I was there in the summer of 2017. It was clearly a poor country but everyone was very nice and I never once felt unsafe. It’s too bad things have gotten dangerous there.
What a coincidence. I was there in summer 2017 as well. Ecuador is a beautiful country with friendly people. I have a plane to go back next year. Hope things will get better soon.
Very misleading information. Yes crime has increased but it's been like that every where in the world. I was there last year. In cuenca. I never felt unsafe. Take precautions as you would anywhere in the world. Enjoy
Say a prayer for Ecuador we’re going tru things that we don’t wish to nobody, yesterday 60 armed men came to our neighborhood threatening to murder entire families if the gang boss that runs our neighborhood don’t comply with the rent and extortion they’re asking! They jumped and hit some ppl badly in front of my mother in law home, these ppl had rifles out and machetes! Mean while there was police a block away watching from afar! Ppl asked for help but nothing happened! This war against crime it’s not working! Things are getting worst! I just want to get out of here with my whole family! They’re asking money from all businesses if not you get killed! Seems like the military and police are members of this gangs! Mean while the local news narrative it’s saying that crime has come down and they’re winning over crime! And we live in sauces 1 that’s a middle class neighborhood not a dangerous area! 🙏🏽❤️
Colombia suffered quite a lot in the 80s and 90s from the cartels. Back then, the cartels were much more powerful than they are now, and the Colombian state was very weak for its size in those years. They did not play by the same rules of strategy and morality. Colombia overcame that stage through a tough and confrontational war on drugs. Many policemen, prosecutors, judges, journalists and civilians died, but their struggle was not in vain. There are still enormous problems, but if they had given up, that monster would have destroyed what is now my country.
If you're in Latin America and the situation is good, just be patient; it'll get bad soon. If you're in Latin America and the situation is bad, just be patient; it'll get worse soon.
That might be true… but is the situation that much better for the average American? I live in a Latin American country and we’ve had a grand total of zero mass shootings in 2023…
Depends upon the standard you wish to use, I guess. For the "average" American, absolutely, it is better otherwise why would so many of THEM be trying so hard to come HERE? But it is on a downward trajectory, I'll admit. For "certain" Americans, no, it's not better.@@hammerr3
As an Ecuadorian, I appreciate that you are addressing the Ecuadorian situation. However, I must say that I don't understand why international media (even independent media as this one) avoid mentioning the reports of Lasso connections with the Albanian mafia and how his bank all of a sudden had record profits during his ruling. Also, the butchered pronunciation of my home city "Guayaquil" made me cringe so much.
As an American who has lived in Ecuador for about 3 years, I can say that this video is technically correct. What's missing is that the violence is all concentrated in the areas important to drug traffickers. The vast majority of the killings happen in Guayaquil, with some activity in Esmeraldas. The ports and the border with Columbia are where the cartels are battling for control. The rest of Ecuador is peaceful. There is theft everywhere because the economy is not doing well but it's usually not violent. I don't go out at night and avoid isolated areas so I've never had a problem. Ecuador is still a great country for expats to retire to. You just need to use some common sense.
But here in Brazil Ecuador is presented as an economic success story due to dollarization, which "lifted the living standards" to be emulated by Argentina and even Brazil. In fact the New Argentine presidente was elected BECAUSE his plan to dollarize Argentina and bring untold riches to Argentina just as it did in Ecuador .
@@nothanks3236 Actually, the government recently allowed private citizens to own firearms. The problem is there are no shooting ranges available to private citizens. Also, if you kill someone who didn't have a gun pointed at you then you will likely go to jail.
I was in Ecuador in the Fall 2020 and I fell in love with its biodiversity and friendly, generous people. This is a momentary setback for an otherwise wonderful country.
I had a friend in boarding school who was from Ecuador and she always spoke of how much she loved it, this was back in 2012-2015… I just found out her family recently moved to Spain…
@@franciscomorales4051 Dont listen to this guy, he's probably peruvian. Nobody with at least a single braincell would still say "Yeah, Correa, what great president" lol
I’ve spent a bunch of time in Latin America. Now I have Ecuadorian friends taking their families to Spain to be safe. They tell me that these days everyone has guns and violence is a daily thing. Even the kids were afraid to go outside to play in the gated community…
I am an American who has lived in Ecuador for the last 10 months. About half of this is total bs. Many places in the US are far worse than what is described here. Ecuador does have problems but if you stay away from the drug trade and bad areas of large cities you should be fairly safe. Most of the violence is inside prisons unlike in the US
@@chrisgillings537 also outside prisons but among gang members for the most parts, it's certainly not as bad as the idea of "most dangerous country" implies
For much as I feel very bad about Ecuadorians - I've been there as a tourist and it's such a lovely place - this is a tale of Latin America as a whole...you should explain it as such, maybe in a future video. Organized crime spilled out of Mexico, Colombia, Brasil and Venezuela to other places it didn't previously touch, especially during the pandemic, and now we're all suffering from it, in one degree or another. This has happened in Ecuador, Perú, even in Uruguay...I'm Chilean and this is THE TOPIC of the time; we have been seeing a rise of crime, and types of crimes we didn't know before, gang style. Boric's government had to turn around everything to try to confront crime, something unusual for a left-wing government. Btw I don't get why is such a taboo to talk about the effect the massive exodus of Venezuelans out of their country has have in Lat Am.; of course the vast majority aren't criminals but pretty violent Venezuelan gangs (like Tren de Aragua) have been roaming the continent bc of it and it's like we have to pretend it's not happening. PS: the last bit isn't to say the situation is only attributable to Venezuelans; I think Mexican and Colombian organized crime is way more powerful and had reached every corner of the continent. But still, is ironic that the Venezuelan bit is so politically incorrect when it's just...true.
we just moved to chile as russian refugees. We never expected the chileans to be this friendly and welcoming. However the situation here is not really as good as I expected. There is bars on windows everywhere, even in the more prosperous Las Condes district where we live. We get recommended to not take our phone out all the time.
What often happens is that people leave their nation of origin in favor of better things, only to transport their same problems and values along with themselves. In effect, they never learn anything. The same thing occurs between various states within the United States. For example, people leave California for Texas or Florida, and then they contaminate their new state of residence with the same style of politics and behaviors as they abandoned. The entire world has now become more or less contaminated in the same fashion.
@@sparrow9982I thought Russia would have been more dangerous. At least the intentional homicide rate is much higher than in Chile. It might be that crime is more evenly spread across Chilean regions, while in Russia you might have clear hotspots of crime.
@YourD3estinY well also it's dangerous in Russia if your a dude now because you have a chance of getting a draft letter. So in comparison Chile is probably much better lol
I live in Ecuador and let me tell you, the crime is only affecting the drug trafficking routes, you can still visit anything that is not Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Quito, and the routes to and from Peru and Colombia, for example, safe tourist places include Mindo, Baños, the small towns in the Andes, and of course, the Galapagos islands, I always tell people that no matter how bad mainland Ecuador is doing, it never affects Galapagos, Galapagos is still super safe (as safe as me forgetting your camera on the beach and people running to bring it back to you, or walking without worries in the middle of the night in the most isolated areas), and some islands didn't even get COVID during the pandemic. Also worth mentioning that, as in any other place in SA, if you are careful where you go and don't get involved in shady businesses, you won't be the target of any violent crime, I live in one of the main cities, take public transport, and I'm still doing fine
I hear you! Been to El Salvador twice this year. Just visited 2 weeks ago. I can confirm tha ES is pretty safe and booming. People are out and about without worries for their safety.
My family is from Ecuador we lived in a small town called Portoviejo just an hour ride from Manta. It sucks to see the country like this as i remember summer trips in the early 2010s being so peaceful. My grandparents still live there to and i pray they are safe everyday
I lived in Genoa, Italy for over a year back in 2017. The majority latino in Genoa are Ecuadorians. It's estimated that more than 30,000 Ecuadorian people live in the Liguria region. Seeing this is heartbreaking. They are wonderful people, the best of the best. I pray things will get better.
Was there just 1-2 months ago, Quito and Guayaquil definitely didn't feel safe but other more touristy places such as Mindo, ,Baños, Cuenca and (of course) the Galapagos felt very safe
You are missing a very important piece of the puzzle: Venezuelan immigration. Venezuela is the most violent country in latin America. 2017 is the year that venezuelans started to immigrate en masse. The economic crisis made a lot of violent criminals migrate to nearby countries such as Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador.
Yep, but there are specific reasons that made Ecuador a good place for those and other gangs, including Mexicans and Colombians. I think, in the case of Ecuador, Venezuelan gangs came to top off something that was already bad
People like you are so annoying. Tren de Aragua isn’t even an entity with much operation at all in Ecuador nor does any Ecuadorian gang have a Venezuelan leader. I’ve never even met a single Venezuelan police officer in Ecuador and there’s a ton of corruption in policing as well. Same idea: I can’t think of a single politician from Venezuela and there’s also a ton of corruption there as well. I’m not saying Ecuadorians are horrible people or that everyone’s a criminal and I’m not saying that all Venezuelans are great people or that there aren’t criminals whom are from Venezuela but to blame everything on Venezuelans is so annoying and in accurate. Same thing every other country does, just blame the immigrants. You’re a sheep.
Crime has definitely risen since COVID, I will not deny that, though I usually go to Ecuador every year to visit family and I'm still able to walk on the streets without any problems. Even my parents went back this summer and to some of the areas affected by recent upticks in murder and didn't experience any problems. So there are the statistics but I want people who watch this to realize just because you go to Ecuador doesn't mean there is a shooting at every corner.
There is actually a shooting at every corner (in the figurative and almost real sense), but facts are that according to the Ecuadorian government, 85% of these deaths are gang to gang, which limit to 15% the non-gang deaths. Now, is this true and can we believe the government about this? I have no idea, but I have my doubts.
Most of the new people we are getting now in Minneapolis are Natives from the mountains of Ecuador. One little old maid almost jumped into a fight when my pregnant landlord had to take one for the hood. Baby is okay. They are hard-working people.
You mean, from the "Highlands"? They are people with more native blood than the coast region and have a sligthly different cultute. And If I remember correctly those are what usually go to USA, especially to New York.
It's been through some troubles. I was there last year. Most of the country is still safe. And ecuador is NOT the most dangerous country in South America.
I have lived in Ecuador for over a decade. The video is a good summary (pronunciations aside). Couple of things (1) Noboa's grandfather was the one who started the banana empire, not his father (2) you might want to research the connection between the cartels and the previous Revolucion Ciudana government (3) yes, things are challenging but in other ways the country is developing, evolving and changing in many positive ways.
