The pandemic, the war on Ukraine, and more than two weeks of ruinous living cost protests -- Ecuador's flower industry has recently had to surmount one obstacle after another. The country's fourth income-generator in terms of sales, roses alone earned nearly a billion US dollars in 2021 -- a record haul of $927 to be exact. But this year's prognosis is unclear after 18 days of sometimes violent mass protests against rising fuel prices, Russia's war in Ukraine and the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES