Whoever wins the presidential election will be tasked with restoring security to the country.

"They stole children from other towns and sacrificed them in front of her (Santa Muerte) when they wanted to land a big hit," ...

Polls have closed and votes are now being counted in Ecuador’s general election, where 16 candidates are vying for the ...

Gang members are turning to Santa Muerte to shield them from law enforcement and ensure the success of their operations.

Ecuador’s 37-year-old leader Daniel Noboa is seeking reelection on Sunday with out-of-control gang violence the top issue for ...

Ecuadorian voters are preparing to cast their ballots for a new president for the second time in 18 months amid an ...

Sporting gloves and a red ribbon to ward off evil, Ecuadoran police raiding a drug den apprehensively inspect an altar to Santa Muerte — a Mexican "death saint" adopted by local gangs as their own ...

Noboa's blend of populist bravado, aggressive security policies and alignment with Trumpian politics has positioned him, at 37, as a formidable figure in a changing Latin America.

seeking re-election Sunday as he leads a war on drug gangs blamed for a surge in violent crime in the once-peaceful South American country. Just last week, a leader of one of Ecuador's biggest ...

R unning Ecuador seems an unenviable job. In recent years it has become the most violent state in mainland Latin America.

His father, Marcos Elías León Maruri, was kidnapped there by the Los Tiguerones gang. A person is killed every two hours in Ecuador and seven are kidnapped daily, according to government figures.