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Ecuador: How do you solve the gang problem?

Can a state of emergency sort out the gang problem in Ecuador?

The notorious leader of Ecuador鈥檚 main criminal gang escaped from prison this week - he is still missing. The country鈥檚 President declared a state of emergency and the gangs fought back, with gunmen breaking into a TV studio during a live broadcast. Separately 130 prison staff are being held hostage by inmates.

大象传媒 Monitoring鈥檚 Rachelle Krygier, who focuses on Latin America, explains who the gangs are and how they operate from within the prisons. 大象传媒 Mundo鈥檚 Ana Maria Roura, who鈥檚 from Ecuador, talks through whether the government鈥檚 strategy of bringing in the army could work.

Also, Madeleine Drury from the What in the World team tells us about various approaches being tried in different South American countries to tackle the gangs.

Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk
WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6
Presenter: William Lee Adams
Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Madeleine Drury and Adam Chowdhury
Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

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14 minutes

Last on

Fri 12 Jan 2024 03:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 11 Jan 2024 18:50GMT
  • Fri 12 Jan 2024 03:50GMT

Podcast