2024-07-06 02:31:09
This Friday, the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboaannounced the start of construction of a mega-prison that will be installed in the coastal city of st. Helenlocated about 130 kilometers from Guayaquil.
The head of state sounded an alarm to begin construction of one of the most ambitious projects of his government, with which he plans to follow in the footsteps of the anti-criminal policies of his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele.
During the ceremony marking the beginning of the works of one of the two maximum security prisons that he promised to build, the Ecuadorian president assured that a goal is being set “important milestone” in the fight against terrorism.
“Today we mark one of the most important milestones in our fight against terrorism and the mafias that have entrenched themselves with impunity in our country for decades”said Noboa at the laying of the first stone for the construction.
He also added in his speech that just seven months ago the country’s prison system was “kidnapped and humiliated” by criminal organizations that have turned prisons “in their centers of operations.”
The new prison, which will be added to the 36 existing ones throughout the country, will occupy 16.2 hectares and will be built on a “Record time” 300 days, said General Luis Zaldumbide, director of the state agency that administers prisons (SNAI).
The government will allocate 52 million dollars to the construction of the prison, designed, according to Noboa, for “reclassify and isolate highly dangerous criminals.” “Mafia leaders will be monitored in real time”he claimed.
However, while Noboa was starting this project, residents of the area surrounding the property where the mega-prison will be built protested against the construction.
For its part, the Standing Committee on Human Rights (CDH) He reported through his account on the social network X, formerly Twitter, that the Police evicted the community members who were protesting against “the construction of the prison”.
When Daniel Noboa took power 18 months ago, he announced that he would build two maximum security prisons, one located in the Amazon region and another on the Pacific coast.
The work, as it was known at the time, takes as a reference the mega-prison built by its counterpart in El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, to combat the country’s gangs and criminal groups.
Ecuadorian prisons have become scenes of terror. Since 2021, more than 460 inmates have died as a result of violent clashes between drug gangs fighting for power.
The ruler, elected in early elections and who in January declared the country in “internal armed conflict” Due to criminal violence, he mobilized the military to neutralize around twenty groups labeled as terrorists and belligerents.