Latin America

By Ana María Cañizares, Sofia Cox, and Stefano Pozzebon, CNN
Updated 8:18 PM EDT, Mon July 24, 2023

Ecuador’s government has declared a state of emergency in two provinces after its security crisis escalated over the weekend with the killing of a mayor and uprisings in several penitentiaries across the country.

More than 90 prison security agents are currently being held by inmates across five different prisons in Ecuador, according to the country’s penitentiary service SNAI.

Hundreds of inmates have been killed in recent years in Ecuador as members of competing criminal organizations square off with each other inside the prisons, which are often self-ruled by the criminal organizations. In recent days, prison clashes have left at least six dead.

This comes after the mayor of Ecuador’s sixth-largest city Manta, Agustin Intriago, was killed in a targeted attack on Sunday, according to a statement from Interior Minister Juan Zapata.

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https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/24/americas/ecuador-security-agents-prisons-intl-latam/index.html