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In a scene reminiscent of the pre-Rafael Correa presidency, burning tires, rocks, logs and chanting protesters are blocking the Panamerican Highway between Ibarra and Carchi, just south of the Colombian border. Residents of Ecuador’s northern Chota Valley are...
Cuenca’s municipal council has approved higher taxi fares. The rates will be operational in about a week, after they are programmed into taxi meters. Following heated debate among councilors on Monday, the rate schedule recommended by a team of University of Cuenca...
By Bruce R. Magid In the Colombian city of Medellín, nestled in a valley in the Andes Mountains, one can see the remnants of a tragic past and, at the same time, glimpse a hopeful future taking hold across much of Latin America. Walking through Medellín...
Cuenca has joined Quito in outlawing drinking in public places. The city council agreed on Tuesday to fine those found guilty of drinking in public $170, or half of the minimum monthly wage of $340. Those found guilty of selling and distributing alcoholic beverages...
Cuenca’s transportation office says that the city’s new tram system, TranvÃa de los Cuatro Rios, will mean a reduction in the number of cars, trucks and buses on the historic district. The problem, says Gerard Fernandez, city transportation chief, is planning for the...
By Ana Belén Cordero The package of constitutional amendments presented by Ecuador’s ruling PAIS Alliance party to the country’s Constitutional Court has sparked a wave of amicus curiae appeals. The Court has so far received 10 third-party appeals to the 17 proposed...
By Rob Cox Turn on state television here, and within an hour or so a public service message will appear extolling the “Ecuadorian miracle” of President Rafael Correa. The advertisements highlight big new infrastructure projects and endorsements by experts,...
Eat more cuy! That's the mantra of a new program promoted by Ecuador’s Ministry of Agriculture that, if it's successful, will mean that not only will Ecuadorians be eating more of the tasty, cuddly little critters, but so will the rest of world. A two-day symposium on...
By Juan J. Palacios Considered for most of the twentieth century as the United States’ backyard, Latin America is today a place where other major powers seek to exercise a growing influence and find a steady supply of energy and natural resources as well as...
Taxi fare committee fails to reach agreement The committee appointed to develop a new taxi fare schedule failed to reach a consensus during a Wednesday afternoon meeting and sent the Cuenca city council three proposals, representing the positions of consumers, taxi...
A year-and-a-half away from completing a light rail system, the largest public transportation project in Cuenca history, Mayor Marcelo Cabrera is pushing a new one that will be twice as expensive. On Thursday, Cabrera showed off the final design for a 50-kilometer...
As work continues on what will be Cuenca's largest hotel, a Sheraton Hotel at Mall del Rio, other hotel owners complain that the market is saturated. Although Cuenca officials say the city is in dire need of more high-end hotel rooms, the local hotel association says...
Ecuadorian minister of foreign affairs, Ricardo Patiño, announced Monday that Ecuador will work towards the creation of an Observatory of Transnational Companies. To be developed with other countries of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the proposal...
By Susan Schenck The Cuenca Zoo may be one of Cuenca’s least advertised and most overlooked amusements. I lived here over four years before I discovered it. Any cab driver should know how to find the zoo, which is across from Hospital del Rio. But if you feel like...
The government’s plan to wean consumers from subsidized LP gas appears to be faltering. When President Rafael Correa announced last year that gas subsidies would end, he said the government estimated that 3.5 million households would change to electric cooktops by...
By Mark Blazis Having been a part of 40 expeditions into Amazonia and the Andes and a dozen more into the Galapagos Islands, I was recently invited to be the consulting biologist for a television documentary in Ecuador featuring CSI Miami’s Jorja Fox, Extreme Animal...
By By Kim Gamel The sea lion nursed her pup under a prickly pear cactus while an iguana clumsily marched away. A tiny penguin waddled on a rock while red and orange crabs clung to the craggy surface below. Welcome to the Galapagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago that...
Government to crack down on pirated music and movies Under pressure from international watchdog groups, including the World Trade Organization, Ecuador says it will step up its vigilance of illegally copied DVD and CD and their sales sales. It is estimated that 50,000...
Five years after the government slapped heavy taxes and duties on imported liquor and imposed new rules on sales, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that per capita alcohol consumption in Ecuador has dropped by 23%. WHO says that drinking age Ecuadorians...
The Cuenca transportation office is speeding up construction work for the new light rail system, Tranvia de los Cuatro Rios, despite protests of its route through the historic district. In addition to Avs. España and Las Americas, the speed-up includes more work hours...
