Ecuador tightens rules for Venezuelans after brutal murder

Venezuelans who want to enter Ecuador will now have to present an official document showing any brushes with the law, the government announced Monday, two days after the killing of a 22-year-old woman sparked a wave of unrest against migrants.

The pregnant woman was slain by her Venezuelan boyfriend in an incident witnessed by dozens of people and captured on video that was shared on social media.

“We should distinguish between those Venezuelans fleeing the government of Nicolas Maduro and others who are taking advantage of the situation to commit crimes,” Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner said in announcing the new regulation.

It was unclear how the estimated 2,700 Venezuelan migrants who enter Ecuador through Colombia each day would obtain the document, as even basic records like a passport have become increasingly difficult to obtain in their home country.

Sonnenholzer said the criminal record requirement is needed because of the lack of cooperation from Venezuelan authorities in providing information on migrants.

The United Nations estimates at least 221,000 Venezuelans are now residing in Ecuador, which has also become a point of transit for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants who are trying to reach Peru.

The killing Saturday night took place in the northern Ecuadorian city of Ibarra, where a Venezuelan man held his pregnant girlfriend at knifepoint on a street for more than an hour as police officers with shields and onlookers watched in horror. The man then stabbed the woman several times in the chest.

Outraged residents began hunting for Venezuelan migrants in the community the following day, forcing them out of hostels and homes where they rent rooms, throwing rocks at them and setting their belongings on fire.

“Get out Venezuelans!” crowds of people chanted.