The mayor of the coastal municipality does not stay in the same place for more than one night after an assassination attempt and authorities cannot safeguard the lives of schoolchildren amid a gang turf war
The number of planted hectares went from 204,000 to 230,000 during 2022, while the tonnage of drugs that has been produced reached 1,738, the highest figures ever recorded
Drug traffickers’ infiltration of the industry that is responsible for about 30% of the world’s bananas has contributed to unprecedented violence across this once-peaceful nation
Authorities attribute the country’s spike in violence over the past three years to a power vacuum triggered by the killing in 2020 of Jorge Zambrano, alias ‘Rasquiña’ or ‘JL,’ the leader of the local Los Choneros gang
Rising violence in Ecuador and the lack of a police presence in many areas of the capital has led residents to form vigilante groups to tackle criminals
The presidential election campaign has been marked by violence and the assassination of one of the candidates amid a wave of organized crime-related terror
A wave of violence in the run-up to Sunday’s ballot led candidates to end their campaigns screened by police escorts following the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio
Ecuador’s unprecedented violence has left people fearful of leaving their homes. Although voting is mandatory for most adults, people may stay home and pay the fine rather than risk going to the polls
Violent deaths quadrupled from 2019 in the lead-up to the assassination of a presidential candidate, locals are afraid to leave their homes and school classes have been suspended
More than 3,600 officers took part in the operation to transfer the inmate, who is the leader of the criminal gang Los Choneros, which has links with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel
The assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio has deepened the security crisis and shaken up the political landscape just days before the first round on August 20
The assassination of the Ecuadorian presidential candidate has revealed the scope of the criminal network gripping the country, where Mexican cartels and Colombian hitmen have gained a foothold
The Ecuadorian police have arrested six Colombians suspected of participating in the attack against the presidential candidate, during which the gunman was shot dead
More cocaine moves through Ecuador than any other country in the world, meaning cartels like Sinaloa and the CJNG need local criminal organizations to handle transport and logistics
The presidential candidate was assassinated while traveling in a state-provided vehicle that lacked armor despite the multiple threats he had received from organized crime
The politician claimed in a video that Los Choneros, a local arm of the Mexican organization, would attack him if he continued to refer to them during his presidential campaign
Leaders and ministers from eight Amazon nations signed a declaration Tuesday that laid out plans to drive economic development in their countries while preventing the Amazon’s ongoing demise ‘from reaching a point of no return’