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Jilted by the Cuenca city council, Leonardo Berrezueta has been appointed Azuay provincial governor by President Rafael Correa. It appeared that Berrezueta was in line to be Cuenca vice mayor but the defection of two Alianza País councilwomen denied him the office....
Banana exports top 100 million boxes for first time According to a report from Ecuador’s Association of Banana Exporters, the country exported a record of 102,799,334 boxes of bananas in 2013. In 2012, 93,728,011 boxes were exported. The association says...
Latin America is in a better position to face the effects of the climatic event El Niño, forecast for this year, than on previous occasions due to fiscal improvements in many of the region's economies over the last decade, said Moody's Financial Service in a report....
The general manager and the chief auditor of the failed Cuenca financial cooperative Coopera were found guilty of money laundering by the Azuay Criminal Trial Court on Monday. The crime carries a prison term of six to nine years. Chief Judge Carmita Campoverde issued...
Ecuador's ruling party, Alianza Pais, is pushing ahead with proposed constitutional changes that would allow indefinite re-election of President Rafael Correa and other officials. The controversial changes would also lower the eligibility age to hold the presidency...
For a dirt-road town without running water or a sewerage system, fibreglass Triceratops and T-rex may not be a top priority. The regional government of Arequipa in Peru disagrees, recently approving a 4-million sol ($1.4 million) dinosaur theme park in the arid...
The University of Cuenca team hired by the city of Cuenca to develop a new taxi fare schedule is cautioning local taxi drivers against expecting a large increase over current fares. Victor Aguilar, dean of university economics department, says that his team of...
Ecuador is home to 70,000 political refugees, far more than any country in Latin America. The refugees, almost all of them victims of the Colombian civil war, cost the government $60 million a year. Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino hosted a meeting last week of...
Ecuador’s government says new banking regulation legislation is necessary to insure that the country does not suffer another banking crisis like the one that crippled the country in 1990 and 2000. Ecuador’s Minister for Economic Policy, Patricio Rivera, adds that lack...
A former Florida resident and Quito expat admitted in Orlando federal court Wednesday that he operated a prostitution business in Ecuador and coordinated "tours" for Americans to have sex with girls. Federal agents in Central Florida began investigating Patrick Minga...
Despite putting up a heroic fight, Ecuador was eliminated from World Cup play Wednesday in a 0 – 0 draw with France. Ecuador needed a victory or tie from Honduras in its game with Switzerland to advance but didn’t get it, as the Swiss won 3-0. Ecuador put up a...
The Andean Community of Nations (CAN) has temporarily suspended a resolution calling on Ecuador to lift its new import quality standards for the entry of certain imports, which were considered "unnecessarily restrictive" and harmed regional trade. Minister of Foreign...
In a surprise to some analysts, Ecuador sold $2 billion worth of 10-year bonds last Tuesday, marking a return to international capital markets after defaulting in 2008. The deal came on the heels of Kenya's first-ever international-bond sale, which attracted $8...
Indigenous groups opposed to legislation that would consolidate water allocations power with the federal government are in the third day of a 10-day protest march headed for the National Assembly in Quito. The march arrives in Cuenca today and protesters plan a rally...
U.S. scientists took thousands of unauthorized blood samples from an indigenous group known for a unique genetic profile and disease immunity, some of which have been sold, Ecuador says. There were some "3,500 procedures" in which blood was drawn without...
President Rafael Correa has announced a new service to allow Ecuadorians to report inefficiency in government offices and as well as what he called "absurd formalities." “We talk about the good life in Ecuador but part of this is to make government services friendlier...
By Benjamin Dangl "Soccer, metaphor for war, at times turns into real war," wrote Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano. For many people in Brazil, a war has indeed broken out surrounding the current World Cup. Poor communities have been displaced by stadiums and related...
Ecuador’s National Assembly is beginning discussion of amendments to the constitution that would eliminate presidential term limits and lower the age requirement for seeking the presidency from 35 to 32. The drive for the change of term limits was the result of April...
Editor’s note: To support a proposal that the Inca Trail be granted UNESCO World Heritage status, members of Cuenca’s city government walked 20 kilometers of the 600-year-old road network on Saturday morning. The trail, called Qhapac Nan by the Incas, is also known at...
By Michael Warren Argentina's government has finally agreed to try to negotiate a payment plan for the $1.5 billion in bad debts and interest it owes to the U.S. hedge funds it demonizes as "vultures." But before both sides sit down for talks in New York next week,...