Interestingly enough, you can literally see at the beginning of this video, a descending slope in violence, between 2012 and 2017, in the very same years of Revolución Ciudadana in the power. Granted, there are some naive people who claim _"it's because he had deals with drug lords"_ which crumbles easily after realizing a) Most of those Mafia bosses got captured and put behind bars with Revolución Ciudadana in power, and b) even if they have had some sort of agreement with some drug lord if any, there are literally *dozens* of such groups, which would have been very difficult to hide, even more with the fierce opposition Correa had with ecuadorian private news broadcasting corporations. I think the rise in crime is more related with right-winged presidents Moreno & Lasso, who opted for paying Foreign Debt, with little to no investment in Military and Police forces, until very late, when everything was bad already... You need to watch the whole picture pal, not what seems to be convenient for your narrow political view 😉
@@dec13666Yeah, Correa didn't do anything wrong, I mean, it was completely BRILLIANT to decline to extend the lease agreement for the US Military base in Manta from which they were running ANTI-NARCOTICS operations across Ecuadorian waters as well as cutting down with the US International Narcotics Agency leaving ecuadorian territory free to run drug businesses from outside/inside bars, yeah, excellent move! what president in his right mind wouldn't do that, right? If Ecuador at that time was bad, thanks to Correa's decisions got worse. Correa, Moreno, Lasso everyone is shit. With that being said, the past is the past, it doesn't matter anymore, now everyone in Ecuador is praying/wishing all the best to the current president Daniel Noboa in order to see improvements in economics and security which are not going to be easy to fix everything under less than 2 years.
@@dec13666 I did watch the whole video, even the ad at the end. My point was they should research those links, which I think there is evidence of significant connections. With respect, you do not know me or how I view politics, or my experience in the world of politics. I say research, and yes, research Moreno and the awful Lasso administration as well. But my points were fair in the context they were expressed.
@@Stephenmaly Really !? So when the government of the US and DEA congratulates Correa for "Their fight against the drug cartels" they are the ones with the connections to the drug mafias. But when that same government goes out and tells the world that "Ecuador has narco-generales , narco-jueces, narco-fiscales, soccer teams and the press laundrying money for the drug cartels" That tells you other wise. Then the right wing has nothing to do with the drug cartels but Correa did. Not a f___ing proof but it has to be so because it suits your hate and beliefs.....
Please mention 5, only 5 of those "ways that Ecuador is developing and evolving in a positive way" . Perhaps public health, security, work opportunities, infrastructure, new equipment for the police, new hospitals, new roads and highways, perhaps in education ... Right, RIGHT ?
I visited Ecuador in 2017, I stayed in Quito during a week. In that time, the country was still a peaceful place. I had a good time there. I hope Ecuador turns back its normal state.
Since all those Venezuelan migrants arrived in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru the risen of insecurity at each corner of this countries help the traffic groups to establish it's guns there
Don't follow your logic at all. So you're saying that the Venezuelan immigrants are the reason by the cartel is establishing its guns in Ecuador? Wow, such ignorance.
@@darrellandsondraholden9457it’s not Venezuelan immigrants, it’s the fact that because the frontier is open, not only Venezuelan immigrant are coming in, but also the cartels, gangs, and traffickers
Essa é a realidade de toda a América Latina, por conta da fragilidade de suas leis,cada vez mais francas pra "combater" criminosos poderosos e perigosos. Espero que os latinos americanos acordem pra essa realidade e lutemos pra essa situação mudar. Merecemos viver em nossos países de forma pacífica, queremos nossa liberdade que nos foi roubada.
@@pablobomgiorno8273 Até 2016 se uma pessoa era assassinada na minha cidade (6 mil hab) era um acontecimento, chocava todo mundo. Só esse ano (2023) já foram mais de 5, todos com algum envolvimento com o tráfico, a população só fala "menos um" e seguem a vida. Quando eles são presos não ficam nem um ano, isso quando já não são liberados na mesma hora.
my family lived so well in Ecuador and had a business similar to auto zone but now they are on their way to the United States by land since the consulate denied them a visa to leave the country since the gangs have threatened their lives and the torture they They have had it is sad what is happening in eastern Ecuador
So you are blaming immigrants? Don't you realize that evil world leaders plan these exiles so they can send criminals from everywhere across the borders, hidden within the immigrant population?
It didn't experience a breakdown; there was a rise in crime rates. It's akin to suggesting Sweden faced challenges for the same reason. On an economic front, the new government is steering in a positive direction.
No, it really was a breakdown. The whole security and justice systems came crashing down. A spike in crime rates is one thing, but when you can no longer trust that the police will show up or that criminals will be sentenced by judges it’s a whole other thing.
It's hardly similar to Sweden when you have the assassination of a major political figure during elections, along with a hefty rise in crime and emigration to escape the violence.
I live in Ecuador. All of the crime is on the coast, Quito and near the border with Colombia. If you stay away from those areas it's still extremely safe.
Most Latin American states with security problems needs a Nayib Bukele's style of leadership. As a Canadian with Latin roots, I am a liberal and a supporter of democracry, but i am also aware that liberalism doesn't always work in certain situation. In countries like Ecuador, Hoduras etc... You definitely need a tough leader to control if not totally irradicate the culture of crimes and violence. Someone that has a vision for a common good for it's people and will never surrender to gangs and drug cartels. If El Salvador can do it with little time and resources, there's no excuse for other country to follow suit. If there'd a will, there;s a way!
Why is it that S.America has a huge drug problem? I am sure there are Leichtenstein, San Marino and Andorran drug cartels in Europe, however, you don't see the place looking and sounding like a dystopian zombie world. Better question is: what really is the answer for eliminating the need for these cartels to popup in the first place?
@@yesand5536lack of strong institutions. I give to you an example of Colombia. Here, there are places where the army cannot get in. This means other groups can fill that space
@@julianescobar2395 Is it that people don't want strong institutions, don't know what they are like as they never had them, or feel powerless to those who are anti-strong institutions and pro-personal wealth?
@@abark don’t know what happens and doesn’t happen. My comment was “I just spent 3 months in Quito and Cuenca. Everyone was friendly and I never once saw any violence at all. I’m currently in Lima, Peru. Same story. I was recently in bogota and Medellin. Same story. Was in Mexico City for 2 months. Lovely town full of friendly people.
Yes Quito and Cuenca are great cities, a lot of the negativity is concentrated on the coast. Enjoy Lima, it’s a beautiful city full of nice people as well.
Thank you for your analysis. I live in Ecuador. Nboa shows promise and it's a complicated economic challenge. The indigenous want more social programs, oil drilling which pays for this has been limited by environmental groups. Drug cartel power is growing, as is corruption. But bottom line, many areas in Ecuador are very safe and this beautiful country is at a crossroads.
My family is Ecuadorian and I went there last from the beginning of last year 2023. For the most part it was safe and an amazing experience. Places like Baños and Cotopaxi and Galapagos were awesome and beautiful. Places like Quito were I stayed the majority of the time was told to me where dangerous and to be cautious but nothing ever happened to me and I’m a young woman with a very terrible accent. We didn’t visit Guayaquil because of family and people saying it’s dangerous. But Ecuador is just like any other country, there are safe and unsafe places and you should always be careful and informed when travelling somewhere distant or alone. I love my country and people and I’m sure we can deal with the situation so long as people don’t criticise it and leave us to deal with the situation.
In this case the government should do something about this crime and fix things in order, we should also figured out something else like investment and to make financial need to move to wherever we need to be safe.
@@Andyholtan expert in the market is the best in this situation, but how can someone get a professional that understand how the market work, like stock,real estate, gold etc I need an expert
@@RosellaLCraigwell, there is a real expert everywhere and a lot of scammer also, all we have to do look for a legit and trusted one to teach about the stock market
@@edna.Chavisthere's is a legit trader though, I have been trading with her since 2019, and I have been earning alot even in this crisis that have been everywhere
@@antoniete387-This is superb! Information, as a noob it gets quite difficult to handle all of this and staying informed is a major cause, how do you go about this, who is this your expert?
As an Ecuadorian, watching this summary on international news was quite interesting. I mean, I saw the news locally. Many are aware of the different factors that are in play to the current state of the country, yet a plan to actually tackle the issues? Seems out of reach. Why? Because it’s too complex and as I read in a comment around here, it would require a lot of sacrifices that most people are not willing to take because the potential outcome wouldn’t even matter since our judicial system it’s rotten to its core. Also, there is no social consciousness and empathy towards ourselves which makes even harder to understand and accept the potentially worthwhile prospects to deal with the roots of the problems. I mean, I also read a comment saying “it’s not so bad where I live”, just because you have the privilege to not having to deal with it doesn’t mean it isn’t as bad. There are towns that have daily hits. I mean, people give de4th treats as greetings right now just because you had an argument over a parking place. People have lost their minds and have lost the value of life, and well… thats everywhere honestly. So idk I’m just venting by now. Personally it has gotten to the point that one time, a stranger asked me if they can borrow my phone to place a phone call and, first time in my life I declined a favor to stranger because I was scared since my sister and my family were being threaten to de4Th that same week, and what did the police say? Well, without a knowing exactly who the person who called I was they could do jack sh1t! Also, police or military that don’t go with the “flow of drug commerce” they also get unalived. So yeah. .. we are in pickle
Oh, as an Ecuadorian I can tell you what exactly happened. You basically started 5 reasons for this insecurity increasing: 1) Dolarization 2) Good location for international drug market 3) US Military base shutdown 4) Moreno cutting funds for security and interior ministry. 5) Political instability due to Lasso impeachment. However, sadly the analysis is wrong and just one of those four reasons is accurate: Moreno cutting funds for security and interior ministry. Let me explain in detail what the hell happened. First, I'm tackling the reasons of your analysis that don't follow up: 1) We've been dolarized since 2000. However, misteriously murder rate decreased from 2008 to 2017 (which is the period of.. you guessed it, Rafael Correa.) 2) Ecuador's location has always been attractive for international drug market. Since (1) is accurate to some extent, Albanese mafia, Mexican and Colombian Cartels have been present and working here since then as well, fighting each other for ports and territory. 3) US Manta military base had no impact in our insecurity...neither positive nor negative. It was there not for us, Ecuadorians, but for US. We are a colony and it seems we love it, to some extent (not me, personally.) 5) By the time Lasso was impeached insecurity was at its worst already, so it cannot be deemed as a cause. Now, let's go with the real reasons: 1) You stated one important fact: in order to tackle insecurity you must first tackle poverty.. so this is the reason #1. Poverty and unemployment increased since 2017, but aggravated since 2020 due to Pandemic. During pandemic I saw people stealing food...FOOD! .. IN QUITO! I barely can imagine how hard things were outside capital city. In this time Moreno, following IMF economic guidelines made some cuts to reduce our state. In this period our health system collapsed, in such a way that corpses were seen left in the streets of Guayaquil. Also, in this period poverty and unemployment increased a lot and with it, corruption and crime. 2) Cartels and mafias saw an opportunity here to recruit young people and homeless to sell and produce drugs. You were right when you said this used to be a drug transit country.. but in poverty and misery, drug kings could gain personnel and they even gained territory within the state itself and authorities in such a way that, to be specific, Albanese and Calabria mafia funded the campaign of this psychopathic narcissist: Guillermo Lasso. 3) Guillermo Lasso, funded by Albanese mafia, was elected president and made some interesting changes: one of his ministers made more international ship ports available (coincidence, right..) and kept cutting funds for several state services, again, following IMF economic guidelines. He tried to cut some important subsidies but we didn't let him by demonstrating so he had to go back, to some extent. Then a journalist discovered his connections to the mafia and drugs and he was impeached over that... evidence was simply undeniable. Insecurity was already a problem when he came to power, but it's now a big problem because he was the president that Albanese mafia put in charge, and that bothered the other cartels, specially because his government made it easy for this mafia to send drugs outside. This also lead to more drugs seizure (and this is Lasso's excuse for this insecurity... like "oh look, I've seized more drugs than any other government and drug cartels didn't like that so they're taking revenge"), but essentially that's exactly how we know we stopped being a transit country to a producer. Basically the more drugs we produce, the more it is seized... In summary, insecurity here is now a shit because as always US treated us as a colony and made us cut state services that helped poor people survive, like health and education. Drug high top dealers took the opportunity to recruit these poor people and finally a president the Albanese mafia put led to some internal conflicts among them (apart from this president having made it possible to send more drugs to international market). Finally, whenever you take your coke line in a party, or your weed, remember there you might be paying money, but we are paying with our blood... enjoy it :) Pd. Noboa is not that unexperienced, he was a congressman.
