Narayan AmmachchiEcuador has emerged as the most insecure country in Latin America, with its homicide rate surging to an unprecedented 38.8 per 100,000 inhabitants — up sharply from just 6.46 in 2015, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Línea.
The spike in violence is partly attributed to the power vacuum left by the declining influence of the FARC guerrillas in neighboring Colombia. As the FARC withdrew from major drug trafficking routes, Ecuadorian gangs — lacking centralized control and discipline — rushed to fill the void. This shift has fueled brutal turf wars, driving the country’s murder rate to record highs.
Ecuador has now become a crucial node in the transnational drug trade. Cocaine cultivated in Colombia is increasingly being processed in Ecuador and then trafficked north through Costa Rica en route to Mexico and beyond.
The report also highlights deteriorating security in Honduras, where local gangs operate with the backing of corrupt officials linked to international crime networks. Venezuela, despite a statistical decline in homicides, remains unstable and continues to harbor decentralized criminal actors.
Chile, long considered one of the region’s safer countries, is also seeing a rise in organized crime. The expansion of the Venezuelan-origin Tren de Aragua gang is a key factor. Though fragmented, the group has been connected to high-profile crimes—including the assassination of a Venezuelan opposition figure in Chile, allegedly ordered by Caracas.
Costa Rica is also drawing concern. While it remains outside the most dangerous tier, its homicide rate has risen from 11.56 in 2015 to 16.6 in 2024. Key port cities like Limón are emerging as major cocaine export points, mirroring Ecuador’s descent into narco-violence.
Amid this regional crisis, El Salvador stands out for dramatically reducing its homicide rate — from 107.64 to just 1.9 per 100,000. However, critics caution that President Nayib Bukele’s heavy-handed anti-gang campaign, which involves mass arrests and indefinite detentions, raises serious questions about human rights and due process.
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