Ecuador's largest and most dangerous prison riot leaves at least 17 dead

QUITO, Ecuador -- The number of inmates killed in a riot in Ecuador’s largest and most dangerous prison rose to 17, authorities said Wednesday, a day after the goriest prison episode under the watch of President Daniel Noboa broke out.

Noboa handed control over the most violent prisons to the military at the start of 2024 after gunmen stormed and opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions of civilians and security forces. The latest killings are bound to agitate the presidential race in the South American country, where the law-and-order incumbent has made improving security at detention facilities and elsewhere a top priority in his bid for another term next year.

Ecuador’s corrections agency posted on X on Wednesday that the riot at the Litoral Penitentiary left 15 people injured, and described what happened as “serious incidents between persons deprived of liberty,” without elaborating further.

The agency also announced that visitation has been suspended.

Ecuador’s Attorney General’s office on Tuesday said nine inmates will be charged with murder as a result.

The penitentiary, located in the coastal city of Guayaquil, has a history of bloody disturbances, most notably the 2021 riot that claimed 119 lives. It houses about 10,000 inmates — double its capacity.

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.

A dozen prison riots have left more than 400 people dead since 2021. In January, a series of coordinated riots across multiple prisons led to the hostage-taking of 150 prison guards.

The prison violence reflects Ecuador's deteriorating security. The Andean nation registered a record 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, up from a rate of six murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018.