Soldiers on March 7, 2025 in Guayaquil, Ecuador detain a man during an operation in a neighborhood where at least 22 people were killed / © AFP/File
Ahead of the presidential runoff on Sunday, here are five key facts about Ecuador, previously among South America's most stable nations, now one of its most violent due to a surge in drug trafficking.
- Narco hub -
Relatives of a victim of a massacre cry at the morgue in Guayaquil, Ecuador in March 2025 / © AFP/File
In just a few years, Ecuador has become a key player in the regional cocaine trade, with drug cartels taking advantage of lax security in ports on its Pacific coast to expand into the country from as far away as Mexico and Italy.
Outgoing President Daniel Noboa, who is vying for a second term on Sunday against leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez, announced a state of emergency in 2024 as part of his pledge to fight drug-related violence.
But his "iron fist" security policies have not stemmed the bloodshed, with Ecuador's homicide rate jumping from six per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018 to 38 in 2024 after a record of 47 in 2023.
In January and February 2025, Ecuador registered its bloodiest start to a year on record with more than one death every hour, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
Noboa is facing a tough challenge against his charismatic rival Gonzalez, who is hoping to become the country's first woman president.
- Indigenous power -
Activists protest against illegal and large-scale mining in Quito in June 2023 / © AFP/File
Ecuador's more than one million Indigenous people have developed powerful political representation that has played a key role in the downfall of three presidents between 1997 and 2005.
In 2023, they chalked up a key victory for climate democracy when Ecuadoreans voted in an Indigenous-led referendum to halt exploitation of an oil block in Yasuni National Park, the ancestral home of the Waorani people which is also one of the world's most diverse biospheres.
Three decades earlier, an Indigenous uprising forced the government to surrender more than two million hectares (7,700 square miles) of land to Amazonian and Andean tribal groups.
But while the constitution recognizes their ownership of the land, the state maintains control of everything under the soil.
In Sunday's vote, the Indigenous political branch has backed Gonzalez.
- Assange asylum -
Julian Assange was granted asylum in Ecuador's embassy in London from 2012 to 2019 / © AFP/File
For seven years, the Ecuadorian embassy in London was at the center of the Julian Assange saga, offering asylum to the WikiLeaks founder pursued by the United States for divulging military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But in 2019 Ecuador's government decided it had had enough of Assange and booted him out of the mission, accusing him of meddling in the politics of other states and being unhygienic, among other complaints.
The Australian was then held in a high-security prison near London until he was freed five years later after reaching a deal with the United States and flew home in 2024.
- Banana empire -
An Ecuadoran craftsman weaves a 'toquilla' straw hat -- better known as Panama / © AFP/File
One of the many ways drug traffickers are getting their product out of the country is by smuggling it among one of Ecuador's top exports, bananas.
Since the 1970s, oil has been another of the pillars of the economy. In 2024, crude exports brought $8.6 billion to the country.
But production last year was disrupted by recurring power cuts linked to a prolonged drought that affected hydroelectric plants.
The other main Ecuadorian exports are shrimp, cocoa and roses.
- Galapagos Islands -
Black marine iguanas are one of the iconic species on Ecuador's Galapagos Islands / © AFP/File
Ecuador is home to the famous Galapagos Islands, a marine-rich archipelago made up of 234 islands, inlets and rocks, with flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world.
Observing its wonders in the 19th century, British scientist Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution after studying finches and mockingbirds there.
The impact of human activity through climate change and mass tourism threatens the unique ecosystems on the islands, listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
