They shoot up homes, threaten, extort by providing bank accounts so victims can deposit the valuables they have to borrow to take care of their lives; They kill or plant bombs if there is no access. Some houses and farms are abandoned and taken over by criminals who win the battle. The silent pain of families who do not come forward out of fear, because they do not trust justice, because they feel that there is impunity, is the harsh reality of Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Ríos and other provinces of Ecuador.

It’s not a perception, it’s not a feeling of insecurity, it’s the fear and helplessness of knowing that your loved ones are in danger. Screams of agony are drowned in the throat. Ecuadorians are running away from what cost them so much work to build. There is internal and external migration and due to insecurity.

What are the 3 main criminal groups operating in Ecuador and what is known about their ties to international drug cartels

This September 26 Global initiative against transnational organized crime (Gitoc), according to which Ecuador is in the top 10 countries with the highest crime rate in the world. The numbers show what is the misery in the lives of citizens. Nothing to make the government feel proud that it fails every time there is a new murder, every time a person is kidnapped or extorted.

The cost that Ecuadorian society pays is high and will continue to grow if there is no sensitivity in its governments, in its public forces.

Faces of international crime in Ecuador

In a report published in 2022, Ecuador was ranked 37th among 193 member states of the United Nations.

“A highly resilient country has effective mechanisms to prevent and respond to the actions of organized crime,” the 2021 report said. Ecuador urgently needs high resilience and international help is coming. International organizations cannot look the other way and the Ecuadorian regime must launch SOS. What Ecuadorians experience is not perception, it is insecurity. (OR)