Before you take your next international trip, remember to review US State Department Travel Alerts and country-specific information. The information might save your life.
It could have made a difference to the young couple from Bend, Ore., that was savagely attacked in the city of Esmeraldas, on Ecuador’s northern coast last week.
State Department officials said that the man was stabbed more than 24 times and his fiancee was beaten and raped. The young man is in intensive care after three surgeries. The head surgeon said there is no certainty he will survive. The couple was evacuated to the United States on Tuesday for treatment.
The State Department, in its Ecuador Country Specific Information, states:
The US Embassy in Quito advises caution when traveling to the northern border region of Ecuador, to include areas in the provinces of Sucumbios, Orellana and Carchi and northern Esmeraldas. US government personnel are under limitations with respect to traveling alone and over-nighting in these areas due to the spread of organized crime, drug trafficking, small arms trafficking, and incursions by various Colombian terrorist organizations. Since 1998, at least ten US citizens have been kidnapped near Ecuador’s border with Colombia. One US citizen was murdered in January 2001 by kidnappers holding him for ransom.
Despite the detailed warnings, the victims’ parents complained to US consular officers in Ecuador that the embassy did not do enough to warn Americans that many people have been attacked in Esmeraldas.
I’ve found that travel agents are an invaluable source of travel and country specific crime and safety information. There are usually many sources of additional quality crime information about countries on the Internet. Ecuadorian crime and safety information availability is no exception.
Ecuador-travel.net states, “Those problems as described above (Northern Ecuador is also becoming more and more of a battleground between leftist FARC guerrillas) are becoming now reality in other border areas of the country as well. Kidnapping was reported from Carchi province in the mountains and Esmeraldas on the coastal western side.”
The Overseas Security Advisory Council – Global Security News & Report on Ecuador written last year with updates attached, lists detailed information on crime and safety in Ecuador.
We traveled in Ecuador last December. We closely followed the advice found in the State Department’s Country Specific Information on Ecuador. We were primarily in Quito and surrounding areas. We stayed street wary, and only walked on the streets of Quito in areas considered safe, and then only during the day. Except when fully escorted, in a large group, we remained in our hotel after dark. We came home safe, with wonderful memories of a country with warm and generous people.
Last week I wrote about the State Department issuing an unusual Mexico travel alert. I want to reiterate my closing advice.
Before any US citizen or resident travels outside the country, I always recommend they carefully review the US Department of State, Country Specific Information, Travel Warnings, and Travel Alerts for each of their destinations. The information contained in the reports about a country’s, Entry/Exit Requirements, Safety and Security, Crime, Medical Facilities and Health Information, Traffic Safety and Road Conditions, Children’s Issues, and a whole host of other information is absolutely invaluable.
I’m very sorry the young couple was so brutally attacked. Whether or not they carefully followed the State Department’s advice about Ecuador, and specifically the Esmeraldas locale, they didn’t deserve to be attacked. I join their families in praying for their swift recovery. But not any less important, I hope all travelers can learn from their horrible experience.
Research your trip thoroughly, and take the warnings and advice on crime and safety about each country you visit very, very seriously.
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
