Ecuador News

By Alexandra Valencia President Guillermo Lasso’s efforts to combat insecurity and economic problems amid rising violence and fierce legislative opposition are falling short, putting at risk foreign investment, according to analysts and residents. Lasso, a former banker who took office a year ago, promised to fight crime, revive an economy battered by coronavirus and attract...

By Anastasia Moloney When 11-year-old Ecuadorean Leonela Moncayo sees the flames from a gas flare flickering above the jungle canopy near her home in the Amazon rainforest, anger makes her determined to fight the pollution caused by decades of oil drilling. Moncayo lives in the ramshackle tropical town of Lago Agrio at the heart of...

Ecuador’s National Judiciary Council has suspended Iván Saquicela, president of the country’s court system, for 90 days “for serious infractions and negligence.” Coming on the same day a three-judge panel in Santa Elena Province revoked the habeas corpus of former vice president Jorge Glas, the suspension has drawn criticism from some judges who claim it...

As he marks his first year in office, President Guillermo Lasso’s approval rating among Ecuadorians has hit a new low. In a new poll by Click Report, only 29% gave him a “good” rating. The poll results mirror that of two other recent polls showing deep dissatisfaction with presidential leadership and the direction the country...

A court in Santa Elena Province has withdrawn the habeas corpus granted former vice president Jorge Glas on April 9 and ordered him taken into custody and returned to prison. A three judge panel ruled that Manglaralto judge Javier Moscoso lacked the authority to release Glas from prison. Glas was back at the Cotopaxi prison...

By German Lopez For much of human history, people got their drugs from nature. Marijuana comes from the cannabis plant, cocaine from coca leaves, heroin from poppies and magic mushrooms really do come from mushrooms. Even legal drugs, like alcohol, tobacco and coffee, come from plants. Their highs were often discovered by chance, when someone...

Eight people have been arrested on charges that they were involved in forcibly recruiting Ecuadorians for armed groups, the country’s prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. The prosecution said on its Twitter account the eight were arrested during simultaneous raids in Imbabura, Pichincha and El Oro Provinces. It accused them of “human trafficking and recruitment for...

U.S. First lady Jill Biden arrived in Ecuador Wednesday night on the stop on a six-day Latin American tour, which also includes bisits to Panama and Costa Rica.  The tour will “emphasize the importance of the US partnership,” as well as the three countries’ commitment to democracy, “in a region where democratic backsliding is increasingly...

Police reported Tuesday that all 43 workers at the Tres Chorreras gold mine near Pucará have been accounted for. According to Azuay Police Commander Fausto Salinas, the 10 men listed as missing, and possibly killed, had escaped as the attackers entered the area, and were hiding out in the nearby forest. Salinas said that eight...

The National Emergency Operations Committee (COE) said Tuesday that Cuenca and Guayaquil cannot mandate the use of facemasks and cannot sanction or fine those who refuse to wear them. The COE claimed there was a need to “clarify” its April 28 decision to end the national mask mandate after officials in several cities claimed they...

Although Ecuador registered its highest inflation in six years in April, the rate remained far below that of neighboring Colombia and Peru as well as other Latin American countries. On an annualized basis, inflation stood at 2.9 percent increase at the beginning of May. Colombia’s rate reached 9.23 percent in April while Peru’s was 8.62....