NTD: QUITO—At least 58 prisoners were killed and a dozen injured in overnight violence at Ecuador’s Penitenciaria del Litoral prison, the government said on Saturday, in what has been characterized as fighting between gangs.
The penitentiary, located in the southern city of Guayaquil, is the same prison where 119 inmates were killed in late September in the country’s worst-ever incident of prison violence.
The government has blamed disputes between drug trafficking gangs for control of prisons for the violence. more
At least they won’t be coming here in Biden’s next caravan.
“The latest disturbance was set off by a power vacuum following a gang leader’s release….”
That’ll teach them.
How do I say “meh” in Spanish?
That is what 10 years of socialist dictatorship gives you.
Correa, the son of a convicted drug smuggler, decriminalized many drug related crimes, supported drug trafficking in the country and totally corrupted the already moderately corrupt justice system. Violent criminals were regularly let go within hours of arrest, giving time for them to retaliate against (most often, murder) witnesses and arresting officers before the day was out.
Needless to say, what was a relatively tolerable level of crime mushroomed into a nation under siege.
The current and previous government have been trying to reverse things, but the gangs and drug cartels are not having any of it.
This latest prison massacre was not due to a power vacuum, it was due to a high court judge ordering the military and paramilitary police out of the prisons last week.
This an article describing the interruption of an attempt to smuggle in weapons and explosives (google translate usually does a decent job):
https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/tres-detenidos-por-intentar-ingresar-armas-a-penitenciaria-del-litoral-nota/
They obviously missed some others.
There has also been a rash of retaliatory killings following significant drug busts, particularly the ones causing losses into the billions of dollars. Some of the killings were against suspected informants, but there is an unsettling trend toward the killing of people with no connection to the cartels or gangs.
A few weeks ago, Ecuador’s bronze medal winning sprinter was killed while standing with a friend outside a shopping center. Maybe it was just a tragic mistake, but I suspect it may have been a message to the country.
The government recently installed radar in a coastal province that is a haven for smuggling by air and sea. Last week, the radar equipment container mysteriously blew up. There are no immediate plans to replace it.
It is amazing that people there are able to still maintain some semblance of normalcy in their lives. They are a resilient, if perhaps overly patient and fatalistic, people.
My idiot libtarded former sister-in-law grew up in Ecuador as an MK (missionary kid). To hear her tell it, it’s the best country that ever existed. I wish she’d move back there, renounce her US citizenship, and keep her political opinions to herself.
Looks like the refs are lettin’ ‘em play.
Cool Mutual combat.
Should they fight to the end? Then execute the winners? /s OFF.
Somewhat amazed that they have a drugs problem enough to have “prisons full”. Sad state of affairs.
Pancho, My right ball asked Lefty, my left ball, and neither one cared.
Willy just hung his head and stared at the floor.
Anyway, it was a mostly peaceful riot for an Ecuadorian prison. You know how macho brown guys are! If it had been a real riot they would have burned the place down, killed all the guards, killed all the judges, enjoyed a little cannibalism.
I hear Joe is sending a plane to collect the survivors.
@Hanoverfist: ‘How do I say “meh” in Spanish?’
Méh.
There’s more than one way to reduce prison overcrowding…
In terms of the region, Ecuador is often the best country, though in the past, the ranking went: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia. Venezuela has moved to the bottom of the list. Much also depends on which province, city, neighborhood you live in. Colombia is generally considered the “best” country in the region, but it retains many of the problems that existed in the recent past.
Sadly, things seem to be deteriorating so quickly here that Ecuador and Colombia are becoming a tempting alternative — if you don’t think things through too much.