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In a survey conducted by the Swedish company EF (Education First) Cuenca ranks second behind Quito for English language proficiency. The survey was taken among high school and university students but its administrators say that it also represents English usage in the...
By Kathleen Peddicord My daughter Kaitlin, age 8 at the time, cried herself to sleep every night during our first year living in Waterford, Ireland. Kaitlin was fiercely opposed to the idea of leaving her grandmother, her cousins, her friends, and her school in...
Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned Sunday amid growing opposition after an international audit found the results of last month's election could not be validated due to "serious irregularities." Morales said he was stepping down "for the good of the country,"...
Bolivia's President Evo Morales has said he will call a new election after international monitors questioned the validity of his victory last month. The Organization of American States (OAS), which monitored the elections, called for the result to be annulled....
A tragic tale of murder, kidnapping and human trafficking ended Thursday morning in Cuenca with the arrest of two women in the Miraflores neighborhood. The arrests of Maryuri Alexandra G. and Yomayra Mercedes Ch. on charges of human trafficking of a 10-day-old baby...
By Jorge Ramos There is a rage brewing in Latin America. Aware that they don’t live in real democracies, the people of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia are taking to the streets. In Chile, Ecuador and Haiti, citizens are angry about social inequality and the lack of...
By Katy Watson I have one particularly large wrinkle between my eyebrows I put down to scowling while living in Mexico in my 20s, trying to ward off the hisses and catcalls in the street. There was one day, though, when I dropped the scowl and chose another tactic. A...
A three-judge National Court panel rejected an appeal by the attorneys for former president Rafael Correa and five other ex-officials in the so-called Sobornos 2012-2016 -- or Bribes 2012-206 – case that would have allowed the defendants to avoid pretrial detention....
By Mitch Anderson In July, a court in Ecuador issued a ruling with profound implications for the urgent fight to save the imperiled Amazon rainforest. The decision effectively blocked a planned government oil auction that threatened half-a-million acres of some of the...
Maybe you have seen my presentations on ‘best’ and ‘worst’ diets for weight loss. I always focus on eating for energy, and especially when you're working out, to fuel your fitness. I read recently that NBC’s USA Network was bringing back the television reality show...
Ecuador may soon take the first step to reduce the use of plastics. The proposed law of economic reform, currently being debated in the National Assembly, would tax single-use plastic bags 10 cents each. In its first phase, the tax would apply to bags used in larger...
I spend time each day, living in my rural paradise outside Cuenca, playing in the quebrada (mountain stream). I have a project, moving stones in the creek, creating a wading pool, and sifting through the gravel finding a variety of quartz. The myriad of colors of the...
The Catholic Church launched an investigation into two nuns who took a vow of chastity, yet returned to Italy pregnant after a missionary trip, according to reports. The two women, who belonged to different orders in Sicily, had both traveled to Africa, Italian outlet...
I did not become many of the things I am until later on in my life. And I’m still heartily invested in my “becoming.” It takes a long time to “grow up” in just about every sense of the term. There’s physical maturation, which we have little control over. And then...
Forty-six passengers and several crew members were evacuated Tuesday night from Celebrity Cruises’ ship the Celebrity Xpedition after it ran aground in the Galápagos, the cruise line’s parent company, Miami-based Royal Caribbean, announced. Celebrity is operated by...
At a Tuesday National Assembly commission hearing investigating the October protests, Azuay Prefect Yaku Pérez said he acted as a “rebel with a cause” during the indigenous strike and blamed the government of Lenin Moreno for damage caused during the protests. Pérez...
President Lenin Moreno's office has asked the Attorney General to investigate Cuenca National Assemblyman Doris Soliz, former Minister of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES), “for crimes against public administration in the Coopera case.” Cuenca-based Coopera, at the...
Chile’s embattled President Sebastián Piñera has rejected the notion of resigning and believes he will reach the end of his term in just over two years despite intense anti-government protests that are roiling the country, according to an interview with the BBC....
With an estimated 250,000 tourists visiting the city over the four-day holiday weekend, Cuenca businesses and tourism officials say the independence holiday was one of the most successful ever. “It was a very good weekend and it came a good time,” said Juan Pablo...
By John Fund The pro-free-speech documentary No Safe Spaces doesn’t have its nationwide debut until November 15, but it’s already breaking box-office records in Phoenix and San Diego, where it rolled out early. That’s because many Americans realize that efforts to...
Week of October 25
Ecuador heads into a four-day November holiday built around Cuenca’s Independence Day.
El Niño’s early rains have already affected more than 30,000 people across Ecuador.
Exporters press Constitutional Court to move three major trade agreements forward
