2024-03-14 21:43:16
PRIMICIAS toured the maximum, medium and minimum security facilities of the Cotopaxi Prison. The military regime transformed the center.
«We want more food. We are hungry. They don’t even let us go out to the patio. They took our things from us. Aid”. These are some of the phrases that the CRS Cotopaxi prisoners shout from the narrow windows of their cells, when they notice the visit of a private individual in prison. A PRIMICIAS team confirmed this on February 22, 2024, during a tour of that prison.
Screams were a constant in the medium and minimum security yards. Also when passing by the cells of various pavilions and in the female stage. The detainees take out t-shirts, socks and their hands to attract attention. Since January 8, 2023, the country’s 36 prisons have been in a state of emergency. The prisoners have not received visits and the time outside their cells has been significantly restricted.
Furthermore, to regain control of the penitentiary centers, at least a dozen of these prisons were intervened by the Armed Forces (FF.AA.). That is the case of CRS Cotopaxi, better known as Latacunga Prison. Less than 10 minutes from this prison is Fuerte Patria, an Army detachment. That is the concentration point that the militia uses to control the detention center.
At Fuerte Patria, with the help of a model, the Army prepares the operations to be carried out at the CRS Cotopaxi. FIRST FRUITS
More than 1,000 military agents are assigned to this task. They work rotating 12-hour shifts. Therefore, there are always at least 600 soldiers in prison. They care for more than 4,000 prisoners. That is, each one has seven in his charge. Before the military intervention, there were – at best – 70 prison guards at the site. That is, each one had more than 60 in his charge. Taking into account, furthermore, that the guides do not have the weapons or training of the FF. AA.
An extreme change The change in the CRS Cotopaxi, with the military regime, is noticeable from the income. The jail has 14 scanners to prevent the entry of prohibited objects such as weapons, drugs, cell phones and other devices. They are all damaged. Neither the Service for Attention to Prisoners of Liberty, nor the Police or the Armed Forces. AA. They officially say it happened. But outside of microphones, the truth is an open secret: criminal gangs, with the complicity of corrupt officials and agents, disabled them.
The 14 scanners that CRS Cotopaxi has are damaged. FIRST FRUITS
Military technicians and engineers work to try to fix them with their own means, without investing in spare parts or technical service. Two are already operating, but are still in the testing stage. Meanwhile, the military themselves function as ‘human scanners’. Nothing and no one enters or leaves the prison without being searched -at least- three times. That is the number of filters that have been installed.
The covers with the kits that the prisoners’ relatives carry are checked again and again. These contain orange clothing, dishes and toiletries. After their arrival, the soldiers entered the cells and took everything from the prisoners, from clothing to toiletries. Now, detainees must wear orange.
And the clothes they found are in one of the maximum security conjugal visiting rooms. When someone is released or goes to a hearing outside the prison, he stops by and picks out a change of clothes.
Inside, they can only use what their family sends them in their kit. Thus, for example, they have reduced extortion. Previously, each prisoner had to pay criminal gangs between USD 20 and USD 50 to access a visit or receive a parcel from his family.
Relatives of prisoners send kits with dishes, clothing and toiletries to the CRS Cotopaxi.
FIRST FIRST In the conjugal visits room of the CRS Cotopaxi maximum security pavilion, a type of clothing warehouse was set up for people leaving prison. FIRST PRICES Relatives of prisoners send kits with dishes, clothing and toiletries at the CRS Cotopaxi.
FIRST FIRST In the conjugal visits room of the CRS Cotopaxi maximum security pavilion, a type of clothing warehouse was set up for people leaving prison. FIRST PRICES Relatives of prisoners send kits with dishes, clothing and toiletries at the CRS Cotopaxi. FIRST FIRST In the conjugal visits room of the CRS Cotopaxi maximum security pavilion, a type of clothing warehouse was set up for people leaving prison. FIRST FRUITS
Eight years of abandonment
Although the Latacunga prison was only inaugurated in 2014, its facilities – located on more than 14 hectares – show greater deterioration. This center has been the scene of riots and massacres that have left destruction. Military intelligence estimates that since 2016, the State lost control of this prison, which began to operate under the rules of the mafias. Especially from Los Lobos, the gang that has control of the center. The level of chaos and lack of control begins with hygiene.
