Ecuador News

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...

By By Marshall Cohen, Kay Guerrero and Arturo Torres New documents obtained exclusively by CNN reveal that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange received in-person deliveries, potentially of hacked materials related to the 2016 US election, during a series of suspicious meetings at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The documents build on the possibility, raised by special...

For the second consecutive year, Ecuador took home more trophies at the South America World Travel Awards ceremony than any other country. Among its honors, were: Top overall city destination (Quito); top beach destination (Galapagos); top business destination (Guayaquil); and top vacation city destination (Cuenca). In addition, Ecuador was also recognized for having the continent’s...

The Pastaza Provincial court has upheld an April decision by a lower court prohibiting the government from pursing oil exploration on 180,000 hectares of Amazon territory claimed by the Waorani indigenous community. According to the Waorani and their supporters, the land in question is 90 percent virgin jungle. In the April ruling, a court in...

Ecuador’s attorney general’s office says that it is beginning an investigation of members of the recently elected Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (Cpccs). The action follows a vote by the Cpccs to review judicial appointments made by its predecessor council, the transitional Cpccs, that ended its service in June. Specifically, the investigation is...