Social Issues
September 23rd, 2014
In a scene reminiscent of the pre-Rafael Correa presidency, burning tires, rocks, logs and chanting protesters are blocking the Panamerican Highway between Ibarra and Carchi, just south of the Colombian border. Residents of Ecuador’s northern Chota Valley are protesting the death of Milton Chalá, who died last week in prolice custody. Chalá was charged with...
September 6th, 2014
By Mark Blazis Having been a part of 40 expeditions into Amazonia and the Andes and a dozen more into the Galapagos Islands, I was recently invited to be the consulting biologist for a television documentary in Ecuador featuring CSI Miami’s Jorja Fox, Extreme Animal Rescue actor/producer William MacNamara and Ecuadorian television producer Laszlo Karolyi....
September 5th, 2014
By By Kim Gamel The sea lion nursed her pup under a prickly pear cactus while an iguana clumsily marched away. A tiny penguin waddled on a rock while red and orange crabs clung to the craggy surface below. Welcome to the Galapagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago that inspired Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution and...
September 4th, 2014
Five years after the government slapped heavy taxes and duties on imported liquor and imposed new rules on sales, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that per capita alcohol consumption in Ecuador has dropped by 23%. WHO says that drinking age Ecuadorians consumed an average of 9.4 liters of alcohol per person in 2010 but...
August 29th, 2014
After sending mixed signals on the issue, President Rafael Correa says the country is ready to grant full rights to same-sex couples. Beginning September 15, same-sex couples will receive the same benefits that their married heterosexual counterparts already enjoy. “If someone is still turned away by a government employee, that employee will be dismissed for...
August 1st, 2014
By Andrew Diaz In 2008 Ecuador officially recognized the human right to water, joining only nine other countries that have done the same since 1994. Section One, Article 12 of the Ecuadorian Constitution states, “The human right to water is essential and cannot be waived. Water constitutes a national strategic asset for use by the...
July 30th, 2014
Ecuador’s poverty rate has dropped by 12% since 2006 according to Ecuador’s Ministry of Planning and Development. The ministry also reports that Cuenca has the lowest poverty rate among the country’s municipalities. According to Pabel Muñoz, planning and development minister, Ecuador’s overall poverty rate has dropped from 37.5% to 25.5% in the past seven years....
July 16th, 2014
By Nicole Akoukou Thompson Dead Guatemalan women are being dumped in alleyways, dropped by the roadside, and deserted in parks, bodies bound by trash bags, plastic blankets, or left bare for the world to see, abandoned by the wayside like discarded trash. Guatemala and some other Latin American countries are the most dangerous countries in...
June 30th, 2014
Ecuador’s ruling party, Alianza Pais, is pushing ahead with proposed constitutional changes that would allow indefinite re-election of President Rafael Correa and other officials. The controversial changes would also lower the eligibility age to hold the presidency and make communication a public service in addition to a right. Gabriela Rivadeneira, president of the National Assembly,...
June 28th, 2014
Ecuador is home to 70,000 political refugees, far more than any country in Latin America. The refugees, almost all of them victims of the Colombian civil war, cost the government $60 million a year. Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino hosted a meeting last week of Latin American officials entitled “Andean Subregional Refugee Consultation: International Protection,...
June 23rd, 2014
U.S. scientists took thousands of unauthorized blood samples from an indigenous group known for a unique genetic profile and disease immunity, some of which have been sold, Ecuador says. There were some "3,500 procedures" in which blood was drawn without authorization from 600 Huaorani, who live in a corner of Ecuador's isolated Amazon basin region,...
June 12th, 2014
Ecuador’s Interior Minister José Serrano and Director of Tourism Vinicio Alvarado announced on Wednesday that rules regulating the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays will be relaxed. Restaurants, cafes, fast food outlets and lodging establishments can now serve liquor until 10 p.m. on Sunday, while social clubs and banquet facilities can serve between 10 a.m....
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The Cuenca Dispatch
Week of April 28
General Motors Auto Parts Manufacturer Laments: “Today Marks a Dark Day for the National Industry”.
Minister Requests Resignations in Termogás Machala, Dubbed ‘Epicenter of Energy Inefficiency’.
Chevrolet to Cease Car Assembly in Ecuador by August, Production to Halt in Colombia.