Posts:
Why have Ecuadorian bank and cooperative deposits increased 30% in two years while the national economy remains stagnant? Why have the country’s stock exchanges seen record investments? Why do new condominium projects in Cuenca sell out within hours? These are...
By Tamar Haspel When food manufacturers decide what to put on labels, they have one goal: to get you to buy the food. And the history of Americans’ diets can be read in the history of food labels. Whatever the villain du jour is, we get labels about its absence: fat,...
Long recognized for having the best drinking water in Ecuador, a new government report shows that Cuenca does the best job of taking care of its water supply. The government reports that Cuenca has the country's lowest rate of water waste and theft. The country’s...
By Alec Ryrie If you're a Protestant, the anniversary of the revolution Martin Luther set in motion 500 years ago is a big deal. But even if you're not, it should be. The Reformation was one of the decisive events that made the world we live in, for better or worse....
A Latam Quito-to-Cuenca flight diverted to Guayaquil Tuesday afternoon following an engine blow-out. The flight was on its landing approach to the Mariscal La Mar airport about 2 p.m. when the engine exploded and briefly caught fire. The pilot retracted the landing...
Ecuadorian First Lady Lavinia Valbonesi has come under scrutiny after earning a bachelor's degree in little more than eight months, prompting questions about whether she received preferential treatment. While her husband, Daniel Noboa, has defended the degree as fully...
The other day I was scrolling through Facebook when I came across a familiar sort of message. A man, perhaps in his fifties or sixties wrote that he was not actually sick, but he had the uneasy feeling that his body was not working quite the way it did when he was...
By Paula Ramón For a momentary respite from the confinement of the COVID pandemic, Elinor Zamora went up to the roof of her building to breathe in the outside air. There, in 2023, she encountered a surprising sight: She watched dozens of huge, colorful macaws gather...
Although President Daniel Noboa emphasized health care, transportation and education in his annual Report to the Nation Sunday, he said his hardline approach to fighting drug trafficking and violence has shown "real results." Noboa cited the extradition of a dozen...
By David Farley Nomads have gotten a short shrift in history. As Anthony Sattin writes in his new book, “Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World”: “People who live with walls and monuments, who have written most of history, have failed to find meaning in or to...
By Erik Vance Getting a filling at the dentist can be painful, expensive and generally miserable. A crown or a root canal is even worse. Still, you do it because your dentist says you should. But in a surprising number of cases, you might have another choice. Where...
By R.S. Gompertz When the English language gives you lemons, you can make lemonade. Deciphering mixed metaphors in English is like comparing apples and oranges except that the apple never falls far from the tree, even when a bad one ruins the barrel. You may have...
In his annual Report to the Nation, President Daniel Noboa promised to focus attention on public health and highway projects in the coming year while maintaining a “firm hand” against criminals. During his 34-minute address he announced the establishment of the Public...
There was a time, not so very long ago, when a doctor might look at your blood pressure, nod thoughtfully, and say something along the lines of, “Well, that’s about right for your age.” The rule of thumb was simple enough to remember and reassuring enough to repeat:...
The drive from the high valley of Paute to the sprawling beaches of Ecuador’s central coast takes all day. We left a little after dawn and arrived just in time to order a celebratory cocktail as our fatigue and the blinding heat of the afternoon faded into the...
By Tamara Gane Paper boarding passes get a bad rap. They’ve become shorthand for being not only out of touch but unfamiliar with basic technology. Airlines, for their part, are doing everything they can to push them into the past. Last spring, American Airlines...
Thursday’s power blackouts in nine provinces, including Azuay, are a reminder of technical and erosion problems at the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant on the Rio Coca east of Quito. A representative for the national electric company, Celec, said the outages...
By Jerome Long His men were exhausted, cold and wet. They had slogged over a muddy mountain trail and were suffering from altitude sickness. Many of them were raw, untested recruits. The enemy could see what he was doing and was moving to gain the higher ground....
By Andrew Freedman The coming “Super” El Niño is poised to affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide as it strengthens through the year into the winter season. It may also alter ecosystems for decades to come, judging from the repercussions of past...
By Rich Lowry We’ve been having a debate about “book bans” in recent years, but given the steep decline in student literacy, the deeper question is how anyone would notice whether a book is available in a school library or not. The New York Times published an...
Week of September 20
Ecuador turns to industrial power cuts to protect Mazar and keep homes from going dark.
Ecuador raises its 2026 growth forecast, but El Niño could spoil the outlook next year.
Cuenca retirees challenge medical and therapy changes at IESS senior center.
