Clash between rival gangs kills 44 inmates in an Ecuadorean prison
NPR Online NewsMAR 16 2022
Ecuadorian authorities must expand their efforts to fix the national prison system's structural issues. The prisons have been out of control and overcrowded for more than a decade, forcing the government to seek more effective long-term solutions.
Deadly violence in Ecuador's prisons is connected to conflict between gangs associated with Mexican cartels. Pres. Guillermo Lasso has been trying to counter the surge of violence, but his hands have been tied by Constitutional Court rulings that have limited his emergency powers in this crisis.