Prisoners protests in four prisons in Ecuador over the transfer of five leaders of “Los Lobos” to a maximum security prison

The prison crisis continues in Ecuador. After the relocation of five leaders of the mega-band Los Lobos, who reportedly caused the last bloodbath in the Turi prison in southern Ecuador, incidents were recorded in four prisons in the country last Tuesday.

In Latacunga, Machala, Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo prisons, prisoners climbed onto the terraces, took control of some doors and even burned a mattress. The authorities have described these acts as “demonstrations” and reported that security protocols were activated simultaneously to restore order within these rehabilitation centers. Prisoners in these prisons have told the media that it was a protest in solidarity with the prisoners who were transferred from Turi.

Last Monday night, after the escalation of violence in the Turi prison, which left at least 20 fatalities, several of them decapitated, the Minister of the Interior, General Patricio Carrillo announced the transfer of five leaders of criminal gangs to the maximum security prison of La Roca. The citizen platform SOS Cárceles Ecuador confirmed that they would be leaders of the Los Lobos gang, the second largest mega-band in Ecuador. It is estimated that 8,000 prisoners join the gang. SOS Prisons has also revealed that the prisons where the protests took place are under the command of Los Lobos.

The authorities knew that after the transfer of the leaders there would be reactions. Minister Carrillo himself said that the government would stand firm against the gangs and that they were prepared for any response.

At the Latacunga prison, at least 50 prisoners climbed the terraces of the center, according to police sources. The authorities entered with military trucks and patrol cars of the National Police. Kitchen and maintenance personnel were evacuated there to safeguard their integrity. In addition, passage on the roads leading to that prison was restricted. The situation was controlled.

The governor of Cotopaxi, Oswaldo Coronel, confirmed that what happened in the Latacunga prison was an action to support the prisoners who were transferred from Turi to La Roca, in Guayaquil, and that it is not a mutiny.

At the same time, there were also incidents in Machala prison that led to the transfer of special units of the National Police and members of the Armed Forces to that prison. Even the relatives of the prisoners came to the scene to keep informed about the events and protested the alleged transfer of prisoners from that prison. In that prison the prisoners reportedly took control of the entrance and exit gates of the center.

“Our relatives are calm, without problems, with nothing. We want there to be no transfer, our prisoners are fine here. They're not in a fight or anything. They are not fighting, even here there is no killing,” said one woman. Another relative also said that: “My brother was told that he was going to be transferred to the city of Guayaquil, we are afraid that he will be killed there”, according to the newspaper El Universo.

In Esmeraldas prison, just an hour after the incidents in Machala, a group of 150 prisoners burned a mattress in the prison yard, according to a police report. However, after a few minutes the prisoners themselves would have put out the fire.

Dozens of police officers also intervened in the Santo Domingo prison, at the alarm of a mutiny. Despite this, the police did not give any statement and it was known that the director of the center had a dialogue with a group of prisoners who made several requests.

On Wednesday afternoon, President Guillermo Lasso will meet with the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carillo, and the Minister of Government, Francisco Jiménez, to discuss issues related to security. The IACHR has demanded that the State take action against the prison crisis that left more than 315 dead in 2021, one of the highest numbers of prison killings in Latin America.

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