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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...
By Jasper Copping It sounds like a plot from an Indiana Jones film, but explorers claim to have found ruins hidden deep in a dense Ecuadorian Amazonian jungle that could solve many of South America’s mysteries — and lead to one of the world’s most sought-after...
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...
Twentyeight-year-old Luis Arias works at the Otavalo market selling homemade alpaca clothing. For 35 years this family has been in this line of business. Luis is married and has one child. Motivaion: "Trabajo por que me gusta lo que hago y como es nuestro artesanias....
Usually a showcase of traditional costumed dancers, marching bands, and community floats, Saturday’s Azuay Province anniversary parade turned into an anti-Correa protest. Although the dancers, bands and floats were on hand in the parade that marched through the...
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...
Just as workers are clearing out of the renovated Pasaje León building on the south side of San Francisco Plaza, trouble could be brewing with dozens of vendors who sell their goods in the plaza. City officials say renovation work will now shift to two other...
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...
By Patricia Rey Mallén Although Latin America is one of the fastest growing areas in the world, and unemployment remains relatively low, almost half of the population works informally, or "off the books." According to a report by the United Nations International Labor...
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”...
By Susan Burke March, MS, RDN, LDN, CDE Recent news reports have touted coconut oil as having a bunch of “surprising” health benefits. It seems that some “experts” are claiming that it can boost immunity, influence hormonal health, control blood sugar, help with...
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...
Mayor Marcelo Cabrera was on the docks in Guayaquil Tuesday night as the first unit of Cuenca’s new tram system, Tranvía de los Cuatro Rios, were off-loaded from the Belgium freighter Wallenius Wilhelmsen. The shipment consists of five cars built in France by tech and...
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...
By Gabriela Garcia Calderon Orbe The Royal Spanish Academy dictionary defines the word cholo or chola in its first entry as a “mestizo person with European and indigenous blood.” With the addition of the Spanish diminutive ending of -ita, the word becomes cholita, a...
By Melina Marks Catcalling is known by women all over the world, but what is it like here in Cuenca? From my experiences, catcalling here is much more aggressive than in the States. In the States, typical comments simply consist of “hey girl” or just “damn.” When it...
CuencaHighLife’s 2015 Cost of Living survey revealed one strong trend and provided information that seems to contradict the conventional expat wisdom about another trend. We compared results to a similar survey taken two-and-a-half years ago, in January 2013, as well...
