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The Cuenca Dispatch publishes exclusive reports on Ecuador’s economy, politics, crime and more that you will not find published anywhere else on the web.
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Volume 5, Issue 27
From the week of April 11, 2021
A new species of lion monkey is found in Ecuador
Scientists were able to confirm the existence of a new species of lion monkey in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where it was believed until now that only one existed, reported the San Francisco de Quito University (USFQ). The study has been ongoing since 2015 by Stella de la...
The pandemic completely changed Ecuador’s tourism sector
In 2020, more than $1.3 trillion was lost in the global tourism sector. In Ecuador, revenues fell 60%. Experts predict that recovery will take between 2 and 4 years. In early 2020, the Grand Hotel Lobo de Mar, on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, had huge pre-sales thru...
Vaccination Problems Continue, Deaths Rise, Health Minister Changed Again
This week we are seeing a higher positivity rate, a higher rate and higher number of new deaths, and a huge increase in the number of provinces seeing a rise in deaths. We also have more people, and sicker people, being hospitalized. One top of that, hospitals across...
Ecuador turns from Correísmo and hands over power to conservative Guillermo Lasso
The presidential candidate of the conservative alliance CREO-PSC, Guillermo Lasso, was declared the winner of the elections held this Sunday in Ecuador, when with 97.79% of the tally sheets counted, he obtained 52.50% of the votes, five points over his correista rival...
Deforestation of Ecuador’s tropical forests: a reality that needs attention
In the world, 10 million hectares of forest are cut down each year, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Despite being one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world, in recent decades Ecuador has lost huge...
Commission approves report for debate on the bill for the Defense of Dollarization
With nine votes in favor, the Economic Commission of the National Assembly, approved the report for the first debate of the bill for the Defense of Dollarization. The 30-minute session was held on the evening of April 10, 2021. During the debate of the text, 22...
Civil. Civility. Civilization.
Well, I’ve been in the US for a week, and I can’t say that it has been as enjoyable as I imagined it would be. Because frankly, I am mentally in what I can best describe as an alternate reality. Really, being back in the US is very odd for me this time. Perhaps it’s...
Banana sector reinforces prevention measures to avoid Foc R4T fungus
The Ecuadorian banana sector is reinforcing biosecurity measures that have already been in place since 2019, to prevent the arrival of Fusarium 4 fungus to plantations in Ecuador. This comes after the National Agrarian Health Service of Peru (Senasa) reported on April...
Volume 5, Issue 26
From the week of April 4, 2021
Average pension for retirees of $655.20 does not even cover the cost of the basic family basket in Ecuador
The cost of the basic family basket, which includes goods and services representative of household consumption in a month, was $712.07 last February, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses. Meanwhile, the average pensions of all retirees reach...
Rebound in cases or new wave of COVID-19 infections?
Since the beginning of the year, the epidemiological curve of the Ministry of Health graphs has registered an increase in cases, which has caused hospital centers to become saturated, mainly in Quito and Guayaquil, but also in other locations in the country as well....
Presidential candidates Andrés Arauz and Guillermo Lasso addressed six top issues for Ecuador
Vaccination against COVID-19, the role of the Central Bank of Ecuador, reactivation and employment, environmental rights, education and abortion are some of the issues that were debated in the electoral campaign, which ends on Thursday the 8th of April. The...
I don’t know that guy, but tell me about him
I’m sitting in the Sheraton Hotel in Cuenca in preparation of my flight out in the morning to Quito, and then from there to the Miami, Florida. As you all know, I’m going to go get my COVID vaccine(s), and I’m also going to go spend some overdue time with my mother....
Restrictions Reduced Mobility, Country Awaits Impact Of Holiday
While the restrictions of this past week will not show up in the number of new cases and related deaths for two to three weeks, there was some improvement in both the number of new cases and deaths from COVID-19 over last week. That glimmer of hope comes at a time...
Foreign Direct Investment grew to more than $1 billion despite pandemic with 40% coming from mining
The Central bank of Ecuador (ECB) reported that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Ecuador was $1.0169 billion in 2020. Despite the fact that it was a pandemic year, and in most countries in the region there were falls compared to the previous year, the figure for...
Financing proposal for expansion of Galapagos reserve still has no response from Government
The Our Ocean Conference in Oslo, Norway, the Marine Conservation Institute and its international scientific council recognized the Galapagos Marine Reserve as a protected area of excellence. The protection of a marine strip of two nautical miles around each island...