Ecuador has one of the harshest drug laws in the hemisphere. A non-violent drug offender can receive the same sentence, sometimes even stiffer, than a murderer.
In this video, Analia Silva says she started dealing drugs out of poverty. She explains that she did not even know the type of drugs she was selling; that she only knew that being the sole provider of her two children, she needed to make ends meet. Not knowing how to read or write, she says she considered two options: “becoming a prostitute or selling drugs.” She was caught in 2003 and sentenced to 8 years in jail.
