New State of Emergency declared in Ecuador after mass killing
Friday, January 2nd 2026 – 10:28 UTC
The 60-day measure seeks to allow the Armed Forces to dismantle active criminal structures
A violent mass shooting in the Ecuadorean port city of Manta left at least six people dead and a dozen wounded on New Year’s Eve, as President Daniel Noboa declared a fresh 60-day State of Emergency across nine provinces.
The New Year’s Eve massacre occurred around 11 pm local time in the Nueva Esperanza neighborhood of Manta. According to police reports, gunmen stormed a gathering outside a residence and opened fire indiscriminately on a group of people, killing one child, one woman, and four men between the ages of 26 and 45.
The Manta district —which includes the cantons of Montecristi and Jaramijó— closed 2025 with a record-breaking 500 homicides, for a nationwide total of 9,000 in 2025.
In response to the surge in high-intensity violence, President Noboa signed a decree on Wednesday night establishing a new state of emergency for nine provinces and three cantons. The measure, which went into effect on Thursday, suspends the right to inviolability of domicile and correspondence in Guayas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Los Ríos, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Pichincha (including the capital, Quito), Santo Domingo, and the cantons of La Maná, Las Naves, and Echeandía.
The presidency cited military reports warning of a deliberate strategy of intimidation by powerful criminal syndicates, specifically naming Los Lobos, Choneros, and Tiguerones.
According to the National Police, these groups are responsible for a wave of bombings, targeted assassinations of public officials, and multiple homicides. Between November 1 and December 23, 2025, alone, 1,232 people were murdered in the affected provinces.
The 60-day decree is intended to allow the Armed Forces to execute a complete operational cycle to dismantle these criminal structures and restore basic security conditions. This latest move continues the internal armed conflict status first declared by the Noboa administration in January 2024.
The Mariscal Sucre International (Quito) and José Joaquín de Olmedo (Guayaquil) airports remain fully operational. Travelers are allowed to move to and from airports during curfew hours, provided they show their passports and flight reservation papers.
