Despite the efforts of the Security Block, made up of the Armed Forces and the National Police, Ecuador’s prisons remain the main rebel focus in the internal armed conflict decreed by the Government. New escapes in Guayaquil and a shootout in Machala, with the death of an inmate, make up the current scenario of violence, in which the fate of the 170 kidnapped prison officials frightens the country.
Police forces were searching throughout the city this Saturday for four of those who escaped on Friday night from the Litoral Penitentiary, with more than 5,000 prisoners inside. Two of the prisoners were detained near the prison, adjacent to the one where Fito, leader of Los Choneros, was located, whose escape a week ago precipitated the week of terror in the Andean country.
The prisons of Esmeraldas, Latacunga, Ambato, Cuenca, Loja and Azogues continue with active riots. In the first, the mediation of the Burgos priest José Antonio Maeso, prison chaplain, has achieved the first releases. But the tension is maximum in all these areas.
The first beneficiaries of the dialogue were the baker Pilar Bautista, trained by the prisoners, and the prison guide Jackson Angulo. About twenty of his companions are still kidnapped in the Esmeraldas Men’s Center.
“Mr. President, we need you to accept the dialogues to reach peace. It cannot be possible for us to continue being detained and for you to act as if you did not care about us. The ppl (people deprived of liberty) only want to be rehabilitated, an opportunity to be treated as what they are, human beings. Please reconcile peace, do not let blood be spilled. Allow those who made mistakes to have a new chance,” he implored through a dramatic video, recorded by the prisoners, the head of the penitentiary security agents at the Cuenca prison, surrounded by twenty colleagues.
“We feel that the State has turned its back on us,” confirmed another of the hostages from the Cotopaxi prison, who feel that they have been largely forgotten in this crisis.
According to provisional data released by the Security Block, 56 people have already been rescued, including six police officers. The deployment of military and police, which continued yesterday in Guayaquil, has so far led to the arrest of 854 people, including 94 “terrorists.” Five criminals and two agents have lost their lives.
“The Security Block is in the territory, fighting against those who generate terror. Come on Ecuador, defend your flag! This battle has us on our feet. We are one force, one Ecuador,” the government harangued in the micro advertising spaces that appear on social networks and television.
Among those detained are three gang members, belonging to Las Águilas, who are already in preventive detention accused of their participation in a frustrated attack against César Zapata, general commander of the Police. The detainees remained waiting in two vehicles parked near the police chief’s family home. They had at least one gun and a knife.
One of them had a search warrant after escaping from the Cotopaxi prison and another had the symbol of Las Águilas tattooed on his abdomen, one of the 22 gang groups declared as terrorist groups this week.
