On March 6, 22 people were murdered in Nueva Prosperina, in the outskirts of Guayaquil in one of the worst massacres in the country’s recent history. Three people were also injured. The tragic event has shocked Ecuador.
According to the National Police, a group of around twenty men raided different houses and executed people thought to be their rivals. The massacre appears to have been between two factions of one of the most important gangs in the country, “Los Tiguerones.” Several witnesses have reported that the assailants bypassed military checkpoints, which have been installed in the city as part of Noboa’s militarized crackdown, by coming down through the mountains.
Violence increases in spite of Noboa’s “Phoenix Plan”
Daniel Noboa’s government declared an internal armed conflict almost a year ago to mobilize more resources to fight criminal gangs. Despite this, the first couple months of 2025 have been the most violent start to a year on record in Ecuador’s history, leading many to question whether Noboa’s strategy, dubbed “Phoenix Plan” is working.
According to InSight Crime, Ecuador has become the most violent country in Latin America with a homicide rate of 38 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. In the first 50 days of the year, Ecuador registered 1,300 murders.
The details of the Phoenix Plan have not been revealed by the authorities thanks to an airtight pact of silence. This has led many in the opposition to question it, arguing that there seems to be no concrete plan beyond the militarization of the streets, a perpetual state of exception, and the entry of foreign police and military forces into the country.
With regards to these three areas, Noboa has not been able to accomplish his goal of having foreign troops enter the country because the Constitution of the Republic prohibits it, which is why he has formally requested the National Assembly to change Article 5 of the Constitution. This move has been met with strong opposition by his political adversaries who argue that the incursion of foreign forces would not have a major impact on the resolution of the armed conflict.
For several years, local gangs, with the support of the world’s most important international cartels, have disputed the control of several ports, territories, and roads in Ecuador related to the production and trade of drugs, especially cocaine.
This dispute has led the country to its most serious security crisis in national history, and none of the successive neoliberal governments [Lenín Moreno (2017-2021), Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), and Daniel Noboa (2023-present)] have been able to stop the wave of violence that seems to have no end.
Police actions and reactions to the massacre
On the night of March 6 and in the early morning of March 7, the National Police said it carried out nearly 200 raids in Nueva Prosperina to arrest those allegedly involved in the massacre. They reportedly arrested 14 people, including two teenagers. According to the Police’s report, all those arrested belong to Los Tiguerones and stored firearms used for illicit activities.
For now, Ecuador remains expectant of a possible retaliation from the other faction of the drug trafficking group or another gang for the March 6 massacre. Indeed, recent history shows that after these massacres a new cycle of violence begins, bringing greater insecurity and danger not only for gang members but also for innocent people caught in the crossfire. These cycles of violence are not usually contained by the authorities, who seem to be stunned by the forcefulness of the gangs’ actions in their struggle to control territory.
President Noboa has promised a pardon to all military and police officers deployed in Nueva Prosperina “All police and military officers who have acted and who will be deployed in Nueva Prosperina, have a presidential pardon as of now. We need them to act with determination and without fear of reprisals. Defend the country, I am defending you.”
Despite this, the official narrative seems to attribute the surge in violence to a deliberate political effort to discredit Noboa’s government ahead of the elections in which he is seeking re-election. This claim has sparked indignation and bewilderment among many Ecuadorians.
In an interview on FM Mundo, the Secretary of the Interior, John Reimberg said that one of the reasons for the chilling increase of deaths in the country in 2025 is due to the elections:
“Let’s keep in mind that we are in election months and obviously that brings certain movement that is causing the gangs to act in this way and that is what we are fighting against.”
