On the periphery of reports of a widespread gang-related violence “outbreak” throughout Ecuador lie more coherent studies presenting clearer geographical boundaries where gangs and narco-terrorists maintain limited territorial control. The latter reports tend to be grounded in scientific methods of study entailing a hypothesis, some semblance of root cause and comparative analysis, and consistently incorporate socio-economic factors as at least a symptom, if not a major root cause. While much is said of the social-related factors contributing to the violence, information on the resulting social climate impact is curiously lacking.
Fortunately, we had the pleasure conversing with Vegoña, a Cotopaxi Travels client and seasoned guide in her own right, where we were able to obtain some clues, based on her experiences. More detailed and layered conversations with local residents can help clarify the distinction between real and perceived dangers inherent in travelling in Quito and through the Sierra region. A native Spanish speaker with a naturally engaging mentality, Vegoña was able to obtain some interesting, if not unexpected insights into the general morale as evidenced by the degree of security vigilance preached by her local counterparts.
Prior to traveling, Vegoña had heard vague reports of a general marked increase in crime in Ecuador, and the death of an unspecified city mayor on the Pacific Coast. This prompted her to conduct her own research—the word of a friend who frequently travels to Ecuador, with direct sources within its borders. Beginning her travels in Columbia, she was initially most concerned about crossing the border into Ecuador. She was provided with information which allowed her to conclude that violent encounters, even at the border, were unlikely. The remainder of security-related information she obtained while in-country, mostly through conversations with local residents.
While her border crossing via Ipiales, Colombia to Tulcan, Ecuador was uneventful, her view of the security situation shifted considerably upon arriving in Quito. Despite considering herself a confident and adventurous traveler, Vegoña was bombarded with prescriptive warnings by local residents that largely prohibited her from leaving her hotel in the evenings, wandering to the incorrect neighborhoods of the city, handling her cellphone in the open, in addition to unsolicited admonitions to take care of herself in general. Despite encountering no questionable incidents during her time in Quito, she confessed the insistent manner and frequency of these warnings adversely impacted her general level of comfort. Perhaps having the most jarring impact on her confidence was receiving the same such verbal cautions in Otavalo, a peaceful indigenous community and popular tourist excursion site.
Upon pointed inquiry, more specific counsels cited Quito’s convenient location along the principle migrant route between Venezuela and the Pacific Coast and eventually to the U.S., on which migrants may resort to petty or violent crime on account of their desperate situation. As of June 2023, there were approximately 474,900 Venezuelan migrants and refugees present in Ecuador, regardless of intended destination (Regional Inter-agency Coordination Platform, 2023). Immigration laws were substantially relaxed during the Rafael Correa administration, and further codified under the Organic Law on Human Mobility, which removed migrant access restrictions on employment, education, and healthcare, while providing a pathway to citizenship for stateless persons after two years’ continuous residence from date of recognition (Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana, 2017). It also applied certain national conventions on the employment rights and general treatment of refugees, stateless persons, and protections for migrant children (International Organization for Migration IOM, 2018). The number of entries per year has varied widely since 2015 and is seemingly dependent upon evolving migration and asylum policies. For example, President Lenín Moreno imposed employment restrictions and passport requirements for entry, as well as visa restrictions in effort to cope with an overwhelming influx of Venezuelan migrants in 2018. Since that time, these restrictions have been eased to accommodate irregular immigrants in obtaining an Exception Temporary Residence Visa (Jokisch, 2023). Data does not indicate, however, that Venezuelans substantially contribute to crime rates; in fact, in 2022 a large outflow of Venezuelan migrants was reported, due in part to risk of gang recruitment in select cities and perceptions of violence and insecurity in Ecuador. A shift toward a significant lack in available resources available for migrants in recent years was also cited as a major factor (World Vision, 2023).
Vegoña principally used public transportation while getting around Ecuador. There, the environment of course allowing for more detailed conversations, she had time and leisure for overhearing or engaging in sustained discourse. While she mostly heard repeats of what she recognised as news headlines, she also learned of thefts at gun-point. While at a hostel near Mahanda Lake the host warned Vegoña of two specific armed incidents targeting tourists. Even in stories of specific incidents, however, details are scant. Further inquiry revealed that the Mahanda Lake incidents occurred over two years ago. Vegoña believes many incidents and verbal cautions such as what she experienced stem from a combination of news media sensationalism, and Ecuadorians perhaps making up a vulnerable society susceptible to fear-mongering and media nuance. They only mean to be helpful, but from personal experience and observation through her travels, Vegoña believes their sensitivities are shaped largely as result of overconsumption of television and social media. “Also, it’s logical to see crimes like theft as associated with economic instability”. The public seems fearful, and the crime spikes and civil unrest in key areas is perhaps a new situation for them, along with lack of clear information on the resources and capabilities of their leaders to address it.
