Edgar Campos

February 25, 2025

Engl21002

Feature Profile

Prof. Reema Rao

How Is Ecuador Viewed Due to Its High Crime Rate?

Ecuador is known for its ridiculous crime rate. Of course, there is crime around the world,” so we’re not just gonna isolate Ecuador as the only place crime has been seen. “ However, Ecuador is seen as a Country with lots of crime because Ecuador’s crime has been continually increasing, and there haven’t been many signs that it is improving. Now, as some from a country that’s like Ecuador, being Mexican, this is something that I wouldn’t like to hear about the country where my parents come from, since it’s a place I would consider part of myself. Luckily, I was able to interview one of my classmates/friends, who, for the assignment, will be known as Charmander. Charmander currently lives in New York, however, her parents are from Ecuador. She has been to Ecuador, and she did have nice things to say for the most part; however, some things were said that piqued my interest during the whole interview.

We decided to interview while on the phone since it was much easier way for us to guarantee that we would be able to there for it and honestly I didn’t have a plan for the interview, since my partner Charmander, it was the first time I met her so I didn’t know a lot but tried my best to ask questions that not only gave the answers I needed but at least also were questions she wouldn’t have mind being asked. I started the interview by saying, “All right, so the first question I asked was, ‘Do you ever plan to visit Ecuador?’” Then my partner also responded by saying, “ I’ve already visited Ecuador twice. I love going there, it’s calm. I like being there with my family, speaking Spanish, and eating cultural food. It’s also very nice, and it’s more relaxed than New York is. There are mountains everywhere, and for me, it feels like a second home because it’s where my aunt lives, and I plan to return. It’s not just part of my culture, but like how my family is a part of.” When I heard this, it kind of got rid of the whole negative idea that I had in my mind of how bad Ecuador is because of the crime rate. Because of her answer, we get a sense of beauty and a calming location. Once this question had finished, I moved on to question number two, which was “ Did living in New York impact your thoughts on Ecuador? ” Charmander then said, ”Definitely because they are very different because of the cultural traditions and the food, also the criminal justice system is completely different because of how bad it is because of the lack of security that is there, also it just feels like they don’t care about everyone around them.” This, to me, was surprising because I would honestly assume that if a country, in some ways, is struggling in terms of the safety of their people, I would imagine they would do everything they could to make sure they can improve their livelihoods.

The last question that I asked Charmander was, “Do you think Ecuador can change shortly?” Her reply was, “They can change for the better, but they choose not to fix any of the problems, so how do they expect things to get better? If they want Ecuador to change for the better, they need to seek change.” This clearly shows the drive and hope that Ecuador could change for the better because it’s what she would like, and that is something people would like to see. In some ways, I did kind of doubt the idea since, from a factual standpoint, it hasn’t been improving; it has just been getting worse and worse and worse, but I can tell that in my partner’s heart, that change could be possible. She even gave me a solution of her own which she proceeded to say the economy since she said that a lot of the people in Ecuador steal because of the lack of jobs, so fixing that issue, along with pay could allow people to live honest and great lives without the need of committing crimes and make those around them feel unsafe.

Overall, I did get to learn a lot about her ideals of the place she came from. However, I also got to learn that in some ways, we can be similar in terms of how our respective cultures affect us, and I also got to learn how we view things. I say this because, me being from Mexico and knowing of the bad in Mexico, it’s one of the things that could stop me from wanting to visit, however, Charmander can negate all that and focus and all the good that is Ecuador, while of course being prepared if anything were to happen. I also realized that she talked about being prepared in the setting that she’s in because of what her parents said, but knowing what I know, I still wouldn’t be that cautious of things since nothing happened to my parents. This way, I can learn that even when something seems destroyed, it can always be rebuilt and be better than what it was, as long as you believe it can happen. 

Reference List 

Campos, Edgar (2025, March ). Personal interview with Charmander.

Reflection

I know in terms of culture, there were major differences in the sense that she’s Ecuadorian and I’m Mexican, and each country’s political standpoint is completely different. On one hand, Mexico doesn’t face a political issue in terms of security and the lack of jobs that exist in Ecuador, and their lhandof Ecuador. I don’t recall trying to find any indifference’s it was more on the line of trying to find ways my partner has either overlooked situations and ways she remained protected and safe. Nothing much changed throughout, but what I could say is I got more shocked as we progressed because I learned things I didn’t know beforehand, and it shocked me more when she spoke about change, and she only sees her country changing if they want it to change. I didn’t find any setbacks during the assignment. I think the only setbacks were the timing of most things, but apart from that, it was straightforward.