Posts:
Presendent Rafael Correa will announce soon that he will not be a candidate in the February 2013 elections, according to his brother Fabricio, who is a candidate for the job. Officials at Pais, the president’s party, quickly rejected the claim and said that no...
In addition to be the most vulnerable to the housing crisis, the typical U.S. citizen 55 to 64 years old has a household income almost 10 percent less than it was when the recovery officially began three years ago, according to a new report from Sentier Research. The...
Hiding out on Ecuador’s coast for 22 years, U.S. fugitive Martin Malone didn't exactly live the good life on the lam. Rather, those who came to know him say, he lived a life of good. Malone skipped out of South Florida just before a jury found him guilty of a federal...
Ecuador’s Office of Telecommunications reminds the country’s cell phone users that an extra “9” will be added to all cell numbers at midnight September 30. The new digit will be inserted after the initial zero. In other words, if the current...
There appears to be no slow-down in local construction, particularly of condominiums, according to Cuenca developers. At the same time, they say, prices continue to rise. The Cuenca Chamber of Construction reports that there are more than 40 condominium projects...
by Tom McNaughton [Editor’s Note: Recently, a long-time expat in Cuenca used Gringo Tree to perpetrate a little hoax. The responses were instructive, so he agreed to share them here.] The devil made me do it. Everyone who knows me would agree: I have a pretty...
Exceptionally dry weather, low humidity and high winds are combining to make this year’s fire season in Ecuador's sierra one of the worst in recent history. Dozens of fires in Azuay province have burned more than 300 hectares, according to the Cuenca fire...
By Mark Weisbrot It was like a scene from a Hollywood movie, where the kidnapper walks up from behind, with a gun protruding from his trench coat pocket. "Keep walking, and don't say anything," he warns. Even in the past, Sweden had collaborated with its Washington...
Ecuador’s IRS has announced it will enforce a limit of two $1,000 transactions per month, per person on money being transferred out of the country. In the past, there was no limit on the number of outflows, mostly in the form of wires, of $1,000 or less, which...
By Susan Schenck [Editor’s Note: Cameron Cayce is a former psychotherapist and current massage therapist and astrologer who has lived in Cuenca since 2009. She is available for astrology readings at the contact information at the bottom of this interview.] Q:...
Reporting that the process took about two months from start to finish, William Chester became the first North American to receive his residency visa at the new Cuenca immigration office, on Aug. 21. Several others followed, according to the office. "My wife and I...
Meredith Wheeler’s Barack Obama is wrinkled and a bit tattered; it sags at the knees. She and her colleagues with Democrats Abroad in Toulouse, France, have lugged their smiling cardboard likeness to so many events that they have finally had to order a new one....
Although it's been called the "Gringo invasion” in newspaper, magazine and website articles, Cuenca´s influx of English-speaking foreign residents hardly represents the action of conquering hordes. There is, however, no denying the city's...
The Tungurahua volcano, 120 miles north of Cuenca, has flared to life, dusting nearby villages and farms with ash and prompting warnings from the country’s Emergency Operations Committee. On Saturday, the committee raised the threat level from yellow to orange,...
A major fire in the heart of Cuenca’s historic district late Wednesday night destroyed part of Seminary San Luis and an adjacent chapel. The fire is being blamed on falling debris from a nearby fireworks show, according to fire department officials. The...
By Susan Schenck Q: What do you offer the community here in your practice? A: I offer hypnotherapy, qigong, and meditation. My office space is above the Nectar vegetarian restaurant. I have also had a longstanding interest in alternative health and medicinal products,...
Reconstruction work at the Ordoñez Lasso and Av. Las Americas intersection is 89% complete and, according to the provincial public works office, the project will be delivered ahead of the November deadline. Ivan Sempértegui, Deputy Minister of...
The new speeding law that went into effect July 25 has resulted in 139 arrests in Cuenca and has landed 18 drivers in jail through the end of the month. The law, which is enforced with radar and computerized photographic equipment, penalizes all speeders with fines...
The agricultural output of Uruguay includes rice, soybeans and wheat. Soon, though, the government may get its hands dirty with a far more complicated crop — marijuana — as part of a rising movement in this region to create alternatives to the United...
By Edd Staton It's not like Cuenca is lacking for almuerzo choices. Full lunches can be found all over town from $1.75 to $5.50. So why did Sofia Rosero decide to open a restaurant with so much stiff competition? "I've run restaurants before and I...
