Escalation of Violence in Ecuador

Fifth TraCe Policy Brief by Elena Dressler and Jonas Wolff identifies causes and discusses policy implications

Ecuador has experienced an unprecedented escalation of criminal violence in recent years. In 2023, the country had the highest homicide rate in Latin America. When the violence escalated again in January 2024, the newly elected president Daniel Noboa declared a state of “internal armed conflict” and declared 22 criminal gangs as terrorist groups.

In the new TraCe Policy Brief, authors Elena Dressler and Jonas Wolff identify the main causes of Ecuador’s shift from a relatively peaceful to a violence-ridden country. Finally, they discuss the policy implications of their analysis.

The (German language) policy brief can be downloaded here.

This TraCe Policy Brief is based on the article “From political instability to ‘internal armed conflict‘: Ecuador’s multiple crisis”, published in Revista de Ciencia Política which can be downloaded free of charge. The article provides detailed references and further reading. 

Jonas Wolff is TraCe’s Co-Speaker and works in the Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence. Elena Dressler is student assistant at PRIF.