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By María Teresa Escobar In the hours after midnight in March, a police task force swept through the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s main port and business capital. The force made 12 arrests, including seven judges and a former congressman, as part of major investigations known as “Metástasis” and “Purga” (“purge” in Spanish) which in recent...

According to Álvaro Merchante, director of the Comunicaliza polling service, President Daniel Noboa’s public popularity has remained high despite electric blackouts and the government raid on the Mexican embassy. “There was some concern in the government that the electricity crisis would negatively affect the referendum but this did not happen,” Merchante said. “Except for the...

The Korea Coast Guard announced that it will transfer a 3,000-ton patrol vessel to Ecuador after signing a memorandum of understanding with its defense minister on Thursday. According to the Coast Guard, Ecuadorian Defense Minister Giancarlo Loffredo signed the memorandum with the KCG to transfer the decommissioned patrol vessel — the KCG3001 — and visited...

Energy Minister Energy Roberto Luque said Wednesday that two of the three hydroelectric generation plants at the Mazar-Paute complex are increasing power output as a result of recent rains. “The reservoir levels on the Rio Paute have risen quickly over the past week, and electric production capacity is improving,” he said at a Quito news...

President Daniel Noboa thanked voters on Tuesday for supporting his anti-crime and anti-corruption measures in Sunday’s referendum. “The people have spoken and our next step is to work even harder,” he said. He took the occasion to also praise investigators and police for the capture of Los Lobos gang boss Fabricio Colón Pico who was...

The National Institute of Meteorology (Inamhi) reported moderate to heavy rain over most of southern Ecuador Tuesday and predicted more to come through the end of the week. In a statement, Inamhi reported the rainfall has increased the level of the Paute River that feeds the country’s largest complex of hydroelectric generation plants. Despite yesterday’s...

A Miami jury found former Ecuador Comptroller Carlos Pólit guilty of all counts Tuesday, including charges on accepting and laundering millions of dollars in bribes from the giant Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. The prosecution proved that Pólit transferred the money to a U.S. account managed by his son who invested it in real estate and...

By Marc Jones Ecuador is scoping out new debt-for-nature swaps, one to funnel funds into the Amazon rainforest and another for a giant ocean protection zone backed by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The South American country is looking to build on the record-breaking $1.6 billion debt swap...