Rising killings expose criminal fractures and new pressures in a city long seen as one of Ecuador’s safest.

Government says the agreement ends a decade-long dispute, but critics warn major risks remain unresolved.

Legal challenges intensify as parties attack the earlier voting date while electoral judges back the change.

The movement calls it renewal, but the timing underscores tensions inside its provincial structure.

Police arrests are exposing how gangs are breaking apart, multiplying and spreading violence across the country.

New partnership adds flights to Miami as flower exports and inbound shipments drive expansion plans.

Business groups, regional officials and both presidents harden positions as a 100 percent tariff deadline nears.

Washington agreement expands energy cooperation as Quito tries to balance security ties with broader global trade relationships. A new strategic opening Ecuador has taken another step in tightening its relationship with the United States, signing a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement in Washington while President Daniel Noboa simultaneously pushed back against suggestions that the country […]

Ecuador’s most underappreciated national skill may be its ability to domesticate the abnormal. Not solve it. Not confront it head-on. Certainly not eliminate it. Domesticate it. That is different. A country solves a problem when it removes the cause. It domesticates a problem when it learns to live with the thing wandering around the house. […]

Higher crude prices have brought little relief as fuel imports, subsidies and investor anxiety push risk upward. Ecuador’s country risk climbed to 500 points on March 30th, its highest level so far this year, signaling that international markets remain uneasy about the country’s finances even as oil prices rise above what the government had projected […]

Provincial and cantonal groups remain a powerful force in Azuay as alliances redraw the local political map. Cuenca is heading into another local election season with a political identity that looks very different from Ecuador’s largest cities. While Quito and Guayaquil are largely dominated by national organizations, Azuay’s capital continues to be a place where […]

Monthly price caps may soften the blow, but motorists are still likely to pay more. Drivers in Ecuador are facing another jump in fuel costs as global oil prices surge and international tensions continue to rattle energy markets. While the country’s subsidy reform and price-band system have prevented the kind of immediate price spikes seen […]

American advisers are helping shape Ecuador’s anti-gang operations on land and at sea. The United States is taking a more visible role in Ecuador’s fight against organized crime, not only through offshore interdictions and intelligence support, but also by helping develop tactical and leadership capacity within the country’s security forces. That growing involvement came into […]

State says former vice president is receiving a special diet, supplements, and ongoing treatment. A judge has denied a corrective habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of former Vice President Jorge Glas, rejecting claims that he is being deprived of adequate food and specialized medical attention at the El Encuentro maximum-security prison. The ruling came […]

Rising legal handgun purchases now overlap with mounting fears that weapons are reaching gangs. Ecuador’s legal imports of handguns have climbed to unprecedented levels, with purchases of semi-automatic pistols alone topping $4 million in 2025, even as officials warn that some legally imported firearms are ending up in the hands of organized crime. The spike […]

This week’s seven stories read less like a neat package of daily news and more like a national personality test. Ecuador, once again, appears to be trying to run a modern country with one eye on the weather, one eye on politics, one eye on the power grid, and no eyes left over for the […]

The revived route is expected to strengthen tourism, business travel, and family ties between the two countries. Aeromexico has returned to Quito, restoring a direct air link to Mexico City that airport officials and travelers say had been sorely missed for nearly two years. The airline resumed operations on March 24th, 2026, with four weekly […]

Electoral council says weather risk, not politics, drove the decision to move voting day forward. Diana Atamaint, president of Ecuador’s National Electoral Council, is defending the controversial decision to move up the voting date for the country’s next local elections, insisting the change is grounded in technical reports and legal authority rather than political convenience. […]

Ministers describe dialogue differently as tariffs, border controls and energy measures deepen the standoff. After two months of escalating trade retaliation, Ecuador and Colombia are still publicly at odds over both the substance and direction of talks meant to ease tensions between the neighboring countries. Although officials from both sides met again this week, their […]

Government says seasonal pressures are being managed even as key plants generate below expectations. Ecuador’s power system is facing renewed strain as falling water levels at the Mazar reservoir and reduced output from the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant expose the country’s continued vulnerability to drought, even as officials insist there is no risk of […]

