Between January and April, the official number of violent deaths was 3,084 people murdered, while in the same period in 2024 there were 1,951 such incidents.

Local media have reported armed attacks and violent incidents in recent days, mainly in coastal cities, leaving dead and wounded.

“If we don’t focus on a public policy that addresses kidnappings, extortion, and threats such as drug trafficking and illegal mining, the trend will be much greater,” said Katherine Herrera, a security analyst interviewed by the Teleamazonas channel. She also warned that if the trend continues, 2025 may end with more than 9,000 homicides.

Forty percent of the homicides in this first four-month period have been reported in Guayaquil, Durán, and Samborondón, three municipalities in the coastal province of Guayas, where several criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking operate, fighting over ports and urban areas. There are also the border areas of Esmeraldas and Carchi, in northern Ecuador, where crimes are linked to illegal mining and human trafficking.

Although the data are not encouraging, President Daniel Noboa decided to keep Interior Minister John Reimberg and Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo in their positions, tasked with leading the so-called Security Bloc, along with the police and the Armed Forces.

During his inauguration for the 2025-2029 term, Noboa said that during his first term, he managed to “rescue the country from the mafias, from economic catastrophe, from war, and from those who profit from war.” He added that “the progressive reduction of homicides will be a non-negotiable goal.”

According to the Executive Branch, the focus will be on disrupting the economy of criminal organizations, and to this end, they are promoting an urgent economic bill in the National Assembly (Parliament) with controversial measures that social organizations claim will not solve the problem.

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