The war inside Ecuador's prisons

Prison authorities presently successful the process of identifying the bodies of 118 radical who died successful Guayaquil's Litoral Penitentiary past week.

But their task is simply a hard one: Many of the fatal wounds were disfiguring, with respective inmates beheaded oregon burned black, the constabulary forensic squad told CNN -- testament to the ferocity of the clashes and explosions that began connected Tuesday.

How did prisoners successful supposedly unafraid facilities get the weapons to wreak specified bloody havoc? Ecuador is simply a cardinal transit constituent connected the way that brings cocaine from South America to the US and Asia, which makes it fertile crushed for pack clashes. And successful this escalating conflict for supremacy, prisons person go contested battlegrounds.

A twelvemonth of violence

Even earlier past week's situation massacre, imprisonment successful Ecuador was lethally risky: much than 140 inmates had already been murdered successful situation successful 2021 unsocial according to figures from the Ecuador situation work SNAI. The wide decease toll present stands astatine much than 250.

Ecuador's authorities has doubly declared states of exigency crossed the situation strategy this twelvemonth -- past week, it announced that millions of dollars would besides beryllium provided to penitentiaries to upgrade facilities.

The country's situation strategy has besides experienced a bid of enactment changes. September 27 -- the day of the latest massacre -- besides happened to beryllium the archetypal time successful bureau of the country's caller main of prisons, Bolivar Garzon. He is the 3rd idiosyncratic named to the relation this year.

Analysts are skeptical nevertheless that the authorities of exigency volition person a long-lasting effect, unless the state tackles deeper causes, including a burgeoning occupation of organized transgression some successful situation and out.

Overcrowded and well-armed

Ecuador's prisons are chronically overcrowded. In July, then-prison main Eduardo Moncayo told section media that the Litoral Penitentiary was the astir overcrowded successful the country, with much than 9,000 inmates successful a installation planned for 5,000.

Such overcrowding is the superior origin of violence, Douglas Durán, manager of the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime (ILANUD), told CNN.

"According to our databases, successful 2019 Ecuador jails were astatine 140% implicit capacity. That is considered a cruel and inhumane attraction for the inmates nether UN protocols, and it's a chronic occupation crossed the region," Duran said.

In aboriginal September, CNN recovered 30 inmates sharing a compartment meant for 10 radical successful the Ibarra Penitentiary, a situation installation successful bluish Ecuador.

"People slumber successful the corridors adjacent if they don't adjacent person mattresses," said Bryan Sanchez, an Ibarra inmate.

Adding to that pressure, Ecuador's situation inmates are besides often stunningly well-armed. In Guayaquil, they deployed automatic weapons and adjacent grenades. At the Ibarra pentitentiary, situation guards told CNN they feared being overwhelmed by a increasing fig of convicts with entree to weaponry from machetes to explosives.

That level of arms successful the hands of the inmates points to different origin successful the utmost bloodshed: the beingness of trained and organized transgression groups with blase fiscal and logistical quality to smuggle immense quantities of firearms wrong penitentiaries.

The agelong arms of Mexican cartels

In September, CNN obtained exclusive entree to different prison, the Lacatunga Penitentiary. The walls of the pavilions displayed graffiti from the 2 main gangs that regularisation Ecuador's underground, Los Lobos and Los Choneros.

These gangs are accused of moving successful confederation with 2 of the most-feared Mexican cartels, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa cartel respectively, who are astatine warfare implicit Ecuador's cause commercialized according to Mario Pazmiño, a erstwhile main of the Ecuadorian Army's quality unit.

According to 2020 information from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, 74% of the cocaine that enters the United States comes done the Eastern Pacific, with Ecuador's seashore a cardinal launching point.

"One inclination implicit the past 10 years is the accrued beingness of Mexican cartels successful Ecuador, who prosecute and limb with section gangs to support their cause corridors," said Pazmiño.

Mexican cartels -- who predominate the cause marketplace -- often request to run carnal power implicit the territory to stash and determination cocaine from crossed the borderline with Colombia, wherever astir of the cause is produced, Pazmino says. That has pb to a concern akin to that of Mexico, wherever rival cartels are waging all-out warfare against the authorities and each other.

A rivalry betwixt 2 rival groups connected to the cause commercialized was the origin of past week's riot successful Guayaquil, according to preliminary accusation from section authorities.

To staunch the bloodshed successful Ecuador's prisons, authorities indispensable prioritize separating communal inmates from the organized transgression convicts, utilizing peculiar wings to forestall pack recruitment and isolate outbreaks of fighting, says Duran.

But not each prisons successful Ecuador are doing that: erstwhile CNN entered the Ibarra and Lacatunga penitentiaries past month, inmates were divided successful antithetic wings according to the magnitude of their remaining condemnation -- not the benignant of transgression they had committed.

"One of the biggest flaws of the Ecuador situation strategy is that erstwhile you're dealing with transnational transgression groups, the information level, the protocols indispensable beryllium antithetic from the usual," said Stuardo Ralón commissioner for inmates and the prevention of torture astatine the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (CIDH).

Unless those populations are isolated from each other, galore Ecuadorian prisoners find themselves exposed and incapable to fly erstwhile warring breaks out.

Over the past fewer days, the Ecuadorean authorities has responded to disapproval saying a situation betterment is underway and providing backing to prosecute much situation guards and renovate the penitentiaries to amended woody with the gangs.

Garzon, the main of prisons, did not respond to an interrogation petition from CNN.

But inmates and their families are wide connected the dangers lurking wrong Ecuador's prisons.

Maria Casierra, whose hubby died successful the Guayaquil riot, said determination had been nary surprise. Her hubby received explicit decease threats successful the days earlier the riot erupted, she said.

"He was scared, due to the fact that idiosyncratic had been telling him they would termination him, they would chop him into pieces. And not conscionable him, the inmates were telling the families this was going to happen. He was a thief, I'm not going to lie, but helium was not a killer, and present he's dead," Casierra told CNN.

An inmate astatine Lacatunga Penitentiary past month, who asked not to beryllium named for fearfulness of retaliation, told CNN that his lone recourse was to hide.

"I've been successful 3 riots already but fto maine archer you: I don't to person thing to bash with the fighting. What I bash is structure successful my compartment and wait," helium said.

Close by, different echoed: "Sometimes, I conscionable consciousness similar a people successful those situations..."