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Ecuador and China have signed agreements to cooperate on a variety of issues, including immigration, education and the development of renewable energy. The most significant agreement, however, is China’s offer of a $7.5 billion line of credit that Ecuador can tap over...
It was an evening of spoofs and satire at Tuesday’s Mascaradas de Inocentes parade. Politicians, government policies, television personalities, expats, and even the dead, were lampooned during the three-hour procession down Cuenca’s Av. Huayna Capac. The parade,...
Ecuador finds itself in a familiar position in International Living’s 2015 Global Retirement Index, released on Friday. The index rates it the world’s number one retirement country for the fourth time in seven years. International Living's index rates countries based...
Ecuador says that devaluations in Colombian and Peruvian currency, coupled with dropping oil prices and a strong U.S. dollar, mandate increased taxes on imports from those nations to maintain trade equality. Ecuador’s Committee on Foreign Trade (Comex) ordered the tax...
Ecuador will trim $1.4 billion from its 2015 budget to compensate for the loss of oil revenue, the country’s Finance Ministry announced Monday. The reduction represents about 4% of the country’s $35 billion annual budget. Finance Minister Fausto Herrera says that the...
A significant number of Cuenca’s 3,600 taxis are out of service, according to some taxi drivers. The reason, they say, is that the fare scheduled programmed into taxi meters in 2014 has reduced the income for drivers, and some taxistas have taken other employment....
By Sylvan Hardy Since 2011, Ecuador has spent a greater percentage of its GDP on infrastructure and social programs than any country in the western hemisphere. Although it may maintain that distinction in 2015 since it holds a huge advantage over second-place Canada,...
By Jim Wyss On Calle Ocho in Quito’s La Florida neighborhood, a few dozen Cubans mill around, downing tar-thick espresso and explaining to curious locals how to cook malanga. But the snow-capped volcano peeking through the clouds dispels notions that this scene is...
The U.S., British and French embassies in the United Arab Emirates have issued their annual warnings to expats to keep their holiday celebrations under wraps. Even in the UAE’s most sophisticated city, Dubai, which has the area’s most relaxed social rules, foreign...
Only days after final debate in the National Assembly, a new law that imposes a 100% special usage tax on gas appliances and eliminates the VAT tax on electric stoves and cooktops, becomes effective January 1. Ecuadorian business organizations say it is another...
Doña Albalina Espinoza’s cellphone rattled with the incoming warning call at 2:30 p.m: “The Chinese are coming!” the voice hissed. Espinoza quickly hung up, then dialed the next number on the list: “The Chinese are coming!” she repeated. Within minutes, all 150...
By David Morrill Angel Salvador Ortega stowed away on a banana boat out of Puerto Bolivar in 1994 and was on his way, he hoped, to being an illegal alien in the U.S. when his fortunes took a dramatic turn. Life was hard in his native Oña, a town of 3,000, set in a dry...
By Sylvan Hardy Although it appears that the final obstacles for Cuenca’s new electric tram system have been overcome, controversy surrounding the project continues. As one city transportation official put it, “The train has left the station, but there are still some...
By Ruxandra Guidi Last April, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa took his weekly radio show "Enlace Cuidadano" on the road to the Italian city of Genoa. He wasn't there for the salami. Instead he implored Genoa's Ecuadorean expatriate population - the largest in Italy...
The city has agreed to the demands of the Cuenca Civic Collective to reroute the tram outside of the historic district. City transportation director Gerard Fernandez said on Saturday that the decision was made to move the tram lines north to Av. Las Amercas from the...
Ecuador has halted environmental cooperation deals with Germany worth some 43 million euros to the Latin American country after German lawmakers tried to visit an Amazon rainforest recently opened for oil production, the foreign minister said on Friday. President...
Bar owners in Cuenca’s historic district are asking for a change to a 30-year-old ordinance that has been used to shut down eight bars and night clubs. Last week's closures were ordered under an ordinance adopted in 1985 that stipulates that bars and night clubs...
By Nathan Vardi GMO Trust, the Boston investment company co-founded by prominent investor Jeremy Grantham, has sued the Republic of Ecuador in Manhattan’s federal court over the default of Ecuador’s foreign bonds in 2008, setting the stage for a second big U.S. court...
By Eduardo Porter Few people are as intensely worried about the slowing Chinese economy as Latin Americans. Not only does China buy nearly 40 percent of Chile’s copper, but its once-insatiable demand helped push copper prices from $1 to $4 a pound. Meanwhile, Beijing...
Ecuador’s Central Bank began opening customer accounts on Christmas Eve for its new electronic money transaction system. The bank said that that the system will begin offering banking services, via cell phone, in mid-February and will begin accepting payment for...
