Azuay governor says crime is dropping in Cuenca but pushes for a motorcycle passenger ban

Azuay Province Governor Xavier Bermúdez says the “security situation is improving” in Cuenca as a result of the work of National Police and citizen involvement. “This was already one of the safest cities in the country and the region and this year it has become even safer,” he said in a recent interview.

Azuay Province Governor Xavier Bermúdez is encouraging the Cuenca city council to enact a ban on male passengers on motorcycles. (El Mercurio)

“We have seen a significant reduction in crimes such as robbery, vehicle theft, assault and extortion in 2026,” Bermúdez said in an interview with El Mercurio. “The efforts of the police, the Cuenca Citizen Guard and the vigilance of residents have made us all safer.”

The governor says further improvement is possible if the Cuenca Municipal Council enacts controls on motorcycle passengers. An ordinance that would prohibit male passengers on motorcycles is currently being debated in the council. “A large percentage of crimes committed in Cuenca and throughout the country involve two young men on motorcycles, and controlling this practice will reduce crime.”

Bermúdez added that a motorcycle ordinance must include exceptions, especially for family members.

Although the number of murders in Azuay Province has increased in 2026, Bermúdez points out that most have occurred in rural areas. “There have been no contract killings, such as we’ve witnessed in coastal cities,” he says. “Most of the homicides are related to territorial disputes between small criminal gangs. In most cases, the deceased person had a criminal record. The same is true for those arrested for the killings.”

Azuay Governor Xavier Bermúdez

When asked by a Radio Tomebamba interviewer why there is the perception among many residents that Cuenca has become more dangerous, he conceded that “security is not good” in some neighborhoods. “Some areas of the city and province experience high rates of public drunkenness and drug use and we are increasing police actions to control this,” he says. “We have made three large drug seizures in the past two weeks and arrested the people in possession. The number of detentions for drunkenness has also increased since the beginning of the year.”

He adds: “To control this level of crime it is essential to have public involvement,” he says. “I hear the complaints of slow police response, but response times have improved and we need people to contact the police and Citizen Guard when they see illegal activity.”

Asked why more police have not been assigned to Cuenca, Bermúdez said there is “much more need” in other cities. “We have requested a larger police contingent but there are other areas that suffer much higher rates of violence and they have been prioritized in the distribution of personnel and resources.”

If the crime rate is low, why was Azuay Province included in the emergency declaration currently in force, a radio interviewer asked Bermúdez. “The main reason is that the province is a major transit route for illegally mined gold and money from mining areas in other provinces,” he said. “There is also significant money laundering of criminal funds in Cuenca and Azuay and investigations are underway to control this.”

Bermúdez said that the level of violence in Camilo Ponce Enriquez, the illegal mining “hotspot” in Azuay Province, has been significantly reduced. “At this point last year, there had been 13 murders there and this year there have been two,” he said.

“Proportionately fewer” military personnel have been assigned to Azuay Province during the state of emergency, Bermúdez says, for the same reason other provinces are assigned more police. “Most of the patrols in Cuenca have been in the market areas,” he said.