Prison guards and prison officers have been rescued by the military after inmates at six different jails took 57 of them hostage.
The shocking 24-hour stand-off took place after prisoners in Ecuador were angry at new raids organised by government officials to try and clean up the notoriously dangerous system in the country.
All the hostages, who were unharmed, were snatched by lags in retaliation to the seizure of 49 knives and two bulletproof vests at the Latacunga Prison.
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This was the first of several planned raids to be carried out by the police who are being aided by the military.
Somehow, the inmates at Latacunga managed to coordinate with with five others across the country to make sure the hostage situations took place at the same time.
It also took place at the same time several car bombs and home-made explosives set off around the country, one of which saw a domestic gas tank strapped to dynamite explode under a bridge in the Napo area
This forced the country's president to take to X/Twitter to explain why the raids are being done, and to double down on the insistence of continuing them.
He wrote: "Ecuadorians, the measures we have taken, especially in the prison system, have generated violent reactions from criminal organizations that seek to intimidate the State.
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“But we are firm and we are not going to go back on the objective of capturing dangerous criminals, dismantling criminal gangs and pacifying the country's prisons.
“In the fight against organized crime we need the work of the entire State, but I emphasize the justice system.
“I ask the judges to act quickly and very rigorously.”
No deaths have been reported by local media during either the hostage situations or bombings, but six suspects have been arrested while investigations are ongoing.
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