‘Society makes us invisible’: Black Ecuadorians fight to defend their culture

A chigualo, a funeral ritual rooted in Afro-descendant tradition, held in Las Malvinas on 8 January, in memory of the Guayaquil Four. Photograph: Donald Díaz/The Guardian

Painted with the support of the city council in 2017, a mural spanning the entire side of a six-story 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.