International

The deputy head of prison officers of one of the largest prisons in Ecuador murdered

A group of hitmen murdered this Friday the deputy chief of prison officers of one of the largest prisons in Ecuador, located in the Andean province of Cotopaxi, according to the Prosecutor’s Office and the prison authorities reported this Friday.

This Friday, at least two people were arrested for investigations related to the murder of Olger M., deputy chief of prison agents of the Latacunga prison, which is officially known as the Cotopaxi Freedom Deprivation Center Number 1, the Public Ministry added in a message in X.

The Prosecutor’s Office “ordered the practice of proceedings, including the removal of the body of Olger M., deputy chead of prison agents, who was attacked today in Latacunga for alleged hitmen,” the source remarked.

Crime in the midst of the relocation of prisoners

This announcement about the murder of the deputy prison chief of this prison in the province of Cotopaxi, whose capital is Latacunga, comes a few days after the Service for Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), the state prison unit, reported on the relocation of 1,193 inmates from two prisons in the central Andean region of the country.

The SNAI indicated that the authorities transferred prisoners from a prison in the neighboring province of Tungurahua to Cotopaxi, and also prisoners from Cotopaxi to Tungurahua.

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The transfer process involved 665 men and 528 women with the purpose of improving security conditions and promoting a safer and more appropriate environment for the inmatees, the SNAI said.

Crisis in the prison system

The processes of transferring prisoners between prisons are common in Ecuador, which for about three years has been suffering from a crisis in the prison system due to the violence attributed to gangs of criminals, who are fighting for control of detention centers.

For this reason, the military has been managing several Ecuadorian prisons since last January, when the country’s president, Daniel Noboa, declared a situation of “internal armed conflict” to face violence in prisons and streets due to the presence of groups belonging to organized crime, which he called “terrorists.”

And it is that, between 2021 and 2023 alone, more than 500 people were murdered in Ecuador’s prisons, most of them in a series of massacres due to internal confrontations between rival criminal gangs.

Latacunga prison has been part of these violent episodes. Until the end of September it was the second most populous prison in Ecuador, with about 4,400 inmates, only surpassed by the Litoral Penitentiary, located in Guayaquil, with about 6,900 prisoners.

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Prison violence also took to the streets, which caused Ecuador to be the Latin American country with the highest homicide rate, registering 47.2 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.

International

Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka

Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.

The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.

An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.

The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.

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Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.

Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.

Internacionales

Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages

May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.

International

Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.

During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.

“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.

“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”

Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.

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On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.