It's always someone else. I've been multiple places where residents insist there is no crime, and if there is crime it's caused by immigrants. @@darrellandsondraholden9457
Good thing that Mashi had no connections whatsoever to organized crime, and he had the most honest men and women in his cabinet, people like Jorge Glas. And Mashi was so ethical he never worried about journalists like Fernando Villavicencio investigating him because he had no skeletons in his closet, right? So what if his critics were arrested or even died under mysterious circumstances? Mashi was NOT a "narcissistic psychopath," even as his weekly "sabatinas" in which he ranted with pure paranoia became longer and longer, Dollarization, by the way, would not have happened if back in the 70s and 80s the Ecuadorian government had not opted to expand the role of the state in subsidizing services, such as petroleum. The claim back then was that Ecuador's petroleum reserves would generate a flood of revenue that would lift the country out of poverty. What actually happened, however, is that by tying Ecuador's economic future to the price of petroleum meant that when the price of this natural resource dropped, so did the country's economy. But now Ecuadorian politicians found themselves in a familiar trap once they've initiated any type of socialist or Marxist policies; they ran out of funds to spend, but their constituents now regarded state-subsidies as an entitlement. So what did Ecuadorian politicians do? They decided to just print more money. The only problem, however, with that remedy is that printing money results in a devaluation of currency. Hence, their was no other option other than to go on the American dollar. I mean, do you really believe, Nadine, that we should have remained on the Sucre, which had less value than the paper it was made of?
@@Viracocha88 I'll kindly suggest you to study Ecuadorian history and English carefully before you speak. "His critics"... omg. Oh man, drug cartels and mafias have been here since 2000. No government is "save" to that. I don't doubt Correa is corrupt, but in regards with his connections to drug cartels well, that's just your theory (I don't give a shit whether that's true or not but without proofs I'll deem it as just your theory, a conspirative one). However, I don't see why are you talking about a government that finished its term 8 years ago now.... wth? for real, you better study history, Ecudorian and international.
As ecuadorian I'm very impressive for the research for this video with a relative short time, but I can say that we don't need another base of the USA, on those year we were doing good even the DEA was surprised about the work in our country.
It didn't experience a collapse; there was a rise in crime rates. It's like suggesting Sweden collapsed because they are facing the same hallenges for the same reason. On an economic front, the new government is steering in a positive direction.
NOT EVERYWHERE IN ECUADOR.....LOOK AT CUENCA! Cuenca is the case that proves the point, says parttime expat and retired criminology professor Martin Simmons, referring to a recent article in the Washington Post that called the crime situation in Ecuador a “tale of two countries.” Murders in Cuenca dropped from 33 in 2022 to 20 in 2023. Crime also dropped in most other categories. “The story quoted a United Nations drug office official about the murder rate and he mentioned that while it’s spiraling out of control in Ecuador’s port cities, it has changed relatively little in places like Cuenca and Loja, in the Andes,” Simmons says. “The numbers just put out by the National Police tell the story.” In statistics released last week by the National Police Command, the number of murders in the Cuenca canton dropped from 33 in 2022 to 20 in 2023. For Azuay Province, the total was 50, with half of the homicides occurring in Camilo Ponce Enríquez, a community of 25,000 which is a center of illegal gold mining on the Guayas Province border. In addition to murders, of the nine crime categories tracked by the police command, rates declined in seven in both Cuenca and Azuay Province. One of the two categories that showed an increase was theft of persons committed by motorcycle thieves. In Cuenca, there were 230 thefts by motorcycle reported in 2023 compared to 211 in 2020. “These robberies always include an operator and a passenger, with the passenger getting off the motorcycle to commit the crime,” says Manuel Cabrera, a former National Police commander, now a private security consultant. “If the municipality of Cuenca follows through with its plan to ban young male passengers on motorcycles and the ban is enforced, this will eliminate most of these robberies.” Among crimes categories that showed reductions in 2023 from 2022, were home burglaries, dropping from 387 to 266, and robberies of persons (not including motorcycle robberies) dropping from 679 to 520. According to Simmons, the difference in murder rate between coastal cities, such as Guayaquil and Manta, and Cuenca, Ambato and Loja, is stunning. “Guayaquil could end the year with almost 50 murders per 100,000 population, while Cuenca will have a rate of 3.5 per 100,000 and Ambato will be at 4.8,” he says. “The 1000% differential is explained by the fact that the violence is concentrated in the areas where illegal drugs are shipped to the U.S. and Europe. Although much of the other crime, such as extortion and kidnapping, is not directly related to the drug trade, it feeds off of it and the money it generates.” “For the purpose of comparison, Cuenca’s murder rate is lower than that of most U.S. cities of comparable size,” Simmons says. He adds: “There has been a fear among some Cuencanos and expats that the violence would migrate from the coast to Cuenca and other cities of the sierra, but this is not happening. It is a fact that criminals prefer to remain in their territory, among the people and places they are familiar with.”
I spent a month in Ecuador earlier this year. My friend and I circumnavigated the country on motorcycles. Not once did we encounter danger or unfriendly people. In fact the opposite is true. I'll spend time there again before I would go to the US.
Prior to 2008, it was mostly pick pockets and home burglaries. 2008 up to the Pandemic, I feel it was about the same. Robberies were all over and there were occasional home invasions. Prior to the Pandemic, kidnappings were not that common. 2020-2021, things were weird because the Quarantine restrictions were so tight. 2022 forward is when violence got real.
The countries currency for decades was the Sucre. The inflation made them ditch it for the US dollar. Always wanted to visit the country but looks like Ill have to wait it out haha
@@KoralTea Boy, what are you talking about? You are not even from here. It is dangerous u mor.0n. Btw I think media is claickbaity towards USA being r4c@ist. They all get along so well and coexist in peace ❤ what a beautiful diversity 😍. Greetings from Ecuador
I have lived in in a tourist town in the North Sierra of Ecuador for twelve years. I lived in the U.S. for 68 years. My town is safe and you can walk the streets day or night. I also do not pay much attention to any article done by anyone not living the the country about which they are writing. It is basically an opinion. And lets talk about the increase in crime, as you appear to question the cause. If the U.S. and Europe could control their drug problems, we would have had no increase in crime in Ecuador. I am sure Colombia thanks them as the drug problems in the U.S. have quadrupled in two years. Our new President appears to have the right idea about about confronting the problems. The U.S., knowing they are helping to cause the increase in crime, has offered to send in air support to fly the coastline of Ecuador, but nothing has arrived. And those mini subs you see in the news, transporting cocaine down the Miro river into the ocean to load on large boats headed for Mexico and the U.S., have a good story behind them that Geographic did a special on several years back. The origination of the firs mini subs was not the idea of Colombians or Ecuadorians. Ecuador is not having the mass shooting weekly that you see in the U.S. Even Ecuador's police did not carry guns until two years ago. No one felt it was necessary. When I moved here in 2013 U.S expats were mostly retirees moving here from the U.S. because cost of living in Ecuador is a quarter of the U.S.. Now you see mostly families looking for a safer place to raise their children. As I see it, The U.S. and Europe's inability to control drug use in their countries has become Ecuador's problem and many of our children in the areas around Ecuador's ports are being killed in drug related shootouts. As I said above, when writing an article, if you do not live in the place about which you write, it is only an opinion.
I think you’re missing a bit of nuance when it comes to Correa and Moreno. While yes Morena was Correa’s successor, they have vastly different policies and Morena kinda stabbed Correa in the back!
It is really sad what is happening to my country... But you are not in danger if you know were to go. As long as you dont mess with the wrong people, dont go to places too far away from cities and stay up too late you should be fine.
I was on holiday in Ecuador in May 2023 and i had no trouble wondering around the steets of Quito by myself, i never felt in any danger at any point even when i got taxis after midnight. I also went to Lago Agrio and again felt very safe. The violence is no doubt in a couple of areas and your making it out to be worse than it actually is, if you go to any major city in the world there is a chance you could be a victim of a crime no matter how serious.
You got into taxis after midnight? You are a fool. We've been here since 2014 and my husband works in crisis management so I know what I'm talking about.
You conveniently don't say that a US military presence in any Latin American country is a threat to political participation, especially if the US does not like the government in power. Most Latin Americans are aware of the horrible history of US support for dictators and repressive regimes.
I’m Ecuadorian and is very painful to see how the crime took the control of the country, they rule Ecuador, and government is not prepare to fight them back
A quick google suggests it can be used both ways: - The calm centre of a hurriance/tornado - At the center of / deeply involved in a difficult/controversial/hectic situation
I guess this shows why people like the president of el Salvador are needed elsewhere than just el Salvador now that the country is safer than if has been in decades. And if they throw those people in jail the human rights watch will start crying that you are threatening criminals as they should be threaded.
A factor in why this happened was the doubling of prisoners. These a large chance that if El Salvador doesn’t stick the landing with its recovery then it’s authoritarian approach to crime will backfire
@@deanrichard1770 I am not talking about reboa. Or whatever his name is. But that like in el Salvador building that giant prison took away most gang violence so far I know. I am from the Netherlands and here our tv news where crying about the criminals and their wants and needs. Instead of the people who were victims of those people. Followed up by me on twitter seeing people from el Salvador talking( who I take a lot more about than what my news says) about how this is justice for all the people they murdered. I am further not entirely sure on the political side of things in the country or cultural my knowledge is limited on that. I know Ecuador is a different country than el Salvador but if the prison helped in el Salvador Mabey something similar could work out well for Ecuador's people.
