International

Guayakill: Ecuadoran port city torn apart by gangs

Photo: Marcos Pin / AFP

| 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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‘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.”

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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.

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International

Ninth Victim Recovered After Deadliest U.S. Avalanche in Decades

Rescue teams in California on Saturday recovered the body of the ninth and final victim of a deadly avalanche in the Sierra Nevada mountains, according to the local sheriff’s office.

The avalanche struck a group of 11 skiers and four guides on Tuesday as they were returning from a three-day backcountry trip near Castle Peak, a 2,777-meter (9,111-foot) mountain and popular tourist destination on the U.S. West Coast.

Six people were rescued alive on Tuesday. Authorities said the incident marks the deadliest avalanche in the United States since 1981.

“All nine individuals who lost their lives in the February 17 Castle Peak avalanche have been safely recovered from the mountain,” the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“There are no words that can truly capture the magnitude of this loss, and our hearts grieve alongside the families affected by this catastrophic event,” Sheriff Shannan Moon said.

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Officials had warned on Thursday that search operations would likely continue through the weekend due to severe weather conditions in the area.

Survivors were able to call for help shortly after the avalanche occurred. However, near-zero visibility and the risk of additional snow slides prevented rescue teams from reaching them for several hours.

International

Trump Defies Supreme Court With New 10% Global Tariff

Defiant in the face of a judicial setback, Donald Trump on Friday imposed a new across-the-board 10% tariff after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that he does not have the authority to levy customs duties under the guise of a national emergency.

The Republican president signed the order in the Oval Office and announced on social media that the measure would take effect “almost immediately.” According to a statement from the White House, the decree will formally enter into force on February 24 for a period of 150 days.

It remains unclear whether the new tariff will apply to countries that have already negotiated trade agreements establishing rates higher than 10%.

Earlier in the day, the conservative-majority court ruled that a 1977 law cited by Trump to abruptly impose tariffs on individual countries — disrupting global trade — “does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.”

Trump said he was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and accused some justices of being influenced by “foreign interests.”

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Although he has made variable tariffs a cornerstone of his foreign policy, Trump acknowledged that it is uncertain whether the government will have to refund revenue already collected. A study by the University of Pennsylvaniaestimated that the amount at stake could reach as much as $175 billion.

“That issue was not addressed by the Court,” Trump told reporters, warning that the legal battle could drag on for “years.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who dissented from the Court’s 6–3 majority opinion, cautioned that the legal process could become a “mess.”

Trump denied any error or haste in using tariffs as a policy tool, arguing instead that the six justices who ruled against him were motivated by “political correctness.” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that the Court had acted “outside the law.”

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International

U.S. Targets Members of Outgoing Boric Administration With Visa Revocations

The United States government announced on Friday the revocation of visas for three Chilean officials—whose identities were not initially disclosed—citing activities that allegedly “undermined regional security,” an accusation that Chile denies.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of State did not provide specific details about the individuals involved but criticized the outgoing administration of leftist President Gabriel Boric.

“The legacy of the Boric government will be further tarnished by actions that undermine regional security to the ultimate detriment of the Chilean people,” the statement read. It was signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Chile’s Minister of Transport, Juan Carlos Muñoz, later confirmed in a video message to the press that he is among those sanctioned.

“I was recently informed that my visa to enter the United States has been revoked by that country, which I deeply regret,” Muñoz said.

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The U.S. statement also noted that Washington hopes to “advance shared priorities, including those that strengthen security in our hemisphere, with the upcoming Kast government.”

The electoral victory of ultraconservative leader José Antonio Kast was welcomed in Washington, which has been building alliances with like-minded governments in the region to reinforce its diplomatic and economic agenda—particularly in response to China’s growing investment presence in Latin America.

“We remain committed to promoting accountability for Chilean individuals who deliberately work to destabilize our hemisphere,” the statement concluded.