Gunmen in Ecuador kill 9, injure 10 others in attack in coastal city of Guayaquil as violence surges

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Gunmen attacked a group of people in Ecuador ’s coastal city of Guayaquil killing nine and injuring 10 others, police said Sunday, the latest in a string of violent incidents in the South American country.

The attack took place around 7 p.m. local time Saturday in the southern neighborhood of Guasmo. According to police, the armed group entered a pedestrian street in a grey Chevrolet Spark, where a group of people were practicing sports. The gunmen got out of the vehicle and proceeded to shoot people.

“So far, the result is nine people dead and 10 injured,” police Col. Ramiro Arequipa told journalists around midday on Sunday.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was the second mass killing in as many days. On Friday, five people who had been kidnapped were killed execution style in the coastal province of Manabi by an armed gang. Police said there were signs the victims were tourists mistakenly caught up in a local drug-trafficking dispute. They didn't elaborate.

In that incident, an armed group had kidnapped a total of 11 people. Police said the other six, including five minors, were rescued and handed over to their families. Two suspects were arrested on Saturday morning, according to police.

The killings in Manabi “remind us that the battle continues,” said Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa on the social media network X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

“Narcoterrorism and its allies are looking for spaces to scare us, but they will not succeed,” Noboa said. His post contained a video of a man handcuffed and bent over, being led away forcefully by an armed police officer.

Ecuador was once considered a bastion of peace in Latin America, but in recent years has seen a surge in violent attacks.

Noboa declared a state of emergency in January, which provides for permanent operations by a security force made up of police and military. In addition, a five-hour curfew is in force in high-incidence areas such as Guayaquil.

On March 24, the 27-year-old mayor of a small town — also in the province of Manabi — was killed along with her collaborator. Brigitte Garcia and Jairo Loor were found inside a vehicle with gunshot wounds.

On Thursday, a riot in a Guayaquil prison under military and police control left three inmates dead and four injured.

Ecuador surpassed a rate of 40 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants at the end of 2023, one of the highest in the region, according to police.

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa shakes hands with a farmer during his visit to Poalo, Ecuador, Thursday, March 21, 2024, where he met with dairy farmers and handed out 400 land titles. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that he will stress the need for a rules-based international order in the face of global challenges and tensions when he attends a meeting of the Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.

Kishida began a six-day trip abroad in Paris, where he is scheduled to give a keynote speech on Thursday, the first of a two-day OECD ministerial meeting, which will be chaired by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.

“I would like to stress that Japan will take a leading role in creating and strengthening a free, fair and rules-based international economic order,” Kishida told reporters at Tokyo's Haneda international airport.

Kishida said he also plans to step up an effort to support emerging countries, especially those in the Indo-Pacific region, to join the OECD, whose 38 member nations are mostly developed Western economies. Japan and South Korea are the only two East Asia members, and both Indonesia and Thailand want to join the OECD.

Kishida is also expected to propose a multinational framework to discuss the development and use of AI and its spread of disinformation.

This year also marks the 60th anniversary of Japan's joining of the OECD.

Kishida will also visit Brazil and Paraguay, as Japan seeks to deepen relations with emerging and developing nations that Tokyo considers share common values and democratic principles.

Brazil chairs the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging-market nations.

Kishida said he hopes to discuss cooperation in economy, space, information and communication between Japan and Paraguay when he hold talks with Paraguayan President Santiago Pena.

Kishida said he is also bringing a 170-member business mission that includes executives from 50 companies to the two South American nations.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at his office in Tokyo Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Kishida acknowledged Tuesday that his governing party's major defeat in the weekend's by-elections was due to a slush fund scandal, but said he would not step down or replace party executives to take responsibility. (Kyodo News via AP)