Once-peaceful Ecuador has descended into a wave of uncontrolled violence as if cursed by a malevolent fog. The security breakdown plaguing the country has spread from prisons onto the streets where bloodshed is now common.
Last week, Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated following a campaign event. Sputnik s Political Misfits talked to activist Phil Kelly about the rising violence in some Latin American countries.
Ecuadorian authorities attribute the unprecedented violence to a power vacuum triggered by the killing in December 2020 of Jorge Zambrano, alias “Rasquiña” or “JL,” the leader of Los Choneros.
Ecuador grapples with rising violence and drug-related crime as transnational organized groups take hold, leading to a surge in homicides and cocaine seizures