Curfew in five Ecuadorian provinces: 58% of homicides occur at night
The 58.18% of homicides in Ecuador are recorded between 18:00 and 05:59, according to the National Police. The Government decrees a curfew in five coastal provinces from 1 November.
Executive Decree 519: Ecuador imposes night-time curfew amid concentration of homicides on the coast
According to teleamazonas.com, night and early morning hours account for 58.18% of intentional homicides recorded in Ecuador between 17 September and 13 October 2026, according to a National Police report cited in Executive Decree 519.
During that period, 483 intentional homicides were recorded nationwide. Of that total, 281 occurred in the time slot between 18:00 and 05:59, whilst the remaining 202 took place between 06:00 and 17:59, which is equivalent to 41.82% of the total analysed.
The hourly pattern is replicated specifically in the five provinces of Ecuador's coast where the Government will apply a new curfew as of 1 November: Guayas, El Oro, Manabí, Los Ríos and Esmeraldas. In those jurisdictions, 33 intentional homicides were recorded between 00:00 and 05:00, the same time slot in which the movement restriction will apply. Guayas accounted for the highest number of cases, followed by El Oro, Manabí, Los Ríos and Esmeraldas.
Executive Decree 519, signed by President Daniel Noboa, establishes that the measure will be in effect for ten days, from 1 to 10 November 2026, every day in the time slot from 00:00 to 05:00.
The Government bases the new measure on the persistence of violence despite the previous curfew, which was in force between 17 and 30 September. The decree states that in the five provinces "criminal violence indices persist, which demonstrates the tactical resilience of criminal structures, their constant reconfiguration and the persistence of territorial disputes".
The official text adds that "the occurrence of criminal activities in the time slot between 00:00 and 05:00 makes necessary the strengthening of focused operational deployment".
Source: Google News EC — Crime