The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, led this Friday the ceremony for the start of construction of the Santa Elena prison, one of the two maximum security prisons that he promised to build for criminal leaders, with a model similar to the one coined from El Salvador by his counterpart, Nayib Bukele.
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“Today we mark one of the most important milestones in our fight against terrorism and the mafias that entrenched themselves with impunity in our country for decades,” said Noboa at the ceremony to lay the first stone for the construction of the prison, which will be It will be located in the coastal province of Santa, where the president has his residence.
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.
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Today we mark one of the most important milestones in our fight against terrorism and the mafias that entrenched themselves with impunity in our country for decades.
The head of state added that “just seven months ago, the penitentiary system was kidnapped and humiliated by criminal organizations that had turned prisons into their centers of operations,” which he claimed had changed with the militarization of prisons that he ordered. at the beginning of this year.
Between 2021 and 2023, more than 500 prisoners were murdered in prisons, many of them in a series of prison massacres due to disputes between rival gangs that had control of the prisons inside the walls.
The entry of the military into the prisons last January occurred as part of a state of exception decreed by Noboa to combat organized crime, which is attributed to the rise of criminal violence, which has led Ecuador to be among the most violent countries in Latin America.
In his first months in office, The Ecuadorian president had announced the construction of two prisons with characteristics similar to those implemented in Mexico or El Salvadoralthough much smaller in size than the Salvadoran Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), built by Bukele to lock up gang members, up to nearly 40,000, according to official figures.
New milestone in the comprehensive security of Ecuador and the fight against organized crime! 👏🏼🇪🇨
President @DanielNoboaOk went to the place where the #CárcelDelEncuentro. Space that will have cutting-edge technology, maximum security pavilions and capacity for… pic.twitter.com/qZBgbGN93Z
— Presidency Ecuador 🇪🇨 (@Presidencia_Ec) June 21, 2024
How long will construction last?
With an investment of 52 million dollars, The Santa Elena penitentiary center will extend over 16.2 hectares, and will be built in a record time of 300 dayssaid the director of the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI), Luis Zaldumbide.
The country’s highest prison authority noted that the highlight of the project, with capacity for about 800 inmates, are its maximum security pavilions, “designed to guarantee that judicial measures are rigorously complied with.” “This center will be fundamental in our fight against organized crime,” he said.
“Thanks to its cutting-edge technological deployment, which includes video surveillance systems linked to artificial intelligence software, this center will not only be the first of its kind in the country, but will also set new standards in the categorization of people deprived of liberty. according to their level of danger,” Zaldumbide said.
The director of the SNAI recalled that In recent years, detention centers were dominated by organized crime “while the previous rulers looked the other way or made pacts with them.”
However, in the Noboa Government they have regained control of the prisons, Zaldumbide emphasized in a week in which relatives of prisoners denounced alleged torture in the prisons and demanded the reinstatement of visits suspended since January, while the majority of Prisons were also temporarily left without a food supplier.
Riot in prison in Ecuador.
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“Today we have order with the military, with the police and also with a chief commander who has the courage to confront them head-on quickly,” commented Noboa, referring to himself as the highest authority of the law enforcement forces.
What is known about the other prison that will be built?
Noboa pointed out that before he came to power, “mafia control turned prisons into true time bombs in urban areas, threatening the population and also facilitating the commission of crimes.”
“And there was also direct communication with the narcopoliticians who bother so much today,” he said without mentioning names.
The ruler advanced that The new prison will be called “of the encounter” (slogan of the Government of former President Guillermo Lasso) because there will be found the corrupt, murderers, drug traffickers, the most dangerous criminals in the country, “the leaders of the mafias, who will now be monitored in real time and with the support of artificial intelligence”.
Daniel Noboa, president of Ecuador.
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“We are making history despite all the difficulties that were put in our path,” he said and said that the new prison will be “a symbol of the beginning of a new era for peace in our country.” “We are at war (against the mafias) and this commander in chief is going to fight until the end,” he asserted.
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