International
Guayakill: Ecuadoran port city torn apart by gangs
| By AFP | Héctor Velasco and Karla Pesantes |
Entire neighborhoods run by gangs, prison bloodbaths and police overwhelmed by criminal firepower: Drug trafficking has transformed the Ecuadoran city of Guayaquil into a den of violence.
The port city of 2.8 million people, which on Saturday hosts the final of the Copa Libertadores competition, has witnessed scenes of incredible barbarity in recent years.
Hundreds of inmates have been killed — many beheaded or incinerated — in numerous prison battles, and civilians have increasingly gotten caught up in the gang war rocking the city rebaptized “Guayakill” by inhabitants.
So far this year, the commercial heart of Ecuador has seen 1 200 murders — 60 percent more than in 2021 according to official data.
Since last year, almost 400 inmates have died in several cities, most of them in Guayaquil, which has also been hit by a spate of car bombs and shocking scenes of bodies dangling from bridges.
And despite the government declaring states of emergency to allow for troop deployment and boosting police numbers in Guayaquil by over 1 000 to nearly 10 000, some fear it is a losing battle.
“We used to confront small arms… revolvers. But now on the streets we face American (automatic) rifles, grenades, explosive devices,” police forensics official Luis Alfonso Merino told AFP.
“The violence has grown enormously.”
Rifles, grenades
Once a relatively peaceful neighbor of major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru, Ecuador was long merely part of the drug transit route.
But recently, traffickers with suspected links to Mexican cartels such as Sinaloa, the Gulf Clan and Los Zetas have been expanding their domestic presence — fighting over the fast-growing local market and access to the port of Guayaquil for exports to Europe and the United States.
The city’s prisons, where gangs also battle it out for supremacy, are emblematic of the fast-declining security situation.
In one of the deadliest riots in Latin American history, 122 people were slaughtered at the infamous Guayas 1 penitentiary in September last year in an hours-long rampage by inmates wielding guns, machetes and explosives.
“The State does not govern the prisons,” Billy Navarrete of the CDH human rights NGO told AFP.
Instead, they are under the control of “criminal organizations with the complicity of law enforcement agents who allow, tolerate and enrich themselves with arms trafficking,” he said.
The government has announced it was stepping up enforcement. In 2021, it reported a record haul of 210 tons of drugs.
So far this year, the figure stands at 160 tons.
In a 2019 report, Ecuadoran intelligence said there were at least 26 criminal gangs fighting for control of the lucrative drug market, but officials have since said the number is likely higher.
And according to operations chief Major Robinson Sanchez in Guayaquil, the gangs are “better armed than the police.”
Wolves vs Eagles
At the entrance to Socio Vivienda II, an impoverished housing development and one of the most dangerous places in Guayaquil, police and soldiers stand guard.
Two dozen others in black uniforms, bulletproof vests and balaclavas patrol the narrow streets on motorcycles.
Some 24 000 people live in Socio Vivienda’s three sectors in the crossfire of the gang war that has resulted in several public shootouts since 2019 and forced school closures in recent weeks.
The gangs go by names such as Lobos (Wolves) and Tiguerones. The Aguilas (Eagles) are based higher up on the hill.
When the groups first started going head to head, the community itself erected metal gates at the ends of streets to prevent gang members from moving freely about.
But police removed these for ease of access, and now “the bullets zoom from one end to the other,” said a community leader, 45, who spoke on condition of anonymity in an atmosphere of fear.
‘Zombies’ and sentinels
Patrolling officers stop at a house in Socio Vivienda and enter by force.
They find no drugs, only three youngsters with “Tigueron” tattooed onto their arms. It is not enough to detain them.
The gangs use children as young as 10 as sentinels or informants, residents and police say.
As they “rise” in the organization, they earn the right to get tattooed — but not without having committed a crime.
On the streets, it is common to see doped-up consumers of “H” — a heroin residue sold for 25 cents per gram. They are known locally as “zombies.”
The community leader told AFP that luxury vehicles moved in and out freely, transporting drugs right under the noses of police.
And as fearful families leave the neighborhood, gang members immediately “move in” to their homes, he added.
So far this year in Socio Vivienda II alone, records show 252 killings, up from 66 in 2021.
On the weekend preceding Saturday’s Libertadores clash between Brazilian teams Flamengo and Athletico Paranaense, 21 murders were reported in Guayaquil.
Some 50 000 foreign fans are expected to turn out for Saturday’s final.
International
Foro Penal Reports 404 Political Prisoners Still Held in Venezuela
The Venezuelan human rights organization Foro Penal, which leads legal defense efforts for political prisoners in the country, reported on Wednesday that 404 people remain imprisoned for political reasons, five fewer than the figure released a week earlier. Among those detained are 39 foreign nationals or individuals with dual citizenship.
