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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is visiting Ecuador as part of a broader Latin American diplomatic push, with negotiations beginning on a trade agreement and expanded security cooperation including surveillance technology and agricultural innovation.
Extortion rackets once concentrated on Ecuador's coast have spread to Quito neighborhoods including Carapungo, Calderón, and Solanda. Business owners report demands of $100 to $2,000 per month, and 62% of small businesses nationwide have paid.
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.
President Noboa announced Friday that the national government will operate from Guayaquil for several weeks, with the National Police high command relocating as well. The move comes two days after the arrest of Guayaquil’s mayor and amid record violence that made Ecuador the world’s most dangerous country in 2025.
Ecuador’s largest gold mine exported a record $1.8 billion in 2025 — a 51% jump from the prior year — as gold prices topped $5,000 per ounce for the first time. Lundin Gold just announced $100 million in new exploration spending and discovered a fifth copper-gold deposit, signaling the mining boom is just getting started.
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 man was shot dead by hitmen Friday morning in Manta's Ceibo Renacer sector, bringing the body count to 66 in 44 days. A separate massacre in Santa Ana marked the third mass-killing event in Manabí province this year.
The ACLED Conflict Watchlist 2026 ranks Ecuador among the planet’s most dangerous nations. Over 3,600 people died from organized crime violence in 2025 — a 42% increase — and 71% of the population was exposed to criminal violence, the highest rate in Latin America.
Ecuador’s second-largest city lost its mayor. Aquiles Alvarez was ordered into preventive detention on organized crime and fuel trafficking charges as part of the ‘Caso Goleada’ investigation. He was transferred to Latacunga prison — 11 others arrested across Guayas province.
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 largest city lost its mayor in a pre-dawn raid on February 10. Prosecutors detained 11 people — including Alvarez and his two brothers — on charges of organized crime, money laundering, and tax fraud. The vice mayor called it political persecution.
President Noboa declared a fresh state of emergency on January 2 covering nine provinces and three municipalities after a mass shooting in Manta. Military operations target Los Lobos, Los Choneros, and Los Tiguerones. Here's what it means for daily life.
