International

The director of Ecuador’s largest prison is shot dead

The director of the Litoral Penitentiary, the largest and most populous prison in Ecuador, was killed this Thursday in an attack where another prison official who accompanied her at the time of the attack was injured, according to the National Service for Comprehensive Care for Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), the State penitentiary agency.

The attack against María Daniela Icaza and her companion occurred around 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on the road between the town of Daule and the city of Guayaquil, where the Litoral Penitentiary is located.

Icaza was heading to the Guasmo Sur Hospital, which is located in the south of Guayaquil, when according to local media, armed men intercepted the vehicle and shot at her, who was in the co-pilot’s seat.

At first, the SNAI reported that Icaza had managed to get to the hospital alive, but later confirmed his death.

This is the second murder of the highest prison authority in nine days, after Álex Guevara, director of the Lago Agrio prison, in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos, was murdered in similar circumstances on September 3.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

One of the most important prisons in Ecuador

The Litoral Penitentiary, officially known as the Guayas Male Freedom Deprivation Center Number 1, is the largest of the five prisons that make up the Guayaquil penitentiary complex, in which approximately 12,000 prisoners are detained.

More than 6,000 are in the Litoral Penitentiary, which between 2021 and 2023 was the scene of the worst massacres that occurred due to clashes between criminal gangs that disputed internal control, at least until the militarization of these centers ordered at the beginning of the year by President Daniel Noboa.

The entry of the military into the prisons took place within the framework of the state of emergency and “internal armed conflict” declared by the ruler against organized crime, which is attributed to a boom in criminal violence that has led Ecuador to be the country in Latin America with the highest homicide rate, registering 47.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.

The wave of murders has also previously claimed the lives of other prison directors, as well as municipal authorities, including several mayors, and on a national scale, such as presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

International

Marco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Venezuela on Thursday that a military attack on Guyana would be “a big mistake” and “a very bad day for them,” expressing his support for Georgetown in its territorial dispute with Caracas.

“It would be a very bad day for the Venezuelan regime if they attacked Guyana or ExxonMobil. It would be a very bad day, a very bad week for them, and it would not end well,” Rubio emphasized during a press conference in Georgetown alongside Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.

International

Ecuador oil spill worsens as containment dam collapses

The collapse of a containment dam holding back part of the 25,000+ barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture nearly two weeks ago has worsened the environmental crisis in northwestern Ecuador, contaminating rivers and Pacific beaches.

The Ecuadorian government attributed the March 13 pipeline rupture—which led to the spill of 25,116 barrels of crude—to an act of sabotage. The spill affected three rivers and disrupted water supplies for several communities, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, due to heavy rains that have been falling since January, a containment dam on the Caple River collapsed. The Caple connects to other waterways in Esmeraldas Province, a coastal region bordering Colombia, state-owned Petroecuador said in a statement on Wednesday.

Seven containment barriers were installed in the Viche River, where crews worked to remove oil-contaminated debris. Additional absorbent materials were deployed in Caple, Viche, and Esmeraldas Rivers, which flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities are also working to protect a wildlife refuge home to more than 250 species, including otters, howler monkeys, armadillos, frigatebirds, and pelicans.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

“This has been a total disaster,” said Ronald Ruiz, a leader in the Cube community, where the dam was located. He explained that the harsh winter rains caused river levels to rise, bringing debris that broke the containment barriersthat were holding the accumulated oil for extraction.

International

Federal court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Alien Act for deportations

A federal appeals court upheld the block on former President Donald Trump’s use of the Enemy Alien Act on Wednesday, preventing him from using the law to expedite deportations of alleged members of the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua.

With a 2-1 ruling, a panel from the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed previous decisions by two lower court judges, maintaining the legal standoff between the White House and the judiciary.

On March 14, Trump invoked the 1798 Enemy Alien Act, a law traditionally used during wartime, to deport hundreds of Venezuelans whom he accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that originated in Venezuelan prisons.

The centuries-old law grants the president the power to detain, restrict, and expel foreign nationals from a country engaged in a “declared war” or an “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States, following a public proclamation.