2024-01-14 03:41:00
Ecuador confirmed the release of all officials who were held hostage in seven prisons in the country. (Europa Press/Mateo Arma)
The Government of Ecuador announced this Saturday the end of the prison riots that left at least four dead and more than 150 hostages, within the framework of a wave of criminal violence that the Executive attributes to terrorist groups.
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President Daniel Noboa reported on social networks that the release of all the hostages, including guards and administrative personnel, who had been held since Tuesday in seven prisons in the country was achieved.
Noboa, in a message on his X network account, congratulated the law enforcement forces for having achieved the release of the hostages in the prisons of the Andean provinces of Azuay, Cañar, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua and Loja; as well as in the coastal areas of El Oro and Esmeraldas.
The Government of Ecuador announced the end of the prison riots. (EFE)
“Congratulations to the patriotic, professional and brave work of the Armed Forces, National Police and the SNAI”, the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty, the State Penitentiary Secretariat, Noboa said.
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He also highlighted the “leadership” of his Ministers of the Interior, Mónica Palencia, and of Defense, Giancarlo Loffredo, “for achieving the release of the prison security and surveillance body and the administrative personnel held in the Deprivation of Liberty Centers.”
Noboa congratulated the law enforcement forces for having achieved the release of the hostages in prisons.
The SNAI, for its part, highlighted in a statement that the joint actions carried out between the military, police and prison guards, “concluded successfully with the release of all the employees of the Penitentiary Security and Surveillance Corps and members of the administrative staff, who were detained. in the different Deprivation of Liberty Centers (CPL) in the country.”
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He added that “medical evaluations are carried out to safeguard the freed servants” who, in some cases, such as in the Esmeraldas prison, were also rescued thanks to the mediation of representatives of the Catholic and evangelical churches.
The SNAI “will begin the relevant investigations to determine the causes and those responsible for the latest events” recorded in the country’s prisons, he indicated.
The SNAI “will begin the relevant investigations to determine the causes and those responsible for the latest events” recorded in the country’s prisons. (REUTERS/Iván Alvarado)
The riots occurred following a series of attacks and intimidating actions, including the assault on a television channel, which the Government attributes to criminal gangs operating from prisons.
Among the dead is a prison guard who was killed in a shootout at the Machala prison, where armed clashes took place on Friday.
In Esmeraldas, the Church mediated for the peaceful release of eleven guards, while in Ambato the Armed Forces intervened to rescue thirteen hostages.
The riots occurred following a series of attacks and intimidating actions, including the assault on a television channel, which the Government attributes to criminal gangs. (Archyde.com)
The mayor of Cuenca, Cristian Zamora, confirmed the release of those held in the Turi prison, where the prisoners climbed to the roofs and shots and explosions were heard.
In addition, on Friday six inmates escaped from the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, of which two were recaptured. A guard was arrested for allegedly facilitating the escape.
The Police and the Armed Forces searched a house of José Adolfo Macías Villamar, alias ‘Fito’, leader of the ‘Los Choneros’ gang, who escaped from the Guayaquil prison a week ago. It has not been revealed what was found in the house, located in Manta.
The escape of ‘Fito’ coincided with the beginning of Tuesday’s day of terror, which included the kidnapping and murder of police officers, explosions, burning vehicles and the assault on a television station.
The Noboa Government declared “war” on these gangs, which have caused more than 450 deaths in prisons since 2020, and announced a plan to regain control of the prisons.
(With information from EFE)
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