Violence is escalating between Ecuador’s armed forces and drug gangs, with at least 14 people reported killed so far. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa has called for a state of emergency and curfews, while gangs have declared “war”, starting prison riots, storming a public television station live on air and threatening to kill civilians and security forces. Noboa has given the order for criminal gangs to be "neutralized".
Crime and violence have increased significantly in the South American nation in recent years. Just last August, presidential candidate and journalist Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated, only 11 days before the 2023 Ecuadorian general election. This surge has been linked to conflicts between both international and local drug cartels competing for dominance in the cocaine supply routes to the U.S. and Europe.
Speaking on the topic, United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, stated in an interview with Reuters last September that a social aspect underpins the situation too: young people in Ecuador are turning towards gangs to escape poverty due to a lack of opportunities. "Poverty afflicts particularly the young adults in this country, and many in fact choose either to join the gangs or to migrate to the U.S.," he told the news agency.
According to data from Ecuador's National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), an average of 27 percent of the country were living in poverty as of June 2023, earning under U.S. $89.29 per capita per month. Meanwhile, 10.8 percent were living in extreme poverty, with an income under U.S. $50.32 per capita per month. Levels are heightened in rural areas, with as many as 46 percent of Ecuadorians living in poverty as of June 2023, and 22.6 percent of this population living in extreme poverty.
