Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The Machala prison became the site of one of Ecuador's deadliest prison massacres. In less than 24 hours, 31 inmates were killed during a nationwide prison reorganization effort that, instead of restoring order, appears to have increased violence.
Officers from Ecuador's national prison service, the National Service for Comprehensive Attention (SNAI), found 27 bodies showing signs of death by hanging during an inspection on the night of Sunday, Nov. 9. Hours earlier, four other inmates had been killed in clashes. No firearms or explosives were used, only improvised ropes, quiet and deliberate violence and a pattern of extermination that has become recurrent in Ecuador's prisons.
The massacre occurred amid a structural reform launched in July 2025, when President Daniel Noboa and Interior Minister John Reimberg announced a nationwide prison reorganization.
The redistribution process has triggered internal tensions, disrupted balances of power among criminal groups and provoked retaliatory attacks. Earlier clashes that same Sunday left 33 people injured, including a police officer, El Comercio reported.
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