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By Tom Metcalfe The peaceful, easy feeling derived from a mix of hallucinogenic drugs and alcoholic drink may have been a key to political power in coastal Peru a millennium ago, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity. Archaeologists have long...
By Arielle Mitropoulos Throughout much of the pandemic, there has been a constant shifting in terms of which COVID-19 variants are most dominant, at a given time, in the U.S. However, for the last five weeks, federal data shows that there has been little to no growth...
Following complaints that talks between the government and indigenous organizations had stalled, both sides said Monday that progress was being made. Although Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador President Leonidas Iza and Government Minister Francisco...
As many as 8,000 are expected this weekend for the first annual Festival de Quesos y Bebidas (cheeses and drinks) at Cuenca’s Mall del Rio convention center. The three-day event, which begins Friday morning at 11, features national and international cheeses, wines and...
By Kevin Roose This year, the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition gave out prizes in all the usual categories: painting, quilting, sculpture. But one entrant, Jason M. Allen of Pueblo West, Colo., didn’t make his entry with a brush or a lump of clay. He...
National Police investigators raided the offices of the Chinese construction company Sinohydro Wednesday looking for evidence the company bribed Ecuadorian officials, including former president Lenin Moreno, to obtain contracts and extend deadlines. Sinohydro is best...
By Jessie Yeung and Junko Ogura The Japanese government has been hit in the pocket by an unusual problem -- its young people aren't drinking enough. Since the pandemic began, bars and other premises selling alcohol have been hit hard by Covid-19 restrictions, causing...
Largely fruitless negotiations between Ecuador's government and indigenous groups are testing President Guillermo Lasso's ability to head off renewed street protests and ensure fiscally crucial mining investments, indigenous leaders and industry experts say. Lasso, an...
The number of murders in Ecuador is up sharply in 2022, National Police report, with more than 70% percent of them occurring in the coastal provinces, almost half of them in Guayas Province. “The figures are alarming and are a warning of the dangers that drug...
By Russell McLendon Even if humanity manages not to self-destruct with war or climate change, there are still other existential threats we must be ready for. Earth came pre-loaded with plenty of dangers long before we began piling on, some of which our species has...
By Jennifer Kilkus “I just knew something was wrong.” “My doctor told me it is normal to have pain as you get older.” “I went to five different doctors before I was finally diagnosed.” “I was told there is no way I could have cancer, I’m too young.” We put a lot of...
Government Minister Francisco Jiménez said Monday that the questions for a popular referendum have mostly been determined but did not say what they are. “We have decided on 10 questions but may add two more,” he said in a radio interview. “We will announce them when...
By Stephen Vargha Labor Day week is the traditional kickoff to the political season in the United States. It gained the distinction due to the fact that the summer vacation season is over, kids are back in school and it is only two months until the November elections....
Actor Will Smith has been busy lately sharing videos, photos and comments about Ecuador on social media with his followers back in the U.S.. The star of films such as "I am a Legend," "Aladdin" and "In Search of Happiness," arrived two weeks ago in Alausí, in...
By Victor Tangermann Oxford quantum physicist Nikita Gourianov tore into the quantum computing industry last week, comparing the "fanfare" around the tech to a financial bubble in a searing commentry piece for the Financial Times. In other words, he wrote, it's far...
In comments about the government’s on-going negotiations with indigenous groups, President Guillermo Lasso said Saturday that current fuel subsidies benefit the wealthy more than they do the poor. “This has been a problem for years and now is the time to correct it,”...
Chileans overwhelmingly voted against a proposed new constitution on Sunday, rejecting what would have been one of the world's most progressive charters. While nearly 80% of Chileans voted to draft a new constitution in 2020, nearly 62% of voters rejected the new text...
Moderate rain had forced me to take shelter under a large avocado tree near the Rio Yambala in Vilcabamba. I had closed my eyes so I could concentrate on the air-born smell of petrichor, that universal scent that wafts up from the soil and plants during a rain. It...
By Steve H. Hanke and Caleb Hofmann El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, may be Bitcoin’s most visible publicist. Since Bukele assumed the presidency on June 1, 2019, his first-mover, grandiose plans for Bitcoin in El Salvador have generated buzz — and a litany of...
By Mauricio Olmedo-Perez When I was mugged by a gang of teenagers in Panama City it was a surprisingly civil transaction, and it was all over in less than a minute. I was a tour guide and had worked throughout Latin America for a number of years, traveling to some...
