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

Mexico and Guatemala Agree on Five-Point Binational Plan for 2027

Mexico and Guatemala agreed Tuesday on a 2027 Binational Plan built around five areas of cooperation, along with a schedule of meetings and initiatives aimed at making progress by the end of 2026 on security, border infrastructure, human mobility, development and technical and social cooperation.

The agreement was announced by the foreign ministers of both countries following a meeting in Mexico City.

Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said the plan will establish the “direction and priorities” of bilateral relations for next year. His Guatemalan counterpart, Carlos Ramiro Martínez, said the meeting allowed both governments to make decisions, schedule activities and revitalize bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

Security and border infrastructure

In the area of security, the two governments have nearly completed negotiations on a new memorandum of understanding for the Mexico-Guatemala High-Level Security Group (Ganseg), which was reactivated in 2025.

The countries expect to sign the agreement in the coming months to strengthen coordination and their ability to respond to shared security threats.

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Regarding their nearly 1,000-kilometer shared border, Mexico and Guatemala agreed to advance infrastructure improvements at border crossings and continue work on a joint cargo clearance program between Ciudad Hidalgo and Tecún Umán, two border areas separated by the Suchiate River.

The measures are intended to facilitate bilateral trade while making cross-border exchanges safer and more efficient.

The two governments will also continue defining a route toward a railway connection between their countries through Line K of Mexico’s Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT), with the aim of strengthening economic and community ties.

Migration and development

On human mobility, Mexico and Guatemala will maintain coordination to ensure safe, orderly and dignified returns, while strengthening protection for people in transit.

The bilateral agenda also includes a second phase of the Sembrando Vida program in Guatemala, which is expected to benefit 10,000 people across 15 departments.

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Both countries will also advance initiatives under Juntos para el Bienestar, as well as six technical, scientific and energy cooperation projects approved by the Joint Commission.

The agreements seek to strengthen bilateral ties and establish concrete priorities for cooperation between Mexico and Guatemala during 2027.

International

France to Expel Two Iranian Diplomats Over Alleged Attack on French Officials

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced Tuesday, August 18, 2026, that France will expel two Iranian diplomats in response to what Paris described as an attack on two French representatives in Iran last month.

“Two French diplomats were scandalously and deliberately assaulted on July 19. I had announced that this intolerable act would have consequences. It has now happened. Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days,” Barrot said in a message posted on X.

The two Iranian diplomats have been declared persona non grata and will be required to leave France within the coming days, according to the French foreign minister.

About a month ago, Barrot said that two members of the French diplomatic staff had been detained by Iranian security forces for several hours. One of them was also subjected to harassment, he said.

The French government described the incident as an “extremely serious act of intimidation” that violated diplomatic immunity.

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The two French embassy staff members were working on programs supporting Iranian civil society, particularly initiatives involving artists and researchers.

Iran has denied France’s allegations regarding the incident. The diplomatic dispute comes amid already strained relations between Paris and Tehran.

International

Heat wave puts more than 70 million Americans under alerts as temperatures near 46°C

36 deaths reported due to heat wave in Nuevo Leon, Mexico

More than 70 million people remained under heat alerts Monday as an intense heat wave continued across the southern United States, particularly Florida and states along the Mexican border, where temperatures and heat indexes could reach as high as 46 degrees Celsius, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Several cities recorded or tied temperature records over the weekend and into Monday, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale in Florida; Laredo, Borger and Austin’s airport in Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; and Memphis, Tennessee.

The NWS warned that the heat wave will continue affecting the southern and southeastern United States, with maximum temperatures expected to remain near 38°C to 40°C for several days. The heat index, which combines temperature and humidity to estimate how hot conditions feel, could reach 46°C.

The extreme heat is also spreading into the Southwest, where temperatures began rising again between Monday and Tuesday. Forecast highs in the region range from about 38°C to 43°C.

Heat alerts remain in effect across Nevada, Arizona and California, including areas in southern Arizona and California near the Mexican border, as authorities warn of the risks posed by prolonged extreme temperatures.

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The NWS urged residents to limit outdoor activity, stay hydrated, ensure access to air conditioning or cooling centers, and check on vulnerable friends, neighbors and family members.

The United States is experiencing a summer marked by above-average temperatures and repeated heat waves. One of the most intense episodes occurred during the July 4 weekend, when extreme heat was blamed for roughly 30 deaths.

July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States since measurements began, with the average temperature across the contiguous country approaching 25°C, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The combination of extreme heat and drought conditions has also fueled wildfires. Nearly 3 million hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, making it the largest area affected by wildfires in a decade.