Posts:
[Editor’s Note: Pets are important to many expats. The following article is an excerpt from Expats in Ecuador: Life in Cuenca Second Edition by David Morrill and Deke Castleman. It mainly deals with bringing pets with you to Ecuador and was written about a year ago,...
By Nathan Gill Nicolas Maduro and Rafael Correa are both socialist disciples of the late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, but only one is managing to convince bondholders he’s got the ability to weather the collapse in oil prices. While Chavez’s handpicked successor...
What effect will federal budget cuts have on Cuenca in 2015? Not much, at least what you can see, say several officials. “This year and next year, there will be more major projects in development than any other time in the city’s history,” says Pabel Muñoz, director...
Ecuador’s economy has received a vote of confidence from the international rating agency Fitch. The agency’s opinion is used as a barometer of a country’s financial health and to set interest rates for public bond offerings. According to Fitch, “The Ecuadorian...
A 19-year-old Ecuadorian beauty queen and aspiring doctor died during a botched liposuction operation she was awarded as a prize, according to authorities. Catherine Cando, who was crowned Queen of Durán last fall, initially refused the slimming procedure reasoning...
By Grégory Salomonovitch and Caroline Pothie The communities living in Intag Valley in northern Ecuador have been opposing attempts to introduce an open-pit copper mine for 20 years. Such a mine would endanger one of the world’s richest areas in terms of biodiversity,...
Editor’s note: CuencaHighLife restaurant reviewer Larry Schunk enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1960 and, following two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he was wounded, he was retrained in aviation electronics and pioneered the Marine Corps Computer Based Training...
Passenger traffic through Cuenca’s Mariscal La Mar airport dropped by almost 25% in 2014, a decline officials say is mostly the result of the opening of Quito’s new international airport. Officials report that about 381,000 passengers traveled through Cuenca in 2014...
By Deke Castleman and David Morrill Although most expats get by without a car in Cuenca, many own one. You’ll find prices for new cars to be about 20%-30% higher than in the U.S. For used cars, the markup is can be even higher, since most Ecuadorians can’t afford new...
Ecuador and China have signed agreements to cooperate on a variety of issues, including immigration, education and the development of renewable energy. The most significant agreement, however, is China’s offer of a $7.5 billion line of credit that Ecuador can tap over...
It was an evening of spoofs and satire at Tuesday’s Mascaradas de Inocentes parade. Politicians, government policies, television personalities, expats, and even the dead, were lampooned during the three-hour procession down Cuenca’s Av. Huayna Capac. The parade,...
Ecuador finds itself in a familiar position in International Living’s 2015 Global Retirement Index, released on Friday. The index rates it the world’s number one retirement country for the fourth time in seven years. International Living's index rates countries based...
Ecuador says that devaluations in Colombian and Peruvian currency, coupled with dropping oil prices and a strong U.S. dollar, mandate increased taxes on imports from those nations to maintain trade equality. Ecuador’s Committee on Foreign Trade (Comex) ordered the tax...
Ecuador will trim $1.4 billion from its 2015 budget to compensate for the loss of oil revenue, the country’s Finance Ministry announced Monday. The reduction represents about 4% of the country’s $35 billion annual budget. Finance Minister Fausto Herrera says that the...
A significant number of Cuenca’s 3,600 taxis are out of service, according to some taxi drivers. The reason, they say, is that the fare scheduled programmed into taxi meters in 2014 has reduced the income for drivers, and some taxistas have taken other employment....
By Sylvan Hardy Since 2011, Ecuador has spent a greater percentage of its GDP on infrastructure and social programs than any country in the western hemisphere. Although it may maintain that distinction in 2015 since it holds a huge advantage over second-place Canada,...
By Jim Wyss On Calle Ocho in Quito’s La Florida neighborhood, a few dozen Cubans mill around, downing tar-thick espresso and explaining to curious locals how to cook malanga. But the snow-capped volcano peeking through the clouds dispels notions that this scene is...
The U.S., British and French embassies in the United Arab Emirates have issued their annual warnings to expats to keep their holiday celebrations under wraps. Even in the UAE’s most sophisticated city, Dubai, which has the area’s most relaxed social rules, foreign...
Only days after final debate in the National Assembly, a new law that imposes a 100% special usage tax on gas appliances and eliminates the VAT tax on electric stoves and cooktops, becomes effective January 1. Ecuadorian business organizations say it is another...
Doña Albalina Espinoza’s cellphone rattled with the incoming warning call at 2:30 p.m: “The Chinese are coming!” the voice hissed. Espinoza quickly hung up, then dialed the next number on the list: “The Chinese are coming!” she repeated. Within minutes, all 150...
