During his European trip, Noboa insisted that most of Ecuador, especially Cuenca, is safe

On his recent European trip, a Spanish reporter asked President Daniel Noboa if it would be safe to travel to Cuenca in November for the Ibero-American Summit, given Ecuador’s high murder rate. “Yes, absolutely,” he answered. “Cuenca is one of the safest cities in all of the Americas.”

The Summit is an annual conference in which the presidents of Spain and Portugal meet with Latin American heads-of-state. Ecuador hosts the event this year

Army troops prepare to patrol a high-crime neighborhood in south Guayaquil in March.

“Because of the headlines, many people assume that all of Ecuador is experiencing high murder rates and this is not true,” Noboa said. “More than 90% of violent crime, including murder, occurs in six of our 24 provinces. Many areas, particularly in the Andean region, are among the safest in Latin America. Cuenca, especially, is very safe.”

Ecuador’s communication office distributed crime information to several news outlets during Noboa’s four-country visit, including reports from several crime-tracking agencies.

Among those reports is a United Nations drug office assessment that the violent crime in Ecuador is concentrated near the country’s major ports in Guayaquil, Machala, Manta and Esmeraldas. “Due to inadequate regulation and corruption, international drug cartels have found Ecuadorian ports accessible for shipments to Europe and North America,” the UN said. “There has been some improvement since late 2023 but much more needs to be done, especially in Guayaquil. Outside of coastal shipping centers, crime rates in the country are low,” the report said.

In April, the International Council for Public Safety, posted a list of “Latin America’s 20 Safest Cities” with populations above 200,000. Based on “violent crime and murder rates,” it included the Ecuadorian cities of Ibarra, Cuenca and Loja in its list. In March, Insight Crime ranked Cuenca fourth among all Latin American cities with populations above 500,000 for lowest murder rate.

In its comments, the Public Safety Council said that the major crime danger in the Andean region is illegal mining. “Many of the narco traffickers have connections to the mining operations, often for the purpose of money laundering. Communities close to illegal mines report higher murder rates, some approaching the rates near the shipping ports.”