Ecuador News

Energy Minister Roberto Luque announced Monday that there will be no power blackouts during the Labor Day holiday weekend, from Friday through Sunday. He said the decision was based on improving conditions at the country’s hydroelectric generation facilities and the resolution of power grid connection issues with Colombia. In addition, he said the length of...

By Alexandra Valencia Ecuador’s foreign ministry said on Monday it has sued Mexico at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, asking it to find that Mexico’s decision to grant asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas violated international law. Glas, twice convicted of corruption and now facing fresh charges, was arrested this...

Former Miss Ecuador candidate Landy Párraga was murdered Sunday while she ate at a restaurant in Quevedo in Los Ríos Province. Parraga had been under investigation in the Metastasis case because of her romantic relationship with drug kingpin Leandro Norero, alias El Patrón. According to witnesses at the shopping mall cevicheria, two men approached Párraga...

Energy Minister Roberto Luque announced Friday that power blackouts will be reduced to two hours on Saturday and suspended altogether on Sunday as a result of rising water levels at the Mazar-Paute hydroelectric complex. Luque said the change is partly due to lower electricity usage on weekends. “It is easier to provide relief on weekends...

By María Teresa Escobar In the hours after midnight in March, a police task force swept through the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s main port and business capital. The force made 12 arrests, including seven judges and a former congressman, as part of major investigations known as “Metástasis” and “Purga” (“purge” in Spanish) which in recent...

According to Álvaro Merchante, director of the Comunicaliza polling service, President Daniel Noboa’s public popularity has remained high despite electric blackouts and the government raid on the Mexican embassy. “There was some concern in the government that the electricity crisis would negatively affect the referendum but this did not happen,” Merchante said. “Except for the...

The Korea Coast Guard announced that it will transfer a 3,000-ton patrol vessel to Ecuador after signing a memorandum of understanding with its defense minister on Thursday. According to the Coast Guard, Ecuadorian Defense Minister Giancarlo Loffredo signed the memorandum with the KCG to transfer the decommissioned patrol vessel — the KCG3001 — and visited...