Escalating gang warfare forces over 300,000 Ecuadorians to abandon homes

A sharp rise in confrontations between competing gang factions, notably Los Tiguerones, has compelled more than 300,000 Ecuadorians to abandon their homes over the last three years. In Guayaquil’s Nueva Prosperina district, inhabitants describe constant gunfire, extortion through WhatsApp messages, and the use of houses to hide kidnapping victims, leading a 66-year-old grandmother and many others to flee.

This wave of violence has pushed Ecuador to the region’s third-highest level of internal displacement, behind Haiti and Colombia. President Daniel Noboa, who took office in 2023 promising a crackdown, faces criticism that his strategy has fragmented gangs and intensified fighting. The country recorded 9,216 violent deaths last year, a homicide rate of 51 per 100,000, far exceeding regional averages. Police and community leaders now employ QR codes and anonymous reporting to document extortion, and they escort displaced families, but officials admit no clear agency is responsible for assisting those forced from their homes.