Just over a year after President Daniel Noboa declared a nationwide state of emergency and effectively militarised the country, the situation in Ecuador today, ahead of a crucial presidential run-off, shows no sign of improvement. In fact, violence and homicide rates are at an all-time high. The data from Guayaquil, Ecuador’s most densely populated city, is alarming. Its port, at the mouth of the Guayas River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean, has become the gateway to the world’s major illegal drug trafficking routes. According to government figures, 218 homicides were recorded in the city of Guayaquil in February alone, compared to a national total of 470. This equates to 8 murders a day. In the same month of 2023 there were 186 homicides, and last year the number stood at 89. Numbers that are unparalleled, even in the most violent Mexican cities.
Investigating the root causes. Militarisation has exacerbated the violence, with new horrors such as extrajudicial executions and forcible disappearances. Cardinal Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, Archbishop of Guayaquil, is following the situation with growing concern. Speaking to SIR, he condemned policies based on territorial militarisation: “If legal and military repression or control mechanisms are not accompanied by educational and mediation programmes to resolve tensions and conflicts, the end result will be ineffective and even counterproductive. In other words, it’s important not only to deal with the social consequences, but also to address the root causes and, on that basis, to propose viable solutions that will enable people to live in dignity. This will gradually eradicate violence. Many governmental and non-governmental organisations have joined forces to create a safe and protected place for people, protecting them from the dangers of trafficking and recruitment by criminal gangs.” Tackling the root causes of the situation also means understanding the city’s history. “The data we have shows that this social phenomenon goes back many decades”, the Archbishop explained. “The main problem is the extreme poverty of hundreds of thousands of people who live in the shantytowns of Guayaquil, known locally as guasmos, in the suburbs and in the urban periphery of Mount Sinai to the north. Poverty prevents the inhabitants from finding a decent job. Families, especially children and teenagers, are growing up under these conditions, almost isolated. Both national and local governments only appear when elections are imminent, promising so-called bonuses or subsidies. In this social context, drug trafficking and, unfortunately, drug use, as well as child and adult prostitution, have become the main sources of income. Over time, armed groups that control illegal drug markets have established themselves in the area and have clashed with each other.” Cardinal Cabrera points out that “the situation has been aggravated by the introduction of extortion or ‘protection money’ demanded from small, medium and large businesses, which has led to the closure of many commercial activities and the migration of their owners to other parts of the country or abroad. It’s a very difficult situation. Our Church offers sanctuary in our parishes and schools where families can at least find some respite.”
More violence, fewer human rights. Contacted by SIR, sociologist Billy Navarrete Benavides, director of the Standing Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDH) in Guayaquil and an expert on the subject, confirmed the complexity of the situation. “The situation in the country, and in our city in particular, is the result of a series of decisions taken over the years. In 2010, during the presidency of Rafael Correa, a prison model was introduced in which the state assumed full control, abandoning oversight and civil society projects. This system ultimately proved to be a failure and led to neglect during the presidencies of Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso. Criminal gangs stepped in to fill the vacuum and have since gained power thanks to their links with Mexican cartels and Albanian mafias, coupled with a rise in drug trafficking and illegal mining. As a result, 680 people have been killed in prison riots in recent years, over 500 in Guayaquil alone.” Faced with escalating violence, especially on the Pacific coast, President Daniel Noboa responded with an ‘iron fist’ approach to crime, but the results were not as hoped. Today, says Navarrete, “we are witnessing an unprecedented level of social violence. The army can act autonomously, not in support of law enforcement. Besides the murders committed by criminal gangs, cases of extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and sexual violence in prisons have been reported.” All these incidents have been documented in CDH reports. In short, “the iron fist approach failed to stem the violence, with homicides only decreasing for a period of four months, while also resulting in serious human rights violations”. The country is eagerly awaiting the result of the 13 April run-off between the incumbent, Daniel Noboa, and the left-wing candidate, Luisa González, a representative of Rafael Correa’s left-wing movement. Navarrete concludes: “We see no great difference between the two”, except a greater propensity for social policy interventions on the part of the progressive candidate.
Meanwhile, the Church continues her commitment to the community. Cardinal Cabrera explains: “Our Archdiocese of Guayaquil supports ten social projects to alleviate these tragic situations. These include: three networks of dispensaries that provide medical care to more than 900,000 people each year; an educational network that serves more than 12,000 children and adolescents; a food bank that provides food to more than 47,000 people each month; a rehabilitation centre for young people suffering from drug addiction. We also run a shelter for homeless people abandoned by family and friends, a home for migrant families in partnership with public agencies, a care home for people living with HIV, an incubator for young entrepreneurs, and a savings and loan fund for families running their own businesses. In each of these facilities, we provide health and education services as well as educational resources to help people resolve their tensions and conflicts through dialogue and conflict mediation. We realise that these efforts are still small, but by joining forces with other public and private institutions, we will be able to provide a quality service. Our aim is to help reduce the level of violence, primarily through prevention and social rehabilitation.”
