The Latin American Report # 280

Violence remains entrenched in Ecuador

Durán, a canton located in the province of Guayas, just across the city of Guayaquil—Ecuador's crime capital—, is a town under intervention as a result of the high levels of violence reported in recent months. Even so, at 8 a.m. of this Saturday, assassins felt confident enough to attack a fire station and kill two of the firemen stationed there. And hours before, in Samborondón, another canton of Guayas, five members of a family were massacred. In recent days, other deadly events have been reported in the cantons of Machala and Puebloviejo, belonging to the provinces of El Oro and Los Rios, respectively, which have left the sad balance of even a five-year-old child dead, hit by a stray bullet in the seat of a bus.

_{Samborondón, the Guayas canton where a family was murdered in the early hours of Saturday morning (source).}

El Zonte: the Salvadoran town where the impact of Bitcoin is more resounding

Small merchants, entrepreneurs, and hotel owners in the tourist destination known as El Zonte have entered the Bitcoin ecosystem with force, employing the critical cryptocurrency daily in their businesses in that beach area where surf enthusiasts flock for its “strategic” waves. “Bitcoin proved to be an inclusive tool”, says an activist promoter of the world's leading cryptocurrency. Many of the 500 families that populate El Zonte have adopted it as their local currency, joining tourists in a movement that gives it real value to buy anything from candy to a hotel room. The place was a pioneer in this bet in El Salvador, which many experts evaluate with suspicion due to the lack of data for analyzing its success on a national scale. It is claimed that El Zonte is the only place where the practical adoption of Bitcoin in circular economy mode is tangible. Below I share two images of businesses in El Zonte that employ Bitcoin (source).

New migrant caravan moves through Tapachula, Chiapas

Human rights activists assisted some 3,000 migrants moving in a caravan along Mexico's southern border on Friday. The large group of people marching in precarious conditions in need of water and food includes 400 children. In addition to the problems inherent to the irregular migratory process, these people face the pressure of the violence in the region, which has reached such a point that dozens of citizens from Chiapas have fled to Guatemala in the last few days. “We brought bread, just bread, [...] people with good hearts cooperated with us to bring it, especially for the children[. The] comrades who are at the front are telling us [they are] very hungry with a lot of burden”, expressed an activist. In general, these caravans end up being aborted due to the intervention of the authorities, who promise the migrants documentation without fulfilling their commitment many times. Among the migrants are Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Venezuelans.

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And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.