Ecuador Violence Underscores Expansion of Mexican Cartels

A startling escalation of violence by criminal gangs in Ecuador last week triggered a crackdown against the rapidly expanding cartel activity in the small South American nation. After a group of armed men overwhelmed a television studio in Guayaquil during a Jan. 9 live broadcast, President Daniel Noboa quickly declared an “internal armed conflict” against 22 transnational terrorist groups and local drug gangs. An emergency meeting of the Legislative Administration Council of the Assembly voted in support of President Noboa’s measure that granted Ecuador’s security forces the use of deadly force as necessary to stem the tidal wave of gang violence that is rocking the country....