One person dies every 69 minutes Digital portal Primicias shared a chart of Interior Ministry data, saying that if this average remains for the rest of the year, the country could end 2023 with a bloody record of 7,607 homicides.
As of 2022, there were 4,603 violent deaths in Ecuador, so the increase in recent months would be 65%, and if compared to 2019, the increase would be 540%.
Published figures suggest the South American country will have a murder rate of 44.9 murders per 100,000 inhabitants by the end of December. Ecuador will become the most violent country in Latin America.
Likewise, murder is now one of the most common causes of death in the country, even higher than illnesses like the flu, pneumonia and traffic accidents.
The security crisis is a major concern for citizens and will be a major challenge for the newly elected government led by Daniel Noboa.
Police are investigating more than a dozen violent deaths in the city of Yaguach in the coastal Guayas province this weekend.
Ecuador is in a state of exception declared by President Guillermo Lasso Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated on 9 August as he was leaving a campaign rally.
The current government claims the violence is the result of rampant drug trafficking and organized crime, although experts have pointed to other causes, such as rising poverty and a lack of opportunities for young people.
“Eighty-five per cent of violent deaths occur in provinces considered drug routes, and nationally, 90 per cent of these deaths are linked to organized crime.”Interior Secretary Juan Zapata said on Monday.