Ecuador’s disappeared: Inside one family’s search for answers

Article excerpt

Fifty-one people have vanished during Ecuador's military operations, leaving families trapped in a nightmare of uncertainty. One family's desperate search for answers reveals the human cost of the country's security crackdown, disappeared relatives, no explanations, no closure. Advocates are sounding alarms that these cases represent a troubling pattern, not isolated incidents. The military operations, launched to combat gang violence, have created a new crisis: citizens erased from official records, their fates unknown. For those searching, the silence from authorities is almost as painful as the disappearances themselves.