International

Relatives of Ecuador inmates clamor for news after bloody riot

AFP

Relatives gathered Friday at a morgue in Ecuador, clamoring for news about loved ones locked up at a prison where 118 convicts were killed in a flare-up of gang violence, some beheaded.

They shared their worry in frantic tones as they circulated rumors that some of the bodies had been dismembered or burnt beyond recognition, and that police have yet to remove all the corpses from the scene of one of the bloodiest prison riots in South American history.

“I came because I saw a video, sent to me by cell phone, where I recognized his head,” said Ermes Duarte, desperate for word on his son who he said had just 15 days left to serve at Guayaquil prison in the port city of the same name.

“I haven’t spoken to my son since Monday,” the 71-year-old told AFP.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The riot broke out Tuesday as prisoners believed to have links to rival Mexican drug gangs went to war armed with guns and grenades.

Police had retaken control by Thursday evening after a massive security operation involving some 900 officers and members of tactical units while soldiers and tanks were stationed outside the jail.

Six inmates were beheaded in the massacre that left 86 wounded, six critically, according to Ecuador’s prisons authority.

So far, 41 of the bodies have been identified, officials said, and 22 turned over to their families.

– Three sons dead –

A woman at the morgue, in search of her brother, told AFP she had seen an image of a severed head “which looked like his”.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Ecuador’s prisons are the scene of frequent clashes between thousands of inmates with ties to drug gangs — mainly the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

The prison system has 65 facilities designed for about 30,000 inmates but houses 39,000 — 8,500 of them in Guayaquil.

The country has about 1,500 guards — a shortfall of about 3,000, according to experts.

Corruption is rife, enabling prisoners to acquire all sorts of contraband, including arms and ammunition.

So far this year, riots have claimed 237 inmates’ lives — up from 103 in 2020 — and left 166 injured.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

At the morgue, Daniel Villacis, 57, said he lost three sons in the latest prison clash.

Clutching a banner that read “You left without saying goodbye…” and a picture of one of his children, Villacis told AFP two of his sons’ bodies were already at home, and he was waiting for the third.

Police continued searches of the prison Friday for arms and ammunition. On Thursday, they had seized three pistols, several rounds of ammunition, 25 knives and three explosive devices.

The government decreed a state of emergency after Tuesday’s riot, suspending the civil rights of prisoners and allowing it to deploy the armed forces to restore and maintain order.

– ‘A war’ –

On February 23, simultaneous riots at four jails including Guayaquil left 79 inmates dead, several of them also beheaded.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Two weeks ago, Guayaquil’s Prison Number 4 was attacked by drones, part of “a war between international cartels,” prison authorities said. There were no casualties in that attack.

Jaqueline Cox, 52, said she identified the body of her son Jorge Mojarras, 28, from a tattoo on his back in a picture shown to her by forensics experts at Guayaquil morgue.

He was in jail for stealing a mobile phone, she said.

Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s leading cocaine producers, Ecuador is a key transit for drug shipments to the United States and Europe.

Guayaquil is Ecuador’s most populous city and its main port.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

International

Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío

Wildland firefighting crews are battling 19 forest fires across the country, 12 of them concentrated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, located about 500 kilometers south of Santiago.

“In light of the severe fires currently underway, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are now available,” the president announced in a post on X.

Authorities have not yet released an official report on possible casualties or damage to homes.

According to images broadcast by local television, the fires have reached populated areas, particularly in the municipalities of Penco and Lirquén, in the Biobío region, which together are home to nearly 60,000 people. Burned vehicles were also reported on several streets.

“The Penco area and the entire Lirquén sector are the most critical zones and where the largest number of evacuations have taken place. We estimate that around 20,000 people have been evacuated,” said Alicia Cebrián, director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in an interview with Mega TV.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

In recent years, forest fires have had a severe impact on the country, especially in the central-southern regions.

On February 2, 2024, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar, located 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago. Those fires resulted in 138 deaths, according to updated figures from the public prosecutor’s office, and left approximately 16,000 people affected, based on official data.

International

Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges, concluding the first in a series of trials stemming from his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

The sentence is shorter than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors against the 65-year-old conservative former leader, whose move against Parliament triggered a major political crisis that ultimately led to his removal from office.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, is still facing seven additional trials. One of them, on charges of insurrection, could potentially result in the death penalty.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on one of the multiple secondary cases linked to the affair, which plunged the country into months of mass protests and political instability.

International

U.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster

A new flight carrying 231 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived on Friday at the airport serving Caracas, marking the first such arrival since the military operation that ousted and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

On January 3, U.S. forces bombed the Venezuelan capital during an incursion in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are now facing narcotrafficking charges in New York.

This was the first U.S.-flagged aircraft transporting migrants to land in Venezuela since the military action ordered by President Donald Trump, who has stated that he is now in charge of the country.

The aircraft departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital, at around 10:30 a.m. local time (14:30 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the ground.

The deportees arrived in Venezuela under a repatriation program that remained in place even during the height of the crisis between the two countries, when Maduro was still in power. U.S. planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued to arrive throughout last year, despite the military deployment ordered by Trump.