Ecuador News

In a statement released Thursday night, investigators say they are continuing to gather information about the murder of Miguel Ángel Nazareno, better known as Don Naza, owner of the Big Money investment operation. Nazareno’s body was found by a farmer Thursday morning in the rural Amaguaña parish, south of Quito. His hands were tied behind...

Ecuador said Wednesday it had begun pumping oil from a third field located partly in the Yasuni protected nature reserve in the Amazon rainforest. Extraction of 3,600 barrels per day started in the Ishpingo oil field which together with the nearby fields of Tiputini and Tambococha form the so-called ITT block, which holds more than...

Annual inflation showed little change in March, registering an annual rate of 2.64 percent, a slight increase from 2021. Among the products and services showing the largest increase were high-test gasoline, inter-provincial transportation, automobiles and furniture. In a statement, Ecuador’s Ministry of Finance warned consumers that prices are expected to rise throughout 2022. “We believe...

Despite claims by President Guillermo Lasso’s office that it was blindsided by a judge’s decision to release former vice president Jorge Glas from prison, it was revealed Monday that three government representatives attended the habeas corpus hearing and had no objections. When asked for comments by Santa Elena Judge Javier Moscoso, Alexis Vascones, lawyer for...

Ecuador banana growers from three provinces blocked main roads across the country on Monday to demand government action to boost prices they say are too low for them to meet production costs. Protesters used rocks, dirt and vegetation to distrupt traffic in El Oro, Guayas and Los Rios Provinces and say they are struggling to...

President Guillermo Lasso said Saturday that he is preparing questions to appear on a popular referendum later this year. “We haven’t made a final decision on all the issues to be included but we know that prison security, the elimination of Cpccs [Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control] and employment will be among them.”...

Former vice president Jorge Glas walked out of the Latacunga Penitentiary on Sunday morning following a release order issued by a judge in Santa Elena Province. Judge Javier Moscoso granted habeas corpus based on concerns for Glas’ physical and mental health and because he has served more than 60 percent of his sentence. In total,...

Minister of Defense Luis Hernández has ordered what he calls a “deep and wide” investigation of how a car and van filled with cash gained access to the national defense headquarters parking lot Thursday and why “Big Money” Don Naza was admitted to the main building of the complex. “A number of very serious military...

An investigation is underway following the arrest of five men and women in the parking lot of the Defense Ministry complex in Quito Thursday afternoon. Police say the five are associated with the so-called “Big Money” loan and money laundering operation in Quevedo in Los Rios Province, and were carrying suitcases filled with cash and...

The Ecuador Social Security Institute (IESS) and the Society for the Fight Against Cancer in Ecuador (SOLCA) announced Thursday that they had reached an agreement to allow IESS patients to continue to receive cancer treatments. Management of the SOLCA foundation threatened on Tuesday to suspend treatments if the government did not make arrangements to pay...

The National Assembly voted Tuesday to send President Guillermo Lasso’s revisions to the new abortion law to the Constitutional Court to determine their legality. The law was passed in March following a 2021 ruling by the court that Ecuador’s current law, which prohibits abortion in cases of rape, is unconstitutional. Lasso made 61 changes to...