Daily coverage from across the country, written for the expat community
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Ecuadorian soldiers stormed a clandestine jungle base in Esmeraldas province at dawn on February 17, capturing the Colombian leader of an Oliver Sinisterra Front cell and ten Ecuadorian members — the same FARC splinter group that kidnapped and murdered El Comercio journalists in 2018.
Gunmen opened fire with more than 50 rounds at a group gathered in a northern Guayaquil park near a school late Wednesday night, killing four people aged 25 to 65 and wounding two others in the latest act of sicario violence in the city.
Repeated wave surges have flooded condo lobbies, destroyed sea walls, and damaged vehicles in Salinas and Punta Blanca. Experts warn that sea levels have risen 39 centimeters since the 1970s — and the worst is yet to come.
Ecuador's Interior Ministry sent 30 police agents to seize operational control of Guayaquil's municipal security entity Segura EP on Sunday night, citing 'shadow structures' provoking violence and alleging sensitive surveillance data was stored with a private company. The takeover comes amid three major fires in one week and deepens the confrontation between the Noboa administration and Guayaquil's opposition-aligned municipal government.
A motorcycle factory blaze on February 9, the Multicomercio building inferno on February 11 that burned for 50 hours and collapsed two towers, and a third alarm-3 fire on February 15 — all in Guayaquil within six days. The Interior Minister says the fires aren't coincidental. Here's the full timeline.
Two armed men in motorcycle helmets robbed a café on García Moreno and Vía del Ferrocarril in Cumbayá on February 9, demanding phones and belongings at gunpoint. It's the second café robbery in five weeks in the valley — after the high-profile January 7 holdup at influencer Michelle Katz's Boker Tov café that left the community shaken.
Aquiles Alvarez, the sitting mayor of Ecuador's largest city, was arrested on organized crime and money laundering charges and transferred to Latacunga prison. Over 50,000 people marched in his defense while a massive commercial building fire burned just eight blocks away.
A warehouse fire in downtown Guayaquil’s Multicomercio commercial complex burned for over 24 hours, reaching temperatures of 700°C before the rear structure collapsed. 150 firefighters and 49 units responded. No deaths reported, but surrounding towers face structural risk warnings.
Gunmen opened fire at the artisanal fishing pier in San Vicente, Manabí, on February 9, killing at least four fishermen and injuring one. The attack occurred in a canton under an active state of emergency and raises fresh concerns about safety in Ecuador's coastal beach towns.
Ecuador's meteorological agency is forecasting persistent heavy rains with intense storm events affecting the coast, Amazon, and parts of the Sierra through at least February 8. Flooding and landslide risks remain elevated.
Ecuador recorded 9,216 intentional homicides in 2025 - an average of 25 per day. Here's where the violence is concentrated and which areas remain safe for expats.
