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Despite a rising wave of protest against his government, President Rafael Correa remains far ahead of potential challengers and his overall popularity rating stands at just under 50%. A Cedatos-Gallup Poll released on June 19, just as protests were building against...
Ecuador is among 120 countries to be included in the new U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The preferences were extended to December 31, 2017 on Friday by a vote of the U.S. Congress "This is great news because the U.S. is Ecuador’s largest trading...
The Ecuadorian government’s National Secretariat of Communications (Secretaría Nacional de Comunicación) has asked for space to respond to a column by David Morrill, posted on this website on May 11. The column, titled The report card on Correa after eight years: Some...
A new department of Ecuador’s Ministry of Health has been assigned the task of making sure the country’s health care system, both public and private, is providing high quality service. The Agency for Quality Assurance of Health Care, created by the National Assembly...
By Alfredo Velazco Last week in Ecuador, protests broke out in various cities across the country. The protests stemmed from the government's proposal to implement new taxes on inheritance and capital gains, as well as a series of other economic measures to deal with...
By Sylvan Hardy When Rafael Correa announced plans to increase inheritance and capital gains last month he said he was prepared to take the heat that he knew was coming. Five weeks later, it’s fair to say that the intensity of the heat has been more than he bargained...
Tens of thousands of Ecuadorians crowded into downtown Guayaquil and Quito on Thursday to protest the policies of President Rafael Correa. There were smaller protests in Machala, Ibarra, Ambato, and Cuenca. The Guayaquil rally was organized by Mayor Jaime Nebot, a...
President Rafael Correa said Thursday that it would be “catastrophic” for Ecuador to abandon the U.S. dollar any time soon, and that it would remain the official currency as long as he is in office. In the past, Correa has called the dollar a “fiscal strait-jacket”...
In Guayaquil on Tuesday to dedicate a park and university, President Rafael Correa urged citizens not to participate in a large government opposition march planned for Thursday. The march will be led by long-time Correa opponent, Guayaquil Mayor Jaime Nebot. “This is...
Ecuador continues to move up in the Global Peace Index compiled annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranking fourth in 2015 among South American countries. The country ranked highest among the Andean nations that also include Colombia, Peru and...
Editor's note: The following is an interview with President Rafael Correa conducted two weeks ago by Euronews and released last week. Correa was in Brussels for a meeting between European Union officials and the Community of Latin American and Carribean States...
Ecuador’s Secretariat of Risk Management has announced that the first drill to prepare for a possible Cotopaxi volcano eruption has been scheduled for Friday. The drill will test the coordination and preparedness of various government agencies and private...
A New York state appellate court ruled Tuesday that Ecuador’s courts are entitled to resolve any disputes related to the distribution of funds from the $9.5 billion environmental judgment against Chevron, handing a victory to New York attorney Steven R. Donziger and...
Ecuador’s Interior Ministry reports that homicides have fallen 25% during the first five months of 2015. The ministry says that the country now has less than six murders per 100,000 residents, the lowest on record. According to InsightCrime, a service that tracks...
Ecuador’s National Polytechnic Institute says that new seismic activity and gas emissions from the massive Cotopaxi volcano are causes for concern. It is a reversal of the institute’s reports over the past two weeks that the level of activity in the volcano was...
In a stunning reversal, President Rafael Correa announced Monday night that he is withdrawing his proposals for inheritance and capital gains tax increases. He says the proposals will be resubmitted to the National Assembly but only after there has been a “thorough...
The British Meteorological Office (BMO) says that the El Niño weather phenomenon shows signs of strengthening in the tropical Pacific Ocean and could affect Ecuador and Peru in early 2016. It would be the first major El Niño in more than five years. In 2014, there...
During his weekly broadcast to the nation Saturday, this one delivered from Italy, President Rafael Correa denounced what he called a coup being ploted against his government by opponents of his recent tax proposals. Correa spoke before an audience of Ecuadorian...
In a Friday morning press conference, National Assembly President Gabriela Rivadeneira announced that the proposed top inheritance tax rate of 77.5% is being reduced to 47.5% for all classes of inheritors. Last week, President Rafael Correa had reduced the top rate...
President Rafael Correa is proposing a new law that would drastically reduce the number of visa categories and make all immigrants legal in Ecuador. Ecuador has become popular destination for foreigners and has Latin America’s largest refugee population, largely due...
