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Authorities attributed the outbreak to internal tensions among
inmates, but offered no further details. The Litoral
Penitentiary has a history of violent disturbances, most notably
the 2021 massacre that claimed 119 lives.
The latest violence underscores the ongoing challenges faced by
the Noboa administration in addressing the country’s severe
prison crisis. In January, a series of coordinated riots across
multiple prisons led to the hostage-taking of 150 prison guards,
culminating in the tragic death of one official.
Local media reported helicopters flew over the prison as
ambulances and relatives of inmates, some of them shouting in
desperation for loved ones, rushed to the gates.
The mass killing is bound to agitate Ecuador's presidential
race, where the law-and-order incumbent, Noboa, has made
improving security, including inside detention facilities, a top
priority in his bid to seek reelection next year.
Ecuador's prisons have become among the deadliest in Latin
America as overcrowding, corruption and weak state control have
allowed gangs connected to drug traffickers in Colombia and
Mexico to proliferate. Many are heavily armed with weapons
smuggled in from the outside and continue to organize criminal
activity from behind bars.
The Litoral Penitentiary currently houses about 10,000 inmates —
or double its capacity.
Ecuador's Attorney General's office said that it is preparing to
charge nine inmates with murder stemming from the violence.
A dozen outbreaks of violence in Ecuadorian prisons have left
more than 400 people dead since 2001. The prison violence
reflects a deteriorating security situation throughout the
Andean nation.
Ecuador registered a record 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants
in 2023, up from a rate of six murders per 100,000 inhabitants
in 2018.
Noboa in January declared a state of emergency and ordered the
military to take control of the prisons after gunmen stormed and
opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random
executions of civilians and security forces.
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