Cabrera said 19 of the victims were killed in “acts of violence” and one was killed after ingesting a chemical. At least 11 others were injured, CNN Espanol reported. Authorities are working to identify the bodies of the victims to inform their relatives, he added. Five other detainees were injured during the riot, authorities added. Ecuador’s penitentiary system is in a state of emergency after deadly clashes in September 2021, when 118 people were killed during clashes involving automatic weapons and even grenades. More than 300 inmates were killed in prison violence in 2021, according to the SNAI Ecuadorian prison service. Ecuador is a key transit point for cocaine from South America to the United States and Asia, making it a breeding ground for gang conflict. In this escalating struggle for territorial control, prisons have become controversial battlefields. Prisons are also chronically overcrowded. In July 2021, then-prison chief Eduardo Moncayo told local media that the Litoral penitentiary in Guayaquil was the most overcrowded in the country, with more than 9,000 inmates in a facility planned for 5,000. In October, authorities said thousands of detainees, including the elderly, women and people with disabilities and incurable diseases, would be pardoned to free space. CNN’s Stefano Pozzebon and Mallory Gafas contributed to this report.
