The notorious leader of Ecuador’s main criminal gang escaped from prison this week - he is still missing. The country’s President declared a state of emergency and the gangs fought back, with gunmen breaking into a TV studio during a live broadcast. Separately 130 prison staff are being held hostage by inmates.
BBC Monitoring’s Rachelle Krygier, who focuses on Latin America, explains who the gangs are and how they operate from within the prisons. BBC Mundo’s Ana Maria Roura, who’s from Ecuador, talks through whether the government’s strategy of bringing in the army could work.
Also, Madeleine Drury from the What in the World team tells us about various approaches being tried in different South American countries to tackle the gangs.
Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Madeleine Drury and Adam Chowdhury Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks