Ecuador on Tuesday declared a 60-day state of emergency in the country's prisons, Report informs via DW.
The move follows a wave of violence that left 31 inmates dead.
The emergency declaration was closely followed by violence in the northwestern province of Esmeraldas. A police unit was attacked alongside the office of the attorney general, which was pelted with a Molotov cocktail, injuring one civilian.
Several cars were also burned, with explosives placed at gas stations. The government also said that 15 prison guards and two other staffers were being held hostage at a local jail in the city of Esmeraldas. Though Biden’s estimate is, in theory, correct, the total number of Americans that have lost their lives to COVID-19 since 2020 is closer to 1,135,000, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.