has been plunged into crisis after years of expansion by transnational cartels that use its ports to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.
(With agency inputs)
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