Well shucks. From my jaded point of view it seems that Ecuador had in place a system that denied Freedom of Association among the young to the Orwellian extent of frisking and institutionalized profiling (not merely rogue, discouraged and depends-where-you-live variable, as in the US). Yeah just like brown people in the Old South.
And then they stopped doing it. What a bloody miracle.
Belonging to a criminal organisation is commonly defined as an offence in laws all around the world. There is not such thing as "freedom of association to a criminal band", neither in international nor in national or local laws. If you are aware of one single country when citizens have the legal right to enter in a mafia, would be interesting to know about it
The plot shows that the crime rates sinked mainly in the big scam period. Accelerating from 2010 onwards. The "post-economic war" among europeans caused eventually the firing and return to Ecuador to many ecuatorian entrepreneurs that were working hard in Europe. Really nice and determined people. Therefore, another possibility to explain the decrease in rate crime is that the gangs diluted and lose influence by the arrival of lots of relatively rich people buying houses, acting as a better model of success for youngsters, and creating new job opportunities in Ecuador.
Another possible cause was the government of Correa increasing sharply the money spent in education and sustaining it in time
Actually, I think the returning affulent people only caused the rate of home invasions to shoot up, which although only anecdotally, have risen sharply since 2010 - which also coincedes with Ecuador being rated the #1 place to retire so also saw an influx of rich (actual and relative) foreigners coming in, buying land and building (actual and relative) mansions.
Having lived in Ecuador for 10 years, I have not heard any anecdotal evidence of this report (in fact the counter). But that is mostly from middle class inlaws. Perhaps the reduction is in the barrios, which would not be felt / known nor reported
Asians both East and South, Black people and Native Americans have all laboured under state sanctioned and legalised discrimination and violence in the US, “brown people” did not.
The Old South was quite violently racist and systematically so to black people. No other group suffered anything like their treatment, not the Japanese, internment included, or Native Americans.
Black people suffered in the American South, not “brown people”.
And then they stopped doing it. What a bloody miracle.