QUITO (Reuters) – A criminal gang in Ecuador has asked the government to agree to a peace deal and Israel will offer technical assistance for the country to take back control of its prison system, President Daniel Noboa said on Wednesday.
Ecuador is facing rising violence, including in prisons, attributed to drug-trafficking gangs amid deep financial troubles and high migration figures.
Prison violence is common in the country and has killed hundreds in recent years.
Noboa, a former legislator and the son of a prominent businessman, took office last month on pledges to reduce violence and create jobs via urgent legislative reforms.
He has said he will create a new intelligence unit, supply tactical weapons to security forces, employ prison boats and reinforce security at ports and airports, key points for drug shipments.
“We have captured leaders of criminal groups in recent weeks, from the most important (groups),” Noboa said during a live interview on social media. “One of the groups, (the identity of) which we will communicate, has even asked for a peace deal.”
The letter asking for the deal is perhaps a sign criminal groups no longer have protection from state forces, Noboa said.
Judges and prosecutors who release captured criminals will have their names published publicly, he said, and Israel will help design maximum security prisons with separate spaces for those convicted of minor crimes.
While the new prisons are being built, the most dangerous convicts will be housed in prison boats, Noboa said, repeating a key campaign pledge. He added that he has already identified possible boats that could be brought to Ecuador for that use.
There will be an intervention in the Litoral penitentiary in Guayaquil, Noboa added. The prison has been the site of multiple violent incidents.
“We must win battles,” he said.
Violent deaths in Ecuador could exceed 7,000 this year, a homicide rate of 35 per 100,000 people, according to a recent report from the Ecuadorean Organized Crime Observatory.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Mark Porter)