According to data published by the organization, the current total includes 369 men and 35 women being held on political grounds. The report also indicates that 225 of the detainees are civilians, including one teenager, while 179 are members of the military.
Foro Penal stated that 167 of the prisoners have been convicted, whereas 237 remain behind bars without a final sentence. The organization also noted that it has documented 19,102 politically motivated detentions in Venezuela since 2014.
The updated figures come amid an ongoing process of prisoner releases announced by Venezuelan authorities. Two weeks ago, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said that approximately 300 detainees would be freed as part of a new round of releases, separate from those granted under an amnesty approved earlier this year.
Days later, acting President Delcy Rodríguez stated that the number of releases would reach 500 in the coming days. However, relatives of political prisoners and human rights organizations have questioned the pace of the process, arguing that the number of verified releases remains significantly lower than the figures announced by the government.
Foro Penal has reported that dozens of prisoners have been released in recent weeks, but the organization maintains that hundreds of people continue to be detained for political reasons despite the government’s promises and the implementation of the amnesty process.
Families of detainees have continued to demand greater transparency regarding the release process, alleging that many of the promised excarcerations have yet to materialize and calling on authorities to provide clear information about those who remain in custody.
International
Eight Bodies Found in Ecuador as Authorities Probe Link to Missing Persons Case
Ecuadorian police reported on Wednesday the discovery of eight bodies inside bags in a coastal area of southwestern Ecuador known as a strategic corridor for drug trafficking, as the country continues to grapple with an unprecedented wave of violence.
Authorities are now investigating whether the victims are the same eight people who disappeared on Sunday while traveling to complete a personal errand.
“We have confirmed that there are eight bodies,” said Colonel Galo Muñoz, the police chief for the area, during a press briefing. The bodies were found on the outskirts of the city of Babahoyo.
Interior Minister John Reimberg stated that investigators recovered a note near the bodies suggesting the killings may have been an attack carried out by the criminal organization Los Lobos against Los Choneros, two of Ecuador’s most powerful and violent criminal groups.
According to Muñoz, the bodies were wrapped and transported to a forensic center where specialists will work to establish their identities.
Milagro prosecutor Modesto Freire said the condition of the remains has complicated the identification process.
“The victims’ faces cannot be seen because the bodies are inside bags,” Freire explained.
In a statement posted on social media, Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office said investigators are collecting evidence to determine whether the remains correspond to the eight individuals reported missing on May 31.
The discovery underscores the ongoing security crisis in Ecuador, where escalating violence linked to organized crime and drug trafficking has become one of the country’s most pressing challenges.
Central America
El Niño could intensify global climate risks, warns World Meteorological Organization
Latin American countries, one of the regions in the world most affected by El Niño, must “take extreme precautions” and make use of so-called “climate intelligence” to mitigate the most severe impacts of the phenomenon, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Celeste Saulo, told EFE on Tuesday.
With a 90% probability, El Niño is expected to return in the second half of this year, and a strong intensity cannot be ruled out.
As a result, the phenomenon could trigger intense rainfall and flooding in some areas, while causing droughts in others, leading to direct impacts on communities and a wide range of economic sectors, including fishing and agriculture.
Saulo said countries in the region have improved their scientific and institutional capacity to monitor and respond to El Niño, as well as to understand how it interacts with other climate variables, including those linked to climate change, in order to better forecast “more or less severe impacts.”
When describing likely consequences in South and Central America, the Argentine scientist first referred to the “Coastal El Niño,” as the phenomenon is known in Peru and Ecuador.
She explained that this event brings increased rainfall and ocean warming, which strongly affects the fishing industry.
She added that northern South America, Central America, and northeastern Brazil are typically exposed to below-normal rainfall or drought conditions. In past extreme episodes, El Niño has even affected the operational capacity of the Panama Canal and created serious water access and management challenges during severe droughts.
In contrast, southeastern South America—including southern Brazil, Paraguay, northern and northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay—can expect above-average rainfall, increasing the risk of flooding, severe storms, and landslides.
Given the potential for fear and misinformation among populations, Saulo urged people to “trust the institutions responsible for meteorological information,” stressing that national meteorological services are the official and authoritative sources in each country.
“These are the ultimate responsible authorities and the voices of expertise,” she emphasized.
The most recent El Niño episode occurred between 2023 and 2024 and was among the five strongest ever recorded, contributing to record global temperatures.
The WMO chief noted that climate models remain uncertain about the intensity of the next El Niño, though more accurate forecasts are expected in the coming weeks.
While climate change has not been proven to increase the frequency or intensity of El Niño events, scientists do know that both can interact and amplify extreme weather impacts, potentially leading to natural disasters.
Although Latin America is often heavily affected, El Niño impacts can also be felt in North America, the Caribbean, central and eastern Africa, parts of Asia, and Australia.
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