International
New prison riot in Ecuador leaves 68 dead
AFP
Prison inmates from rival gangs in Ecuador fought each other with guns, explosives and blades in a bloodbath that left at least 68 dead in the same prison where a riot in September claimed 119 lives, officials said Saturday.
Hours after the government said it had regained control of the prison in Guayaquil, President Guillermo Lasso’s spokesman said inmates from rival gangs tied to drug trafficking rings were fighting again in a new surge in violence.
In the initial riot that began Friday night prisoners fought with “savagery,” said Pablo Arosemena, governor of the province of Guayas where the prison is located.
The riot began around 7:00 pm Friday (0001 GMT) when prisoners tried to enter Block 2 of the jail where their rivals were held, firing gunshots, detonating explosives and swinging machetes, and prompting police to move in.
At least 68 prisoners were killed and another 25 were wounded, according a statement which the Ecuador Prosecutor’s Office posted on Twitter.
In the new outbreak of fighting, inmates from two other blocks were attacking each other, said presidential spokesman Carlos Jijon.
Lasso has appealed to civil society groups to try to establish contact with prisoners and end the bloodshed, Jijon said,
Officials said the violence started when one of the gangs inside the prison, the Tiguerones, was left without their leader because he was released after serving part of his sentence for stealing auto parts.
Other groups, sensing weakness in the Tiguerones with that man gone, went on the attack to try to crush that gang, Arosemena said.
He said their goal was “to go in and carry out a total massacre.”
Earlier Saturday, police officers in riot gear were seen climbing up the blood-stained prison walls, while the body of an inmate in an orange prison jumpsuit lay on the roof of the jail encircled by barbed wire.
Images posted on social networks, whose authenticity has not been confirmed by the authorities, showed a pile of bodies in a night-time prison courtyard being consumed by flames while inmates standing nearby beat the bodies with sticks.
In another video, a prisoner from the block that was being attacked says, “We are locked in our pavilion. They want to kill us all.”
“Please share this video. Please help us!” the inmate implores, as repeated bangs are heard the background.
Dozens of people gathered outside the prison gates Saturday morning, fainting or weeping as they tried to learn the fate of their loved ones inside.
“They are human beings, help them”, read a banner held by one of the families, held back by a deployment of police and soldiers supported by a tank.
A group of women with one cell phone shouted prisoners’ names to an inmate who was inside the prison and on the line, hoping to know if those men were still alive.
“Here there are relatives from block two and they need to know about the boys,” the woman holding the phone said.
A crackly voice was heard from the phone but the signal was spotty and then there was just silence.
At a coroner’s office in the city, Felix Gonzalez showed up holding his imprisoned son’s ID card and asked if his body was there. “It is not fair for him to die for stealing a cell phone,” Gonzalez told AFP.
More than 300 prisoners have been killed this year in Ecuador’s criminal detention system, where thousands of inmates tied to drug gangs square off in violent clashes that often turn into riots.
September’s unrest was one of the worst prison massacres in Latin American history, and the latest deadly violence in Guayaquil only reaffirmed the broken state of Ecuador’s jails.
Rival drug gangs have been waging a bloody feud in the Guayas 1 prison in Guayaquil, a facility that was designed for 5,300 inmates, but houses 8,500.
But even after a crackdown in the wake of the September 28 tragedy that killed 119, the unrest has persisted, with at least 15 more inmates dying prior to Friday’s deadly burst of violence.
Two weeks after the September disaster, President Guillermo Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency in a bid to tame Ecuador’s surging drug-related unrest.
Violence has spiked dramatically in recent months in Ecuador, where the economy is ailing.
Between January and October this year, the country registered almost 1,900 homicides, compared to about 1,400 in all of 2020, according to the government.
International
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal
Panama grants Martinelli 72-hour extension to travel to Nicaragua
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary urges Mexico to strengthen Guatemala border
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
Central America5 days agoNicaragua denounces Costa Rica’s position in SICA as aligned with foreign interests
-
Central America5 days agoNicaragua’s new judicial law consolidates power in Ortega and Murillo’s hands
-
Central America5 days agoPanama’s president declares Darién gap ‘closed’ amid sharp drop in migrant flow
-
International3 days agoSon of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
-
International5 days agoMarco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana
-
International3 days agoMiyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?
-
Central America2 days agoPanama police clarifies that Interpol alert for Martinelli is still pending
-
International2 days agoDeportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
-
Central America14 hours agoU.S. Homeland Security Secretary urges Mexico to strengthen Guatemala border
-
International14 hours agoTrump urges Putin to reach peace deal
-
Central America14 hours agoPanama grants Martinelli 72-hour extension to travel to Nicaragua
-
Central America4 days ago
Nicaragua revokes legal status of 10 more NGOs, bringing total to over 5,600