Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso walks on the day of his annual report to the nation, a week after dissolving the National Assembly and calling for early elections, in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Toro/File PhotoQUITO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso on Tuesday named a new director for the country's prison agency, SNAI, following renewed violence in one of the nation's most violent prisons. Lasso has regularly declared states of emergency in prisons as he tries to tackle violence that has surged since 2021, claiming the lives of at least 400 prisoners. The latest 60-day emergency declaration began in late July, after violence at Guayaquil's Penitenciaria del Litoral. Luis Ordonez, a retired soldier and intelligence expert, will replace Guillermo Rodriguez as the prison head, Lasso's press office said in a statement.

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Persons: Guillermo Lasso, Karen Toro, Lasso, Luis Ordonez, Guillermo Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Ordonez, Alexandra Valencia, Julia Symmes Cobb, Leslie Adler Organizations: National Assembly, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Quito, Ecuador, QUITO, Lasso's