Director of Ecuador’s largest prison shot dead

The director of the Litoral Penitentiary, Ecuador’s largest prison, was killed on Thursday in a shooting attack by hitmen as she was heading to the town of Daule, near Guayaquil.

Maria Daniela Icazawho was traveling in the passenger seat, died while being transferred to the hospital.

A prison officer who was accompanying her was also injured in the shooting, the National Service for Comprehensive Care of Persons Deprived of Liberty reported.

The incident occurred at around 6:00 p.m. local time, while both were heading to Guasmo Sur Hospital.

Icaza is the Second prison director to suffer an attack in less than two weeks in the South American country.

Nine days ago, Alex Guevara, director of a prison in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos, was killed, also shot, while traveling in his vehicle.

And two weeks ago, two prison workers were killed on their way to work.

“The Ministry of the Interior regrets the death of Daniela Icaza Resabala, director in charge of the Guayas No. 1 Men’s Social Rehabilitation Center. We send our condolences to her loved ones and friends,” the agency published in X.

Police wrote on the same social network that they have launched an investigation to identify those responsible for the crime.

For his part, the president Daniel Noboawho has decreed the state of emergency was declared three times in several provinces to get authorities to deal with the wave of violence ravaging his country, has not commented on Thursday’s incident.

Once considered a bastion of peace in Latin America, Ecuador had a record of 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, a considerable increase compared to 2018, when the country recorded six murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

Ecuador is experiencing a violent crisis due to the rapid expansion of transnational cartels in its territory, particularly in port areas such as Guayaquil, which has become an epicenter of drug trafficking.

Since 2021, more than 400 deaths have been reported in Ecuadorian prisons due to clashes between rival gangs, which have sometimes taken control of these facilities.

The government currently maintains military personnel guarding the penitentiaries.

Last January, after a day of violence that included bomb attacks, the murder of police officers in various areas of the country and even the takeover of a television channel by criminal gangs in the middle of a live program, Noboa made the unprecedented decision to declare a “internal armed conflict”.

With this order he gave more power to the security forces, including the army, to operate in the territory.

His government claims that between January and September of this year, 4,236 murders were reported, while during this same period in 2023 the figure was 5,112.

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