A New Cuenca Book Puts a Human Face on Ecuadorian Migration

A new Cuenca-presented book is putting a personal story behind a topic almost every expat eventually hears about here: Ecuadorian migration.

Migrante, by teacher and researcher Fredi Portilla Farfan, was presented on June 8, 2026 by Universidad Politecnica Salesiana, Cuenca campus.

The book centers on Diana, a 17-year-old from Chordeleg who mortgages her family's home to finance a trip to the United States through a coyote.

Her goal is to improve her family's economic situation. What begins as a life project turns into a story of exploitation and violence.

The Story Behind the Book

The book is based on real events and is structured in 17 chapters.

It follows the difficult conditions faced by thousands of Ecuadorians and Latin Americans who leave their countries in search of opportunity.

Along the journey, Diana faces physical aggression and confinement by organizations involved in migrant trafficking.

The book also looks at the structural causes of migration, including economic limitations and the need to generate income for families in countries of origin.

Why It Matters Locally

The work grew out of the author's academic stay in the United States, where he had direct contact with Ecuadorian migrant communities.

That matters in Cuenca because migration is not an abstract national topic. Chordeleg is close to the city, and many families in Azuay have relatives abroad or migration stories in the background.

The book questions the idealized version of the American dream and shows a route often marked by suffering, exclusion and, in some cases, death.

The Numbers Mentioned

Data from 1800Migrantes.com show the flow toward the United States changing sharply in recent years.

William Murillo, the organization's executive president, said monthly Ecuadorian entries were 7,096 in 2023 and rose to 12,000 in 2024.

He said that flow fell to 2,000 per month in 2025 and to a record that does not exceed 264 per month in 2026.

For expats living here, the bigger takeaway is cultural: migration is one of the stories underneath daily life in southern Ecuador, and this book brings that story close to home.