@@sparks1792 no really but depends on why he was arrested, I don't think he was just sitting on his couch and got arrested. dit he have one of those gang tattoo mark on him. Or don't you know if he had one of those.
@@xander_21 You’ll never reform the country doing things like that dude. I agree locking up the gang members they’re obviously lost causes. I’m talking about a 14 year old. He’s already struck down the gangs he save the kids while doing it he can do both.
As an Ecuadorian, I must say It is not fair our new president is in the thumbnail of this video. My country became the way it is today because of Lasso, Moreno and, specially, Correa. Any of those low class thieves and a**holes are better (and fairer) options for a thumbnail image. I know Noboa is the one we the Ecuadorians have chosen to make things better at least, but he is not the one to blame for our current situation. So Noboa in the thumbnail of a video of this kind is not just unfair but unintentionally misleading. Thanks for addressing the situation of my country. Best wishes to you.
Well yes, but El Salvador anti-crime measures are quite different from the ones that Ecuador took, El Salvador is having a no toleration maseure, while Ecuador did it by social spending.
@@jackyexThe next government could reverse that by cutting security spending, just like what happened in Ecuador where they let prisons totally out of control given the lower budget.
@@jackyex I don't disagree, but I think there is still something that people could learn from this if they have to face massive crime: don't take funding away from the police if you want to eradicate crime. This may seem obvious, but a different administration could easily undo all of Bukele's anti-crime plans.
Man, that "GaJaQuEeL" pronuciation... Guayaquil is pronounced "Guajakeel." Keep it going, if the most egregious mistake is the pronuciation it means you're doing a good job, as long as you keep working on improving as well, that is.
So sad this is happening in Ecuador. I’ve visited family several times from 2001-2019. From what I hear from family members is that the majority of the crimes are disproportionately committed by foreigners. Venezuelans, Colombians and apparently Albanians. I hope things can turn around.
One of the problems of Ecuadorians is that they tend to blame others. Most crimes are done by Ecuadorians. All the violent gangs are also Ecuadorian. They can refuse to work for the Mexican gangs.
You are so wrong. That is not true. I've been here for 9+ years and minister to some of the immigrants. The locals tend to blame the crimes on the immigrants. Yes, the majority of the crime might be committed by 'foreigner', such as cartel from other countries.
My cousin actually knows the family of Fernando Villavicencio. He had to lay low cause he was afraid he was going to be next. You know what else is sad? The current president of Ecuador lets the drug trafficking keep going. As long as you pay a certain of amount of cash then its all dandy. Pathetic my mother's country has become.
Personally, I migrated. I work in the agricultural sector, and it wasn't uncommon to hear about colleagues who would get kidnapped. Or finding dead bodies in the middle of a sugar cane plantation. How to end this? Lasso was either an incompetent or an evil guy... There is no there explanation. The police and interior ministry were so heavily underfunded that police man had no bullets or bulletproof vests. Noboa has to do the bare minimum.. just fund the damn police!
In more detail though, it’s a combination of corruption and incompetency within the governments of Moreno and Lasso, who were neoliberals that moved the country to the right, and because of their austerity politics poverty rose, causing the cartels to have more people to recruit from. Say what you want about Correa, but he effectively reduced crime and poverty significantly, most of us know and he still has a relatively high approval rating (55%) compared to Moreno and Lasso (about 20%) but just because most approve of him, doesn’t mean they will support him or his party blindly, although his party is now the biggest in the prefectures/National Assembly and is the biggest individual party by far, receiving 30-40% of the vote in most elections, it kind of has a voting ceiling and struggles to win in 1v1 races. Now there is an alliance in the National Assembly between Noboa’s party (center left) and Correa’s party (left wing), along with the partido social cristiano which is kind of a right wing populist I suppose but they are in the alliance because they hate Lasso now. So Noboa will govern for 18 months, and then new elections will be held in 2025, and hopefully another candidate that is against austerity politics/corruption wins, whether it be someone like Correa or more like Noboa. The violence has to end and it has gotten pretty extreme, but life has to go on day to day.
How it is like to live well, it depends on what city or area you live in. Some cities like Guayaquil are very violent right now, but other cities are a lot less violent. If you are lucky you will be in an area where basically the narcos mainly just kill each other, and you won’t get killed unless you happen to be caught in the crossfire, but some poorer areas unfortunately you will become a victim regardless of what you do. And in some places they make you do a “vacuna”, you have to pay money to the cartels to be able to run your business safely, or even live safely, and if you don’t pay they will burn it down or kill you.
was there in april felt very safe, banos, quito, montanita etc... Wouldn't hang out in guayaquil or other dangerous spots . My heart is with you ecuador.
There was just a report that 65% of Ecuadorians do not feel safe walking in their own neighborhoods. I like Ecuador, but the increased crime cannot be ignored.
I was there in the summer of 2017. It was clearly a poor country but everyone was very nice and I never once felt unsafe. It’s too bad things have gotten dangerous there.
What a coincidence. I was there in summer 2017 as well. Ecuador is a beautiful country with friendly people. I have a plane to go back next year. Hope things will get better soon.
Very misleading information. Yes crime has increased but it's been like that every where in the world. I was there last year. In cuenca. I never felt unsafe. Take precautions as you would anywhere in the world. Enjoy
@@dongarcia6491 Probably not going back for many years either way. There are too many other parts of the world I haven’t yet been to.
You’re too vocal on the internet. Touch grass
@@yaseenshokry5899 😎
As a former Resident of Ecuador, this breaks my heart.
Say a prayer for Ecuador we’re going tru things that we don’t wish to nobody, yesterday 60 armed men came to our neighborhood threatening to murder entire families if the gang boss that runs our neighborhood don’t comply with the rent and extortion they’re asking! They jumped and hit some ppl badly in front of my mother in law home, these ppl had rifles out and machetes! Mean while there was police a block away watching from afar! Ppl asked for help but nothing happened! This war against crime it’s not working! Things are getting worst! I just want to get out of here with my whole family! They’re asking money from all businesses if not you get killed! Seems like the military and police are members of this gangs! Mean while the local news narrative it’s saying that crime has come down and they’re winning over crime! And we live in sauces 1 that’s a middle class neighborhood not a dangerous area! 🙏🏽❤️
Colombia suffered quite a lot in the 80s and 90s from the cartels. Back then, the cartels were much more powerful than they are now, and the Colombian state was very weak for its size in those years. They did not play by the same rules of strategy and morality.
Colombia overcame that stage through a tough and confrontational war on drugs. Many policemen, prosecutors, judges, journalists and civilians died, but their struggle was not in vain. There are still enormous problems, but if they had given up, that monster would have destroyed what is now my country.
You missed that the Mexican Cartels basically took over the trade by force.
did you tell us what we all already know
If you're in Latin America and the situation is good, just be patient; it'll get bad soon.
If you're in Latin America and the situation is bad, just be patient; it'll get worse soon.
And if the situation is worse?
@@upstar21t Then you elect a libertarian.
@@thearpox7873
..and the situation will be even worse soon :)
That might be true… but is the situation that much better for the average American? I live in a Latin American country and we’ve had a grand total of zero mass shootings in 2023…
Depends upon the standard you wish to use, I guess. For the "average" American, absolutely, it is better otherwise why would so many of THEM be trying so hard to come HERE? But it is on a downward trajectory, I'll admit. For "certain" Americans, no, it's not better.@@hammerr3
As an Ecuadorian, I appreciate that you are addressing the Ecuadorian situation. However, I must say that I don't understand why international media (even independent media as this one) avoid mentioning the reports of Lasso connections with the Albanian mafia and how his bank all of a sudden had record profits during his ruling. Also, the butchered pronunciation of my home city "Guayaquil" made me cringe so much.
As a colombian , who has always thought ecuadorians are our brothers, toda mi solidaridad y apoyo
Cut them some slack with the bad pronunciations, they’re British.
@@felixb6 Yeah, I know, but it's always amusing to poke some fun on how foreigners pronounce our cities...
@@julianescobar2395 Gracias, un abrazo hermano...
Entendible , pero créeme que te pasaría lo mismo con nombres de ciudades gringas , por ejem como pronunciarías Weehawken
As an American who has lived in Ecuador for about 3 years, I can say that this video is technically correct. What's missing is that the violence is all concentrated in the areas important to drug traffickers. The vast majority of the killings happen in Guayaquil, with some activity in Esmeraldas. The ports and the border with Columbia are where the cartels are battling for control. The rest of Ecuador is peaceful. There is theft everywhere because the economy is not doing well but it's usually not violent. I don't go out at night and avoid isolated areas so I've never had a problem. Ecuador is still a great country for expats to retire to. You just need to use some common sense.
ColOmbia
@@SomeguyonYT2-r4h Oops. My bad. You are correct.
Are you allowed to own firearms and use them for self-defense? If not, then it's a terrible country to retire to...
But here in Brazil Ecuador is presented as an economic success story due to dollarization, which "lifted the living standards" to be emulated by Argentina and even Brazil. In fact the New Argentine presidente was elected BECAUSE his plan to dollarize Argentina and bring untold riches to Argentina just as it did in Ecuador .
@@nothanks3236 Actually, the government recently allowed private citizens to own firearms. The problem is there are no shooting ranges available to private citizens. Also, if you kill someone who didn't have a gun pointed at you then you will likely go to jail.
I was in Ecuador in the Fall 2020 and I fell in love with its biodiversity and friendly, generous people. This is a momentary setback for an otherwise wonderful country.
It’s going to be a long momentary setback.
just don't get shot at, right?
It's amazing how expat cope.
The country itself is wonderful, but its society and culture have serious flaws that allow for the current wave of violent crime.
The people are uneducated, corrupt & apathetic.
I had a friend in boarding school who was from Ecuador and she always spoke of how much she loved it, this was back in 2012-2015… I just found out her family recently moved to Spain…
That was when we used to have a President….
@@franciscomorales4051JAJAJAJ ¿Correa?
@@FernandoAlvarez-hz6hb …el que ríe al último, ríe mejor….
Spain should not allow such people into their country. They're inviting a problem they may not be able to control
@@franciscomorales4051 Dont listen to this guy, he's probably peruvian. Nobody with at least a single braincell would still say "Yeah, Correa, what great president" lol
I’ve spent a bunch of time in Latin America. Now I have Ecuadorian friends taking their families to Spain to be safe. They tell me that these days everyone has guns and violence is a daily thing. Even the kids were afraid to go outside to play in the gated community…
Not everyone, just the gangs.
