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Beginning January 2014, the age limit for voluntary membership in Ecuador’s Social Security heatlh care system will be eliminated. Currently, the program will not cover those over the age of 60. The policy change opens the door to foreign retirees who are legal...
Cuenca’s Municipal Transit Authority, DMT, said it continues to study the pedestrian crossing problem on Av. Las Americas but cautions that it must complete its studies before adding new features. Residents of the Jacaranda Park neighborhood, near the entrance to the...
A hotel building boom is underway in Cuenca and current hotel and hostal owners are questioning the need for more rooms. Two mid-rise hotels are currently under construction in El Ejido, between the football stadium and Av. Solano, and a larger one, in the design...
By Simeon Tegel For a region famous for “machismo,” Latin America is about to take an unlikely step: elect a record number of women presidents. In Chile, moderate socialist former President Michelle Bachelet — whose admirers include Hillary Clinton — is widely...
Ecuador’s stock market has posted a 24% gain through the first three quarters of 2013 and financial experts say the gain will top 30% by the end of the year. The small Guayaquil- and Quito-based exchange says that the cash value of trades for its 47 public companies...
Cuenca is counting its birds, so far identifying 80 species living in the city and suburbs. The city’s Environmental Management Commission has enlisted the University of Azuay and professional ornithologists to conduct the survey. The project began in March and...
Ecuador's Superintendency of Telecommunications (Supertel) has ordered Movistar Ecuador to submit a plan to improve service quality in Cuenca and several other locations. The regulator said that monitoring has detected the existence of problems with Movistar's rate of...
The investment group Pronobis will begin construction in January on a $17 million, 160,000-meter, 140-room hotel adjacent to the new Quito airport. To be called the Wyndham Grand Hotel Condor, the hotel will include conference space, classrooms, offices and small...
Cuenca traffic police are warning drivers to stay out of specially designated bus lanes in El Centro. Bus lanes are located on Calles Juan Jaramillo, President Córdova, Sangurima and Muñoz Vega, and plans are in the works to add them to other streets, including Gil...
By Gonzalo Solano and Frank Bajak Investigative journalist Juan Carlos Calderon received multiple death threats after launching something rare in the claustrophobic media climate of today’s Ecuador, a digital magazine exposing high-level corruption. To Calderon, the...
The Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) has interviewed more than 386 unrepaid members of the failed financial cooperative Coopera to assess their need for government assistance. MEIS says that 106 members remain to be contacted, 98 declined interviews...
Fundacion Pachamama, an indigenous non-profit organization opposed to President Rafael Correa plan to drill for oil in Ecuador’s eastern jungles, says it will fight the government order to shut down its operations. In its Wedneday order, the government alleged...
The creation of jobs is still post-recession America's and Europe’s nightmare. In September, the U.S. unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, a mere 0.6 percentage points lower than it was the previous year, whereas in the European Union it was 12.2 percent, a point...
Cuenca’s new bus system is causing widespread confusion among city commuters. Called integrated transport by the city’s transportation office, the new system is based around two transfer stations where passengers can change buses at no additional cost. The city says...
By the weekend, customers will see price increases for both cigarettes and beer in city supermarkets, tiendas and mercados. The increases are the result of a decision by distributors and producers. The cost of a Pilsner grande (600cc) rises from 90 cents to a dollar....
Citizens of Quito are demanding that the city do something about the dead dogs that litter streets and highways. Residents of one neighborhood walked two Quito city councilmen through area streets last week, pointing out the remains of two dogs killed in traffic....
Ecuador hopes to sign a trade agreement with the European Union by early 2014, President Rafael Correa said Friday, saying that it would not lead to an outright free trade pact. "We will negotiate and seek to sign an accord with the European Union, but not at any...
Although China’s economic influence is growing rapidly throughout Latin America, no where is it more evident than in Ecuador where it enjoys a near-monopoly of crude exports. Critics of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa say that the Chinese influence has gone too far...
The rector of the University of Cuenca says he is “surprised and upset” by the latest government rankings of Ecuador’s univerities. The University of Cuenca, the largest public university in southern Ecuador with more than 20,000 students, was downgraded from category...
Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño says that between 6,000 and 7,000 Spanish professionals have relocated to Ecuador in recent months to work in the country's growing education and health care sectors. Speaking at the end of a three-day visit to China, Patiño...
