DAVOS.- Colombia y Ecuador They are advancing a joint plan for judicial collaboration aimed at the repatriation of Colombian citizens held in Ecuadorian prisons. The Colombian president, Gustavo Petroconfirmed this Thursday that it is in negotiations with the Ecuadorian authorities to develop an approach that, without incurring previous errors, promotes judicial collaboration between both nations.
The initial proposal of the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboato extradite 1,500 Colombian prisoners in response to the crisis of violence and insecurity in Ecuador, was considered by Petro as a process that requires care and respect for the legal regulations of both nations.
However, the Colombian president reaffirmed Bogotá’s willingness to address this procedure and highlighted that collaboration will be carried out through the Agreement on the Transit of People, Vehicles, River and Maritime Vessels and Aircraft, signed between both countries in 1990. Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Néstor Osuna and Álvaro Leyva, respectively, had already indicated the country’s willingness to activate the procedures for repatriation last week.
The measure proposed by Noboa, in the context of the “internal armed conflict” in Ecuador due to the activity of “narcoterrorist” groups, seeks to address the situation of violence and insecurity, recognizing that the majority of prisoners in the country are of Colombian nationality. , Peruvian and Venezuelan.
Ecuador’s prisons are overcrowded
According to Noboa, the decision responds to overcrowding in prisons that have an excess of about 3,000 people, although the measure did not sit well with the Colombian government.
Ecuador has 36 prisons with capacity for almost 30,200 people. A 2022 prison census established that there were 31,300 prisoners, of which 3,200 were foreigners.
Criminal gangs linked to cartels in Colombia and Mexico turned prisons into battlefields, where they clash over drug loot in clashes that have left more than 460 inmates dead since 2021.
Source: With information from Europa Press and AP
