Dozens Found Hanged As Ecuador’s Prison Violence Spirals Out Of Control
Machala, Ecuador: A new wave of horrifying prison violence has shaken Ecuador, with more than two dozen inmates found hanged just hours after a deadly riot erupted in a southwestern jail.
According to the country’s prison service, the death toll climbed to 31, including 27 prisoners who were hanged and four others killed during clashes linked to a planned transfer of inmates. Bloomberg reported that at least 34 others were injured in the chaos.
Interior Minister John Reimberg told Bloomberg Radio Centro in Quito that the deaths were the result of gang rivalries, saying the victims were discovered in their cells around 6 p.m. local time on Sunday.
The Machala prison, which holds roughly 1,000 inmates, became the latest flashpoint in Ecuador’s deepening security crisis. Reimberg said the violence broke out as criminal groups tried to block the transfer of powerful drug lords to a newly built maximum-security facility near Guayaquil.
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Bloomberg reported that President Daniel Noboa is pressing ahead with the transfer as part of his plan to take back control of Ecuador’s prisons from drug cartels that have effectively turned them into their strongholds.
“The first 300 most dangerous inmates have already been moved,” Noboa said in a post on X on Monday. He emphasised that his administration will not bow to criminal pressure, even as violence escalates.
According to Bloomberg, more than 500 inmates have been killed in Ecuadorian prison riots since 2020, turning the country’s jails into battlegrounds for competing narcotics gangs.
The latest massacre comes amid an alarming rise in homicides nationwide — surpassing even the record-breaking murder rate of 2023. That was the year Noboa, the 37-year-old heir to a banana fortune, came to power after the assassination of anti-corruption presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a killing widely blamed on organised crime.
In an interview cited by Bloomberg, Reimberg said the current surge in killings reflects a turf war among gangs that Noboa has officially labelled as terrorist organisations.
The government believes the recent unrest is designed to undermine public confidence ahead of a national referendum set for Sunday. The vote will decide whether Ecuador rewrites its constitution, a move Noboa says is vital to give the state stronger tools against organised crime.
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Bloomberg reported that Noboa is also seeking voter approval for measures such as allowing foreign military bases in Ecuador, a controversial step he argues is necessary to restore law and order. Despite recent fuel price hikes and ongoing instability, polls show strong voter support for Noboa’s proposals.
Hours after the gruesome discovery in Machala, the president announced via Bloomberg’s report on X that he plans to nominate Diana Salazar, the former attorney general known for her anti-graft work, to join the proposed constitutional assembly.
Salazar famously prosecuted ex-President Rafael Correa for corruption — a conviction Correa continues to deny while living in exile in Belgium.
As Bloomberg noted, Interior Minister Reimberg will now oversee sweeping reforms of the prison system, which has become one of the most dangerous in Latin America.
Meanwhile, families of inmates gathered outside the Machala facility on Monday, demanding answers — and an end to a cycle of bloodshed that has turned Ecuador’s prisons into scenes of recurring tragedy.
