Local media here lamented that the new year began with five murders and the robbery of a shopping mall, both events occurred in the cities of Guayaquil and Durán, in the coastal province of Guayas, one of the most violent in this South American nation.

Fear and anxiety due to insecurity continue in the homes of the Andean country which said goodbye to 2023 as the most violent in Latin America, according to statistics that refer to the existence of a rate of violent deaths higher than 40 per 100 thousand inhabitants. During the year that ended several murders shook the country in the political sphere, including that of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot as he left a campaign rally in Quito, and that of the mayor of Manta Agustín Intriago, in July.

To this wave of national violence must be added the constant prison massacres, where 89 inmates lost their lives in the last 12 months, according to the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights.

Faced with this situation, citizens demand concrete and urgent actions from the current Chief Executive, Daniel Noboa, who during his election campaign presented the so-called Phoenix Plan to curb violence.

However, a little more than a month after his arrival to power and his declarations that the strategy is already underway, the headlines about criminal acts persist.

jrr/oda/nta