I am an American who has lived in Ecuador for the last 10 months. About half of this is total bs. Many places in the US are far worse than what is described here. Ecuador does have problems but if you stay away from the drug trade and bad areas of large cities you should be fairly safe. Most of the violence is inside prisons unlike in the US
@@chrisgillings537 also outside prisons but among gang members for the most parts, it's certainly not as bad as the idea of "most dangerous country" implies
@@chrisgillings537 I agree with part of your comment, however, kidnappings are all over even in Quito. I don't feel safe to walk all over like before.
And to the US. I think Ecuadoreans are #2 after Venezuelans.
For much as I feel very bad about Ecuadorians - I've been there as a tourist and it's such a lovely place - this is a tale of Latin America as a whole...you should explain it as such, maybe in a future video. Organized crime spilled out of Mexico, Colombia, Brasil and Venezuela to other places it didn't previously touch, especially during the pandemic, and now we're all suffering from it, in one degree or another. This has happened in Ecuador, Perú, even in Uruguay...I'm Chilean and this is THE TOPIC of the time; we have been seeing a rise of crime, and types of crimes we didn't know before, gang style. Boric's government had to turn around everything to try to confront crime, something unusual for a left-wing government.
Btw I don't get why is such a taboo to talk about the effect the massive exodus of Venezuelans out of their country has have in Lat Am.; of course the vast majority aren't criminals but pretty violent Venezuelan gangs (like Tren de Aragua) have been roaming the continent bc of it and it's like we have to pretend it's not happening.
PS: the last bit isn't to say the situation is only attributable to Venezuelans; I think Mexican and Colombian organized crime is way more powerful and had reached every corner of the continent. But still, is ironic that the Venezuelan bit is so politically incorrect when it's just...true.
we just moved to chile as russian refugees. We never expected the chileans to be this friendly and welcoming. However the situation here is not really as good as I expected. There is bars on windows everywhere, even in the more prosperous Las Condes district where we live. We get recommended to not take our phone out all the time.
@@sparrow9982glad you got out of Russia, wishing you a safe life in Chile! 🇨🇱
What often happens is that people leave their nation of origin in favor of better things, only to transport their same problems and values along with themselves. In effect, they never learn anything. The same thing occurs between various states within the United States.
For example, people leave California for Texas or Florida, and then they contaminate their new state of residence with the same style of politics and behaviors as they abandoned.
The entire world has now become more or less contaminated in the same fashion.
@@sparrow9982I thought Russia would have been more dangerous. At least the intentional homicide rate is much higher than in Chile. It might be that crime is more evenly spread across Chilean regions, while in Russia you might have clear hotspots of crime.
@YourD3estinY well also it's dangerous in Russia if your a dude now because you have a chance of getting a draft letter. So in comparison Chile is probably much better lol
It's... Almost like cutting funding to key institutions only makes the situation worse. Where have we seen this before, I wonder?
It's clear Lenin Moreno was an IMF and world bank puppet. He severely cut security spending and this is the result.
I live in Ecuador and let me tell you, the crime is only affecting the drug trafficking routes, you can still visit anything that is not Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Quito, and the routes to and from Peru and Colombia, for example, safe tourist places include Mindo, Baños, the small towns in the Andes, and of course, the Galapagos islands, I always tell people that no matter how bad mainland Ecuador is doing, it never affects Galapagos, Galapagos is still super safe (as safe as me forgetting your camera on the beach and people running to bring it back to you, or walking without worries in the middle of the night in the most isolated areas), and some islands didn't even get COVID during the pandemic. Also worth mentioning that, as in any other place in SA, if you are careful where you go and don't get involved in shady businesses, you won't be the target of any violent crime, I live in one of the main cities, take public transport, and I'm still doing fine
I agree this channel is very misleading and a lot of Ecuador is very safe
This is good information. So you would not recommend visiting any of the large cities?
You are living in a dream world. That is NOT the reality. We have lived here 9+ years.
@@Everything_Ecuador Not very safe. Bars before windows, high fences and security guards everywhere.
Are you still saying such nonsense today?
I wont be surprised people will comment about Bukele, El Salvador, and his actions
I hear you! Been to El Salvador twice this year. Just visited 2 weeks ago. I can confirm tha ES is pretty safe and booming. People are out and about without worries for their safety.
My family is from Ecuador we lived in a small town called Portoviejo just an hour ride from Manta. It sucks to see the country like this as i remember summer trips in the early 2010s being so peaceful.
My grandparents still live there to and i pray they are safe everyday
Do you know franco’s soldadora?
Portoviejo is a city not a small town, or did you mean Portovelo?
@@alexcoronel5536 ahhh. My bad
@@alexcoronel5536 portovelo it is.
@@josephgormley1175Manabi!
Cartel is the largest threat in Latin America being a state inside a state in many regions .
I lived in Genoa, Italy for over a year back in 2017. The majority latino in Genoa are Ecuadorians. It's estimated that more than 30,000 Ecuadorian people live in the Liguria region. Seeing this is heartbreaking. They are wonderful people, the best of the best. I pray things will get better.
I live in Ecuador 25 years. The most loving people i've ever met in my life
💔💔💔Ecuadorians are some of the warmest most incredible people, I taught English there earlier this year & always felt safe and welcomed
🌺🌹🌸❤️🇪🇨
Agree
Becoming one of the most violent countries in Latin America is actually a huge achievement that shouldn’t be understated 😂
An achievement for the CIA?
@@toyotaprius79 "everything I don't like is CIA."
Maybe this whole mess is simply because Ecuadorians are incapable of self-governance.
it is just an example how things can go south so fast ...especially that ecuador was among the safest countries in the world
@@toyotaprius79are you sure it isnt europe ms it is only usa because i bottomed out my propaganda their.
@@prrfrrpurochicas yeah sure buddy surely the EU caused instability in Ecuador
Was there just 1-2 months ago, Quito and Guayaquil definitely didn't feel safe but other more touristy places such as Mindo, ,Baños, Cuenca and (of course) the Galapagos felt very safe
You are missing a very important piece of the puzzle: Venezuelan immigration.
Venezuela is the most violent country in latin America. 2017 is the year that venezuelans started to immigrate en masse. The economic crisis made a lot of violent criminals migrate to nearby countries such as Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador.
Yep, but there are specific reasons that made Ecuador a good place for those and other gangs, including Mexicans and Colombians. I think, in the case of Ecuador, Venezuelan gangs came to top off something that was already bad
really_ @Wizz21 really, is that so, could you explain further _[*¨][;:
so for every t ten venexuelans, 3 are actually colombiands and decent of colombians , @Wizz21
So you're blaming the immigrants? How convenient.
People like you are so annoying. Tren de Aragua isn’t even an entity with much operation at all in Ecuador nor does any Ecuadorian gang have a Venezuelan leader. I’ve never even met a single Venezuelan police officer in Ecuador and there’s a ton of corruption in policing as well. Same idea: I can’t think of a single politician from Venezuela and there’s also a ton of corruption there as well. I’m not saying Ecuadorians are horrible people or that everyone’s a criminal and I’m not saying that all Venezuelans are great people or that there aren’t criminals whom are from Venezuela but to blame everything on Venezuelans is so annoying and in accurate.
Same thing every other country does, just blame the immigrants. You’re a sheep.
Crime has definitely risen since COVID, I will not deny that, though I usually go to Ecuador every year to visit family and I'm still able to walk on the streets without any problems. Even my parents went back this summer and to some of the areas affected by recent upticks in murder and didn't experience any problems.
So there are the statistics but I want people who watch this to realize just because you go to Ecuador doesn't mean there is a shooting at every corner.
There is actually a shooting at every corner (in the figurative and almost real sense), but facts are that according to the Ecuadorian government, 85% of these deaths are gang to gang, which limit to 15% the non-gang deaths. Now, is this true and can we believe the government about this? I have no idea, but I have my doubts.
I've heard rumors of a lethal disease that kills non-natives for trying to pronounce Spanish words the right way, glad to see you're still safe!
@@mateovelastegui1199 No creo que estos muchachos tengan mucho interés en visitar uno de nuestros países, la verdad.
Guy-a-quill
@@Noplayster13guayakill
@@mateovelastegui1199 Gwaiakill.
Most of the new people we are getting now in Minneapolis are Natives from the mountains of Ecuador. One little old maid almost jumped into a fight when my pregnant landlord had to take one for the hood. Baby is okay. They are hard-working people.
Wtf
You mean, from the "Highlands"? They are people with more native blood than the coast region and have a sligthly different cultute. And If I remember correctly those are what usually go to USA, especially to New York.
I spent the whole summer in Ecuador 20 years ago. I am so sorry to see what has happened...
It's been through some troubles. I was there last year. Most of the country is still safe. And ecuador is NOT the most dangerous country in South America.
Feel like you missed the real story?
It's not how did Ecuador get so dangerous. It's how it briefly bucked the trend and was so safe for the 2010s
Ecuador is a lot safer than Detroit, Memphis, St. Louis, San Francisco, Baltimore. NYC, should I continue?
BINGO! That's one of the reasons we left and why we're here.
I have lived in Ecuador for over a decade. The video is a good summary (pronunciations aside). Couple of things (1) Noboa's grandfather was the one who started the banana empire, not his father (2) you might want to research the connection between the cartels and the previous Revolucion Ciudana government (3) yes, things are challenging but in other ways the country is developing, evolving and changing in many positive ways.
Interestingly enough, you can literally see at the beginning of this video, a descending slope in violence, between 2012 and 2017, in the very same years of Revolución Ciudadana in the power. Granted, there are some naive people who claim _"it's because he had deals with drug lords"_ which crumbles easily after realizing a) Most of those Mafia bosses got captured and put behind bars with Revolución Ciudadana in power, and b) even if they have had some sort of agreement with some drug lord if any, there are literally *dozens* of such groups, which would have been very difficult to hide, even more with the fierce opposition Correa had with ecuadorian private news broadcasting corporations.
I think the rise in crime is more related with right-winged presidents Moreno & Lasso, who opted for paying Foreign Debt, with little to no investment in Military and Police forces, until very late, when everything was bad already...
You need to watch the whole picture pal, not what seems to be convenient for your narrow political view 😉
@@dec13666Yeah, Correa didn't do anything wrong, I mean, it was completely BRILLIANT to decline to extend the lease agreement for the US Military base in Manta from which they were running ANTI-NARCOTICS operations across Ecuadorian waters as well as cutting down with the US International Narcotics Agency leaving ecuadorian territory free to run drug businesses from outside/inside bars, yeah, excellent move! what president in his right mind wouldn't do that, right?
