Litoral Penitentiary

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In 1954, in Guayaquil, President José María Velasco Ibarra decided to undertake the construction of the most ambitious prison project in the country to date, thanks to the income obtained from the collection of export tax. To do this, he asked the Argentine Roberto Pettinato for advice, who had been in charge of the National Directorate of Penal Institutes of Argentina for seven years and who received permission from President Juan Perón to travel to Ecuador and help with the project. The original budget for the work amounted to 17 million sucres and a credit of three million U.S. dollars.{{Cite book |url=https://revista.direito.ufmg.br/index.php/revista/article/view/1987 |title=Penitenciarismo justicialista for export. El asesoramiento técnico de Roberto Pettinato en la construcción de la Penitenciaría del Litoral |last=Nuñez |first=Jorge A. |date=2019-06-18 |publisher=Revista da Faculdade de Direito da UFMG |number=74 |pages=311–352 |accessdate=2021-10-08 |doi=10.12818/P.0304-2340.2019v74p311}}

Pettinato arrived in Ecuador on 23 May 1954 and, after giving a series of conferences, began to work on the plans for the penitentiary in conjunction with the Guayas Provincial Council. According to Pettinato's statements to the press, the new prison would focus on rehabilitating inmates and not punishing them, so it would have football and basketball fields, as well as cells with natural light and a school with an auditorium. The final location of the jail was chosen because it was far enough from the city ({{convert|16|km|mi|abbr=on}} apart at that time) and because it had fertile land suitable for cultivation and quick access to the Daule River.

The Litoral Penitentiary was inaugurated in 1958,{{Cite web |url=https://www.eluniverso.com/2013/03/24/1/1422/inseguridad-extorsion-persisten-carceles-pais.html/ |title=La inseguridad y la extorsión persisten en cárceles del país |accessdate=2021-10-08 |date=2013-03-24 |publisher=El Universo |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328053007/https://www.eluniverso.com/2013/03/24/1/1422/inseguridad-extorsion-persisten-carceles-pais.html/ |archivedate=2013-03-28}} with a capacity for 1,500 inmates.{{Cite web |url=https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/escaso-control-penitenciaria-del-litoral.html |title=El escaso control en la Penitenciaría del Litoral atemoriza a los vecinos |accessdate=2021-10-08 |date=2019-09-28 |publisher=El Comercio |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008051326/https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/escaso-control-penitenciaria-del-litoral.html |archivedate=2021-10-08}} At the time of its opening, it was considered the most modern prison in Latin America.{{Cite book |url=https://aladinoprisiones.com/tribuna/7.pdf |title=La reforma penitenciaria peronista vista desde España: análisis de la gestión de Roberto Pettinato en la Revista de la Escuela de Estudios Penitenciarios (Madrid, 1947-1958) |last=Núñez |first=Jorge A. |date=2016 |publisher=Anuario de derecho penal y ciencias penales |volume=69 |number=1 |pages=449–480 |accessdate=2021-10-08 |issn=0210-3001 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008044937/https://aladinoprisiones.com/tribuna/7.pdf |archivedate=2021-10-08}}

In December 2013, President Rafael Correa began a process of partial demolition and reconstruction of the penitentiary,{{Cite web |url=https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2013/12/15/nota/1916261/armas-drogas-sobornos-cara-que-marco-vieja-penitenciaria/ |title=Armas, drogas y sobornos, la cara que marcó a la vieja Penitenciaría |accessdate=2021-10-08 |date=2013-12-15 |publisher=El Universo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218071111/https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2013/12/15/nota/1916261/armas-drogas-sobornos-cara-que-marco-vieja-penitenciaria/ |archive-date=2013-12-18}} with ten new pavilions that were inaugurated in 2015 and added to two that were not demolished.{{Cite web |url=https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/seguridad/penitencieria-litoral-ecuador-guayas-carcel.html |title=Antigua Penitenciería del Litoral es reconstruida |accessdate=2021-10-08 |last=Viña |first=Ivette |date=2015-02-25 |publisher=El Comercio |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008052309/https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/seguridad/penitencieria-litoral-ecuador-guayas-carcel.html |archivedate=2021-10-08}} The inmates who were in the demolished pavilions were transferred to the recently inaugurated Guayas Regional Rehabilitation Center, located a short distance from the penitentiary.{{Cite web |url=https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/seguridad/200-privados-de-libertad-de.html |title=200 privados de la libertad de la Penitenciaría pasaron al nuevo Centro de Rehabilitación |accessdate=2021-10-08 |date=2014-03-12 |publisher=El Comercio |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008051916/https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/seguridad/200-privados-de-libertad-de.html |archivedate=2021-10-08}}

