Comments

guest

thank you for all your information on ecuador, it,s very helpful to help me on my dission on moving to ecuador. If government does not put out more police to curve violent crimes, people will stop going to ecuador and stop investing there. thank you to all expats and government personnel that keeps us informed. than you, Lawrence Calif.

Summersmist

I am a single woman in my 60s who is planning to move to Cuenca. I read many articles some saying Ecuador is unsafe and others saying it is very safe....conflicting information. But, Ecuador is still very attractive to me. I live in the Dallas, Texas area of the U.S. There are many places in Dallas that I will not go to because of crime. When I was working (now retired) I had to travel too various places including Detroit, Michigan and Gary, Indiana (near Chicago). Let me tell you about Gary, Indiana! I was sent there with several colleges to work on a project for 6 weeks. Downtown Gary is very dangerous. Most of the buildings are closed and boarded up. Gangs and drugs are rampant in Gary. Our management team would not allow us to leave the building for lunch. It was catered to us. We were told that if we heard noises like firecrackers, it would really be gun fire and that we should get under our desks. We were escorted in and out of the building to the parking lot by armed guards. Gangs in Gary exceeded the police force so the gangs would have their shoot-outs without interference from the police! Now, if I were a foreigner and heard this story I would not travel to the US for fear of being shot anywhere in the US. Yes, it is possible to be a victim of crime anywhere in the U.S. but guess what, it is the same around the world. You must learn to protect yourself, be informed about current events, where it's safer than not to go, and go on living your life and dreams. I know that I am not going to hang around the northern bounderies of Colombia and Ecuador and other specific places, but I am still going to Cuenca and enjoy it.

guest

I am glad I read this article, as I guess I have been looking at Ecuador thru rose colored glasses. However, I do believe that I will make a trip there and probably buy a beach home there, but I will watch myself and my surroundings more closely, and try and avoid any bad areas. I will, of course, do a lot more research before making the trip. Thanks for another viewpoint. [email protected]

guest

Whereas I understand what you are trying to say here I think you need to put things into perspective. For instance , how many American or Foreign citizens are actually in these cities when these crimes against a few take place- i bet you that per capita the numbers are muniscal compared with say New York, Chicago, Detroit or any other large US city ( I am from England and would not want to walk the streets of London on my own by day , let alone by night!!) . Your information is good sound advice but really, common sense on the part of the normal Joe is really all it needs. I live in the small town of Cotacachi ( Pop.10,000) and we have no issues ofthis nature to concern ourselves with so my advice is - stay away from the cities, not just in Ecuador but the whole world. Pretty fair and balanced report though and we thank you for that Don

ctfla

I understand the importance of being informed. My question is what is the comparison or the % of these crimes per capita between say Guayaquil and a US port. I've been to Costa Rica a few times and was advised not to travel thru Le'mon. I found it to be no scarier than Liberty City in Miami Fl.