Posts:
What can expats learn about living in Ecuador? Plenty, according Carmen Chuquín, director of a new course offered by the University of Otavalo entitled “Living in Ecuador.” The course has attracted 18 English-speaking expats from the Otavalo and...
On the eve of his inauguration for another four-year term, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa discussed his goals for the second full term of his presidency and said that he will not run again in 2017. "We are all necessary, but nobody is indispensable," the...
According to Cuenca city officials, UNESCO may announce next week that a large area of the Cajas mountains, west of the city, will be decalred an International Biosphere reserve. The 976,000 hectare area, about three times the size of Long Island, New York, is the...
During its first three months of operation, the new Quito airport at Tababela reports a 30% decrease in the number of domestic travelers compared to the same period in 2012. The Quito Chamber of Tourism blames the drop on the extra time and expense required for...
The U.S. State Department's assistant secretary for refugee issues is drawing attention to the plight of Colombian refugees who have fled across the border into Ecuador. Anne C. Richards says the problem is continuing even though the Colombian government is in...
Saturday’s International Museum Day festivities are a vivid reminder of the rich world of archeology, history and art housed in dozens of Cuenca museums. Here, we offer a brief primer on what we believe to be four of the best. You can’t miss the Museo del...
Ecuador’s new National Assembly convenes next week and is set to debate several high profile bills during the first 100 days of its session. Alianza PAIS, the left-leaning “citizen’s revolution” party has dominated Ecuador’s political...
The constroversy surrounding the 1981 death of Ecuadorian President Jaime Roldós has been resurrected by a new documentary film, “The Death or Roldos.” The film, directed and produced by Manolo Sarmiento and Lisandra Rivera, includes film footage...
Editor's Note: Cuenca continues to receive major media coverage as a place for North Americans to retire. Tuesday night, ABC News ran a feature on its nightly news program about Cuenca expats, focusing on the attraction of the city's low cost of living. The...
Facing growing shareholder unrest over asset seizure actions and forced to testify about his alleged misconduct in the $19 billon Ecuador case, Chevron CEO John Watson again will be on the hot seat at the company’s annual meeting in late May where rainforest...
Speculation about who will lead Ecuador’s “Citizens’ Revolution” in four years, when Rafael Correa’s second full term as president ends, has been quieted, at least temporarily. Correa’s heir apparent appears to be Gabriela...
More art, less graffiti. That’s the goal of Cuenca’s new graffiti ordinance, passed by the cantonal council last year, and both graffiti artists and and government officials agree that the new program is off to a good start. Martin Arevalo, a spokesman for...
After a several false starts, the owner of the new Cuenca airline Línea Aérea Cuencana, or LAC for short, was scheduled to begin service this morning. The first flight was from Cuenca to Guayaquil. Luis Miguel Astudillo, LAC founder and owner,...
Less than a week after resolving a diplomatic war-of-words with Peru, Ecuador finds itself in another one, this time with the United States. During his Saturday television broadcast to the nation, Ecuaddor’s president Rafael Correa called US. ambassador Adam...
President Rafael Correa has announced that Ecuador is beginning negotiations to join Mercosur, the South American trade organization, and is also working to close a trade agreement with the European Union the Ecuador. He made the announcement during his weekly radio...
When a Tame Airline flight bound for Loja was diverted back to Quito Friday night, the plane's 90 passengers refused to leave the aircraft, demanding that they be taken to Cuenca instead. The pilot agreed. The Quito to Loja flight was turned back from the Catamayo...
The city of Cuenca and a coalition of former graffiti artists are joining forces to wipe out graffiti. The graffiti artists who have turned to painting what are called urban murals, say they agree that random graffiti hurts Cuenca’s appearance. Jorge Alvarez,...
The buzz among a certain segment of Cuenca's English-speaking expat community is that the latest of arrivals of gringos are an impoverished, rude, and boorish lot, insulting our Cuencano hosts and ignoring the collective wisdom of the expat establishment. The...
The Ecuadorian ministry charged with protecting intellectual property, the Instituto de Propiedad Intelectual (IEPI), is working with the national assembly to prepare legislation that would protect traditional medicinal plant knowledge used by Amazonian tribes such as...
I'm so proud of my bright and shiny new Philips Norelco Aquatec electric shaver. You know, it has a patented skin-protection system, with precision dual pivot-flex-and-float lift-and-cut heads, Babe! I can use it anywhere—at the...
