At least 17 people were killed on Thursday in a prison riot in Ecuador’s coastal city of Esmeraldas, the second major outbreak of deadly violence to strike the country’s penitentiary system this week.

Authorities said fighting erupted inside the facility near the Colombian border, leaving prisoners dead in their cellblocks. Graphic images circulating on social media showed bodies sprawled across the ground, some with bloodied torsos. At least two victims were reportedly decapitated.

The riot follows another deadly clash earlier this week in the southern city of Machala, where 14 inmates were killed and 14 others wounded. In that incident, prisoners also attacked guards, killing one and briefly kidnapping several officers, according to Police Chief William Calle.

Ecuador has become one of Latin America’s most violent hotspots for prison unrest, much of it driven by powerful gangs with links to international drug cartels.

In 2021, more than 100 inmates were killed in Guayaquil in the country’s deadliest-ever prison massacre.

Since February 2021, about 500 prisoners have been killed, often in brutal fashion, with bodies dismembered or burned.

Last year, chaos erupted when gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias, known as “Fito,” escaped custody. His allies launched bombings and even forced a live television broadcast at gunpoint while gangs inside prisons took dozens of guards hostage.

President Daniel Noboa responded to the spiraling crisis by declaring a “state of internal armed conflict”, granting the military sweeping powers to take control of prisons. While the armed forces assumed authority earlier this year, eight penitentiaries – including the Machala facility – were returned to police oversight last month.

Security analysts say the partial handover may have weakened enforcement and created openings for gang networks to reassert dominance behind bars.

Ecuador’s violence is closely tied to its geographic position. Sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world’s top two cocaine producers, the country has become a key trafficking hub. Government data indicates that more than 70 percent of global cocaine production now passes through Ecuador’s ports, fueling fierce turf wars among rival gangs linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels.

The latest riot underscores the deepening instability of Ecuador’s penal system and its spillover into wider society. With nearly weekly reports of violent clashes, hostage-takings, and targeted killings, the crisis has become one of the most pressing challenges for President Noboa, who faces mounting pressure to restore order in the country’s prisons and curb the power of entrenched criminal networks. (ILKHA)