A huge operation by the National Police and the Ecuadorian Armed Forces took place this Thursday in the surroundings of the Deprivation of Liberty Center Number 1, located in the coastal city of Guayaquil, better known as the Litoral Penitentiary, which houses a population of 6,978 inmates, as of October 28, according to official information.
Very very early and at the beginning of a long four-day festive bridge in this country, the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), reported on the action, aimed at regaining control of the pavilions, reduce overcrowding and improve security conditions.
According to the Police, 1,300 agents from tactical, preventive, investigative and intelligence units participated in this action, with the support of a similar number of soldiers, according to information provided by the SNAI.
This new act of violence occurs in the midst of the third day of validity of the state of exception in the provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas, decreed by the government, and also of the transfers of prisoners announced by the institution in charge of prison management. The day before, the director of the official body, Guillermo Rodríguez, explained that 1,002 people were mobilized from the Penitentiary.
images that they circulated Since Thursday morning on the social network Twitter they reported the degree of violence with which the agents of special units were received when trying to enter the jail. In others, provided by the SNAI and the National Police, wounded soldiers were seen who were transferred to health homes in Guayaquil.
The balance, until the middle of the afternoon on Thursday: control of pavilion 2 of the penitentiary center was resumed. However, General Víctor Zárate, police commander in Zone 8, which includes Guayaquil and neighboring Durán and Samborondón, announced that six police officers and two soldiers were injured.
Similar events, with the use of explosive devices, occurred in other places in that city, which included two gas stations and a police station.
In addition, at least two vehicles were reported on fire in the city of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, located about 100 kilometers from Quito.
Mario Carrillo, former director of the Cotopaxi Prison, specialized in risk management and security, highlighted the action taken by the government in recent hours, but clarified that as long as there is no greater involvement of the State in dealing with the prison issue and the development of of public policies to reduce the rates of violence, it will not be resolved.
He pointed out that this includes the functions of the State, local governments and the media. In addition, he criticized the judges and the National Assembly for “going on vacation” and not meeting to analyze the violent events that have occurred since the beginning of the week.
Near the end of the afternoon, the president, Guillermo Lasso, posted on his Twitter account that his government “does not bow down to narco-terrorists” and that they are not going to impose their will on Ecuador. “We are here to confront them and protect the 18 million Ecuadorians who deserve to live in peace,” said the president.
Until the closing of this note, the government of Ecuador did not deliver a balance of the weapons, telephones and ammunition seized in the cells of pavilion 2, the epicenter of the violence that day and which for now remains under the control of the security forces.
The violence also moved to the streets in the last hours. According to reports in the afternoon, a power plant was affected by the detonation of an explosive device in the neighboring city of Durán, one of the places most affected by the presence of criminal organizations in recent months.
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