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The long-awaited evaluation of Cuenca’s light rail project and renovation plans for San Francisco Square began yesterday as a technical team from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) met with city officials. The team will...
Residents of Latin America and the Caribbean were the least likely among all global regions last year to feel secure in their communities. In 2013, the region scored a 56 (on a scale from 0 to 100) on Gallup's Law and Order Index, which is based on confidence in local...
As strong earthquake aftershocks continue to plague Quito and the surrounding area, Quito Mayor Mauricio Rodas urged residents to avoid attending public events as well as unnecessary travel on roads prone to landslides. Quito experienced 4.7 and 4.0 aftershocks on...
President Rafael Correa reaffirmed this week that Ecuador’s use of the U.S. dollar as its official currency will continue "indefinitely." Although Correa said that the dollar was not his preferrence, he said that it had helped stabilized the national economy, spurred...
Uruguay turned into an international star in the drug legalization movement when it became the first country in the world to approve the growth, sale and distribution of marijuana. But inch by inch, countries across Latin America are also softening their approaches...
Cuenca’s Municipal Control Agency has shut down construction on one site and is considering closing others in the environmental buffer zone just east of the Cajas National Park. The department says that property owners, many of them foreigners, are not abiding by...
The European Union plans to urge Latin American countries from providing Russia with agricultural produce, saying it would be unfair and ‘difficult to justify.’ “We will be talking to the countries that would potentially replacing our exports to indicate that we would...
A magnitude-5.1 earthquake rocked Quito and the surrounding areas early Tuesday afternoon, causing tall buildings to sway and sending some people rushing into the streets. The government said three people were confirmed dead and eight injured outside Quito. A a 4.1...
By Susan Schenck Culture shock usually revolves around traveling to and through a country you’ve never visited before. So it’s a surprise to experience it in the culture to which you’re most accustomed. I took a bus to Guayaquil to catch my flight on Copa, which...
On Tuesday, Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announced via Twitter that "Ecuador has decided to open an embassy in Palestine," to join the country's "diplomatic mission in Ramallah" which he termed, "the heart of Palestine." Ecuador recalled its ambassador to...
A second prominent Ecuadorian politiician has thrown his support behind an effort to force a national referendum on a constitutional amendment to eliminate term limits for elected offices. The amendment would allow President Rafael Correa to seek a third full term as...
By James McKindley, Jr. The simple black-and-white advertisement, addressed to “whom it may concern” in all capitals, had a taunting, catch-me-if-you-can tone. The author said he could be served legal papers only in his native Ecuador and only in person. “It would...
More than a 100 national police and Ecuador Internal Revenue Service officers (SRI) swooped down on a Cuenca neighborhood on Wednesday, confiscating cars and handing out legal writs for nonpayment of taxes. The early morning raid in the Calles Amazona and Chile barrio...
Former Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez says he will lead an effort to force a public referendum on the proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the indefinite reelection of public officials, including the president. Gutierrez was elected president in...
El Salvador has joined four other Latin American countries in recalling its Israel ambassador from Tel Aviv in protest at the military's ground and air offensive in the Gaza Strip. Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru have all recalled their diplomatic representatives...
Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera is negotiating with the French government for a grant to study converting the city’s bus fleet to electric or LP gas power. Currently, buses use diesel fuel, which is blamed for localized air pollution in some areas of the city,...
No sooner had Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia's president, secured himself a second term in a run-off election in June than he announced that he wants to prevent such a thing happening again. He will propose a constitutional change barring immediate re-election and...
Although it began as a protest against road work, a group of historic district business owners are now demanding that Cuenca’s light rail project be stopped. Business owners and their supporters marched through the historic district on Friday demanding that Mayor...
A court in Ecuador convicted six police officers on Friday of attempting to assassinate President Rafael Correa during a 2010 rebellion that left 10 people dead and 274 wounded. During the police mutiny, which erupted over bonus cuts, protesting officers besieged...
By Andrew Diaz In 2008 Ecuador officially recognized the human right to water, joining only nine other countries that have done the same since 1994. Section One, Article 12 of the Ecuadorian Constitution states, “The human right to water is essential and cannot be...
