News

The architecture of hope: All those unfinished concrete block houses with rebar sticking out are someone’s dream for the future
Sep 21, 2019 | R.S. Gompertz |
Views: 11

The brick, cinderblock, concrete and rebar looks the same whether you’re in Morocco, Mexico, Peru or Ecuador. Provisional, half-finished brick and cinder block dwellings. Lone structures slouching in patches of prickly pear along the highway, jagged villages clinging to hillsides and fractal barrios hemming the outskirts of major cities. What looks like abandoned construction projects […]

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New rental rules undergo changes after complaints from AirBnb and home exchangers
Sep 20, 2019 | CuencaHighLife |
Views: 952

The Ministry of Tourism says it is revising its plan to regulate tourist rentals following complaints from AirBnB, property owners and home exchange programs. Originally set to go into effect in November, the rules would require all properties rented to tourists to be registered with the tourism ministry, pay an annual tax, provide rental usage […]

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Public drunkenness, public fornication are top crimes for neighborhood surveillance system
Sep 20, 2019 | CuencaHighLife |
Views: 1,196

What are the most common crimes and misdemeanors in Cuenca? According to the new video surveillance system monitored by Cuenca’s Citizen Security Council (CSC), they are public drunkenness, public love-making and graffiti. The CSC which began operation in July with 181 cameras in parks and residential neighborhoods, has only spotted a handful of violent crimes […]

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Your family is moving to Ecuador but just with suitcases: What should you bring?
Sep 20, 2019 | Christopher Lux |
Views: 3,877

By Christopher Lux Moving your household to another country with only two suitcases per person is no easy task. It becomes even harder when you’re moving to a country, like Ecuador, where many good-quality products are significantly more expensive. Of course, you can pay for extra suitcases, depending on the season, but the cost is […]

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Is this a new diet strategy or just a bit of common sense?
Sep 19, 2019 | Susan Burke March |
Views: 721

By Mike Weber We live in a world of immediate gratification. So, this short article seeks to give some quick perspective on eating. We will explore some ideas about how to enjoy eating without any real punishment – almost none! I’m not an “expert dietitian”… not me. I look to my friend and colleague registered […]

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City thieves are up to new and old tricks
Sep 19, 2019 | CuencaHighLife |
Views: 2,356

National and local police are warning that thieves in Cuenca have introduced new strategies to separate victims from their money. Although they say most of the new tricks do not involve physical assault, the threat of violence always exists during robberies. Three cases have been reported in which thieves use dogs to intimidate victims. “They […]

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Cuenca expat and cybersecurity expert debunks the government’s hacking explanation
Sep 19, 2019 | CuencaHighLife |
Views: 612

Vadim Avdeev, a former Russian military and civilian cybersecurity expert, says that Ecuador’s government was warned of inadequate data security measures long before last week’s hack that exposed the personal information of almost 20 million residents. He also says the government’s claim that former employees of the Rafael Correa government are to blame for the […]

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Gov’t officials push for Cuenca-Manta flights
Sep 18, 2019 | CuencaHighLife |
Views: 659

Officials in Cuenca and Manta as well as Ecuador’s tourism ministry are in discussions with two airlines about establishing flights between the two cities. Citing a study by the Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro in Manta, they say that current demand justifies one or two scheduled flights a week with a “growing upside.” “Manta and Cuenca […]

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