If Ecuador at that time was bad, thanks to Correa's decisions got worse. Correa, Moreno, Lasso everyone is shit. With that being said, the past is the past, it doesn't matter anymore, now everyone in Ecuador is praying/wishing all the best to the current president Daniel Noboa in order to see improvements in economics and security which are not going to be easy to fix everything under less than 2 years.
@@dec13666 I did watch the whole video, even the ad at the end. My point was they should research those links, which I think there is evidence of significant connections. With respect, you do not know me or how I view politics, or my experience in the world of politics. I say research, and yes, research Moreno and the awful Lasso administration as well. But my points were fair in the context they were expressed.
@@Stephenmaly Really !? So when the government of the US and DEA congratulates Correa for "Their fight against the drug cartels" they are the ones with the connections to the drug mafias. But when that same government goes out and tells the world that "Ecuador has narco-generales , narco-jueces, narco-fiscales, soccer teams and the press laundrying money for the drug cartels" That tells you other wise. Then the right wing has nothing to do with the drug cartels but Correa did. Not a f___ing proof but it has to be so because it suits your hate and beliefs.....
Please mention 5, only 5 of those "ways that Ecuador is developing and evolving in a positive way" . Perhaps public health, security, work opportunities, infrastructure, new equipment for the police, new hospitals, new roads and highways, perhaps in education ... Right, RIGHT ?
I visited Ecuador in 2017, I stayed in Quito during a week. In that time, the country was still a peaceful place. I had a good time there. I hope Ecuador turns back its normal state.
Since all those Venezuelan migrants arrived in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru the risen of insecurity at each corner of this countries help the traffic groups to establish it's guns there
Don't follow your logic at all. So you're saying that the Venezuelan immigrants are the reason by the cartel is establishing its guns in Ecuador? Wow, such ignorance.
@@darrellandsondraholden9457it’s not Venezuelan immigrants, it’s the fact that because the frontier is open, not only Venezuelan immigrant are coming in, but also the cartels, gangs, and traffickers
@@darrellandsondraholden9457yes
I visited on a humanitarian trip in 2016. Sad to see it’s getting worse. So much love for my Ecuadorian Friends 💙
After the earthquake it must have been
The Banana empire was founded by Daniel Noboa's grandfather. His father only expanded the fortune.
I was living there when Noboa’s father ran against Correa. Would have been interesting to see how things would have been different if he had won.
Essa é a realidade de toda a América Latina, por conta da fragilidade de suas leis,cada vez mais francas pra "combater" criminosos poderosos e perigosos. Espero que os latinos americanos acordem pra essa realidade e lutemos pra essa situação mudar. Merecemos viver em nossos países de forma pacífica, queremos nossa liberdade que nos foi roubada.
O numero de homicidios no Brasil diminui quase 25% desde 2014. O numero geral de crimes caiu 23% desde 2014.
@@verdi2310
E mesmo assim, o número de pessoas que morrem no Brasil em 1 ano por homicídios é maior do que países em guerra.
@@pablobomgiorno8273 Até 2016 se uma pessoa era assassinada na minha cidade (6 mil hab) era um acontecimento, chocava todo mundo.
Só esse ano (2023) já foram mais de 5, todos com algum envolvimento com o tráfico, a população só fala "menos um" e seguem a vida.
Quando eles são presos não ficam nem um ano, isso quando já não são liberados na mesma hora.
@@verdi2310 lembrete de q 90% dos assaainatos no beasil sao arquivados sem achar um suspeito
Graças ao Bolsonaro.
my family lived so well in Ecuador and had a business similar to auto zone but now they are on their way to the United States by land since the consulate denied them a visa to leave the country since the gangs have threatened their lives and the torture they They have had it is sad what is happening in eastern Ecuador
Violence started to rise in south America when venezuelans escaping Maduro arrived illegally to Peru, Chile,etc
that's pretty much it. But nowadays, it seem slike out of control migration is fine, for some reason.
It happened once the Mexican cartels go involved
Mexicans are buyers. They don’t run the store. They make noise and get caught and others around them..
So you are blaming immigrants? Don't you realize that evil world leaders plan these exiles so they can send criminals from everywhere across the borders, hidden within the immigrant population?
It didn't experience a breakdown; there was a rise in crime rates. It's akin to suggesting Sweden faced challenges for the same reason. On an economic front, the new government is steering in a positive direction.
yes
No, it really was a breakdown. The whole security and justice systems came crashing down. A spike in crime rates is one thing, but when you can no longer trust that the police will show up or that criminals will be sentenced by judges it’s a whole other thing.
It's hardly similar to Sweden when you have the assassination of a major political figure during elections, along with a hefty rise in crime and emigration to escape the violence.
Yes neoliberalism will do wonders for the Ecuadorian poverty rate😂
I live in Ecuador. All of the crime is on the coast, Quito and near the border with Colombia. If you stay away from those areas it's still extremely safe.
So avoid the 2 biggest metros. Ok. Lol
It’s not extremely safe. Don’t tell blatant lies.
@@GUITARTIME2024Quito is safe, I don’t under these people in the comments talking down on Quito. Quito is just as safe as Cuenca imo.
My mom cant even fly to ecuador...stop with the BS! Its bad
@@BH-pl7vg I go to Quito this Friday me and my gf got a Airbnb will we be ok?
Was in Quito, Banos, Ambato and Latacunga last Feb....Felt totally safe and loved it.
The highlands > the coast
Most Latin American states with security problems needs a Nayib Bukele's style of leadership. As a Canadian with Latin roots, I am a liberal and a supporter of democracry, but i am also aware that liberalism doesn't always work in certain situation. In countries like Ecuador, Hoduras etc... You definitely need a tough leader to control if not totally irradicate the culture of crimes and violence. Someone that has a vision for a common good for it's people and will never surrender to gangs and drug cartels. If El Salvador can do it with little time and resources, there's no excuse for other country to follow suit. If there'd a will, there;s a way!
Why is it that S.America has a huge drug problem? I am sure there are Leichtenstein, San Marino and Andorran drug cartels in Europe, however, you don't see the place looking and sounding like a dystopian zombie world.
Better question is: what really is the answer for eliminating the need for these cartels to popup in the first place?
We all need a Bukele. Probably, as you are quite right, if our situation was different, we would have more liberal govs
@@yesand5536lack of strong institutions. I give to you an example of Colombia. Here, there are places where the army cannot get in. This means other groups can fill that space
@@julianescobar2395 Is it that people don't want strong institutions, don't know what they are like as they never had them, or feel powerless to those who are anti-strong institutions and pro-personal wealth?
@@yesand5536 Because the US has a very high demand.
I just spent 3 months in Quito and Cuenca. Everyone was friendly and I never once saw any violence at all.
There’s violence in Cuenca but as a tourist you don’t notice it. Extortion is a growing problem in Cuenca.
Must not happen then
@@abark don’t know what happens and doesn’t happen. My comment was “I just spent 3 months in Quito and Cuenca. Everyone was friendly and I never once saw any violence at all. I’m currently in Lima, Peru. Same story. I was recently in bogota and Medellin. Same story. Was in Mexico City for 2 months. Lovely town full of friendly people.
Yes Quito and Cuenca are great cities, a lot of the negativity is concentrated on the coast. Enjoy Lima, it’s a beautiful city full of nice people as well.
@@lvovodessano
Thank you for your analysis. I live in Ecuador. Nboa shows promise and it's a complicated economic challenge. The indigenous want more social programs, oil drilling which pays for this has been limited by environmental groups. Drug cartel power is growing, as is corruption. But bottom line, many areas in Ecuador are very safe and this beautiful country is at a crossroads.
Well-said.
My family is Ecuadorian and I went there last from the beginning of last year 2023. For the most part it was safe and an amazing experience. Places like Baños and Cotopaxi and Galapagos were awesome and beautiful. Places like Quito were I stayed the majority of the time was told to me where dangerous and to be cautious but nothing ever happened to me and I’m a young woman with a very terrible accent. We didn’t visit Guayaquil because of family and people saying it’s dangerous. But Ecuador is just like any other country, there are safe and unsafe places and you should always be careful and informed when travelling somewhere distant or alone. I love my country and people and I’m sure we can deal with the situation so long as people don’t criticise it and leave us to deal with the situation.
In this case the government should do something about this crime and fix things in order, we should also figured out something else like investment and to make financial need to move to wherever we need to be safe.
Yeah, to start an investment isn't that easy, someone need to understand how the market work, or a professional to direct you on how the market work
@@Andyholtan expert in the market is the best in this situation, but how can someone get a professional that understand how the market work, like stock,real estate, gold etc I need an expert
@@RosellaLCraigwell, there is a real expert everywhere and a lot of scammer also, all we have to do look for a legit and trusted one to teach about the stock market
@@edna.Chavisthere's is a legit trader though, I have been trading with her since 2019, and I have been earning alot even in this crisis that have been everywhere
@@antoniete387-This is superb! Information, as a noob it gets quite difficult to handle all of this and staying informed is a major cause, how do you go about this, who is this your expert?
As an Ecuadorian, watching this summary on international news was quite interesting. I mean, I saw the news locally. Many are aware of the different factors that are in play to the current state of the country, yet a plan to actually tackle the issues? Seems out of reach. Why? Because it’s too complex and as I read in a comment around here, it would require a lot of sacrifices that most people are not willing to take because the potential outcome wouldn’t even matter since our judicial system it’s rotten to its core. Also, there is no social consciousness and empathy towards ourselves which makes even harder to understand and accept the potentially worthwhile prospects to deal with the roots of the problems. I mean, I also read a comment saying “it’s not so bad where I live”, just because you have the privilege to not having to deal with it doesn’t mean it isn’t as bad. There are towns that have daily hits. I mean, people give de4th treats as greetings right now just because you had an argument over a parking place. People have lost their minds and have lost the value of life, and well… thats everywhere honestly. So idk I’m just venting by now. Personally it has gotten to the point that one time, a stranger asked me if they can borrow my phone to place a phone call and, first time in my life I declined a favor to stranger because I was scared since my sister and my family were being threaten to de4Th that same week, and what did the police say? Well, without a knowing exactly who the person who called I was they could do jack sh1t! Also, police or military that don’t go with the “flow of drug commerce” they also get unalived. So yeah. .. we are in pickle
Thanks for writting a book in a comment ...
@@gaim44 Did it hurt your brain? 😢
@@milshubra This is a "COMMENT" section bud..lol....nobody is going to take the time to read your novel..lol
@@gaim44 you sayin am a nobody 🥲, its not my comment, but i beleive its worth d read
@@milshubra LOL ok nobody
This aged well….
? what about it
How has it "aged" in two months?
Daniel Naboa has quite a task ahead of him.
Oh, as an Ecuadorian I can tell you what exactly happened. You basically started 5 reasons for this insecurity increasing:
1) Dolarization
2) Good location for international drug market
3) US Military base shutdown
4) Moreno cutting funds for security and interior ministry.
