Trump’s Ecuadorian deportees: Returning to a country under the terror of organized crime

Trump’s Ecuadorian deportees: Returning to a country under the terror of organized crime

When the extortionists arrived at Elena and Ramiro’s small food stall in the heart of downtown Guayaquil, they knew their dream of entrepreneurship had come to an end. The business, which had only been operating for five months, was doing better than expected. They served breakfast and lunch to workers, and although margins were tight, the hope of a prosperous future kept them afloat. But that morning, when two men who arrived on a motorcycle burst into the establishment, what promised to be just another day of work turned into a nightmare. They made it clear what the rules would be from then on: $3,000 a month as a “vaccine,” as extortion is known in Ecuador. An unaffordable sum for entrepreneurs whose only capital was the sweat of their brow.

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