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
Joe Biden’s Prostate Cancer Has Spread to His Bones, Son Hunter Reveals
Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s prostate cancer has worsened and spread to his bones and other parts of his body, his son Hunter Biden revealed in a recent interview with the BBC.
Biden disclosed in May 2025, just four months after leaving office as the oldest sitting U.S. president in history, that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had already spread to his bones.
The former president subsequently began treatment, including radiation and hormone therapy. In July, while announcing the publication of his memoirs, Biden said the treatment was going “really well.”
However, in an extensive interview broadcast Friday night on the BBC’s Newsnight, Hunter Biden said his father’s condition had progressed despite treatment.
“The cancer has spread and metastasized to his bones and other places,” Hunter Biden said.
He added that the illness has been “very painful” and, in many ways, “very debilitating,” but said his father continues to remain active.
“He’s still out there. He’s still doing his thing,” Hunter Biden said, emphasizing that his father remains deeply committed to the United States.
The former president’s diagnosis has remained a subject of public attention since it was first announced, particularly because of his age and his decision to continue a public life after leaving the White House.
International
US announces $1 billion security assistance package for Colombia under new government
The U.S. Department of State announced Friday that Washington plans to provide Colombia with $1 billion as part of a security assistance package aimed at supporting the new government of far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump said it intends to coordinate with Congress to announce the assistance package, which was unveiled on the occasion of De la Espriella’s inauguration. The United States attended the ceremony with a delegation led by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The package is designed to strengthen Colombian security forces in their fight against terrorist organizations and transnational criminal groups through U.S. technology, increased operational capabilities and coordinated operations with American forces.
The assistance would also significantly expand coca crop eradication and cocaine interdiction operations, while strengthening efforts to track and disrupt the finances of criminal organizations.
Washington also offered to support Bogotá’s efforts to restore state control over territories dominated by armed groups, protect children from forced recruitment and curb irregular migration through greater coordination along the border.
The State Department described the measures as part of a new chapter in bilateral relations between the United States and Colombia. The broader framework also includes cooperation in areas such as energy, critical minerals, infrastructure, technology and civilian nuclear energy.
Relations between Washington and Bogotá had been strained during the administration of former President Gustavo Petro, particularly over migration and security policies.
De la Espriella’s arrival in office, accompanied by promises of a hard-line approach to armed groups and drug trafficking, is expected to mark a new stage in relations between Colombia and the United States.
International
Abelardo de la Espriella sworn in as Colombia’s president for 2026-2030
Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in Friday as Colombia’s president for the 2026-2030 term during an inauguration ceremony held at the USC Arena of the Santiago de Cali University in Valle del Cauca.
“I swear to God and promise the Colombian people to faithfully uphold the Constitution and the laws of Colombia,” De la Espriella, 48, said as he took the oath before Senate President Honorio Henríquez, who subsequently placed the presidential sash on him, formally marking the transfer of power from former President Gustavo Petro.
At the same time, members of the Colombian Army performed the traditional 21-gun salute from the José María Córdova Military Cadet School in Bogotá. After receiving the presidential sash, De la Espriella was applauded by those attending the ceremony and greeted by his family.
The new president later swore in Vice President José Manuel Restrepo. The ceremony also included the participation of 74-year-old farmer Luis Felipe Yagüé, whom De la Espriella invited as an honorary guest as a symbol of his support for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
De la Espriella arrived at the venue with his wife, Ana Lucía Pineda, and their four minor children. More than 1,000 national and international guests attended the ceremony, which began more than an hour later than scheduled.
Among the international figures present were King Felipe VI of Spain and presidents Javier Milei of Argentina, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, Santiago Peña of Paraguay, José Raúl Mulino of Panama, Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, José Antonio Kast of Chile and Nasry Asfura of Honduras. FIFA President Gianni Infantino also attended.
Former Colombian presidents César Gaviria, Andrés Pastrana, Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque were also present. Former President Ernesto Samper and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos, however, were not invited to the ceremony.
After the inauguration ceremony concluded, De la Espriella traveled to the Pichincha Military Canton in Cali, where he was scheduled to deliver his first address as head of state to Colombia’s senior military commanders.
Joe Biden’s Prostate Cancer Has Spread to His Bones, Son Hunter Reveals
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