Is it safe? Yes, but…

It is only fair that, with all the glowing written accounts naming Cuenca as the best city in the world to retire to, that people should be aware that there are problems as well. There has been a definite upsurge in crime in Cuenca over the last year. A day rarely goes by that we don’t hear another story about a crime from one of our friends and it has become one of our deeper concerns. Cuenca has always had a fairly low crime rate compared with the other two big cities in Ecuador, Quito and Guayaquil and possibly that may be one of the reasons why bad elements have looked at Cuenca and seen a passive, tempting target. Another possible reason is that there is a law that says any crime under $600 will not be prosecuted which gives license to a criminal to conduct petty crime without the threat of jail or fine. A third possibility is that Cuenca has a large population of very poor people who see gringos as all being rich and we probably are rich compared to their standards of living. We have also heard that crime has had a huge increase in Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama though we have no statistics to go by and we are sure the worldwide recession has caused great social upheaval throughout the world that has led to increased crime in most countries. A very disquieting observation here is that the police are quite ineffectual. There is a poor police presence, they are paid quite low wages, and almost never follow up even on reported crimes.  The criminal element must be aware that they will not be caught and if they are, nothing will come of it. What is so disturbing is the fact that Cuenca has been quite a safe place to live. In the last year we have become aware of an upsurge of many small crimes like purse snatching and items being stolen from empty parked cars and empty houses being broken into. More alarming are direct confrontations with injuries by masked men at gunpoint. These have included a serious home invasion, several car jackings, a bank robbery and a restaurant robbery where all the diners were held at gunpoint and robbed.  We have heard that there is some improvement coming and we are keeping our fingers crossed. The new mayor was elected on a platform of addressing the upsurge in crime. Already, new laws have been passed limiting the hours of sale of alcohol to 10 pm weekdays and 2 pm weekends and none to be sold on Sunday but this may only address a more minor element of crime. We can only hope the $600 limit for prosecution will be removed as this law almost gives license to steal. Probably the most important change for the better would be an increase in police presence on the streets especially at night, punishment for taking bribes and confiscated goods, better salaries, and most of all, immediate follow up and prosecution when a crime has been committed. Cuenca is a beautiful city loved by almost everyone who lives here.  So, how do we address this issue of safety? We are all being more cautious than ever and trying to become less conspicuous. We have become even more cautious of our surroundings. We cross the street or enter a retail establishment when we see a group of young men approaching. We limit what we carry that is exposed to sight. We limit the amount of cash and credit cards that we carry in our wallets and purse to the amount we need on that excursion. We take only the credit card we need for an ATM machine visit. We take only the amount of cash needed for purchases at the markets. Otherwise, we leave cash or credit cards at home. We do not hail street taxis cruising past. There are many taxi companies to phone who will send a taxi to you within a few minutes that are considered much safer than roaming cabs. In many ways, these, and other precautions, are a good policy anywhere. We don’t want to frighten people away, we only want visitors and prospective new residents to be aware that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, one that we sincerely hope will be quickly solved. 

