Ecuador News

The Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) reminded older Ecuadorians that the law allows them to sue their children if they lack food and other basic necessities. The Organic Act of Older Adults, passed in 2019, guarantees elders living in extreme poverty a food pension provided by their children and grandchildren. It also guarantees...

Two previous right-wing governments in Latin America and one from the left have been found responsible by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for violating the rights of its citizens. On Tuesday, the court asked the current governments of Ecuador, Argentina and Guatemala to pursue justice and make reparations in the cases. The government of...

Beginning Thursday, December 23, entry to shopping centers, grocery stores, public food markets, restaurants, theaters, cinemas, banks and other financial institutions, and public transportation will require proof of vaccination. In addition, the National Emergency Operations Committee ordered that bars and nightclubs be closed and that public and private holiday events be suspended. The restrictions will...

The phone call, voice or text message offers a simple proposition: “Pay me or I’ll kill you or your family.” According to the National Police Anti-kidnapping and Extortion Unit, most of those receiving the calls are in Guayaquil and Quito although several threats have been reported in Cuenca, Loja and Machala. Although there have so...

The Guayaquil cantonal Emergency Operations Committee (COE) has mandated that those attending public events in theaters, cinemas, social clubs, hotel salons and convention centers show vaccine cards or negative PCR or antigen test results for entry. The new order goes into effect Wednesday, December 22 for a period of 60 days and could be extended....

As health officials confirmed a third case of the Covid-19 Omicron variant in Ecuador and tested for several more on Sunday, they admit they are unsure of the impact the new strain will have on the country. “We are like everyone else in the world,” says Francisco Pérez, Health Ministry Undersecretary. “We see the cases...

The Ministry of Health reported Friday that a second case of Covid-19 omicron variant has been found in Guayaquil. Unlike the first case, in which the infected 48-year-old man had recently visited South Africa, where omicron was first detected, the second patient had no contact with international travelers. “There is no relation to the first...

Stunned by chargers that top officers of the National Police and Army are involved in drug trafficking, Interior Minister Alexandra Vela, announced an investigation Wednesday of 19 police commanders. She asked the Superintendency of Banks to review the bank accounts and financial transactions of the officers. The claim that Ecuadorian commanders and generals are being...

Health Minister Ximena Garzón said Tuesday night that the first case of the omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus has been confirmed in Ecuador. A 48-year-old Ecuadorian man returning from South Africa, via Panama, is being quarantined at a hotel near the Quito airport after testing positive for the variant. According to Garzón, the man...

The national Emergency Operations Committee (COE) updated the pandemic health restrictions Tuesday, banning many holiday events and mandating vaccine cards for entrance to restaurants, bars, supermarkets, shopping malls and church services. The new restrictions take effect Friday, December 17 and continue to Monday, January 3, subject to change. According to Juan Zapata, COE president, the...

Ecuador has declared force majeure on all oil contracts, including exports and imports, as the threat of soil erosion forced the shutdown of the country’s two pipelines that transport crude across the Andes. The pipelines run parallel to the Quito-Lago Agrio highway, east of Quito, which collapsed into the Coca River gorge Friday. The government...