57 guards and police officers held hostage by prisoners

Prisoners from six penitentiaries in Ecuador are holding 57 guards and police officers hostage in retaliation for operations by the state’s armed forces in the prisons, the organization in charge of the latter (SNAI) said on Thursday.

In the middle of a day of violence caused by the explosion of two car bombs in Quito, the SNAI indicated in a press release that seven police officers and 50 prison guards “are detained in six deprivation of liberty centers”, without giving further details.

Interior Minister Juan Zapata had declared earlier that all the guards were made hostages in the Cuenca penitentiary (southwest), where inmates have been protesting since Wednesday against police pressure in prison.