Riobamba

Colón Pico was one of more than 30 inmates to escape from Riobamba prison on 8 January during a wave of prison riots and violent attacks which shocked the Andean country.

As inmates clashed with guards at prisons across the country, another gang leader, Fabricio Colón Pico, who heads Los Lobos, escaped on early Tuesday from a prison near the city of Riobamba.

One of the main roads linking the cities of Riobamba and Cuenca had to be closed due to these latest landslides, further complicating access to the area.

Nieves had been named “coadjutor bishop” for Riobamba last year and was due to be consecrated bishop in February, to take over when Parrilla retired at 75, the normal retirement age for bishops.

Parrilla, in his Feb. 19 letter, acknowledged there were some “shadows” and sins in the Riobamba church, but insisted that it was still able to “love and serve the poorest, the farmers and the indigenous.”