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Supporters of a national protest strike arrived in Cuenca last night as helicopters swirled overhead and police lined historic district streets. The march began four days ago in Zamora Chinchipe. As marchers continue toward Quito to participate in a national strike...
LC Perú, Peru's second largest airline, says it has received permission from civil aviation authorities to proceed with plans to offer international flights to Ecuador, the U.S., and Bolivia. The airline said it is purchasing five new Boeing aircraft in preparation...
You could call it a pop-up gallery, to use the popular phrase describing special events restaurants. Open for only five days so far in 2015, Galeria Ombligo hosts its second opening tomorrow night from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., show-casing a street art project outside its...
Although the residents of Cuenca still have major concerns about crime, they are feeling safer than they have in years and believe the government's investment in law enforcement is paying off. In a survey of the city’s poor residents, who suffer the greatest level of...
As real estate sales decline, Ecuador building contractors and manufacturers of building materials say they are facing hard times. Some say they may have to close their doors. Although construction continues on existing commercial and residential projects, few new...
Thirty Citizen Guards are attending English classes at the University of Cuenca for the purpose of improving communication with tourists and foreign residents. Two graduate students in the university’s English Literature program are the teachers. The Citizen Guard,...
Ecuador’s Ministry of Labor is investigating claims that Cuenca bus companies have fired drivers who were attempting to form a union. The drivers have complained for months about long working hours, low pay, and poor operating condition of buses. José Trelles,...
Leaders of indigenous organizations in southern Ecuador are mobilizing their members in preparation for a national strike beginning August 13. Strike organizers will meet Saturday in Cuenca to finalize plans. The organizations, which are protesting a long list of...
After years of talk and false starts, Cuenca’s Calle Santa Ana could soon be opening. More an alley than a street, Santa Ana will host crafts shops, a performing arts area, a cultural center, and cafés, targeting the city’s growing tourist market, as well as local...
By Nancy Turpin Many of us like spicy foods, and spices and herbs are a good additive to any meal. They bump up the flavors of basic foods and can make the difference between a merely OK dish and a YUMMY one. Ecuadorian cuisine relies on salt, aji (a hot, red chili...
The lakes of the Cajas National Park, located at elevations ranging from 3,000 to 4,600 meters in Ecuador's Azuay province, are the scene of fieldwork carried out by the research project ECUAFLUX, an initiative to analyze the carbon cycle in the Andean basins of...
By Sylvan Hardy According to Cuenca real estate agents, the local market has turned in favor of buyers for the first time in almost 10 years. It’s a fact that many sellers have difficulty accepting. “After so many years of strong appreciation, it’s hard for many...
Police say that a male body found Monday inside a Calle Larga house has been identified as that of a U.S. citizen. Police said the dead man was about 48 years old. Police say the cause of death appears to be alcohol poisoning. According to acquaintances, the man was...
Following months of delay, a draft of an ordinance that would stiffen penalties for animal cruelty and neglect, establish an animal shelter and a city run sterilization program, received its first reading Saturday before the Cuenca cantonal council. Proponent of the...
A new study by Spanish urban design consultants has determined what most Cuencanos already know: most streets in the historic district are clogged with cars. The Report on Transportation and Public Spaces, compiled by the Junta de Andalucía, said traffic was at...
Double-parking is a part of Cuenca culture that has to change, city officials say. “I’ll just be a minute,” is phrase that has been heard frequently in the historic district for years, as has been ongoing irritant to non-double-parked drivers who are forced to change...
Cuenca expats are getting younger and becoming more international, says a British researcher. They are also spreading out within the city and beyond, he says. Will Phillips, who has lived in Cuenca part-time since 2011, says he wants to establish a demographic profile...
Construction work on Cuenca’s new tram system is expanding in the historic district, moving west on Gran Colombia and opening a new front on Gaspar Sangurima. Project director Gerard Fernandez says that track has been laid on six of the system's 20 kilometers. and...
The announcement this week that China’s Xiaomi, the world’s No. five producer of smartphones, is entering Brazilian market, is another indication that South America could become a cell phone manufacturing center like China. Known as “China’s Apple,” Xiaomi is making...
By Liam Higgins According to Canadian university professor and writer Matthew Hayes, Cuenca expats are unwittingly promoting a racist caste system established centuries ago in Ecuador by the Spanish. Hayes’ analysis appears in the article, “’It is hard being the...
