Businesses complain about new curfew, say ‘more sophisticated’ approach is needed to fight crime

Ecuadorian business groups representing agricultural, exporting, restaurant and tourist interests are criticizing President Daniel Noboa’s decision to apply a new nighttime curfew in five provinces and four cantons from May 3 to 18.

Restaurant owners say a new nighttime curfew will be devastating for their businesses.

“This is a terrible burden for many industries in the country as well as for little businesses,” says Xavier Rosero, president of the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters. “It has been two years since the government began this approach and the crime rate is higher than ever. Maybe it’s time they considered more sophisticated methods that do not punish businesses and the law-abiding citizens of the country.”

Rosero claims exporters will suffer large financial losses from the curfew since delivery contracts will be broken and workers will be required to stay home. “Exporting is an activity that must be maintained 24 hours a day because of international commitments,” he said. “To do this, we must have trucks on the road and workers in the warehouses and on the docks. How can we do our job under lockdown conditions?”

Rosero claimed the two-week March curfew cost exporters $200 million.

The May curfew will apply from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. in Manabí, Santa Elena, Pichincha, Esmeraldas and Sucumbíos Provinces and in the cantons of La Maná (Cotopaxi), Las Naves and Echeandía (Bolívar), and La Troncal (Cañar).

Assistant Director of the Ecuadorian Confederation of Restaurants Freddy Martinez calls the curfew “a killer” for restaurants and much of the tourist industry. “This affects the country’s biggest cities and more than half the population, and it begins in the middle of the Labor Day Weekend,” he says. Like Rosero, he suggests that the government  take a different approach to fighting crime. “What they’re doing hasn’t worked for two years so why are they trying it again?”

Martinez says 400,000 workers in the restaurant business and tourist trades will be affected by the curfew. “Many restaurants are operating on the edge of bankruptcy due to the bad economy and this could send some of them over the edge,” he says.

José Antonio Hidalgo, president of a banana growers union offered similar criticism of the new curfew. “This is punishing our entire industry — owners, workers and transport personnel — and since our product is perishable we will suffer greater loses than other industries,” he says. “We fully support the government’s efforts to fight crime but tactics that harm industry and reduce the rights of the people are obviously not working.”

Interior Minister John Reimberg claims the curfew is “absolutely necessary” and said no exceptions will be granted. “In March, the curfew reduced the murder rate by 20% and we expect similar results in May,” he said. “We cannot allow murderers and terrorists to run wild in our streets.”

In a response, Martinez says murders surged following the March curfew. “So what was accomplished? I suggest the government evaluate its strategy.”