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Although the weekend’s Summit of the Americas in Panama City was highlighted by a handshake between Cuba’s Raul Castro and the U.S. President Barack Obama, there were also emotional exchanges between several Latin American leaders and Obama. One of the most intense...
Some of them juggle, some dance, some ride unicycles, while others act the roles of clowns and mimes. They all earn their living at busy intersections in Cuenca, performing for tips from motorists in a profession they admit is dangerous. On Wednesday, a juggler...
By Viktoria Vidali High-school and family reunions, alumni gatherings, birthdays, anniversaries, cultural holidays, or the chance meeting with an old friend—such are life events in which we retell stories and relive experiences we have in common. On these social...
By Susan Schenck Most people are aware that they need to cut back on sugar, or at least choose their poison carefully. Sugar is so bad for the health of the body and brain that nowadays, doctors are even calling Alzheimer’s “type 3 diabetes.” Unhealthful sugars...
By Whitney Eulich As leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean gather in Panama Friday for the seventh Summit of the Americas, diplomatic shifts unthinkable even a year ago will be on display as Cuba joins in for the first time. But the historic nature of...
By Max Fisher Being a head of state is hard. You get criticized and scrutinized, all while having to do a pretty difficult job. But there is a right way to respond to criticism and a wrong way. And on Thursday the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, did it the wrong...
According to Cuenca city councilman Xavier Barrera, the best way to develop plans to ensure passenger safety on the city’s new tram system is to talk to people already operating similar systems. Barrera was part of a group of Cuenca officials who visited France last...
A month-long nightmare ended Wednesday for Arianaïs Alezra when she was reunited with her two-year-old son Gaspar. Following a court order, officers from Ecuador's National Bureau of Crimes (DINASED) had seized the child from his father earlier in the day. Alezra, who...
By Veronica Smink They appear little more than a bunch of old black-and-white photos the size of an A4 sheet of paper, with poorly defined images of armed men, battlefields and lifeless bodies. But this collection of pictures has immense historic value. They are the...
The Summit of the Americas opens later this week in Panama City with Latin American leaders saying they are mystified by recent actions of the United States. They say there is a contradiction in Washington's December announcement that it was normalizing relations with...
The National Bureau of Violent Crimes, Missing Persons, Extortion and Kidnapping (DINASED) says that if current trends continue, Cuenca will be the safest large city in Ecuador and one of the safest in Latin America. Paul Aguilar, Azuay Province DINASED chief, says...
The government has ordered Ecuador’s major banks to provide 5% mortgage interest rates, the lowest in the country’s history, to help finance low-cost housing. According Minister of Economic Policy Patricio Rivera, the banks will be reimbursed by the nation’s central...
Latin American countries should discuss removing all U.S. military bases from their soil, a top official of UNASUR suggested. The issue may be discussed later this week at the Summit of the Americas in Panama. The Summit of the Americas, to be held in Panama City,...
It’s the highest weather radar station in the world and, according to officials, will provide early warnings to water management personnel that will prevent flooding. The station, which will also provide data for air traffic and scientific studies, was constructed in...
By Edwin Mora Gen. John Kelly, the top U.S. commander in Latin America and the Caribbean, has warned lawmakers that over the last 15 years, Iran has been building influence in the region he oversees as the chief of U.S Southern Command (Southcom). Sen. Jeff Sessions...
British citizen James Jackson, 71, does not have the right to vote in his home country, a victim of a law preventing Britons from voting at home once they’ve lived out of the country for 15 years. The British law is not unique and other countries, including the U.S.,...
Editor's note: Aaron Marr Page is a plaintiff's attorney for indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon region in the case against Chevron-Texaco for environmental damage left by their oil production operations in the 1970s and 1980s. By Aaron Marr Page Nearly a...
When a group of stray neighborhood dogs showed up at the viewing and memorial service for a woman who devoted her life to taking care of homeless animals in Cuernavaca, Mexico, her daughter insisted that that be allowed to stay. According to daughter Patricia Urrutia,...
Ecuador’s National Assembly is considering legislation to eliminate some payment requirements within the country’s Social Security (IESS) system that President Rafael Correa says are requiring large government subsidies. The legislation, which would change previous...
By Karla Freeman Now that you’re an expat, how do you plan a life in Cuenca? Do you try to do the same things you did in your home country? Or, do you understand the need to adapt? For some advice, let’s turn to Paul Simon’s 1975 song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,”...