On 28 September 2021, the prison was the scene of the September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot, a massacre during which 123 inmates were killed as a result of clashes between criminal gangs. Due to the high number of victims, the massacre is considered the bloodiest prison riot in the history of Ecuador.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-58748756 |title=Ecuador: 4 claves que explican qué hay detrás de la masacre carcelaria que dejó al menos 119 muertos, la peor de la historia del país |accessdate=2021-10-08 |last=Paredes |first=Norberto |date=2021-09-30 |publisher=BBC |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004052506/https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-58748756 |archivedate=2021-10-04}} Two months later, the November 2021 Guayaquil prison riot occurred at Litoral Penitentiary on 13 November 2021, with at least 68 prisoners being killed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ecuador-prison-violence-leaves-at-least-68-dead--dozens-injured/47109096|title = Ecuador prison violence leaves at least 68 dead, dozens injured}} In 2023, at least twelve died in April,{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/gang-clash-leaves-least-12-dead-ecuador-prison-2023-04-15/|title=Gang clash leaves at least 12 dead in Ecuador prison|last=Valencia|first=Alexandra|editor-last=Jorgic|editor-first=Drazen|editor2-last=Zieminski|editor2-first=Nick|date=15 April 2023|website=Reuters|access-date=15 April 2023}} and at least eighteen in July.{{cite web|url=https://www.expreso.ec/actualidad/masacre-penitenciaria-fiscalia-confirma-asesinato-18-reos-167815.html|title=Masacre en la Penitenciaría: Fiscalía confirma el asesinato de 18 reos|last=Bazán|first=Anny|date=25 July 2023|website=Expreso|access-date=25 July 2023|language=Spanish|trans-title=Massacre in the Penitentiary: Prosecutor confirms the murder of 18 inmates}}

On 12 September 2024, María Daniela Icaza, director of Litoral Penitentiary, was killed in a targeted shooting.{{Cite news |date=2024-09-13 |title=Ecuador prison chief killed, second this month: Officials |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/ecuador-prison-chief-killed-second-this-month-officials/articleshow/113306894.cms |access-date=2024-09-16 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}} On November 12, 2024, another prison riot erupted, leaving seventeen people killed and fifteen more injured.{{Cite news |date=2024-11-13 |title=Death toll of riot in Ecuador’s largest and most dangerous prison rises to 17|url=https://apnews.com/article/ecuador-noboa-prison-killings-gangs-drug-cartels-41b7062a5a731c71bfce4897735f70e1 |access-date=2024-11-13 |work=Associated Press}}

According to the National Police of Ecuador, by October 2021 the twelve pavilions of the Litoral Penitentiary were controlled by criminal gangs, in the following order:{{Cite web |url=https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/7-cabecillas-de-bandas-en-carceles-suman-65-denuncias-y-46-juicios-nota/ |title=7 cabecillas de bandas en cárceles de Guayaquil suman 65 denuncias y 46 juicios |accessdate=2021-10-08 |date=2021-10-05 |publisher=El Universo |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006033354/https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/7-cabecillas-de-bandas-en-carceles-suman-65-denuncias-y-46-juicios-nota/ |archivedate=2021-10-06}}

• Los Choneros: control pavilion 3, 5, 6, 7 and 12.
• Latin Kings: control pavilion 1, 4 and 11.
• Los Chone Killers: control pavilion 2.
• Los Tiguerones: control pavilion 8.
• Los Lobos: control pavilion 9.

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Category:Buildings and structures in Guayaquil

Category:Prisons in Ecuador