International
Relatives of Ecuador inmates clamor for news after bloody riot
AFP
Relatives gathered Friday at a morgue in Ecuador, clamoring for news about loved ones locked up at a prison where 118 convicts were killed in a flare-up of gang violence, some beheaded.
They shared their worry in frantic tones as they circulated rumors that some of the bodies had been dismembered or burnt beyond recognition, and that police have yet to remove all the corpses from the scene of one of the bloodiest prison riots in South American history.
“I came because I saw a video, sent to me by cell phone, where I recognized his head,” said Ermes Duarte, desperate for word on his son who he said had just 15 days left to serve at Guayaquil prison in the port city of the same name.
“I haven’t spoken to my son since Monday,” the 71-year-old told AFP.
The riot broke out Tuesday as prisoners believed to have links to rival Mexican drug gangs went to war armed with guns and grenades.
Police had retaken control by Thursday evening after a massive security operation involving some 900 officers and members of tactical units while soldiers and tanks were stationed outside the jail.
Six inmates were beheaded in the massacre that left 86 wounded, six critically, according to Ecuador’s prisons authority.
So far, 41 of the bodies have been identified, officials said, and 22 turned over to their families.
– Three sons dead –
A woman at the morgue, in search of her brother, told AFP she had seen an image of a severed head “which looked like his”.
Ecuador’s prisons are the scene of frequent clashes between thousands of inmates with ties to drug gangs — mainly the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.
The prison system has 65 facilities designed for about 30,000 inmates but houses 39,000 — 8,500 of them in Guayaquil.
The country has about 1,500 guards — a shortfall of about 3,000, according to experts.
Corruption is rife, enabling prisoners to acquire all sorts of contraband, including arms and ammunition.
So far this year, riots have claimed 237 inmates’ lives — up from 103 in 2020 — and left 166 injured.
At the morgue, Daniel Villacis, 57, said he lost three sons in the latest prison clash.
Clutching a banner that read “You left without saying goodbye…” and a picture of one of his children, Villacis told AFP two of his sons’ bodies were already at home, and he was waiting for the third.
Police continued searches of the prison Friday for arms and ammunition. On Thursday, they had seized three pistols, several rounds of ammunition, 25 knives and three explosive devices.
The government decreed a state of emergency after Tuesday’s riot, suspending the civil rights of prisoners and allowing it to deploy the armed forces to restore and maintain order.
– ‘A war’ –
On February 23, simultaneous riots at four jails including Guayaquil left 79 inmates dead, several of them also beheaded.
Two weeks ago, Guayaquil’s Prison Number 4 was attacked by drones, part of “a war between international cartels,” prison authorities said. There were no casualties in that attack.
Jaqueline Cox, 52, said she identified the body of her son Jorge Mojarras, 28, from a tattoo on his back in a picture shown to her by forensics experts at Guayaquil morgue.
He was in jail for stealing a mobile phone, she said.
Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s leading cocaine producers, Ecuador is a key transit for drug shipments to the United States and Europe.
Guayaquil is Ecuador’s most populous city and its main port.
International
Trump and Putin end Alaska summit without Ukraine peace agreement
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up their summit in Alaska on Friday with a brief joint press conference, during which they announced no agreement on peace in Ukraine.
Trump described the more than three-hour meeting with Putin and his delegation at Elmendorf-Richardson base as “extremely productive,” but admitted, “we have not reached the goal.”
“Many points were agreed upon. Only a few remain unresolved. Some are not significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a good chance of resolving them. We haven’t gotten there yet, but we have a good chance of achieving it,” Trump stated cryptically at the no-questions press conference.
According to White House officials, the summit began around 11:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. GMT).
Trump was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy for the Middle East and Kremlin mediator Steve Witkoff. On Putin’s side, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov were in attendance.
Central America
International tourism brings over $2.2 billion to El Salvador in 2025
International tourism has generated more than $2.2 billion in foreign exchange for the Salvadoran economy during the first seven months of 2025, according to the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur).
Tourism Minister Morena Valdez stated on Thursday that this figure reflects a favorable development of the tourism sector so far this year.
“Over $2.2 billion by July, and we estimate more than $3 billion in foreign exchange by December 2025. I believe we will perform quite well,” Valdez said in an interview with Frente a Frente.
These figures do not include the 91,000 international tourists received during the August holidays, who contributed $60 million to the local economy, according to the government.
The accumulated results by July represent 73.3% of Mitur’s estimates for foreign exchange generated by international tourism in 2025.
During the same period, tourism authorities recorded 2.3 million international visitors, which is 57.5% of the more than 4 million visitors projected by the government by the end of 2025.
Authorities have recently adjusted the tourism target: at the beginning of the year, Mitur anticipated 4.2 million visitorsafter receiving 3.9 million in the previous year.
International
Tabasco ex-officials linked to drug trafficking spark Mexico-U.S. tensions
The scandal involving two former state officials from Tabasco, southeast Mexico, linked to drug trafficking and now fugitives, has added tension to Mexico-U.S. relations, which had already been strained by President Donald Trump’s threats to send troops across the border to target cartels.
At the center of the controversy is the current coordinator of the Mexican Senate, former governor of Tabasco, and former Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López Hernández, a close ally of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018–2024), along with his then-security secretary, Hernán Bermúdez Requena.
According to the Mexican weekly Proceso, published two weeks ago, the criminal ties of the former officials were reported in 2022 by Mexican intelligence services during López Obrador’s administration when López Hernández was Secretary of the Interior.
Bermúdez Requena, known as ‘El Comandante H’, was appointed Secretary of Security in Tabasco in 2019 by then-governor Adán Augusto López Hernández, from the ruling Morena party, and is accused of being a leader of the criminal group ‘La Barredora’, a cell linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
On July 22, Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, confirmed that a warrant and Interpol red notice had been issued against Bermúdez Requena, who had been under investigation since 2024 for his links to organized crime.
Honduran prosecutors charge three with terrorism and assassination plot against Manuel Zelaya
Trump and Putin end Alaska summit without Ukraine peace agreement
International tourism brings over $2.2 billion to El Salvador in 2025
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