Rise of crime in Ecuador: Experts call for drastic reforms

The Lasso Administration will look to public support to deal with Ecuador´s crime, corruption and need for judicial reform.

The president is planning a national referendum for early 2023.  There has been some reporting on this, for instance at cuencahighlife.com and Reuters.  I have not seen any reporting as to what the list of referendum questions will include.

In recent months there has been deadly prison rioting, suspect judges have had privileges revoked and the government has been attempting to disrupt the use of coastal Ecuador as a transfer point for shipments of illegal drugs between countries to the North and South.

cccmedia

If one looks closer, many of the serious crimes are in the Guayaquil area, a port city, that also has drug related issues, a large prison with many there because of drug related charges and some very poor residential sectors, so no real surprise.  And a few years ago there certainly were problems there with the local police force requiring bribes to allow drivers like myself to exit the city (actual experience).  So issues do exist and in both Quito and Cuenca a great deal of effort a number of years ago went into "cleaning up" the local police, but probably not as much in Guayaquil.  Ecuador is a relatively peacable country and allowing individual gun use would precipitate some terrible situations.  I do think the government administration is well aware of what is happening and is taking steps.  When one reads statisitcs it important to also note where these numbers come from, and the size of the numbers, not just the % increase.  By no means is all of Ecuador suffering from a huge increase in violent deaths.  I live in Cotopaxi.

We are going to upgrade our phones and are wondering if we should do it here (USA) or wait until in EC.  What does the communities say?

cra1948 wrote:

We are going to upgrade our phones and are wondering if we should do it here (USA) or wait until in EC.  What does the communities say?

1) While in Ecuador, don't carry with you anything you're not willing to lose. I would not carry with me anything more expensive than the cheapest iPhone available (maybe with a bit more storage).

2) Tech is very expensive in Ecuador. You'll need to visit the US every time you want to upgrade your devices, or have a friend bring them to you to Ecuador. BTW, never tell your Ecuadorian friends you're visiting the US, because they will all ask you to bring iPads, iPhones and Macs.

Murder rate jumps in the Big G.

Guayaquil has shot up from 50th on the

Insight Crime annual list of the world's most

murderous cities .. to 24th on the list.

Officials in the Big G responded by saying

two-thirds of the murders last year occurred

in three neighborhoods where drug traffickers

and their associates operated.

Mexican cities occupy nine of the top ten

spots on the most-murderous-cities list,

including the U.S. border cities of Tijuana

and Juarez.  The one slot in the 'top ten'

not occupied by a Mexican city was

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Cuenca sees a drop in crime rates.

In a period when crime has seemed out of control

on the Ecuadorian Coast, in Guayaquil, in

Vilcabamba (home invasions) and in the prisons,

crime has been decreasing in Cuenca.

The Cuenca Highlife website has e-published

an article saying that murder, violence against

persons, robbery and car theft are down

across the board.

The addition of 300 new officers is credited for

the reduction in crime .. and so is the concerted

effort for citizens to work with police in making

Cuenca safer.

A retired criminology professor quoted in the

CHL article points out that 60 percent of the

crime in Cuenca occurs in the Ponce Enríquez

canton, where illegal mining and gang activity

are prevalent. Only three percent of Cuenca's

population live in this district.