On Tuesday, the Communication Secretariat of the Presidency informed that President Guillermo Lasso accepted the resignation of the official, whom he thanked for his services “for his courage and commitment”. The official note, indicates that his replacement will be announced in the next few days.
Rodriguez, who took office in October 2022, was the fifth official to head the SNAI during the Lasso administration.
His resignation comes as the South American nation is experiencing a wave of violence in the streets and inside prisons. Last week there were inmates on hunger strike, agents kidnapped in the prisons, and 31 prisoners died during a multi-day riot at the Penitenciaría del Litoral, the country’s largest prison, located in Guayaquil.
The violence spread to the streets, mainly in the cities of Guayaquil and Esmeraldas.
In this context, President Lasso decreed, once again, a state of emergency in some territories and also in the country’s prison system for 60 days to facilitate the intervention and participation of the Armed Forces and the Police, in coordination with the SNAI, in the country’s prisons.
Since 2020, Ecuadorian prisons have been the scene of riots, in which more than 450 inmates have died, a fact that the Government attributes to clashes between rival gangs disputing the control of detention centers.
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