Ecuador: violence against journalists must be a top priority for the next government
As Ecuador’s presidential election campaign enters its final stretch ahead of the vote on 9 February, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges all candidates to make enforcing journalists’ safety a chief goal. At least 19 journalists have been forced into exile in the past two years, a sign that the country’s deepening security crisis is pushing the insufficient protections for media workers to the brink of complete collapse.
Exile, a last resort, is becoming more common in Ecuador as journalists increasingly face extreme threats. According to RSF’s local partner, the non-profit Fundación Periodistas Sin Cadenas, 19 Ecuadorian journalists have fled since 2023, usually after receiving direct threats linked to their investigative reporting. These exiles have been recorded in the Amazon region, the provinces of Pichincha and Santo Domingo, and coastal provinces like Guayas and Manabí, which account for nearly half of the recorded cases. The targeted journalists tend to cover trafficking route disputes, oil-related environmental conflicts, and conflicts concerning conflicts concerning Indigenous land.
One of the most emblematic cases occurred on 9 January 2024, when journalist José Luis Calderón was taken hostage during the armed siege of TC Televisión. Months later, feeling threatened, he too was forced into exile. Most recently, in January 2025, another journalist — whose identity will be kept anonymous for their safety — fled Ecuador after surviving an armed attack following months of death threats.
Despite promises to improve security, President Daniel Noboa has failed to deliver real protections for journalists in the past year-and-a-half of his presidency. In October 2024, RSF published a report exposing severe deficiencies in Ecuador’s journalist protection mechanism. The program remains underfunded, poorly coordinated, and lacks institutional support, leading to delays and failures in security measures. These shortcomings have left journalists dangerously exposed, fueling fear, self-censorship, and exile. RSF calls on all presidential candidates to commit to concrete policies that safeguard press freedom, protect journalists, and end impunity for crimes against the press.
"Ecuador’s press freedom is at a breaking point. Exile is no longer an exception — it has become a grim new reality. Investigating corruption, organised crime, and abuses carried out by the state now carries life-threatening risks. The new government must take immediate action to protect journalists, strengthen security mechanisms, and dismantle the criminal networks forcing reporters into exile. The alternative is a country where silence is imposed by violence.
The next government must prioritise:
- Strengthening the journalist protection mechanism, guaranteeing a legal framework for the protection policy, a regularly allocated budget, a technical team qualified to manage security issues and specific protocols for assisting journalists. Currently, neither the ministries nor the prosecutor's office are tasked with following up on meetings to implement the mechanism, which is why the approved measures have been hanging in limbo.
- Ending impunity by dismantling links between organised crime and political, military, and police actors. As long as crimes against the press are not considered a priority by the state, violence against journalists will continue to be an effective strategy for silencing voices that criticise political and economic powers.
- Providing legal and institutional guarantees to prevent journalists from being forced into exile due to threats, harassment, or legal persecution. The first step in this direction is to take a public stance condemning attacks on the press and recognising journalism’s vital role in democracy — something President Noboa has yet to do, even though journalists have become a permanent target of criminal groups.
Ecuador will hold its general elections on 9 February 2025, with a potential runoff on 13 April 2025. Incumbent President Daniel Noboa, who took office in 2023, is seeking re-election against leading opponent Luisa González in a tightly contested race. The election takes place amid rising crime, economic instability, and an energy crisis — making security and attacks on those who deliver vital information to the public key campaign issues.
To respond to this scenario, RSF has launched a project to help Ecuadorian journalists continue reporting on the presidential elections. The organisation has distributed 75 power banks and power stations to over 50 journalists and 21 local outlets — including websites, radio stations and television channels — in 24 cities across the country.
