AP PHOTOS: Surge in gang violence upends life in Ecuador

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The legs of a dismembered man protrude from a bag on the street where children play and dogs roam in the Colinas de La Florida neighborhood in Guayaquil, Ecuador, early evening Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. The legs laid there for hours before being picked up by authorities and the rest of the man’s body parts were found scattered a few blocks away. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Broken bottles line the top of a home’s outer wall, as a way to deter break-ins, over a campaign mural supporting presidential hopeful Daniel Noboa, in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. An heir to a fortune built on Ecuador’s main crop of bananas, Noboa pulled off an upset by advancing to the country’s Oct. 15 presidential election runoff. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Soldiers pat down a motorcyclist and inspect his documents at a checkpoint in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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After a gun attack, a TV video journalist focuses on a blood stain on the sidewalk near a campaign poster for presidential hopeful Luisa Gonzalez in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. According to neighbors, two people riding a motorcycle shot two people, killing one and badly injuring the other. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Homes fill the Santa Ana neighborhood of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. The bridge connects Guayaquil with Duran, top right. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Youths play soccer in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, just after midnight Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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A girl runs past soldiers patrolling Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Grass grows over the tracks of a rail line in downtown Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Before the 1990s, Duran was once an important part of the train network, for cargo and passengers, in southern Ecuador, and the railroad was an important employer in town. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Soldiers force men to do exercise as punishment for not having proper licenses for their motorcycles in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, early evening Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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A bullet lays meters from the corpse of Juan Carlos Barrezueta, a taxi driver who was murdered when he stopped to buy something at a car parts store, in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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The body of taxi driver Juan Carlos Barrezueta lies at the entrance of a car parts shop where he stopped his vehicle to buy something in Duran, the sister city of Ecuador, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Family members stand next to the open casket of Juan Carlos Barrezueta during his wake at the Peace Park cemetery, before his burial in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Barrezueta was a taxi driver who was murdered when he stopped to buy something at a car parts store. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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The relatives of Juan Carlos Barrezueta carry his coffin for burial at Peace Park cemetery in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Barrezueta’s brother said the 40-year-old taxi driver was murdered while stopping his cab at a car parts store. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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German Mosquera’s sons Jodana, left, Jordar, center, and Liam sit in his recycle cart, as they accompany him at work, searching for used cardboard and metal to sell in downtown Guayaquil, Ecuador, after midnight Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Mosquera said he manages to make between three and five dollars a day. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Homeless people sleep in downtown Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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An internet worker fixes cables as soldiers patrol Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Residents walk past police tape that marks off a crime scene to reach their home in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, after midnight, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. According to police, a driver was shot and taken to the hospital. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Charred chairs and tables sit on the patio of the Italian restaurant, “Sabore Mio,” after molotov cocktails were thrown at it in Guayaquil, Ecuador, late Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. Three months prior, the owner, Benny Colonico, had been kidnapped for five days before being set free. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Restaurant owner Benny Colonico argues with a TV journalist covering the aftermath of the molotov cocktail attack on the patio of his restaurant “Sabore Mio” in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. Three months prior, Colonico, originally from Italy, had been kidnapped for five days before being set free. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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A soldier stands guard at the start of a security operation by the military and police in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. “Ecuador Ya” is the campaign slogan of presidential hopeful Naboa, ahead of Oct. 15 elections. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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A man is passed out drunk on the sidewalk where a crab vendor waits for clients in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, late Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Elisheva Rose, wearing a bride costume to help attract customers to her husband’s tamales stand, is surprised by the camera as she holds an energy drink in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, late Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. The English and art teacher from South Africa said she moved to Ecuador because her husband is Ecuadorean-Israeli, but hopes they move to her home country due to rising crime in Ecuador. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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The campus of the Fiscal Duran School sits empty in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The Ministry of Education temporarily closed the physical campuses of some schools in Duran starting in October and required the students and faculty to teach and learn remotely, in response to high crime. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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A student band marches in a parade marking the independence of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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People watch a student marching band during a parade marking the independence of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Graffiti reads in Spanish: “Robbing is prohibited. You will be executed,” in Duran, the sister city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, shortly after midnight Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

By RODRIGO ABD

DURAN, Ecuador (AP) — Dismembered limbs lie on the street next to playing children. Prisons are arenas of gang warfare. Bloodshed keeps schools shut down. And a presidential candidate is assassinated in broad daylight.

This is the new Ecuador.

The South American nation of 18 million people was long a spot of calm in a region shaken by political upheaval, economic turmoil and guerrilla warfare. But a wave of criminal violence has surged in recent years, upending life for Ecuadorians.

The bloodshed is a product of narco gangs tiring of playing cat-and-mouse with the authorities in more militarized countries like Colombia and Mexico. They are seeking out smuggling routes in new countries with less vigilance.

Authorities documented 4,603 homicides in 2022, nearly doubling the toll of the previous year and making Ecuador one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America.

This year, violence and drug seizures have only continued to soar in the lead-up to the country’s presidential run-off election Oct. 15.

Nowhere has been hit harder than Guayaquil, Ecuador’s biggest city and home to the country’s most bustling port, from which drugs and other illegal goods pour out.

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Gunshots regularly ring out, their sounds reverberating over multi-colored homes that wind up into the mountains overlooking the nearby Pacific. Tension grips the streets, where heavily armed police and soldiers patrol and sometimes roar by atop tanks.

As the government struggles to keep an emerging flock of narco groups at bay, things came to a head in August when an anti-corruption presidential hopeful, Fernando Villavicencio, was gunned down while leaving a campaign event less than two weeks before the first round of the presidential election.

Shortly before his death, the candidate had sent a message: “I’m not scared.”

Few others in the Andean nation can say the same.

——

AP reporter Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City.