News

Cuenca tile manufacturers are complaining about the quality of imported floor and decorative tile as well as what they consider unfair competition from foreign manufacturers. According to Gustavo Palacios, vice president of the Ceramic Center, national tile imports have increased 210% in the past two years, putting a strain on the local industry. Palacios  said...
Ecuador, where the fatty beans used to make chocolate have been grown since pre-Columbian times, is surpassing Brazil as Latin America’s top cocoa producer after boosting planting and running education programs for farmers. Cocoa-bean output rose 13 percent last year to 220,000 metric tons as the country is poised to become the world’s fourth-biggest producer...
President Rafael Correa has confirmed that he won’t seek re-election when his current term ends in 2017. The government-run newspaper El Telegrafo quoted Correa as saying that it “is dangerous when one person considers himself to be indispensable.” In 2013, in a media argument with Guayaquil Mayor Jamie Nebot, Correa suggested he would consider asking...
Seven months after it suspended flights between Cuenca and Guayaquil and three months after it suspended Quito to Loja service, the Cuenca-based Linea Aerea Cuencana (LAC) says it will resume service in March. In a major change, however, it said it will fly into and out of the new Latacunga airport, south of Quito. The...
Ecuador’s Social Security administration, Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social (IESS), is reviewing the terms of expanded voluntary membership in its health care program. A spokesman for the agency said, however, that any adjustments will not affect the eligibility of foreign residents. The review is the result of concerns that the changes could put financial stress...
Through mid-January, more than 25,000 have visited the new planetarium that opened in November in Parque de la Madre, according to educational director Paúl Tenesaca. Most of the visitors have been school children who observe stars and planets on the planetarium’s domed ceiling and watch educational videos. The student visits typically last 30 to 40 minute....
By Jim Wyss Two days after Christmas, masked and armed police raided the home of Fernando Villavicencio in the predawn hours, hauling away a lifetime of data and documents. Hours later, President Rafael Correa said Villavicencio — an opposition adviser who also writes about corruption and the oil industry — was suspected of hacking into...
  The the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) has chosen Cuenca and Azuay Province for a pilot project using electronic voting machines. The machines will be used for the first time in the Feb. 23 provincial and municiapl elections. CNE plans to shift the entire country to electronic voting within the next two election cycles. Azuay...
Foreign tourists are staying longer in Cuenca, according to the city’s Municipal Tourism Foundation. A 2010 survey showed the average tourist stay was one day while the latest survey shows stays have increased to three days. According to Felipe Cardoso, spokesman for the Cuenca Municipal Tourism Foundation, the increase is the result of increased publicity...
By William K. Black Editor’s note: This is a response to an earlier Wall Street Journal article by By David Luhnow. That article (“A divided Latin America faces an uncertain future; Pacific rim countries grow while Atlantic coast countries struggle”) was posted in Cuenca High Life on Jan. 3. The Wall Street Journal has written...
Liquidator for the failed financial cooperative Coopera, Diego Aguilar, is seeking bids on several Coopera properties. Proceeds from the sales will go to settle debts to creditors and to compensate some of the coop members who have not be reimbursed, Aguilar said. Properties for sale include Coopera’s San Joaquin headquarters and food markets in Puertas...
Cuenca’s new light rail system, Tranvia de los Cuatro Rios, has become a focus of the city’s mayoral campaign. Former Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera claims that businesses along the train route have not received adequate notice of construction plans and that their businesses may suffer as a consequence. The train system, currently under construction at...

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The Cuenca Dispatch

Week of March 24

“They are pressuring me to resign so they can remove me from office,” denounced Verónica Abad, Vice President of the Republic.

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Ecuador Navigates Economic Challenges with IMF Agreement Looming.

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“Since when does thinking differently mean being a traitor?” Pierina Correa questions in reference to the Tourism Law.

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