Posts:
By Caitlin Flanagan I turned 60 last week, and I feel vaguely embarrassed about it, like I’ve somehow let myself go, like I’ve been bingeing on decades and wound up in this unappealing condition. Chances are, most of you haven’t crossed this border station yet, so...
A doctor at Cuenca’s Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital has filed a complaint against the Health Ministry due to the lack of medicines, equipment and access to medical specialists. He claims conditions at southern Ecuador's largest public hospital “put at risk the care...
There is a widely ignored truth about Ecuador, and it is not written into law or printed on any government website. This country does not run on procedures, institutions, or government stamps; it runs on WhatsApp. If you want food delivered, a taxi summoned, a plumber...
By Andrew Stuttaford In a recent article for National Review on neoprohibitionism, I touched on the controversy over a report on alcohol and health that had been commissioned by the Joe Biden administration. The story begins with the World Health Organization: In...
By Christine Clark "Don't swallow your gum, it'll take seven years for your stomach to digest!" "Ah, just pick it up off the floor — five second rule!" Most of us grew up with wives' tales such as these, and probably believed them. But, as we've gotten older and...
President Daniel Noboa has ordered the Ministries of Defense and Interior to analyze the possibility of a nationwide emergency declaration in the face of surging coastal crime. He ordered the analysis at a Saturday ministerial meeting before leaving for the World...
Curious -? (De El Mercurio del jueves, 15/1/2026) Un cubano deportado de EE.UU. a Ecuador (A Cuban deported from the US to Ecuador) - A federal immigration judge in New York granted a request by the Dept of Homeland Security on el 13/1 to deport Alex Ramírez González,...
One of the things Cuenca does especially well is variety. Cafés here are not interchangeable. Each one attracts a slightly different mix of people, activities, and expectations, often without anyone saying a word. Knowing which café fits your rhythm makes all the...
Wall Street Journal economist Judy Shelton suggests that Latin American countries adopt the US dollar. She weighs in on the pros and cons of dollarization as a regional phenomenon. Ms. Shelton argues that “Greater financial stability and rapid development in...
The Defense Ministry announced Thursday that an additional 10,000 military personnel are being sent to Guayas, Los Ríos and Manabí Provinces. The deployment will increase the number of troops in the three provinces to almost 30,000 assigned to support the National...
You can learn a lot about modern geopolitics by reading the news with a cup of coffee and the same suspicion you reserve for used-car salesmen. It began, as these things often do, with President Trump “inviting” Greenland to become the 51st state of the United States....
By Kate Dwyer On the first Tuesday of the year, the author and political activist Don Winslow tweeted a photograph of an avid reader’s dream library. Bathed in the buttery glow of three table lamps, almost every surface of the room is covered with books. There are...
By Peter Grattan Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves — 303 billion barrels, about 17% of the global total and more than Saudi Arabia's 267 billion. Yet Venezuela produces fewer than 1 million barrels per day, less than 1% of global output. That's...
Cuenca has received another “best in class” distinction, being named the "Best City in South America" by the World Travel Index. The city’s new number one ranking follows earlier designations as the safest city in Latin America and best for quality of life by the...
By Pierre-Charles Pradier The cocaine market exploded between 2014 and 2023. Production in Colombia increased more than sevenfold to nearly 2,700 tons, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Behind the scenes, drug traffickers find equally...
More than a year after Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruling recognising slave-like conditions at the company Furukawa Plantaciones C.A. in Ecuador, victims of contemporary forms of slavery continue to live in extremely precarious conditions, United Nations officials*...
After months of navigating the online noise—the conflicting forum posts, the sensational YouTube videos, and the "I left Ecuador" blogs—it’s easy to feel more confused than ever. We’ve spent this entire series cutting through that noise. We have analyzed the hard...
Mining company owners and representatives are objecting to a new regulation requiring mines to provide electricity to power their operations. They claim the requirement was not included in original mining concessions and is an indication of the government’s failure to...
Bored? - (De El Mercurio del miércoles, 14/1) Florecimiento de guayacanes (Flowering of guayacan trees) - The City of Zapotillo announced that the flowering of the guayacanes will start el 17/1 thanks to the recent rains <no hour given, you'll just have to drive...
Several readers have asked Charlie to comment further on imported packages and the pros and cons of various sources, so I have been peering again into the mysterious world of cross-border shopping from my desk here at Larga Towers in Cuenca. As many of you will...
