The Joint Command of the Armed Forces of reported this Saturday that it has regained control of at least two of the six prisons in which groups of inmates maintained an occupation with hostages.

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The military body reported in a statement that the so-called Security Block, which includes agents from the Armed Forces and Policeconfirmed that it has been possible to “recover control of the Esmeraldas detention center,” the capital of the province of the same name in the northwest of the country and bordering Colombia.

In that same operation, thanks to the mediation of the Catholic and evangelical churches, the release of 9 prison security agents and 2 administrative servants has been achieved, the source added.

He indicated that also this Saturday the actions of “special tactical groups, equipment and logistical means, allowed us to regain control of the Tungurahua detention center,” a province in the central Andean part of the country and whose capital is the city of Ambato.

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In that operation, the release of 13 prison security agentswho have been “transferred to the Ambato municipal hospital for their respective evaluation,” the source said.

Armed Forces and National Police work together against terrorism to guarantee the security of the more than 18 million Ecuadorians,” the Joint Command highlighted in its text.

The unrest in the registered Ecuadorian prisons arose since the beginning of this week, just when the Government of the president Daniel Noboa was preparing to launch a plan to regain control of prisons, many of them internally dominated by criminal groups, whose rivalries have left more than 450 prisoners murdered since 2020 in a series of prison massacres.

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This violence has also moved to the streets until making Ecuador one of the most violent countries in the world with 45 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.



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