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 City Mayor Invites U2 to Perform at Iconic Zócalo Plaza

Irish rock band U2, which spent Tuesday and Wednesday filming a new music video for its song Street of Dreams in the Historic Center of Mexico City, received an invitation to perform at the capital’s iconic Zócalo square from Mayor Clara Brugada.

Brugada shared the invitation through social media posts accompanied by photos and a video showing her meeting with the band members.

“This is an invitation for you to perform in our wonderful public square, the Zócalo. You are welcome here, and we would love to have you,” Brugada said in the video while handing a document to Bono, the band’s lead singer.

Bono responded by saying that the group would like “to begin its new tour in Mexico City.”

Referencing one of the band’s most famous songs, In the Name of Love, Brugada said she was greeting Bono along with The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr..

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“Welcoming U2 to our capital means celebrating music, connection and the emotion that can be felt in every corner of this city,” Brugada wrote in one of her messages. “We are a city open to the world, vibrant and full of stories shared from the stage to the streets.”

She also described the Zócalo as “the country’s most important public square” and a cultural landmark for Latin America.

Over the years, the Zócalo has hosted massive concerts by internationally renowned artists and bands including Roger Waters, Paul McCartney, Manu Chao, Café Tacvba, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Los Tigres del Norte, La Maldita Vecindad, Silvio Rodríguez, Joan Manuel Serrat, Rosalía and Shakira, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans.

International

Marco Rubio Urges China to Help Restrain Iran Amid Gulf Tensions

Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington hopes to persuade China to take a more active role in stopping Iran from escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf, arguing that the crisis directly threatens Asian commercial interests.

“It is in China’s interest to resolve this situation. We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to stop what it is doing now and trying to do in the Persian Gulf,” Rubio said during an interview with journalist Sean Hannity on Fox News while traveling aboard Air Force One.

The top U.S. diplomat said the conflict and concerns over the possible disruption of the Strait of Hormuz have already affected China’s interests.

Rubio noted that “a Chinese cargo ship was struck over the weekend,” referring to the exchange of attacks reported last Friday between Iran and the United States.

The remarks come amid growing international concern over rising tensions in the region and the potential impact on global trade routes and energy supplies.

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International

Trump floats Vance-Rubio potential Republican ticket for 2028 election

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubiocould potentially form a Republican presidential ticket for the 2028 elections.

Speaking during a dinner with law enforcement officials as part of National Police Week, Trump publicly praised both officials and said they could make “an ideal team” for the next presidential race.

“Who likes JD Vance? Who likes Marco Rubio?” Trump asked attendees before adding that the pair “sound like a good combination.”

The president highlighted his vice president’s performance in office, stating that their current partnership has been highly effective. “JD is perfect, that has been a perfect formula,” Trump told reporters later.

He further suggested that a Vance-Rubio pairing could represent a strong presidential and vice-presidential ticket, although he stopped short of offering any formal endorsement.

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“I think it sounds like a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate,” he said, while clarifying that his remarks should not be interpreted as an official backing of any future campaign.

So far, neither Vance nor Rubio has publicly confirmed any intention to run in the 2028 presidential election.

Rubio previously sought the Republican nomination in 2016 but withdrew after losing the primary race to Trump. Later, in a December 2025 interview with Vanity Fair, he said he would be among the first to support Vance if he decided to run for the White House.

Vance, meanwhile, has recently dismissed speculation of any political rivalry with Rubio amid growing discussion about potential future GOP leadership.