"You can see and feel that the population is afraid," says Navy Captain Carlos Carrera from the Gulf of Guayaquil, a bastion of violent clashes between Ecuador's armed forces and criminal gangs. The once-thriving port of Puerto Bolivar is nearly dormant, with no ships in sight, as local fishermen, particularly vulnerable to the drug violence that plagues the region, are afraid to speak out. "Crime is worse than ever," says fisherwoman Carmen Cedeno, who is afraid to go to work and "not make it back home." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES