[2] According to officials, the riot began as several rival prison gangs were fighting for leadership and they clashed inside detention centers around the country.
Authorities claim that the fight for leadership began back in December when Jorge Luis Zambrano "Rasquiña", leader of Los Choneros, the most powerful gang within Ecuadorian prisons, was murdered in a shopping mall in Manta, Ecuador, a few months after being released.
News of the firearms seizure alerted rival gang members and they promptly organized and launched a coordinated attack against the leaders of Los Choneros in four different prisons.
Some photographs and videos were spread on social media which showed the inmates decapitated and dismembered in pools of blood.
[8] Riots on 13 November 2021 at Penitenciaria del Litoral, on the outskirts of Guayaquil, led to at least 68 deaths and 24 injured.