MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador eases curfew severity as violence gradually subsides

A total of 3,052 people have been arrested since violence started escalating this month

Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa Tuesday decreed a one-hour reduction to the curfew after the number of daily homicides was reported to have fallen from 27 to 11 nationwide in a country under a state of emergency following drug-trafficking gang revolts.

The six-hour ban on circulation from 11 pm to 5 am will be reduced to five hours in areas considered highly dangerous in ten of the 24 provinces of the country, including Guayaquil. Online schooling remains effective in Quito and three coastal provinces considered the most violent in the country.

In other mid-level areas of 14 provinces, the curfew will last three hours while the measure was lifted for low-conflict sectors in 22 provinces.

Noboa's decision was announced as the head of state left for Spain Tuesday to participate in a tourism fair.

As a result of the state of exception decreed on Jan. 8, there is ”a downward trend in violent deaths, with an average of 10.8 (crimes) per day,“ Police Chief César Zapata said during a press briefing. Between January 1 and 8, the average number of murders was 27.6 per day. Between 2018 and 2023 yearly homicides went up from 6 to 46 per 100,000 inhabitants.

After this month's events at various jailhouses and other violent episodes nationwide, Noboa decreed a 60-day nighttime curfew and engaged the Armed Forces alongside law enforcement agencies to restore order following the escape from prison of Adolfo Macias, alias Fito, the head of the Los Choneros gang, who had sent his family to Argentina and remains a fugitive to this day. His relatives were arrested in Cóordoba and deported back to Ecuador.

Noboa declared an ”internal armed conflict“ and ordered the military to ”neutralize“ some twenty organizations deemed as ”terrorist“ and belligerent.

Ecuador relies on the United States to combat the criminal gangs, which have connections to cartels in Mexico and Colombia and sow anxiety in the country. The US Embassy in Quito said on X that Washington had delivered 20,000 bulletproof vests plus US$ 1 million worth of security equipment. The FBI was also said to have been involved. On Monday, US Southern Command Chief General Laura Richardson met with Noboa to discuss the current scenario. The US envoys also met on Tuesday with Attorney General Diana Salazar to discuss bilateral cooperation strategies.

In the current scenario, the number of people arrested in the South American country in connection with drug-trafficking violence has crossed the 3,000 threshold as military operations are performed against 22 criminal groups.

A total of 3,052 people have been arrested so far after 33,858 raids against 22 ”terrorist groups” (drug-trafficking gangs). Among those arrested, 158 people were charged with alleged terrorism.

Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru announced on Sunday the creation of the first cross-border security network against gangs.