5) Political instability due to Lasso impeachment.
However, sadly the analysis is wrong and just one of those four reasons is accurate: Moreno cutting funds for security and interior ministry. Let me explain in detail what the hell happened. First, I'm tackling the reasons of your analysis that don't follow up:
1) We've been dolarized since 2000. However, misteriously murder rate decreased from 2008 to 2017 (which is the period of.. you guessed it, Rafael Correa.)
2) Ecuador's location has always been attractive for international drug market. Since (1) is accurate to some extent, Albanese mafia, Mexican and Colombian Cartels have been present and working here since then as well, fighting each other for ports and territory.
3) US Manta military base had no impact in our insecurity...neither positive nor negative. It was there not for us, Ecuadorians, but for US. We are a colony and it seems we love it, to some extent (not me, personally.)
5) By the time Lasso was impeached insecurity was at its worst already, so it cannot be deemed as a cause.
Now, let's go with the real reasons:
1) You stated one important fact: in order to tackle insecurity you must first tackle poverty.. so this is the reason #1. Poverty and unemployment increased since 2017, but aggravated since 2020 due to Pandemic. During pandemic I saw people stealing food...FOOD! .. IN QUITO! I barely can imagine how hard things were outside capital city. In this time Moreno, following IMF economic guidelines made some cuts to reduce our state. In this period our health system collapsed, in such a way that corpses were seen left in the streets of Guayaquil. Also, in this period poverty and unemployment increased a lot and with it, corruption and crime.
2) Cartels and mafias saw an opportunity here to recruit young people and homeless to sell and produce drugs. You were right when you said this used to be a drug transit country.. but in poverty and misery, drug kings could gain personnel and they even gained territory within the state itself and authorities in such a way that, to be specific, Albanese and Calabria mafia funded the campaign of this psychopathic narcissist: Guillermo Lasso.
3) Guillermo Lasso, funded by Albanese mafia, was elected president and made some interesting changes: one of his ministers made more international ship ports available (coincidence, right..) and kept cutting funds for several state services, again, following IMF economic guidelines. He tried to cut some important subsidies but we didn't let him by demonstrating so he had to go back, to some extent. Then a journalist discovered his connections to the mafia and drugs and he was impeached over that... evidence was simply undeniable. Insecurity was already a problem when he came to power, but it's now a big problem because he was the president that Albanese mafia put in charge, and that bothered the other cartels, specially because his government made it easy for this mafia to send drugs outside. This also lead to more drugs seizure (and this is Lasso's excuse for this insecurity... like "oh look, I've seized more drugs than any other government and drug cartels didn't like that so they're taking revenge"), but essentially that's exactly how we know we stopped being a transit country to a producer. Basically the more drugs we produce, the more it is seized...
In summary, insecurity here is now a shit because as always US treated us as a colony and made us cut state services that helped poor people survive, like health and education. Drug high top dealers took the opportunity to recruit these poor people and finally a president the Albanese mafia put led to some internal conflicts among them (apart from this president having made it possible to send more drugs to international market).
Finally, whenever you take your coke line in a party, or your weed, remember there you might be paying money, but we are paying with our blood... enjoy it :)
Pd. Noboa is not that unexperienced, he was a congressman.
Typical brown excuses. It's always someone else's fault.
Oh, I see, blame other countries, blame politicians, but don't look at yourself?
It's always someone else. I've been multiple places where residents insist there is no crime, and if there is crime it's caused by immigrants. @@darrellandsondraholden9457
Good thing that Mashi had no connections whatsoever to organized crime, and he had the most honest men and women in his cabinet, people like Jorge Glas. And Mashi was so ethical he never worried about journalists like Fernando Villavicencio investigating him because he had no skeletons in his closet, right? So what if his critics were arrested or even died under mysterious circumstances? Mashi was NOT a "narcissistic psychopath," even as his weekly "sabatinas" in which he ranted with pure paranoia became longer and longer,
Dollarization, by the way, would not have happened if back in the 70s and 80s the Ecuadorian government had not opted to expand the role of the state in subsidizing services, such as petroleum. The claim back then was that Ecuador's petroleum reserves would generate a flood of revenue that would lift the country out of poverty. What actually happened, however, is that by tying Ecuador's economic future to the price of petroleum meant that when the price of this natural resource dropped, so did the country's economy. But now Ecuadorian politicians found themselves in a familiar trap once they've initiated any type of socialist or Marxist policies; they ran out of funds to spend, but their constituents now regarded state-subsidies as an entitlement. So what did Ecuadorian politicians do? They decided to just print more money. The only problem, however, with that remedy is that printing money results in a devaluation of currency. Hence, their was no other option other than to go on the American dollar. I mean, do you really believe, Nadine, that we should have remained on the Sucre, which had less value than the paper it was made of?
@@Viracocha88 I'll kindly suggest you to study Ecuadorian history and English carefully before you speak. "His critics"... omg. Oh man, drug cartels and mafias have been here since 2000. No government is "save" to that. I don't doubt Correa is corrupt, but in regards with his connections to drug cartels well, that's just your theory (I don't give a shit whether that's true or not but without proofs I'll deem it as just your theory, a conspirative one). However, I don't see why are you talking about a government that finished its term 8 years ago now.... wth? for real, you better study history, Ecudorian and international.
As ecuadorian I'm very impressive for the research for this video with a relative short time, but I can say that we don't need another base of the USA, on those year we were doing good even the DEA was surprised about the work in our country.
I´m an Ecuadorian hoping the new goverment of Noboa will focus on security. In only one year and a half there´s nothing more important to do
I just came back from there, and I had a great time. I felt safe and everyone was nice. I don't go out and party at night, so daytime it was fine.
Gosh, I loved the month I spent in Ecuador. I hope the situation changes for the people. Un abrazo desde Los Angeles!
So sad - I was there in 1988. It is a beautiful country with friendly people.
It didn't experience a collapse; there was a rise in crime rates. It's like suggesting Sweden collapsed because they are facing the same hallenges for the same reason. On an economic front, the new government is steering in a positive direction.
true
False Sweden has still 1 of the lowest crime rate in the World its only higher compared to countries like Switzerland/Norway
I'm sure the incoming dollarization in argentina will bring the same.
My wife is from there, we go fairly regularly. Beautiful place and lovely people, they will recover.
NOT EVERYWHERE IN ECUADOR.....LOOK AT CUENCA!
Cuenca is the case that proves the point, says parttime expat and retired criminology professor Martin Simmons, referring to a recent article in the Washington Post that called the crime situation in Ecuador a “tale of two countries.”
Murders in Cuenca dropped from 33 in 2022 to 20 in 2023. Crime also dropped in most other categories.
“The story quoted a United Nations drug office official about the murder rate and he mentioned that while it’s spiraling out of control in Ecuador’s port cities, it has changed relatively little in places like Cuenca and Loja, in the Andes,” Simmons says. “The numbers just put out by the National Police tell the story.”
In statistics released last week by the National Police Command, the number of murders in the Cuenca canton dropped from 33 in 2022 to 20 in 2023. For Azuay Province, the total was 50, with half of the homicides occurring in Camilo Ponce Enríquez, a community of 25,000 which is a center of illegal gold mining on the Guayas Province border.
In addition to murders, of the nine crime categories tracked by the police command, rates declined in seven in both Cuenca and Azuay Province.
One of the two categories that showed an increase was theft of persons committed by motorcycle thieves. In Cuenca, there were 230 thefts by motorcycle reported in 2023 compared to 211 in 2020.
“These robberies always include an operator and a passenger, with the passenger getting off the motorcycle to commit the crime,” says Manuel Cabrera, a former National Police commander, now a private security consultant. “If the municipality of Cuenca follows through with its plan to ban young male passengers on motorcycles and the ban is enforced, this will eliminate most of these robberies.”
Among crimes categories that showed reductions in 2023 from 2022, were home burglaries, dropping from 387 to 266, and robberies of persons (not including motorcycle robberies) dropping from 679 to 520.
According to Simmons, the difference in murder rate between coastal cities, such as Guayaquil and Manta, and Cuenca, Ambato and Loja, is stunning. “Guayaquil could end the year with almost 50 murders per 100,000 population, while Cuenca will have a rate of 3.5 per 100,000 and Ambato will be at 4.8,” he says. “The 1000% differential is explained by the fact that the violence is concentrated in the areas where illegal drugs are shipped to the U.S. and Europe. Although much of the other crime, such as extortion and kidnapping, is not directly related to the drug trade, it feeds off of it and the money it generates.”
“For the purpose of comparison, Cuenca’s murder rate is lower than that of most U.S. cities of comparable size,” Simmons says. He adds: “There has been a fear among some Cuencanos and expats that the violence would migrate from the coast to Cuenca and other cities of the sierra, but this is not happening. It is a fact that criminals prefer to remain in their territory, among the people and places they are familiar with.”
I spent a month in Ecuador earlier this year. My friend and I circumnavigated the country on motorcycles. Not once did we encounter danger or unfriendly people. In fact the opposite is true. I'll spend time there again before I would go to the US.
I am very interested in Ecuador. However, listening to this guy's voice is just sheer annnoyance.
Ecuador need to go full El Salvador
And adopt the Bukele playbook to get the violence situation quickly under control
@@thomasgrabkowski8283the agenda doesn’t allow countries to do what they please.
Prior to 2008, it was mostly pick pockets and home burglaries. 2008 up to the Pandemic, I feel it was about the same. Robberies were all over and there were occasional home invasions. Prior to the Pandemic, kidnappings were not that common. 2020-2021, things were weird because the Quarantine restrictions were so tight. 2022 forward is when violence got real.
That's what happens when fascist global lockups show up.
The countries currency for decades was the Sucre. The inflation made them ditch it for the US dollar. Always wanted to visit the country but looks like Ill have to wait it out haha
Because of a clickbait title?
@@KoralTea Are you suggesting Ecuador is not as dangerous as the title implies?
@@KoralTea Boy, what are you talking about? You are not even from here. It is dangerous u mor.0n.
Btw I think media is claickbaity towards USA being r4c@ist. They all get along so well and coexist in peace ❤ what a beautiful diversity 😍.
Greetings from Ecuador
Yeah finally a video about my country 💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥🇪🇨🇪🇨🇪🇨
I live in Ecuador.
And...?
Thanks for this report. "TLDR News", that's fun!
Theyre going to need to pull an El Salvador immediately to stem this.
I studied abroad there and dated a girl from Ecuador around a decade ago…. I hope she’s doing well
This is not about you, dude!
