Ecuador News

After saying it would consider blocking Uber and Cabify taxi apps to Ecuador internet users, the government said Monday that such a blockage was not possible. When he met with striking taxi drivers last week in Quito, Deputy Minister of Transport Iván Carvallo said he would ask the Ministry of Telecommunications to investigate the possibility...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged $35 million Saturday to support Ecuador’s aid programs for Venezuelan and Colombian refugees. Meeting in Guayaquil with President Lenin Moreno, Pompeo also said the U.S. would provide assistance to combat drug trafficking and for border security. “We understand that Ecuador has received thousands of Venezuelans migrants and refugees...

Thousands of taxi drivers filled the streets of Quito, Cuenca and Guayaquil Wednesday morning demanding that the government make good on its promise of a gasoline subsidy. The drivers are also demanding a crack-down on internet-based taxi services such as Uber and Cabify which operate without permits. In Quito, representatives of the protesters met with...

By Maria Cervantes Sweden is turning its gaze towards Peru and other South American countries for lithium tie-ups amid a global race to lock in supply of the “white gold” metal that is key for the batteries that power electric vehicles. A senior trade official from the Scandinavian nation told Reuters that firms in Sweden...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit four Latin American countries this week, with a focus on Venezuela’s crisis, the surge of migrants at the U.S. southern border, and more security cooperation, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Pompeo will travel to Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico and El Salvador from Thursday to Sunday, the State Department...

Former president Rafael Correa acknowledged Tuesday that Julian Assange interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and probably helped elect President Donald Trump. Correa denied, however, that Ecuador’s government was an accomplice in the election meddling and said it suspended Assange’s internet privileges when it became aware his activities. In two interviews on Tuesday, Correa...

Beauty pageants in Ecuador may soon go the way of the horse and buggy and bib and tucker. Calling pageants “archaic and discriminatory,” the chairwoman of the board that has traditionally staged the Queen of Quito contest, announced Tuesday that there would be no beauty pageant in 2019. Liliana Yunda, sister of Quito Mayor Jorge...

According to some Alianza Pais (AP) members, the political party that has held Ecuador’s presidency for 12 years, needs to redefine its purpose. “The party desperately needs a new direction if it is to be a force in the next election and beyond,” says Ximena Peña, a member of the National Assembly, suggesting that AP...