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The man who Ecuadorian authorities say once controlled most cocaine shipments between Ecuador and Europe was arrested Monday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Dritan Gjika, a 47-year-old Albanian, is wanted in at least seven European countries in addition to...
By David Morrill and Deke Castleman Where do Cuencanos and expats buy their food? Although Supermaxi, Coral, Super Aki and other modern supermarkets sell their share of fresh produce, meat and fish, the city's markets, or mercados, continue to be the Cuenca's main...
Although the Ministry of Mining has given the go-ahead to the proposed Loma Larga gold mine 30 kilometers southeast of Cuenca, many local residents say they will continue to fight the massive Dundee Precious Metals project. On Tuesday, the Ministry claimed residents...
Charlie Larga is nobody special — at least, not at first glance. Just another tall gringo with a sunhat, buying instant coffee in Tuti and muttering about how the bus used to cost less. He didn’t come to Ecuador to find himself. He came here because, like many of you...
Finance Minister Sariha Moya says she received a “very positive response” in recent talks with major Chinese banks. The minister was in Beijing representing Ecuador at the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum earlier in month. Among the...
By Jim Smith Retirement no longer means staying in one place. More seniors and retirees are choosing to live abroad while working part-time or managing their finances online. In cities like Cuenca, Ecuador, this new lifestyle, sometimes called digital nomadism, is...
Let’s begin with a simple assumption: you just want a blender. Nothing fancy. You’re not looking to crush diamonds or blend frozen mangoes into silky perfection for your artisanal juice bar. You just want to make a banana smoothie without waking the neighbors or...
The cost to ride municipal buses is headed higher but bus companies and citizen groups disagree on the new amount. A University of Cuenca study is recommending a fare of 40 cents but says the city should provide a four-cent subsidy to boost payment to owners....
Cuenca’s museums are extending their hours Sunday, May 18 in recognition of International Museum Day, with many of them hosting special events and guided tours of their collections. Among the museums celebrating the day are the Museum of Modern Art; Remigio Crespo...
Two Citizens Revolution assemblyman have announced the formation of the “People’s Caucus,” a political movement they say rejects the self-interests and in-fighting that has dominated the National Assembly in recent years. Raúl Chávez and Jaime Estrada announced the...
Going to the dentist in Cuenca is a bit like entering a lottery where all the prizes involve sitting with your mouth open while a stranger stares into it — but it’s still better than doing it in the United States. Prices are lower, the equipment may be newer, and if...
The army command has ordered an additional 1,500 troops to Orellana and Sucumbíos Provinces following the massacre of 11 soldiers in Alto Punino Friday. The new troops join an estimated 1,200 already deployed to the region near the Colombian border. The 11 soldiers...
Diego (not his real name) arrived at the bus station nearly an hour before the 5 a.m. scheduled departure. He was too nervous to sleep. His entire family joined him, but only as far as the edge of the floodlit parking lot, and then only long enough to offer a few...
Somewhere in Cuenca, there’s a perfectly painted pedestrian crossing. Maybe two. They are decorative, symbolic, and approximately as binding as a pinky promise at a kindergarten birthday party. You, a sensible foreigner raised on fairy tales of driver courtesy and...
Twelve cases of whooping cough have been confirmed in Azuay Province, according to the Ministry of Health. In addition, one of the two yellow fever deaths in Ecuador occurred in the province although the victim contracted the disease in Morona Santiago Province before...
The Ministry of Health is sending additional medical teams to Taisha, in Morona Santiago Province, where eight children have died and another 52 have contracted leptospira. The disease was identified Saturday as the cause of the outbreak that began in December. Health...
Three medical teams are on the ground in Taisha canton, Morona Santiago Province, trying to determine what killed eight children and hospitalized 11 others. The latest death was of a seven-year-old boy who died while being airlifted from Taisha to Vicente Corral...
In its annual quality of life index, the international data collection service Numbeo ranks Ecuador third in Latin America, behind Costa Rica and Uruguay. Numbeo’s rankings are based on more than 20 factors, including overall cost of living, purchasing power,...
Three families were evacuated from their homes Monday following landslides in the Santa Ana parish in southeast Cuenca. Municipal risk management officials say that a house and workshop were partially destroyed in the Tepal sector while two houses in the Lazaretto...
By Stephen Vargha “I’m nervous,” said Amaru Zapata. “I’ve never done anything like this before.” Not many have. Roughly 40,000, of which the U.S. has approximately half, have experienced what Zapata was about to do on April 26. It was his first solo show: “Re-Defining...