I have lived in in a tourist town in the North Sierra of Ecuador for twelve years. I lived in the U.S. for 68 years. My town is safe and you can walk the streets day or night. I also do not pay much attention to any article done by anyone not living the the country about which they are writing. It is basically an opinion. And lets talk about the increase in crime, as you appear to question the cause. If the U.S. and Europe could control their drug problems, we would have had no increase in crime in Ecuador. I am sure Colombia thanks them as the drug problems in the U.S. have quadrupled in two years. Our new President appears to have the right idea about about confronting the problems. The U.S., knowing they are helping to cause the increase in crime, has offered to send in air support to fly the coastline of Ecuador, but nothing has arrived. And those mini subs you see in the news, transporting cocaine down the Miro river into the ocean to load on large boats headed for Mexico and the U.S., have a good story behind them that Geographic did a special on several years back. The origination of the firs mini subs was not the idea of Colombians or Ecuadorians. Ecuador is not having the mass shooting weekly that you see in the U.S. Even Ecuador's police did not carry guns until two years ago. No one felt it was necessary. When I moved here in 2013 U.S expats were mostly retirees moving here from the U.S. because cost of living in Ecuador is a quarter of the U.S.. Now you see mostly families looking for a safer place to raise their children. As I see it, The U.S. and Europe's inability to control drug use in their countries has become Ecuador's problem and many of our children in the areas around Ecuador's ports are being killed in drug related shootouts. As I said above, when writing an article, if you do not live in the place about which you write, it is only an opinion.
Amen!
Well done, lady! We live here too!
A lesson in never neglecting everything else when all is swell.
I think you’re missing a bit of nuance when it comes to Correa and Moreno. While yes Morena was Correa’s successor, they have vastly different policies and Morena kinda stabbed Correa in the back!
Wow how strangely related to this week
RUclips algo on point
It is really sad what is happening to my country... But you are not in danger if you know were to go. As long as you dont mess with the wrong people, dont go to places too far away from cities and stay up too late you should be fine.
como dominicano en NY, amo a Ecuador, que pena
Domincano vente pa aca
A lot of them are living in Spain here. And they do not wish to return. Damn how far Ecuador has fallen.
En qué parte de España se asientan?
I am sad that my country,suffers because of bad control in government
Should ask el salvador leader for advice
So you think the answer to evil is government control? Ha! ha! ha! Only Jesus is the solution to all evil.
@@rafflesiaandfriends
I was on holiday in Ecuador in May 2023 and i had no trouble wondering around the steets of Quito by myself, i never felt in any danger at any point even when i got taxis after midnight. I also went to Lago Agrio and again felt very safe. The violence is no doubt in a couple of areas and your making it out to be worse than it actually is, if you go to any major city in the world there is a chance you could be a victim of a crime no matter how serious.
You got into taxis after midnight? You are a fool. We've been here since 2014 and my husband works in crisis management so I know what I'm talking about.
@@darrellandsondraholden9457Do you (or husband)have any ‘on the ground’ insight into the events of the last day?
Quito is night and day compared to Guayaquil. Location, location, location.
This clearly shows corelation between Economic situations and Social situations
no
Ok Einstein.
What a shame that a country so beautiful and (once) peaceful has fallen into turmoil.
You conveniently don't say that a US military presence in any Latin American country is a threat to political participation, especially if the US does not like the government in power. Most Latin Americans are aware of the horrible history of US support for dictators and repressive regimes.
Wow, how ignorant. I am a U.S. citizen who lives in Ecuador and my husband works in crisis management.
I’m Ecuadorian and is very painful to see how the crime took the control of the country, they rule Ecuador, and government is not prepare to fight them back
6:10
The eye of the storm is supposed to very calm I think.
But I'm not a meteorologist or an English major so what do I know.
A quick google suggests it can be used both ways:
- The calm centre of a hurriance/tornado
- At the center of / deeply involved in a difficult/controversial/hectic situation
😊
Very timely. Simply brilliant. Well done.
I guess this shows why people like the president of el Salvador are needed elsewhere than just el Salvador now that the country is safer than if has been in decades.
And if they throw those people in jail the human rights watch will start crying that you are threatening criminals as they should be threaded.
A factor in why this happened was the doubling of prisoners. These a large chance that if El Salvador doesn’t stick the landing with its recovery then it’s authoritarian approach to crime will backfire
@@deanrichard1770
I am not talking about reboa. Or whatever his name is. But that like in el Salvador building that giant prison took away most gang violence so far I know.
I am from the Netherlands and here our tv news where crying about the criminals and their wants and needs. Instead of the people who were victims of those people.
Followed up by me on twitter seeing people from el Salvador talking( who I take a lot more about than what my news says) about how this is justice for all the people they murdered. I am further not entirely sure on the political side of things in the country or cultural my knowledge is limited on that.
I know Ecuador is a different country than el Salvador but if the prison helped in el Salvador Mabey something similar could work out well for Ecuador's people.
@@xander_21I just watched a lady who’s son is 14 in the prison with murders. With no evidence but I guess that’s ok right?
@@sparks1792 no really but depends on why he was arrested, I don't think he was just sitting on his couch and got arrested. dit he have one of those gang tattoo mark on him. Or don't you know if he had one of those.
@@xander_21 You’ll never reform the country doing things like that dude. I agree locking up the gang members they’re obviously lost causes. I’m talking about a 14 year old. He’s already struck down the gangs he save the kids while doing it he can do both.
As an Ecuadorian, I must say It is not fair our new president is in the thumbnail of this video. My country became the way it is today because of Lasso, Moreno and, specially, Correa. Any of those low class thieves and a**holes are better (and fairer) options for a thumbnail image. I know Noboa is the one we the Ecuadorians have chosen to make things better at least, but he is not the one to blame for our current situation. So Noboa in the thumbnail of a video of this kind is not just unfair but unintentionally misleading. Thanks for addressing the situation of my country. Best wishes to you.
Ilegal immigration from venezuela is the main factor for the raising of homicide rate not only in ecuador but in all countries in southamerica
No, the Ecuadorian gangs are fighting for territories. Ecuador is too corrupt to solve this problem.
Oh, good Lord, another person blaming immigrants?
darrellandsondraholddude you are everywhere in the comments. I guess you are American?
Its not the most dangerous but it’s turning into one
El Salvador needs to learn from this. Their anti-crime measures have been working well so far, but it could easily backfire if they aren't careful.
Well yes, but El Salvador anti-crime measures are quite different from the ones that Ecuador took, El Salvador is having a no toleration maseure, while Ecuador did it by social spending.
@@jackyexit worked well because in el salvador gang members tattooed themselves with their gang symbols, can’t do that in Ecuador or mexico
@@jackyexThe next government could reverse that by cutting security spending, just like what happened in Ecuador where they let prisons totally out of control given the lower budget.
@@jackyexyes a socialist screwed things up again.
@@jackyex I don't disagree, but I think there is still something that people could learn from this if they have to face massive crime: don't take funding away from the police if you want to eradicate crime. This may seem obvious, but a different administration could easily undo all of Bukele's anti-crime plans.
Good analysis mate
Hopefully this is temporary and it goes away quickly.
On the contrary, things may only get worse.
it will only get worse
I blame dollarization. It makes it easier for the cartels to operate. Same with El Salvador. See a pattern here? 🤷🏾♂️
Man, that "GaJaQuEeL" pronuciation... Guayaquil is pronounced "Guajakeel."
Keep it going, if the most egregious mistake is the pronuciation it means you're doing a good job, as long as you keep working on improving as well, that is.
Muy buena noticia ❤ gracias por informar tan bien
So sad this is happening in Ecuador. I’ve visited family several times from 2001-2019. From what I hear from family members is that the majority of the crimes are disproportionately committed by foreigners. Venezuelans, Colombians and apparently Albanians. I hope things can turn around.
One of the problems of Ecuadorians is that they tend to blame others. Most crimes are done by Ecuadorians. All the violent gangs are also Ecuadorian. They can refuse to work for the Mexican gangs.
You are so wrong. That is not true. I've been here for 9+ years and minister to some of the immigrants. The locals tend to blame the crimes on the immigrants. Yes, the majority of the crime might be committed by 'foreigner', such as cartel from other countries.
peace turns out to be not i wish them the best
Venezuela: "Woohoo im no longer the moat dangerous"
My cousin actually knows the family of Fernando Villavicencio. He had to lay low cause he was afraid he was going to be next. You know what else is sad? The current president of Ecuador lets the drug trafficking keep going. As long as you pay a certain of amount of cash then its all dandy. Pathetic my mother's country has become.
Ecuadorians plz tell us how this violence could be stopped and how is it to live in a place that is that unstable ?
Personally, I migrated. I work in the agricultural sector, and it wasn't uncommon to hear about colleagues who would get kidnapped. Or finding dead bodies in the middle of a sugar cane plantation.
How to end this? Lasso was either an incompetent or an evil guy... There is no there explanation. The police and interior ministry were so heavily underfunded that police man had no bullets or bulletproof vests. Noboa has to do the bare minimum.. just fund the damn police!
Correa needs to come back
In more detail though, it’s a combination of corruption and incompetency within the governments of Moreno and Lasso, who were neoliberals that moved the country to the right, and because of their austerity politics poverty rose, causing the cartels to have more people to recruit from. Say what you want about Correa, but he effectively reduced crime and poverty significantly, most of us know and he still has a relatively high approval rating (55%) compared to Moreno and Lasso (about 20%) but just because most approve of him, doesn’t mean they will support him or his party blindly, although his party is now the biggest in the prefectures/National Assembly and is the biggest individual party by far, receiving 30-40% of the vote in most elections, it kind of has a voting ceiling and struggles to win in 1v1 races. Now there is an alliance in the National Assembly between Noboa’s party (center left) and Correa’s party (left wing), along with the partido social cristiano which is kind of a right wing populist I suppose but they are in the alliance because they hate Lasso now. So Noboa will govern for 18 months, and then new elections will be held in 2025, and hopefully another candidate that is against austerity politics/corruption wins, whether it be someone like Correa or more like Noboa. The violence has to end and it has gotten pretty extreme, but life has to go on day to day.
How it is like to live well, it depends on what city or area you live in. Some cities like Guayaquil are very violent right now, but other cities are a lot less violent. If you are lucky you will be in an area where basically the narcos mainly just kill each other, and you won’t get killed unless you happen to be caught in the crossfire, but some poorer areas unfortunately you will become a victim regardless of what you do. And in some places they make you do a “vacuna”, you have to pay money to the cartels to be able to run your business safely, or even live safely, and if you don’t pay they will burn it down or kill you.
@@allessandra3965We have this problem with extortionists in Cuenca now. More and more businesses close their doors.
was there in april felt very safe, banos, quito, montanita etc... Wouldn't hang out in guayaquil or other dangerous spots . My heart is with you ecuador.
Imagine! Housing inmates on floating sea prisons. Barbaric!
There was just a report that 65% of Ecuadorians do not feel safe walking in their own neighborhoods. I like Ecuador, but the increased crime cannot be ignored.