Overview
- President Daniel Noboa announced Monday a 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for May 3–18 that covers nine provinces and four cantons, including Pichincha (Quito) and Guayas (Guayaquil).
- The order follows a violent weekend that left 11 people dead in two Guayaquil massacres and other killings reported in Manabí, according to police and local reports.
- The curfew runs under an active state of exception that lets security forces enter homes without prior court orders and intercept communications under Executive Decree 535.
- Noboa has repeatedly leaned on emergency measures since 2023, with roughly a dozen states of exception and five curfews counted across that period.
- The government frames the step as part of an anti‑narcotics push supported by U.S. agencies, as the U.S. Embassy noted Noboa’s meeting with DEA chief Terry Cole, while rights groups press for probes into reported attacks on Ecuadorian fishermen by foreign aircraft that the foreign minister says remain unclear.