Ecuador regains control of prisons after hostages freed
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — Ecuador's security forces on Sunday took back control of several prisons that had fallen into the hands of gang members, after securing the release of more than 200 officials held hostage inside the jails.
The country's simmering security crisis erupted last week as the government and powerful narco gangs declared all-out war on each other, after the prison escape of a dangerous drug lord.
Inmates rioted in jails where gangs wield outsize control, taking prison guards and administrative workers hostage, while on the streets a wave of violence has left 19 people dead.
Unverified images on social media of looting, brutal murders and other attacks have struck terror into the population.
On Sunday the army shared videos of prison walls being blown up, and declared "total control" of a prison in the city of Cuenca where 61 employees had been held hostage, according to the mayor.
They also shared images of hundreds of cowed inmates, shirtless and barefoot, lying on the ground at several prisons.
"We have resumed control of six centers" and are busy taking control of a final prison in Cotopaxi, which has seen brutal massacres in recent years, General Pablo Velasco told Caracol TV.
Authorities announced the release of 201 prison guards and administrative officials, from prisons across seven provinces.
President Daniel Noboa celebrated the releases in a post on X, the former Twitter.
"Congratulations to the patriotic, professional and courageous work of the armed forces, national police and the SNAI... for achieving the release of the prison guards and administrative staff held in the detention centers of Azuay, Canar, Esmeraldas, Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, El Oro and Loja," he wrote.
Images broadcast by the police showed the guards, many in tears, exhausted and supported by their colleagues shortly after their release.
"We are free... Thank God we all got out safely," a prison employee said in a video posted on social media, waving the Ecuadoran flag and standing in front of one prison in southern Cotopaxi province.