Ecuador News

In a major policy reversal, President Guillermo Lasso announced Friday that the government is freezing the price of gasoline and diesel fuel at current levels. He said the policy of allowing prices to rise gradually to international market rates is suspended and that the price of a gallon of regular gasoline will be maintained indefinitely...

For a second time in a week, President Guillermo Lasso is refusing to appear before the National Assembly’s Constitutional Guarantees Commission investigating his investments in off-shore companies before 2017. The president did not show up for a Wednesday hearing and he says he will not appear on Friday. Lasso’s investments were disclosed in the recent...

Celebrated painter and founder of the Cuenca International Art Bienal, Eudoxia Estrella, died Thursday at 96. She was also the prime mover in establishing Cuenca’s Modern Art Museum and was its first director. Called Ecuador’s “first lady of the arts” by former President Alfredo Palacio, Estrella was known in recent years for her efforts to...

Speaking from the balcony of Carondelet Palace Wednesday, President Guillermo Lasso pledged to protect Quito against a repeat of the violent protests of October 2019. “When they come to protest on October 26, they will not be able to set fire to buildings or kidnap anyone. We will not deny anyone their constitutional rights but...

Indigenous communities from Ecuador’s Amazon on Monday sued the government to halt plans by President Guillermo Lasso to increase oil development in the country, calling the expansion efforts a “policy of death.” Lasso, a conservative ex-banker who took office in May, issued two decrees in the first days of his administration meant to facilitate the...

All Covid-19 vaccine cards and certificates obtained in foreign countries will be recognized in Ecuador, the Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday. The Ministry said it wanted to clarify an earlier statement that vaccines administered abroad cannot be entered into the national health record. “Although we cannot verify foreign vaccines and cannot put them into...

Martes, 19/10/2021 Hola, Todos – Actividades – See article below on the Fiestas de Cuenca. Titular – En las noches no circularán carros (No cars will circulate at night) -There are new restrictions on km. 49 on the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme due to falling rock. The Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas called for an...

In a televised address Monday night President Guillermo Lasso announced a 60-day state of emergency aimed at “fighting crime and strengthening the powers of law enforcement to meet the growing threat.” Although the declaration applies to the entire country, Lasso said its focus will be on the coastal provinces of El Oro, Guayas, Santa Elena,...

By the World Bank The year 2020 was a leap year, and it was on that extra day, February 29, that the Ecuadorian government officially announced the first known case of COVID-19 infection in the country. An elderly lady had returned from travel abroad with the virus 15 days earlier. The announcement marked Ecuador as...

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Ecuador and Colombia on Tuesday to discuss a range of issues, including countering drug trafficking and tackling irregular migration, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday. “In Quito on October 19, the Secretary will meet with President Guillermo Lasso and Foreign Minister Mauricio Montalvo to...

Farmers, teachers and several labor unions will take to the streets Monday in a “National Day of United Struggle.” The farmers are protesting a lack of government price supports and foreign imports while the teachers claim the government is not honoring a court decision to raise wages. In addition, all groups are demanding that the...