Ecuador

Country Overview & Political Climate

Ecuador is a constitutional, multiparty republic with an elected president and unicameral legislature. In 2023, following the use of the muerte cruzada — a constitutional provision dissolving the legislature — former President Guillermo Lasso triggered snap elections. Daniel Noboa won in a vote widely considered free and fair and assumed office in November 2023. The campaign was marked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in August 2023, an act of political violence largely without precedent in Ecuador’s modern history.

In February 2025, Ecuador held presidential elections that did not produce a majority, sending incumbent Noboa and challenger Luisa González to an April 2025 runoff.

Democratic institutions remain fragile. The judiciary has been plagued by corruption allegations, with the Attorney General’s Office opening investigations against judges, prosecutors, and Judiciary Council officials for alleged bribery, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. At least 15 judges and prosecutors have been killed since 2022. Concerns about lack of transparency in the selection of senior judicial officials have been raised by the UN Human Rights Committee and civil society groups.

In January 2024, the armed storming of a television station in Guayaquil by criminal groups — along with IED explosions across the country — prompted President Noboa to declare Ecuador in a state of “internal armed conflict” and deploy military forces against organized criminal groups. The Constitutional Court subsequently ruled that the government did not provide sufficient justification for the designation. The government has designated 22 transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) operating within Ecuador as terrorist organizations, allowing the military and police expanded authority to act against them.

Ecuador faces deep structural challenges. As of mid-2024, approximately 26 percent of the population lived below the national poverty line, rising to 43 percent in rural areas. Around 10.6 percent lived in extreme poverty. Ecuador ranks third in South America for prevalence of hunger, with approximately 2.5 million people affected. Nationwide power outages caused by drought-related hydroelectric failures disrupted access to education, healthcare, and employment throughout 2024.

Human Rights Conditions

Security Force Abuses & Prison Conditions

Ecuador’s militarization of streets and prisons following the January 2024 internal armed conflict declaration led to documented human rights violations by security forces, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and ill-treatment of detainees. Since January 2024, the military has held many detainees incommunicado for extended periods, obstructing access to lawyers and medical care.

Documented abuses against detainees include beatings, improper use of tear gas, electric shocks, sexual violence, and killings. In February 2024, a judge ruled that the military had endangered detainees and that prison authorities failed in their duties, ordering medical care and an investigation into torture. Human rights organizations, detainees’ families, and the United Nations Committee against Torture raised concerns about inhumane prison conditions, including food shortages.

The lack of state control, overcrowding, and poor conditions in prisons have enabled organized criminal groups to dominate the prison system. Criminal gangs have carried out mass killings during prison disturbances.

Freedom of Expression & Press

Freedom of expression and press freedom face threats from both state actors and organized crime. In November 2024, the organization Fundamedios reported over 160 documented attacks on freedom of expression, including stigmatizing speech, verbal assaults against journalists, and barriers to accessing information — the majority carried out by state actors and organized crime groups.

In June 2024, the television program “Los Irreverentes” was cancelled reportedly following government pressure. That same month, the Foreign Ministry cancelled a Cuban journalist’s visa for “threatening public safety and the structure of the State” after she publicly criticized the government.

Women’s & Children’s Rights

Femicide and gender-based violence remain serious concerns. The Ministry of Women and Human Rights reported 222 violent deaths of women and girls — including murders, homicides, and femicides — as of late June 2024. The Attorney General’s Office recorded 59 femicides between January and September 2024.

Sexual violence in schools is a widespread and persistent problem. Between January 2014 and August 2024, authorities registered over 6,700 cases of sexual violence against students committed by teachers, school staff, other students, or bus drivers. In August 2024, President Noboa signed a policy to eradicate sexual violence in schools by 2030, though civil society organizations raised concerns about inadequate funding.

Abortion remains criminalized in Ecuador except when a pregnancy threatens the person’s health or life or results from rape. Significant barriers to accessing legal exceptions persist, including stigmatization, fear of prosecution, and narrow interpretation of existing legal exemptions. Women most affected are typically those living in poverty from Indigenous or Afro-descendant communities.

The surge in gang violence has directly impacted children, with homicides of adolescents rising 17 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Criminal recruitment of children has also increased.

Migrants, Asylum Seekers & Refugees

Despite a progressive constitutional framework, migrants and asylum seekers in Ecuador face significant barriers to obtaining legal status. Ecuador hosts over 77,900 refugees, but its application of the Cartagena Declaration’s expanded refugee definition is inconsistent. A 2022 regularization process granted temporary legal status to over 95,000 foreign nationals, primarily Venezuelans, but that process is now closed. The number of Ecuadorians crossing the Darién Gap spiked sharply in 2023, driven by economic hardship and insecurity, with over 57,000 crossing that year and more than 14,700 between January and August 2024 alone.

Rule of Law & Corruption

While the constitution provides for an independent judiciary, outside pressure and corruption have significantly impaired the judicial process. Legal experts, bar associations, and NGOs have reported judiciary susceptibility to bribes for favorable decisions and faster case resolution. Local and provincial officials sometimes engage in corrupt practices with impunity, despite the government’s stated focus on accountability and anti-corruption enforcement.

