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President Guillermo Lasso tries at all costs to recover the Penitentiaries of Guayaquil and the Coast that are besieged by criminal gangs that fight for control of the overcrowded prisons. The recovery operation leaves at least seven injured. Lasso promised that he will not bow down to criminals.
In an operation that sought to regain control of the Guayaquil Penitentiary, a focus of the prison violence that is plaguing Ecuador, six police officers and one military officer were wounded.
More than 2,000 officers were also taken to the Litoral Penitentiary in order to continue transferring prisoners to other prisons and thus reduce overcrowding, but inmates who belong to drug gangs and seek control of the prison they oppose.
The person in charge of the prisons, the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty, SNAI, reported that some detainees reacted against the agents with violent acts and have even used explosive devices.
In a statement, the SNAI reported: “Given the actions undertaken to control overcrowding, which includes improvements in infrastructure and strengthening of security, people deprived of liberty – members of organized crime groups – respond with violence against National Police officers. , Armed Forces and the Penitentiary Security and Surveillance Corps, including the use of grenades”.
recovery campaign
This special prison recovery operation began this Wednesday when news broke that at least two prisoners had died and about six were injured after clashes between the gangs.
In a statement from the Presidency on Twitter, the Government said that “Peace and tranquility must prevail in Ecuador! From the National Government and the Public Force we are working tirelessly and taking the best actions to confront this enemy that is drug trafficking.
This Wednesday the president, Guillermo Lasso, decreed a state of emergency in the provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas due to the violent escalation that not only occurs in the penitentiaries, but has also reached the streets.
This Thursday the president convened a Public Security Council of Ecuador, Cosepe, in Guayaquil, a city to which he moved his office to be in charge of the operations of the public force, and spoke with the authorities about the difficult situation that this region is going through. from the country
According to Lasso, the violence is due to the government’s decision to regain control of the prisons and to send inmates to other prisons.
The president called for national unity and criticized sectors of the opposition because they blame him for the prison crisis and his inability to react.
From Twitter he said: “We fully maintained the strategy of moving the leaders. This government does not bow to narco-terrorists: in this country they are not going to impose their will. We are here to confront them and protect the 18 million Ecuadorians who deserve to live in peace.”
The ringleaders, violent criminals who led the “Chone Killer” Organized Crime Group and encouraged armed resistance to the personnel of the @PoliceEcuador Y @FFAAECUADOR today in Pavilion 2 of the Litoral Penitentiary, they already keep prison in the Rock. pic.twitter.com/w38xIH7U4Z
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) November 4, 2022
The government has said that it will regain control with a comprehensive security and peace strategy, according to Diego Ordóñez, Secretary of Public Security of Ecuador, in a report.
Cosepe is made up of the president, the highest authorities of the National Assembly, the National Court of Justice, high-ranking military and police officers, among other entities.
with EFE