Ruling opens the door to lower tariffs, new market access, and deeper Asian trade ties. Court review completed Ecuador’s Constitutional Court has declared valid the Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement (SECA) signed with South Korea, clearing a major legal hurdle for one of the government’s most ambitious trade initiatives and shifting attention to the National Assembly […]

There are weeks when Ecuador seems to run less on systems than on stubbornness. Oddly enough, that may be one of its strengths. Read through this week’s lineup of stories and the same pattern keeps appearing. The country is dealing with pressure on multiple fronts at once: trade friction with Colombia, uncertainty over long-term agreements […]

Dry conditions and Colombia’s suspension of electricity sales expose strain in the national grid. Ecuador’s electricity system is facing a fresh stress test as reduced rainfall in two key river basins cut hydroelectric generation and forced operators to lean harder on backup sources, self-generation by private companies, and water reserves that officials insist remain under […]

Latin American leaders warn that diplomacy is being eclipsed by force and unilateral power. The United Nations is facing renewed criticism from two of Latin America’s most prominent leaders, with Colombian President Gustavo Petro arguing that the organization has failed in its central mission of preventing war and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva […]

Five-year intervention gives National Police control of surveillance tools and strategic road monitoring. The National Police has formally taken control of the Samborondón Transit and Surveillance Authority’s operational infrastructure in what the government describes as a direct strike against the criminal networks that use the canton’s roads to move drugs, dodge checkpoints and connect with […]

Regional mediators hope talks in Lima can cool a fast-growing diplomatic and commercial dispute. Relations between Ecuador and Colombia are set for a critical test next week as the two neighboring countries prepare to send high-level delegations to Lima for talks aimed at easing one of the sharpest bilateral disputes in recent years. The meeting, […]

There is a theme running through this week’s Cuenca Dispatch, and it is not exactly subtle. Ecuador is trying to modernize, stabilize, digitize, securitize, flexibilize and subsidize itself all at the same time, while standing knee-deep in floodwater and checking whether the lights are still on. That is not entirely a criticism. It is more […]

Legal ratio improved in 2025, but total state commitments still point to deeper fiscal strain ahead. Ecuador ended 2025 with its official public debt ratio moving in the right direction, at least under the formula required by law. The country’s consolidated public debt reached $65.54 billion, equal to 49% of Gross Domestic Product, according to […]

New investment plan comes as fresh research again rejects claims that 5G poses a health threat. Claro’s parent company, América Móvil, says it will invest $600 million in Ecuador over the next three years, a move aimed at expanding network capacity, improving coverage and accelerating the country’s transition to 5G service. The announcement was made […]

New labor agreement allows longer daily shifts while preserving weekly limits and night work surcharges. Ecuador’s new labor rules allowing employees to work as many as 10 hours a day without exceeding the 40-hour weekly limit are now in effect, setting off a national debate over how the change will work in practice and whether […]

New investigative unit will target trafficking, terrorism financing, and organized crime operating across Ecuador’s borders. Ecuador will soon host a permanent FBI office in Quito under a new bilateral agreement with the United States aimed at strengthening investigations into organized crime, terrorism-related activity, and cross-border criminal networks. The accord was formalized Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, […]

With deadlines approaching, key movements are fighting for control, survival and a viable path to the ballot. With less than six months left before candidacies must be registered for Ecuador’s February 2027 local elections, several political organizations are entering the campaign cycle weakened by legal uncertainty, leadership fights and unresolved internal fractures rather than by […]

Relentless rains push rivers over their banks and deepen Ecuador’s growing rainy season emergency. Babahoyo spent the second week of March fighting water on nearly every front, as swelling rivers, blocked roads and fast-rising floodwaters turned Ecuador’s capital of Los Ríos province into one of the clearest symbols of the country’s worsening rainy season crisis. […]

Government proposal would let companies offset part of their income tax by donating social housing. Ecuador’s government has sent the National Assembly a bill that would allow companies to reduce part of their Income Tax burden by donating social housing for vulnerable families, opening a new path for private-sector participation in addressing one of the […]