Painted with the support of the city council in 2017, a mural spanning the entire side of a six-storey building in Guayaquil’s financial district went largely unnoticed for more than a year in Ecuador’s most populous city – until it triggered outrage.
The painting showed two men grappling over money: one dressed in a suit, tie and shoes, with fair skin; the other shirtless, in shorts, flip-flops and a stocking mask. He was dark-skinned.
For Black activists, the artwork’s message left no room for doubt: it implied a robbery and reinforced racist stereotypes, smearing Ecuador’s African-descendant minority, which suffers the worst outcomes in areas such as unemployment and gender-based violence.
“It was an offence to the Black people of Guayaquil,” said Guillermo Leones Pacheco, 62, president of the Pueblo Negro…
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Guardian Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, 28 February 2025