In several places in the prison there are mountains of garbage and the military says that the center is infested with rats and other rodents. The prisoners became accustomed to throwing waste out of the windows.
Image of one of the corridors that divide the pavilions and cells at CRS Cotopaxi. FIRST FRUITS
Since January 14, 2024, when the intervention began, the military has already evacuated 170 garbage dump trucks and they believe there is still a long way to go. Furthermore, the chaos is reflected in security. The SNAI, the entity in charge of the prison system, has several spaces for exclusive use in that prison. For example, in the maximum security stage there is an administrative zone.
In this building there are signs indicating that offices of the SNAI, the Public Defender’s Office and educational and psychological units and a barbershop should operate there. But, it seems, that was under the control of the mafias.
In that space, the FF. AA. They found state-of-the-art televisions, pool tables. Near the bathroom drain there was a cove, where weapons and ammunition were found. But, what caught the most attention was that a tunnel was being dug in one of the offices, which already had an extension of six meters and which, apparently, headed out of the center.
At the SNAI offices, in the CRS Cotopaxi, a tunnel was being dug. FIRST FRUITS
Extreme security The most serious part of the lack of control that the prison experienced has to do with security. The military says that the prisoners did what they wanted, they had no schedules and that they governed themselves by their own rules. Now, prisoners have little free time.
When they go to hearings, medical appointments, to throw out the trash, pick up food or parcels, they are always accompanied by one or two soldiers. They only go out to the patio for three hours a day, maximum. And they do it for physical exercise and recreational and cleaning activities, under military control and training. A group of prisoners walk under military guard, on February 22, 2024, at the CRS Cotopaxi.
FIRST FIRST Inmates from the Latacunga prison exercise under the gaze of the military, on February 22, 2024. EFE A group of prisoners walk under military guard, on February 22, 2024, at the CRS Cotopaxi. FIRST FIRST Inmates from the Latacunga prison exercise under the gaze of the military, on February 22, 2024. EFE A group of prisoners walk under military guard, on February 22, 2024, at the CRS Cotopaxi. FIRST FIRST Inmates from the Latacunga prison exercise under the gaze of the military, on February 22, 2024. EFE
The changes started with the food. Despite being such a large prison, none of the stages or pavilions have dining rooms. The prisoners have nowhere to eat, nor suppliers to serve the food.
So, what happened is that the food arrived at each pavilion and the gangs were in charge of distributing it. The portion and frequency of the ration depended on what the prisoners paid in extortion and their membership in a gang.
Now, the military is in charge of distributing the food. Three times a day each prisoner receives a portion. The soldiers themselves accompany them while they eat in the patio of each pavilion. Everyone receives the same food.
Look at the gallery with the arrows:
The doubts Although everything seems to be under control, even with the military presence, the security of the CRS Cotopaxi is still in doubt. Police information indicates that on February 21, 2024, three prisoners allegedly circumvented security and escaped from the CRS Cotopaxi, as confirmed by the SNAI.
Furthermore, the military themselves have indicated that there is no guarantee that there are no more caches with weapons and explosives at the site. “To make sure we would have to demolish and build a new prison,” said an agent reservedly.
And the military continues to dig randomly, and weapons continue to appear in hidden places. The other question is what will happen when the military leaves and the SNAI returns. For now, officials say they do not have a departure date and that they will be there until necessary.
Although, in recent days, the President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa, confirmed that the presence of the FF. AA. It will remain inside the social rehabilitation centers, as they are critical points from which terrorist groups operate.
Finally, a general question is what happens with the human rights of prisoners. They complain about little food and few hours in the yard. Although the military rules out any type of rape, it is all about bringing order and rehabilitating the prisoners.
By: PRIMICIAS