CuencaHighLife

President Lenin Moreno’s office said Tuesday that there are no plans to call for early elections following Sunday’s rejection of the government’s economic reform law in the National Assembly. “The option of changing the election schedule is not on the table,” presidential press secretary Gabriel Arroba said. “Comments by some government ministers on the subject...

Prosecutors in Sweden have dropped an investigation into a rape allegation made against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange in 2010. Assange, who denies the accusation, has avoided extradition to Sweden for seven years after seeking refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012. The 48-year-old Australian was evicted in April and sentenced to 50 weeks...

The government announced Tuesday it is ending a bilateral health cooperation agreement with Cuba. The agreement, in effect for a decade, has brought hundreds of medical specialists to Ecuador to work in medically under-served communities. The announcement was made by Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo who said the move means “there will be no renewal...

Ecuador’s public television provider, the National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), has cut off its broadcast of RT (Russia Today) in Spanish. The move comes weeks after Ecuador’s interior minister complained about RT covering local protests. The broadcast was cut off on Thursday without any prior notice or explanation, says RT, which is funded by the Russian...

President Lenin Moreno suffered his second political defeat in a month Sunday night when the National Assembly resoundingly rejected his Economic Growth Law. Following his capitulation to indigenous leaders in October, when he agreed to reinstated gasoline and diesel subsidies, several assembly members questioned the president’s ability to manage Ecuador’s worsening financial crisis. The Assembly...

By Laurie Paternoster It’s a classic story. Every time Adrian passed the store window on his way to chemotherapy treatments, he pressed his face against the glass. There, nestled among other eye-catching toys, was the remote controlled car he saw in his dreams. He stared longingly, before reluctantly yielding to the gentle tug of his...

After heated discussion, a revised version of President Lenin Moreno’s Economic Growth Law was approved Friday night by the National Assembly’s economic regime committee. The bill now goes to the full Assembly for final debate. Several members of the economic committee said they will vote against the legislation in the full Assembly, explaining that they...