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Test and photos by John Keeble Erik Wenz, a former firefighter paramedic from Sacramento whose first-responder rescues included 9/11, was showing the young Proyecto Saman volunteers how to use a power saw – his kind of building work but very different from the tough...
Text and photos by John Keeble Lindsay Burton, owner of San Sebas café in Cuenca, is still paying off the debt she incurred when she burned out the engine of her car getting supplies to people around Canoa – and she is still deeply involved in the disaster relief work...
Text and photos by John Keeble There is an air of hope and optimism in Canoa, the green shoots of new life breaking through the trauma and sorrow from last year’s earthquake. Much still needs to be done before the people and the area are back on their feet but the...
Although WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange celebrated Lenin Moreno’s recent victory in the Ecuadorian presidential election, it remains uncertain what it means for his long-term room-and-board. Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012...
One of Ecuador most colorful, but shortest-serving presidents, is coming home. After 20 years of exile in Panama, Abdalá Bucaram has been legally cleared to return to Ecuador without threat of arrest. His son, Dalo Bucaram, announced Thursday that the National Court...
By Jim Wyss Shortly after rebuilding the fingers of a late 19th century statuette of Saint Francis, Gonzalo Gallardo turned his attention to the badly scarred nose of a 23-year-old mechanic. Mixing pigments and “secret oils” until he matched the young man’s skin tone,...
Former presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso says he refuses not respect the official election results, including Tuesday’s partial recount, continuing to insist that the vote counting process was fraudulent. “We will never recognize the victory of the candidate that...
The National Electoral Council (CNE) made it official for the second time: Lenin Moreno has defeated challenger Guillermo Lasso and will succeed President Rafael Correa. The announcement came after a marathon 13-hour recount of more than 1.2 million votes on a...
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake sent residents and workers into the streets of Puyo, Ambato, Riobamba, and Quito at 12:50 Tuesday afternoon. The quake, felt in a large area of northern Ecuador, was centered 65 kilometers east of Puyo, near the small town of Sarayaku. Towns...
Ecuador's economy will remain in recession in 2017 and 2018, according to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest growth forecast. In its report "Global Economic Prospects" released on Tuesday, the IMF projects that the Ecuadorian economy will contract by 1.6%...
A recount of 1.2 million votes from the April 2 presidential election begins Tuesday morning at 8:30 in the Rumiñahui Coliseum in Quito. The votes to be recounted represent 11.2% of all votes cast in the election and come from 3,865 voting stations in 24 provinces,...
The elimination of import quotas and the reduction of tariffs for new cars is sending shock waves through Ecuador’s used car market. According to dealers, prices have dropped 9% to 15% since the beginning of the year and will probably drop more. Because of import...
The assistant director of Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute says the country is ignoring the painful lessons from last year’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake. According to Hugo Yepes, another strong coastal earthquake will find the country is in the same position it was in...
A year after the April 16, 2016 earthquake, tourists are returning to Ecuador’s Pacific coast but are finding accommodations limited. “We lost so many rooms in the earthquake we simply do not have the space to take in everyone who would like to visit,” says José...
It was one year ago tonight that Ecuador’s north coast was ravaged by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake. The quake was felt throughout Ecuador, most of Colombia and the northern half of Peru. Within seconds, 673 people were dead, 4,000 were injured and more than 30,000...
Ecuador's National Electoral Council (CNE) has agreed to recount almost 1.3 million votes as opposition candidate Guillermo Lasso continues to allege fraud in the presidential election. Lasso and his CREO party are rejecting the CNE plan, insisting that every vote...
Presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso and his CREO party have officially demanded that the National Electoral Council (CNE) recount votes from the April 2 runoff election. In its final vote tally, CNE reported that Lenin Moreno of Alianza Pais won by a margin of...
Saying he understands the difficulties faced by the Ecuador business community, President-elect Lenin Moreno said yesterday that he will form production and tax advisory councils to analyze how government policies affect the commercial sector. "I believe changes need...
In the second round of presidential elections in Ecuador on Sunday, April 2, Rafael Correa’s successor as leader of Alianza País (Country Alliance, AP), Lenín Moreno, won 51.6 percent of the vote, defeating conservative Guillermo Lasso, who took 48.8 percent. What is...
Ecuador's Central Bank reported Monday that the country's GDP grew by 1.7% in the last quarter of 2016 and says it expects similar results for the first quarter of 2017. During his Saturday "Citizens Link" television broadcast, President Rafael Correa claimed that...
