The prison battle that led to a gang war
Washington Post April 17, 2024
https://wapo.st/3wosqgg (free to read) or
This comic is based on interviews with Phoenix and references illustrations drawn by him, along with extensive reporting on Ecuador's prison system and gang violence. Scenes and dialogue reflect his recollections as well as The Washington Post's reporting on the 2021 prison riot in the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil.
The comic is part of a series of stories about the rising power of organized criminal groups in Latin America, the United States' biggest trading partner. The first piece reconstructs the day, earlier this year, when Ecuador's gangs pushed the country into chaos and led a young president to declare a state of "internal armed conflict."
Latin America is producing more than twice as much cocaine as it did a decade ago. Nearly every one of its mainland nations has become a major producer or mover of the drug, feeding booming markets in the United States, Europe and South America.
Organized-crime groups have moved well beyond narcotics. They've created sprawling illicit industries in extortion, migrant smuggling and gold mining. Their power has become so great that they form a new kind of insurgency, infiltrating government operations.
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