Ecuador is full of assassins and robbers on the streets.

Diaz escaped unharmed, but there was a deadly shooting the next day near where she lived, in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil.

Once a quiet and peaceful ecuador, now a scene of murder and robbery on the streets of ecuador — Ecuadorian soldiers conduct an inspection in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo: AP

Ecuador was one of the most peaceful countries in Latin America until about three years ago. Now, its wealthy neighborhoods are plagued by crime, including professional assassins, kidnappers, extortionists and thousands of robbers.

Mexican and Colombian gangs have established themselves in coastal cities like Guayaquil, using the city as a transit point to ship large quantities of cocaine from Colombia and Peru abroad.

One of the candidates in this year's presidential election, Fernando Villavicencio, was shot dead on Wednesday despite being accompanied by police and bodyguards. "No one is safe from the insecurity in the country," said Anthony Garcia, an Ecuadorian, after the assassination.

The National Police counted 3,568 violent deaths in the first six months of this year, nearly double the 2,042 reported in the same period in 2022. While the causes are varied, much of the violence is drug-related.

Drug gangs are battling for control of the streets, prisons and drug routes to the Pacific . Depleted state coffers, a fractured political system, corruption and mounting debt are among the main reasons the country is in crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has made children and the unemployed easy targets for criminal groups to recruit.

Convenience stores, auto parts stores and pharmacies now have floor-to-ceiling metal bars to keep customers from entering from the sidewalk. Malls have metal detectors at their entrances. Bars and restaurants that have survived the pandemic have fewer tables and close early.

Reports of robberies have spiked. National Police data shows 31,485 robberies were reported last year, up 50% from 2020.

Mr. Garcia has been robbed twice this year. Once, his phone was stolen as he left for work in the morning. Another time, he was robbed after he had gone out for a few drinks.

Restaurant owner Carlos Barrezueta said sales have dropped to one-tenth of what they were.

Ecuadorian authorities say the current violence is due to a power vacuum following the murder of Jorge Zambrano, leader of the Los Choneros gang, in December 2020.

Founded in the 1990s, the group is the country's largest and most feared gang. Its members carry out contract killings, run extortion rackets, traffic drugs, and control prisons.

Los Choneros and its sister groups Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones have been fighting for territory and control ever since. At least 400 inmates have died since 2021. The gangs have links to cartels from Colombia and Mexico.

Law enforcement officers are underarmed, poorly trained and underpaid, which prevents them from entering high-crime areas or even some areas of the prison.

Guayaquil is at the epicenter of the violence. About a third of this year's violent deaths have occurred in Ecuador's second-largest city, home to the country's main commercial port and a large prison complex.

Quoc Thien (according to AP)

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