The Presidency of Ecuador issued new regulations for the operation of prisons, many of which are taken over by crime and have been the scene of deadly riots between criminal gangs. The reform seeks to restrict communications, extinguish cash flow and focus on inmates considered dangerous.

First modification: 04/24/2026 - 19:46 Last modification: 04/25/2026 - 04:15

After years of disputes between criminal groups and massacres inside Ecuador's prisons, President Daniel Noboa issued on Thursday, April 23, the Regulations of the National Social Rehabilitation System, which redefines penitentiary operations towards a more restrictive model.

How does Ecuador replace prison regulations?

With the promulgation of Executive Decree 366, the Government buries the resolution of the Service for Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) in force since 2020.

Thus, the reorganization of the penitentiary system establishes different levels of administration that separate government and execution functions.

In that sense, the Board of Directors of the Technical Agency was ratified as the governance body, in charge of dictating public policies, while the National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) will be the executing and administrative arm of the prisons.

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With these new parameters, the Ecuadorian Executive seeks to alleviate the insecurity crisis that has hit the Latin American nation for years, with special impact inside prisons, from where criminal gangs continue to commit crimes.

In the last year alone, 206 prisoners died due to violent events, according to SNAI data. The figure represents an exponential jump compared to the 46 violent deaths in 2024.

In the last five years, more than 600 inmates have been murdered, most of them due to clashes between rival groups.

Outside of prisons, the situation does not seem to improve: in 2025, the country consolidated its most violent year in recent history, with 8,272 homicides between January and November.

ABC of the new rules

Among the most relevant changes in the new prison protocol, attention is drawn to the control of prisoners' communications and visits, which may be restricted, supervised or recorded when necessary for prison security, crime prevention or the maintenance of internal order.

The prisons will be equipped with a signal inhibition or blocking system in the internal areas and in a security perimeter radius, in an attempt to combat the planning of crimes from the cells. At the same time, the regulations authorize voice recognition for authorized contacts in calls.

In addition, cash will be prohibited, used by inmates to buy in the so-called 'commissaries', which are internal stores to purchase basic necessities. From now on, transactions will be carried out exclusively by bank transfers or deposits into the supplier's account.

Inmates will also have spending limits, established in reference to the minimum wage: 25% for defendants and 30% for sentenced people. Of that budget, 40% should be allocated to toiletries and the remaining 60% to complementary food.

Those who have benefited from alternative sentences and, consequently, wear an electronic shackle, must pay a fee for the use and maintenance of the device, which will be set by the SNAI based on the economic capabilities of the inmate.

The Penitentiary Benefits Commission, created as a result of the reform, will be the one to decide on pre-release decisions, while the monitoring of defendants who benefit from open regimes will be the responsibility of decentralized reintegration units.

Read alsoEcuador begins anti-drug operations with support from the US: this is how the curfew will govern in four provinces

Riot proof?

The new regulations also establish a "special regime" aimed exclusively at inmates who, due to their level of risk, "represent a serious threat to prison security, internal order or public safety, regardless of their procedural situation." To do this, each prisoner will be classified within a scale of three levels of danger.

Inmates may be transferred from prison to prevent them from committing crimes, riots or serious disturbances of order inside or outside the center, but also if it is discovered that they are training or recruiting other inmates to form "violent groups."

Likewise, the regulations contemplate rapid response protocols in situations of overcrowding or crises, always under national security criteria. In the last five years, Ecuador has recorded more than 20 massacres inside prisons.

The decree signed by Noboa supports the creation of exclusive prisons for those convicted of alimony debts or traffic violations, with the aim of not mixing them with members of criminal gangs.

The document establishes that the social reintegration of resources will be measured periodically based on five axes: education, health, work, sports and culture.

Currently, the most dangerous prisoners are held in the Cárcel del Encuentro, built at the initiative of President Daniel Noboa and inspired by Nayib Bukele's prison model in El Salvador.

Read alsoThis is the Encuentro prison, the inhospitable place with which Noboa aims to replicate the “Bukele model”

Politicians such as former Correísta vice president Jorge Glas, convicted of corruption, are also in that prison; and the mayor of Guayaquil, Aquiles Alvarez, one of Noboa's main opponents and prosecuted for cases linked to the marketing of fuel, his family business.

With EFE and local media

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