It’s no wonder they are fearful. News outlets, by their nature, rely upon stories which stimulate the public emotionally in order to market themselves, by various degrees and methods—whether through blatant exaggeration, lazy hyperbole, or simply use of flowery language intended to adorn the story, effectively romanticizing the tragedy or criminal notoriety of their subjects. Additionally, a decided infatuation with words like ‘waves”, “widespread”, “sweeping” and “spiraling” or “descending into chaos” in the Anglo-phonic media serves as effective superlatives to amplify otherwise isolated and exceptional violent incidents, creating confusion in the local populace and diligent prospective tourists alike. Creative portrayal of events often fails to make clear distinctions when it comes to pertinent details, the reality of their scope, and predicted outcomes. These organisations assume no responsibility for the socially debilitating outcomes they assist in creating.
A Gallup survey of unspecified Guayas Province residents reports that just 11% “feel safe”, while 27% of population surveyed in the coastal areas feel safe, and links crime rates as corresponding with public perception of relative safety (Vigers, 2024). Naturally, at a homicide rate of 79.4 per 100,000 inhabitants for 2023 in Guayas Province, it’s easy to draw such a parallel. Multilateral development banks, however, may not agree that’s always the case. For example, perceptions of insecurity were found to be inconsistent with data on crime and violence in a 2010 co-production with Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank (Atuesta, 2013); additionally, over-vigilance and perceptions of instability can adversely affect a nation’s GDP (Yusuf, 2022). As if to further illustrate, the remainder of data published in the same Gallup study would seem to support this claim, as a mere 34% of population surveyed in the Andean Sierra felt safe, while all central mountainous provinces with the exception of Bolivar (11) and Cañar (23), have homicide rates in the single digits (Homicide Monitor, 2023).
To be fair, some articles in both the Spanish and English online media may have been tweaked by editors in order to produce the desired effect. For example, an otherwise promising English article which mentions the issue of surface government conformity to public pressure and aptly links poverty and decreased educational opportunity to general criminality, is entitled Ecuador has become of a school of violence. The article endeavors to define violent sectors purely abstractly by social class delineations while lacks geographical specifics (outside of schools) where violent events are concentrated (Torres, Aug 2023). In an otherwise well-researched article containing useful infographics and a more comprehensive, multi-factor analysis, two sources cited in the same sentence pertaining to “rural and peripheral zones where lawlessness reigns”, clearly refer to the urban zones of Guayaquil (Díaz Ponce, Oct 2022).
In local media pieces where data competes with various forms of inflated (or simply careless) verbiage, it is difficult to discern which leaves a lasting impression in the minds of readers, or at least the universality of crime throughout the nation. Vegoña was able to deduce that Guayaquil, at least, was generally accepted as the nerve center for organized criminal activity, where the proliferation of larger-scope drug sales is facilitated by Colombian drug lords and trans-national criminal groups setting up narco-trafficking operations there.
Regardless of the degree to which criminal organisations erode the confidence in their freedom of movement or quality of life in general, Vegoña hopes the current security situation does not impact the open trust Ecuadorians exhibit toward their neighbors. Having observed the long-term secondary impacts of political upheaval in her native Spain, she hopes the same does not cause the open and conversant manner of interaction amongst their peers to deteriorate to a general closing-off as result of a lack of mutual trust. At present, though locals are generally conversant, the security situation is often the topic of discourse and various modes of cautioning each other dominates the conversation. Cultural norms which dictate a certain level of proactiveness in offering assistance to those in need is widely still in practice. “I feel like the inner child comes out when I’m in Latin America”, relating she still feels a close familial public atmosphere. “It’s not difficult to get people to smile here.”
Despite the unique challenges presented here in obtaining a clear diagnosis of the true state of security affairs in Ecuador, any adventure travelers contemplating a visit can be assured of the existence of more clear and lucid country security assessments. The UK.gov Foreign Travel Advice page on Ecuador, for example, offers a concise but informative evaluation. Specifically, in Quito, while legal public transportation is still relatively safe and reliable, it is best to exercise the greatest caution in the highly touristic areas, such as La Carolina and El Ejido parks, the neighborhoods of La Marin, La Mariscal, and La Floresta, and the Old Town sector. While it is safe to remain out of doors in the evening hours, walking alone in quieter streets is still ill-advised.