Litoral Penitentiary

The Litoral Penitentiary (Spanish: Penitenciaría del Litoral), known officially as Center for Social Rehabilitation of Men No. 1 of Guayaquil (Spanish: Centro de Rehabilitación Social de Varones N. 1 de Guayaquil)[1] is the largest prison in Ecuador.[2] It is located 16.5 km (10.3 mi) from Vía a Daule, on the outskirts of Guayaquil.[3] The prison has twelve pavilions and has a capacity of five thousand inmates, although by July 2021 it housed around ten thousand.[4] It is part of the Guayas Penitentiary Complex, which also includes the Guayas Regional Rehabilitation Center, La Roca Prison and the Provisional Detention Center.[5]

Litoral Penitentiary
Litoral Penitentiary is located in Ecuador
Litoral Penitentiary
LocationGuayaquil
Coordinates02°03′09″S 79°56′42″W
StatusOperational
Capacity5,000

History
The construction of the Litoral Penitentiary was initiated by President José María Velasco Ibarra.

In 1954, in Guayaquil, President José María Velasco Ibarra decided to undertake the construction of the most ambitious prison project in the country to date, thanks to the income obtained from the collection of export tax. To do this, he asked the Argentine Roberto Pettinato for advice, who had been in charge of the National Directorate of Penal Institutes of Argentina for seven years and who received permission from President Juan Perón to travel to Ecuador and help with the project. The original budget for the work amounted to 17 million sucres and a credit of three million U.S. dollars.[6]

Pettinato arrived in Ecuador on 23 May 1954 and, after giving a series of conferences, began to work on the plans for the penitentiary in conjunction with the Guayas Provincial Council. According to Pettinato's statements to the press, the new prison would focus on rehabilitating inmates and not punishing them, so it would have football and basketball fields, as well as cells with natural light and a school with an auditorium. The final location of the jail was chosen because it was far enough from the city (16 km (9.9 mi) apart at that time) and because it had fertile land suitable for cultivation and quick access to the Daule River.[6]

The Litoral Penitentiary was inaugurated in 1958,[7] with a capacity for 1,500 inmates.[8] At the time of its opening, it was considered the most modern prison in Latin America.[9]

In December 2013, President Rafael Correa began a process of partial demolition and reconstruction of the penitentiary,[10] with ten new pavilions that were inaugurated in 2015 and added to two that were not demolished.[11] The inmates who were in the demolished pavilions were transferred to the recently inaugurated Guayas Regional Rehabilitation Center, located a short distance from the penitentiary.[12]

Notable incidents

On 28 September 2021, the prison was the scene of the September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot, a massacre during which 123 inmates were killed as a result of clashes between criminal gangs. Due to the high number of victims, the massacre is considered the bloodiest prison riot in the history of Ecuador.[13] Two months later, the November 2021 Guayaquil prison riot occurred at Litoral Penitentiary on 13 November 2021. Reuters and Swissinfo reported 68 prisoners were killed.[14] In 2023, at least twelve died in April,[15] and at least eighteen in July.[16]

Gangs and cartels

According to the National Police of Ecuador, by October 2021 the twelve pavilions of the Litoral Penitentiary were controlled by criminal gangs, in the following order:[17]

  • Los Choneros: control pavilion 3, 5, 6, 7 and 12.
  • Latin Kings: control pavilion 1, 4 and 11.
  • Los Chone Killers: control pavilion 2.
  • Los Tiguerones: control pavilion 8.
  • Los Lobos: control pavilion 9.

References
  1. "Arma de largo alcance, fusil de asalto y celulares, entre artefactos decomisados en la Penitenciaría del Litoral". El Universo. 16 August 2021. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  2. España, Sara (29 September 2021). "Ecuador eleva a 116 los muertos en un motín y decreta el estado de emergencia en todas las cárceles". El País. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  3. "Guías penitenciarios baleados afuera de la Penitenciaría de Guayaquil". El Telégrafo. 16 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  4. "Ocho presos asesinados en la Penitenciaría del Litoral no estaban en la balacera". Ecuavisa. 22 July 2021. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  5. "Snai suspende actividades administrativas en el complejo carcelario de Guayas". El Comercio. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  6. Nuñez, Jorge A. (18 June 2019). Penitenciarismo justicialista for export. El asesoramiento técnico de Roberto Pettinato en la construcción de la Penitenciaría del Litoral. Revista da Faculdade de Direito da UFMG. p. 311–352. doi:10.12818/P.0304-2340.2019v74p311. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  7. "La inseguridad y la extorsión persisten en cárceles del país". El Universo. 24 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  8. "El escaso control en la Penitenciaría del Litoral atemoriza a los vecinos". El Comercio. 28 September 2019. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  9. Núñez, Jorge A. (2016). La reforma penitenciaria peronista vista desde España: análisis de la gestión de Roberto Pettinato en la Revista de la Escuela de Estudios Penitenciarios (Madrid, 1947-1958) (PDF). Vol. 69. Anuario de derecho penal y ciencias penales. p. 449–480. ISSN 0210-3001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  10. "Armas, drogas y sobornos, la cara que marcó a la vieja Penitenciaría". El Universo. 15 December 2013. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  11. Viña, Ivette (25 February 2015). "Antigua Penitenciería del Litoral es reconstruida". El Comercio. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  12. "200 privados de la libertad de la Penitenciaría pasaron al nuevo Centro de Rehabilitación". El Comercio. 12 March 2014. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  13. Paredes, Norberto (30 September 2021). "Ecuador: 4 claves que explican qué hay detrás de la masacre carcelaria que dejó al menos 119 muertos, la peor de la historia del país". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  14. "Ecuador prison violence leaves at least 68 dead, dozens injured".
  15. Valencia, Alexandra (15 April 2023). Jorgic, Drazen; Zieminski, Nick (eds.). "Gang clash leaves at least 12 dead in Ecuador prison". Reuters. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  16. Bazán, Anny (25 July 2023). "Masacre en la Penitenciaría: Fiscalía confirma el asesinato de 18 reos" [Massacre in the Penitentiary: Prosecutor confirms the murder of 18 inmates]. Expreso (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  17. "7 cabecillas de bandas en cárceles de Guayaquil suman 65 denuncias y 46 juicios". El Universo. 5 October 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
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