Two suspects still at large in deadly Chordeleg jewelry store robbery; Ecuador private school enrollment plummets; Effort underway to recall Daniel Noboa

National Police report they have identified the two escaped suspects who remain at large following Thursday’s deadly robbery of a jewelry store in Chordeleg. During the robbery, the son of the store owner was killed and two of the alleged thieves were captured by local residents and beaten to death.

One suspect was arrested by police who say he provided the names of his accomplices who escaped by motorcycle.

Police set up roadblocks Thursday near Chordeleg following the robbery of a jewelry store that resulted in the deaths of three men. (El Mercurio)

In a press conference Friday, Angel Esquivel, commander of Azuay Province Police, criticized the “lynch mob” that killed the two suspects. “We understand the citizens’ action in detaining the alleged robbers but cannot condone the violence and deaths that resulted,” he said. He added that an investigation is underway into the deaths of the suspects.

In the case of one of the suspects, Esquivel said, police officers had taken him into custody when a mob overpowered officers and pulled the suspect from the patrol car and beat him to death. “This violent action not only constitutes an extra-judicial killing but endangered the safety of police,” he said.

Ecuador’s private schools are in trouble
Private elementary and high schools have suffered a 24% drop in enrolled since 2018, the Education Ministry reports. The report attributes the decline to financial hardships faced by families and the dropping birth rate.

The ministry says that public school enrollment has also dropped, but only be 5%, as it absorbs the former private school students and refugee children from Venezuela and Colombia.

A private Latin American report on Education, “Education in Figures: Financial Overview of Educational Institutions in Latin America,” says that the crisis in private education in Ecuador mirrors that of the entire region. “The rapidly dropping birth rate and the inability of families to afford private schooling has taken a large toll on the schools,” the report says. “We expect a large number of private school closures in the coming years.”

The birth rate in Ecuador has dropped from 3.1 children per couple in 1995 to 1.8 in 2025.

On average, parents pay $300 a month for private school in Ecuador and $550 for schools that offer boarding.

Effort underway to recall Noboa
A coalition of social organizations, including labor, education indigenous unions, has launched a petition drive to recall President Daniel Noboa and Vice President María José Pinto. Under constitutional rules, 15% of eligible voters must sign petitions to initiate a recall election.

Washington Andrade, spokesperson for the coalition, announced the beginning of petition collection last week. He said that current polls indicate that more than 70% of Ecuadorians disapprove of the government’s performance and that more 61% are willing to sign a recall petition. “Once we have collected the sufficient number of petitions, they will be submitted to the National Electoral Council, which will be responsible for organizing a public vote.

Guido Perugachi, president of the National Confederation of Peasant, Indigenous, and Black Organizations, a leader of the recall effort, denounced the Noboa government for ignoring the interests of health care and education, and “indebting the nation to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).” He also claimed the government has “failed in its promise to control crime and violence.”