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Ecuador imposes overnight curfew across nine provinces under emergency decree

Ecuador imposes overnight curfew across nine provinces under emergency decree

Force in Play

Decree 370 covers most of the population through May 18 as homicides surge in second nationwide push of 2026

May 3rd, 2026: Nationwide curfew takes effect across nine provinces

Overview

Five years ago Ecuador had one of the lowest homicide rates in South America. On May 3, 2026, its second nationwide curfew of the year took effect under Executive Decree 370, covering nine of 24 provinces, including Quito and Guayaquil, through May 18.

Soldiers and police are authorized to clear streets between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Quito and Guayaquil together hold most of the country's population. The decree follows a four-province curfew in March that the government concedes did not break the criminal networks driving the violence.

Ecuador recorded 2,509 homicides in the first four months of 2026, with Guayas province responsible for nearly 44 percent of the deaths. Decree 370 expands a state-of-emergency framework President Daniel Noboa first invoked in January 2024, declaring an 'internal armed conflict' against gangs designated as terrorist organizations. The question is whether nightly movement restrictions and military deployments can disrupt the trafficking corridors and gang structures that have turned Ecuador into one of the deadliest countries in the Americas.

Why it matters

Ecuador is testing whether a democracy can use El Salvador-style emergency powers to break entrenched cartels — without the political costs Bukele paid.

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Key Indicators

2,509
Homicides Jan–Apr 2026
Recorded killings in the first four months of the year, the trigger cited for Decree 370.
9 of 24
Provinces under curfew
Includes Pichincha (Quito) and Guayas (Guayaquil), covering most of Ecuador's population.
44%
Killings concentrated in Guayas
Single coastal province accounts for nearly half of national homicides in 2026.
11pm–5am
Curfew hours
Six-hour nightly window during which civilian movement is restricted through May 18.
2nd
Curfew of 2026
Follows a March curfew across four provinces that authorities say failed to disrupt criminal networks.

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People Involved

Daniel Noboa Azín
Daniel Noboa Azín
Governing under expanded state-of-emergency framework
 Adolfo Macías Villamar ('Fito')
Adolfo Macías Villamar ('Fito')
Recaptured June 2025 after 17-month manhunt
 Gian Carlo Loffredo
Gian Carlo Loffredo
Overseeing military deployment under Decree 370

Organizations Involved

LC
Los Choneros
Transnational criminal organization
Designated terrorist group under Ecuadorian law

Ecuador's largest gang, originally based in the coastal city of Chone, now operating as a cocaine-trafficking partner of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.
Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Transnational criminal organization
Designated terrorist group; principal Choneros rival

Ecuador's second-largest gang, linked to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel and active in illegal mining as well as cocaine trafficking.
Armed Forces of Ecuador
Armed Forces of Ecuador
National military
Deployed in domestic policing role under emergency decrees

Ecuador's military, traditionally focused on border defense, now operating as the government's primary tool for urban anti-gang operations.

Timeline

August 2023 May 2026

10 events Latest: May 3rd, 2026 · 1 month ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Nationwide curfew takes effect across nine provinces

    Latest Decree

    Decree 370 enforces an 11 p.m.–5 a.m. movement ban through May 18, covering Quito, Guayaquil, and most of Ecuador's population.

  2. Decree 370 announced amid homicide surge

    Decree

    Government cites 2,509 killings in four months as justification for expanded emergency measures.

  3. First 2026 curfew imposed in four provinces

    Decree

    Earlier emergency decree restricts movement in Guayas and three other provinces but fails to disrupt gang networks.

  4. 'Fito' recaptured after 17-month manhunt

    Security

    Authorities locate Macías in a hidden bunker in Manabí province; he is later extradited to the United States.

  5. Noboa re-elected to full presidential term

    Political

    Voters return Noboa over Luisa González, endorsing the security-first approach despite continued violence.

  6. Armed gunmen storm TC Television live on air

    Security Crisis

    Masked attackers take over a live broadcast in Guayaquil, prompting Noboa to declare an 'internal armed conflict' the same day.

  7. Decree 111 designates 22 gangs as terrorist groups

    Legal

    Noboa authorizes military operations against organized crime, transforming Ecuador's security architecture.

  8. 'Fito' escapes from La Regional prison

    Security Crisis

    Los Choneros leader Adolfo Macías is reported missing from his cell in Guayaquil, igniting a nationwide security emergency.

  9. Noboa wins snap election on security platform

    Political

    Daniel Noboa, 35, defeats Luisa González in a runoff to complete the term of impeached predecessor Guillermo Lasso.

  10. Presidential candidate Villavicencio assassinated

    Inciting Event

    Anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio is shot dead leaving a Quito campaign event, exposing the depth of Ecuador's gang infiltration.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

March 2022–ongoing

El Salvador's state of exception (2022)

After 87 killings in a single weekend, President Nayib Bukele suspended constitutional rights and arrested more than 80,000 suspected gang members. Mass detentions emptied MS-13 and Barrio 18 strongholds within months.

Then

El Salvador's homicide rate collapsed to among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere within two years, and Bukele's approval ratings exceeded 80 percent.

Now

The state of exception has been renewed dozens of times and is now a permanent feature of governance, drawing both regional imitators and sustained criticism from human rights bodies over due-process violations.

Why this matters now

Ecuador's framework consciously echoes Bukele's playbook — emergency decrees, military deployment, terrorist designations — but Noboa faces a more decentralized criminal landscape tied to international trafficking rather than locally rooted street gangs.

December 2006–November 2012

Mexico's militarization under Calderón (2006–2012)

President Felipe Calderón deployed 50,000 soldiers against drug cartels within weeks of taking office, launching the war on drugs. High-value targets fell, but cartels splintered into smaller, more violent factions.

Then

Headline arrests and seizures rose sharply alongside soaring homicide rates that exceeded 120,000 deaths over the six-year term.

Now

Mexico's cartels fragmented and diversified into extortion, fuel theft, and human trafficking; military involvement in policing became permanent across successive governments.

Why this matters now

Ecuador's reliance on the armed forces for urban policing carries the same fragmentation risk: removing top leaders like 'Fito' may multiply rather than eliminate the violent actors driving homicides.

July 2000–2016

Plan Colombia (2000–2016)

The United States committed roughly $10 billion to Colombia's fight against the FARC insurgency and cocaine traffickers, combining military aid, aerial coca eradication, and judicial reform.

Then

Coca cultivation and homicide rates fell substantially through the late 2000s, and FARC combatants were pushed to peace negotiations.

Now

Cocaine production migrated to Peru and Ecuador's coastal corridors, fueling the trafficking ecosystem now driving Ecuador's crisis — the unintended consequence Quito is living through today.

Why this matters now

Ecuador's homicide surge is in part the downstream effect of successful interdiction elsewhere; any solution that ignores regional trafficking dynamics risks displacing the violence rather than resolving it.

Sources

(4)
Rio Times Online Embassy of Israel in Ecuador U.S. Embassy in Ecuador A News