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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.
A group of individuals dragged a dolphin ashore at Crucita beach in Manabí during Carnival and gutted it in front of dozens of tourists and a police officer. Ecuador’s Environment Minister has ordered a criminal investigation under wildlife protection laws that carry up to three years in prison.
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.
The National Electoral Council unanimously approved the start of the electoral period on February 14, setting the stage for mayoral, prefect, and council elections on February 14, 2027. Campaign season officially begins in January 2027.
Since December 24, 2025, only the Rumichaca crossing (Colombia) and Huaquillas crossing (Peru) remain open for international land transit. All other border bridges are physically barricaded as part of the government's security strategy.
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 Naval Oceanographic Institute warns of agitated seas and dangerous rip currents along the entire Pacific coastline on February 17, as a spring tide coincides with Carnival's peak beach crowds. Salinas alone expected up to 300,000 visitors this weekend.
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.
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.
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.
A major landslide at kilometer 36 of the Calacalí–La Independencia highway on Friday night has completely shut down one of the two main routes connecting Quito to the coast. Travelers face 7-hour detours via Alóag–Santo Domingo as Carnival weekend begins.
Loja province has been placed on orange alert and emergency warehouses now hold over 6,000 humanitarian aid kits — three times the historical average. Three cantons are under active watch as the rainy season intensifies across Ecuador's southern highlands.