Security & Crime

The U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory advises travelers to exercise increased caution in Ecuador due to crime, civil unrest, and kidnapping. Both Quito and Guayaquil have been assessed as critical-threat locations for crime directed at or affecting official U.S. government interests — the highest threat level.

Organized Crime & Homicide

Ecuador has experienced a dramatic and rapid escalation in violence driven by transnational criminal organizations. Homicide rates rose 429 percent between the first half of 2019 and 2024. Although 2024 saw a modest 16 percent decline from 2023, 3,036 homicides were still recorded in the first half of 2024 alone. By February 20, 2025, Ecuador had already recorded 1,364 violent deaths — the highest in the first two months of any year in the country’s history.

Guayaquil and coastal Ecuador are the most severely affected areas. Criminal organizations affiliated with Mexico’s CJNG and Sinaloa Cartel have used public executions, targeted assassinations of law enforcement and port authorities, and IED explosions to intimidate and expand their control. Violence levels rose sharply again in coastal provinces and Los Ríos province from July to December 2024 after an initial suppression following the “internal armed conflict” declaration.

As of September 2024, police had received over 2,000 reports of kidnapping and over 10,700 reports of extortion. One in three Ecuadorians has been a victim of crime — the highest rate in the region.

Kidnapping

The State Department has included a Kidnapping indicator on Ecuador’s Travel Advisory. Kidnappings occur primarily along the coast and the northern border region with Colombia, driven largely by economic rather than political motives. The Sucumbíos region and Manabí province have particularly high rates of kidnapping for ransom. In 2024, eight U.S. citizen kidnappings were reported; all victims were recovered unharmed. Many victims and families are reluctant to contact police due to widespread perception of police corruption and complicity with criminal organizations.

Petty Crime & Street Crime

Pickpocketing, bag snatching, ATM robbery, carjacking, and armed robbery on public transportation are common throughout Ecuador. Criminals frequently use motorcycles for quick-approach robberies. Scams targeting tourists — such as the “condiment scam” — are routine. Armed robberies on city buses in Guayaquil are frequent, and taxi-facilitated robberies and sexual assaults have been reported. Sexual assault, including use of date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol and scopolamine, has been reported in tourist areas on the mainland and in the Galápagos.

Restricted Travel Areas

U.S. Embassy personnel are prohibited from traveling to several areas due to crime, including: Guayaquil south of Portete de Tarquí Avenue; the cities of Huaquillas and Arenillas in El Oro province; Quevedo, Quinsaloma, and Pueblo Viejo in Los Ríos province; the canton of Durán in Guayas province; and Esmeraldas city and all areas north of it in Esmeraldas province.

Law Enforcement

The Ecuadorian National Police (ENP) has approximately 51,000 officers and support staff. Police coverage is unreliable outside major urban areas, with response times commonly ranging from 45 to 60 minutes. Ecuador has a low conviction and incarceration rate for major crimes. Corruption among police and customs officials is common. Police response to crimes involving foreigners is often slow and investigations rarely yield results.

Emergency contacts in Ecuador: Police: 911 | U.S. Embassy Quito: +593-2-398-5000 | U.S. Consulate Guayaquil: +593-4-371-7000

Asylum Eligibility Grounds

Ecuadorians fleeing the country may qualify for protection under U.S. asylum law based on several well-documented conditions. The following categories reflect conditions reported across the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Watch, and OSAC sources.

Membership in a Particular Social Group — Journalists & Human Rights Defenders — Journalists, media workers, and human rights defenders face documented threats and attacks from both state actors and organized criminal groups. The government has cancelled visas and suppressed programming deemed critical, while criminal organizations have targeted journalists with violence and intimidation.

Membership in a Particular Social Group — Witnesses, Law Enforcement & Judiciary — Judges, prosecutors, and individuals who have cooperated with law enforcement or testified against criminal organizations face documented, lethal threats. At least 15 members of the judiciary have been killed since 2022.

Membership in a Particular Social Group — Victims of Gang Extortion & Organized Crime — Criminal organizations have systematically targeted businesses, individuals, and entire communities for extortion (“vacunas”), kidnapping, and forced recruitment. Those who resist or fail to comply face documented violence. Asylum applicants in this category benefit from extensive country condition evidence documenting TCO activity and the government’s limited capacity to protect civilians.

Membership in a Particular Social Group — Women & Girls Facing Gender-Based Violence — Ecuador’s high rates of femicide, domestic violence, sexual violence, and restrictive abortion laws create documented harm for women and girls who cannot obtain protection from the state. Women from Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities face compounding vulnerabilities.

Membership in a Particular Social Group — Indigenous Peoples — Indigenous communities face targeted threats related to resource extraction conflicts, environmental activism, and government failures to protect their rights. Indigenous activists advocating against gas flares and oil drilling have reported acts of intimidation.

Political Opinion — The assassination of a presidential candidate, killings of judiciary members, and government pressure on media and political opponents demonstrate that individuals who publicly oppose powerful actors — whether criminal organizations or government officials — face documented risk of serious harm.

Nexus to Documented Country Conditions — Asylum applicants can draw on extensive country condition evidence from Human Rights Watch, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee against Torture, Fundamedios, and annual U.S. Department of State reporting.

Sources: U.S. Department of State 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Ecuador; OSAC Ecuador Country Security Report (March 2025); Human Rights Watch World Report 2025 – Ecuador.