How we chose Cuenca

We constantly hear discussions about where in the world is the best place to live. There are literally thousands of blogs and websites dedicated to this discussion, some worthwhile, some not so valuable.  Each will reveal what the author thinks about why he or she chose that place to live but, as is a common human trait, most people defend their choice whether it is a car, computer or city. So it goes with these blogs and websites. Each carries its own message which should be put into perspective. Contrary to what you may read on the international postings, there is more to this life changing move to another country than just the glitter. The decision on where to live is a terribly personal one. Let us give you an idea of why we think it is so personal by explaining what our priorities have been and continue to be, priorities that addressed our personal needs. Everyone will have different life-style categories of what is important when deciding on a new living location. There might be dozens of categories where a person would compare countries, states, or cities. We came up with four main criteria – Climate, Cost of living, Education for Jonny, and safety.  Using only our own experience and knowledge, we placed them on a scale of one to five and compared them to four destinations– Cuenca, Southern Florida, Coastal North Carolina, and St.Thomas, VI.  Without going into all the details of our ratings, we were surprised to find that Coastal North Carolina came out slightly best with Cuenca just behind in total score. But what was most revealing was not the total score but the disparity between the different categories. In our evaluation, Cuenca was best in climate and cost of living and was the worst choice in education and safety.   The other three destinations were about in the middle on everything except cost of living which came to a distinct disadvantage.  So, Cuenca scored exceptionally high in climate and cost of living and was at the bottom in education and safety.  These categories were, however, like apples and oranges and had different personal values for us. Looking more carefully at how important each category was to us, we realized that no one could change climate or cost of living but we could change education and safety.  It would just require some changes in how we lived. We chose Cuenca because climate and cost of living were the best we could find anywhere.  Where Cuenca was lacking we could make changes by supplementing Jonny’s mediocre educational situation with additional tutoring and try to follow the US educational grade guidelines. He is a bright boy and eager to learn which is half the battle. Safety, however, became another story and has required some important life style changes.  Over the last six months, we have been careless and so have a number of our friends. There have been way too many simple assaults by young men in order to steal handbags, cell phones, or to make car break-ins. Petty thieves are getting more brazen as they are almost everywhere in the world but this is somewhat novel to Cuenca and, as the police seem to do nothing, creates an individual responsibility for all of us to be more careful. We have learned to wear or carry nothing that looks valuable,  to have only essential credit cards and minimal money in our pockets, to call radio cabs not hail street roaming taxis, to be sensible where we walk at night, and above all, to be alert to suspicious looking people around us.  These are simple tasks and can all be done easily once you realize you are not in a bucolic suburb in the US with police cars roaming the neighborhood at all hours of the day and night and totally ignore safety concerns.  Once you accept the fact that you are in a poor country with a very young population, what seems like an inconvenience quickly prompts you to become street smart.  For us, being more conscious about security and supplementing Jonny’s education with additional tutoring has allowed us to fully enjoy Cuenca’s extraordinary climate and low cost of living. It is a trade off but, as with many other things in life, compromise is the route we have chosen to follow. 

Security

Security is a something that few of us who lived in quiet suburban homes in the US had much concern about. We previously lived in a home in North Carolina where we left the doors unlocked when we went to sleep at night. Now we live in a new country where security can be an issue.  Personal safety is always a delicate subject as each of us has lived under different circumstances and there is no way of knowing what a reader’s experience might have been. What we say comes from our own personal experience and we cannot suppose the level of security other people require.  Because there is much poverty in Ecuador, petty crime is quite common. Stealing of pocketbooks, cell phones, and car radios has been little more than an annoyance in the past but recently there has been an upsurge of more serious issues.  Though major crime is still rare, it is felt by the police that external elements, such as gangs from Peru or Columbia have escalated robbery to an infrequent but more dangerous level. High profile crime here remains an odd occurrence but has happened.  When you contrast serious crime in Ecuador to that in the US there is absolutely no comparison. Homes in Cuenca have always had high stone walls with cut glass or metal spikes or electrical wires on top to prevent people from entering the property. When we first came here, we thought this was partially a social statement of privacy and not just for security. But, it is apparent that Ecuadorians are highly conscious of personal security especially in their homes. We brought our American sense of openness with us and made the mistake of being too casual. We left our gate open and our doors unlocked at our home in Challuabamba. Loretta wore expensive jewelry and our large, expensively furnished home stood out as a target. And as many of you know, we were robbed and lost most of our electronic and TV equipment plus jewelry and fur coats. We are now much more security conscious and have had no further trouble.  We currently follow a few pretty basic rules of behavior to be less conspicuous. Some of our gringo friends feel it is safer to carry very little of value when they walk the city streets. It is probably a good idea. We know a couple who have had inside pockets sewn into their pants where they carry their money and identity papers. It is also a wise idea to carry a copy, and never the original, of your passport and Cedula (identity card) as these are your most valuable papers. Loosing either is costly and they are difficult to replace.  Since this is a cash society, a person often needs to carry a significant amount of money. Only you can be the judge of how much cash to have on your person. Businesses and stores carry the security issue even further.

All businesses that handle cash have armed guards who carry shotguns and stand menacingly at the entrance to the building or store. It takes some getting used to but seems to prevent problems and you soon get used to their presence. As conspicuous as you are as a gringo, it is a mistake to make it worse by wearing expensive jewelry or carrying visible cameras or loosely hung purses that invite petty thievery. That said, Cuenca has the reputation of being a quiet, peaceful city, much more so than Quito or Guayaquil. But, as in any city, it is important to be street smart. When you are in the crowded, poorer parts of the city, it makes a good deal of sense to not wear exposed jewelry, not carry loose bags or visible cameras, and not carry more cash than you think you will need on your present excursion. We have learned our lesson the hard way and are now very careful how we present ourselves in public. Ninety-nine percent of Ecuadorians are kind, friendly and helpful. Like everywhere, it is that small percentage of disenfranchised people that cause the problems you must be aware of to prevent petty crime.