By Keka Araújo
April 26, 2025
The kidnapping unfolded against the backdrop of a state of emergency declared just ten days prior by the Ecuadorian government across nine provinces, including Guayas, where Guayaquil is located.
The wife and young son of Afro-Ecuadorian professional soccer player Jackson Rodríguez were safely rescued by police April 24, authorities confirmed, following a harrowing kidnapping from their Guayaquil home. The incident, which saw the 26-year-old Rodríguez hide under his bed as armed men abducted his family, underscores the escalating insecurity gripping Ecuador.
Police Commander Pablo Dávila reported Friday that Rodríguez’s 24-year-old wife and five-year-old son received medical attention after their release and were unharmed. The brazen kidnapping occurred early on April 24, when four “hooded and heavily armed individuals” forcibly entered the family’s residence in the Mucho Lote neighborhood of this volatile coastal city.
According to Dávila, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $500,000 for the safe return of the mother and child, a demand the family steadfastly refused to meet. Rodríguez, a left-back for the first-division club Emelec, cooperated fully with investigators.
Following intensive police operations, the abducted pair was located in the “El Fortín” sector, a densely populated and notoriously dangerous area in northwest Guayaquil. The area gained grim notoriety in March when a brutal massacre claimed the lives of 22 people, a stark illustration of the violence plaguing the city. Guayaquil, situated approximately 270 kilometers (170 miles) southwest of Ecuador’s capital, Quito, has become a focal point of the nation’s spiraling crime wave. Its strategic port serves as a primary conduit for illegal drug shipments destined for Europe, Central America, and the United States, according to law enforcement officials.
The kidnapping unfolded against the backdrop of a state of emergency declared just ten days prior by the Ecuadorian government across nine provinces, including Guayas, where Guayaquil is located. This emergency measure authorizes the deployment of security forces to combat the growing operations of organized crime groups, which authorities attribute to the surge in violence.
Insecurity and crime have cast a long shadow over Ecuador for the past four years, with a marked escalation in the initial months of 2025. Government statistics reveal a staggering 2,345 violent deaths reported nationwide between January and March, with a disproportionate 742 of these occurring in Guayaquil alone. The port city is now grimly recognized as one of the most perilous urban centers in the country.
Tragically, Rodríguez and his family are not the first athletes to be targeted by this wave of violence. In December 2024, Pedro Perlaza, a soccer player for Liga de Quito, was kidnapped in Esmeraldas, a city 182 kilometers northwest of Quito. He was rescued alive several days later, highlighting the vulnerability even prominent figures face.
In his testimony to police, Chief Édison Rodriguez (no relation to the victim) stated that the 26-year-old fullback recounted hiding under a bed upon hearing the violent forced entry into his home around 3 a.m. The perpetrators, after ascertaining Rodríguez’s absence, abducted his wife and child. The player reportedly witnessed the kidnappers fleeing in a gray double-cab pickup truck.
The recent 2022 Census data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) revealed a concerning trend for the Afro-Ecuadorian community. While the census indicated growth in the mestizo, indigenous, and Montubio populations, the number of individuals self-identifying as Afro-Ecuadorian decreased significantly compared to the 2010 Census. The 2022 Census recorded 814,495 Afro-Ecuadorians, representing 4.8% of the total population, a stark contrast to the 1,041,559 individuals, or 7.2%, who identified as Afro-Ecuadorian in the 2010 census.
Afro-Ecuadorian organizations have contested these official figures, estimating the Black population to be closer to 10 percent. They cite issues with the census execution, particularly in areas affected by violence, where survey work proved challenging, leading to undercounting. Conversely, the Ecuadorian government attributes the reported decrease to issues of self-identification and a lack of organization within Black communities.
Historically, Afro-Ecuadorians, who primarily reside in the northern coastal province of Esmeraldas, as well as in Guayas and other southern-central coastal regions, have faced systemic marginalization despite their significant cultural contributions. While slave ships first arrived in Ecuador in 1526, and enslaved Africans toiled on plantations and in gold mines, the abolition of slavery in 1851 did not erase the enduring consequences of this brutal socio-economic system.
Afro-Ecuadorian consciousness gained momentum in the late 20th century, leading to the recognition of Afro-Ecuadorians as a distinct ethnic group in the 1998 Constitution. However, critics point to periods of instability and disagreements regarding the entity’s management.
Despite some policy reforms and the declaration of October 2 as Afro-Ecuadorian Day, socio-economic indicators reveal that Afro-Ecuadorians continue to lag behind their white/mestizo counterparts, facing persistent inequalities and racial discrimination, particularly in urban areas. Afro-Ecuadorian women, notably, experience disproportionately high levels of violence.
The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent has also voiced concerns, stating in 2019 that Afro-descendants constitute a staggering 40 percent of the population living in poverty in Ecuador, despite representing a much smaller overall percentage. The UN body has also criticized the denial of their rights to a clean environment, access to justice, education, and decent work, highlighting the environmental racism impacting Afro-descendant communities.
The recent kidnapping of Rodriguez’s family serves as a stark reminder of the pervasive insecurity engulfing Ecuador and the particular vulnerabilities faced by marginalized communities, including Afro-Ecuadorians, within this crisis. While the safe rescue of his wife and son offers a glimmer of hope, it underscores the urgent need for effective government action to address the root causes of the escalating violence and ensure the safety and well-being of all its citizens.
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