A new curfew will begin in Ecuador this Sunday (3). The measure will be valid until May 18th and will occur every night, from 11pm to 5am, local time.
In all, nine provinces will be affected: Guayas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Los Ríos, El Oro, Pichincha, Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and Sucumbíos.
Four cantons are also included: La Maná, Las Naves, Echeandía and La Troncal. These areas are considered by authorities to have the highest concentration of crimes and the presence of criminal groups.
The curfew includes restrictions on the free movement of people, the suspension of the right to the inviolability of one’s home to allow authorities to carry out searches and seizures, and the suspension of the right to the inviolability of correspondence, which will enable the review of emails and messages to neutralize potential threats.
The Ministries of Defense, Interior, National Police and Armed Forces, in coordination with all competent entities and institutions, will be responsible for implementing the decree.
Exceptions to curfew
The suspension of the right to free movement will have exceptions during the curfew.
The movement of essential personnel linked to public and private health services, as well as law enforcement agents, risk management professionals and emergency and disaster response teams, will be permitted.
There will be other exceptions depending on the context of need and emergency for the person who needs to travel or move while the measure is in force.
Experts raise concerns about curfew
Some security experts argue that President Daniel Noboa is being erratic in frequently declaring states of emergency or curfews, as despite these measures, homicides continue to rise, crime is migrating to other areas and the country remains one of the most violent in the region.
Added to this is the concern of the productive sectors, which are suffering the economic impact of this measure.
“We are concerned. We have already experienced a 15-day curfew that has severely impacted some activities and companies,” Miguel González, president of the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce, told FM Mundo, an affiliate of CNN.
“It is estimated that 73% of companies with some type of nighttime activity report a 40% reduction in sales, and those that only operate at night are recording losses of up to 70% or 80%,” he added.
Displacement of criminal activity and capital in “critical scenario”
In the decree, the government of Ecuador recognizes a “post-curfew” effect that occurs when a decree of this type ends and criminal activity is redirected to provinces not included in the measure.
“There was no structural neutralization, but rather a geographic displacement of criminal activities,” states the decree.
Furthermore, it maintains that, although the measure has had positive effects, the threat “has not been fully neutralized”, even in territories where the state of emergency is in force, “with a high concentration of lethal violence and persistence of organized crime”.
The government also states that Quito, the country’s capital, now finds itself in a “critical scenario” in terms of security, recording a continuous increase in violence and crime rates, as well as a widespread perception of insecurity among its inhabitants.
The decree adds that a power struggle is taking place in Quito between the , and Tiguerones, who are constantly vying for control of drug trafficking routes and illicit markets.
From January to April 2026, 2,509 homicides were recorded across the country, with the province of Guayas having the highest incidence, with 1,098 homicides, representing 43.8% of the national total, according to a report from the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, cited in the decree.
For this reason, the government describes this province as the “epicenter of lethal violence”.
Another reason behind the government-imposed curfew is that organized armed groups and organized crime groups have diversified their activities to control illicit economies beyond drug trafficking, including illegal mining, illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives, hydrocarbon trafficking, money laundering, smuggling, human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
