On the night of April 11, Guillermo Lasso and César Monge met on a platform at the Guayaquil Convention Center and there, excited, they hugged each other in front of the eyes of their euphoric followers. It was around 10 p.m. The former banker lead in the count of the electoral runoff vote and became the […]

Peru’s new President has said that “neoliberals” are enemies of regional integration The electoral victory of a radical leftist indigenist like Pedro Castillo has aroused interest and concern in Latin America. The schoolteacher with a career in union leadership is a member of the political party Peru Libre, which defines itself as “left-wing Marxist.” Castillo was also a […]

President Lasso’s “right-hand man,” César Monge died of pancreatic cancer this week. In reading about him, it’s clear that he was a big part of the reason why Lasso got elected President. It also became clear that he had good motives for getting involved in politics after a long history in business. From what is […]

Update to: In the middle of a fraud and now murder scandal, Abdalá Bucaram announces his candidacy for President Published: Volume 4, Issue 45 Court reinstates the case against Abdalá Bucaram and suspends Judge Verónica Medina The judges of the Provincial Court of Justice of Pichincha Ricardo Vaca, Miguel Narváez and Anacélida Burbano, unanimously accepted the appeal presented by […]

The member of the IESS César Rodríguez gave figures from the IESS on health debt and pensions. In health, the greatest weight is care for retirees and catastrophic events. The State maintains a debt of at least $7.381 billion with the Social Security Institute (IESS). These items, according to a report published by César Rodríguez, a member of the IESS […]

Through a press statement, National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) said that from 2020 until May 2021, it implemented several methodological changes associated with the size and distribution of the samples it collects, the level of representativeness of the estimators, and the construction of weighting factors. “These modifications affected the historical comparability of the […]

Update to: Lasso Announces 50% Internet Discount for Seniors Published: Volume 5, Issue 40 The Elderly Plan for the discount on internet and telephony, explained The Ministry of Telecommunications created the Senior Adult Plan to give a 50% discount on the payment for internet consumption and fixed and mobile telephony for people over 65 years […]

I’m in Florida writing this and it’s hot. And muggy. I had to come her for a family “emergency” that has all worked out okay. I’m quite happy for that and I am glad that I came. It was a rushed trip and I had to make a connection to get here which I never […]

Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: Updated for Tuesday, July 20, 2021 This week it is important to talk more about what is happening in the country overall, than any particular numbers that we track. First and foremost, the delta variant of the coronavirus—which is considered to be as much as […]

The national Assembly unanimously approved the ratification of the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance. On July 13th, the Ecuadorian legislature approved with 126 votes the report of the International Relations and Human Mobility Commission to ratify this international instrument. Assemblyman Juan Fernando Flores, President of the Commission, said that “the convention is […]

In the best of cases, production could be increased to 610,000 barrels per day in 2025, which is still far from the million barrels announced by the authorities

On May 24, 2021, the government of Lenín Moreno officially ended and give way to that of Guillermo Lasso. Although his 4 years as President have ended, the results of Moreno’s policies on the country’s economic indicators have consequences that will last for months — perhaps years. It was not a surprise. In April 2020, at the […]

We’ve been having work done on our little guest house. And by little, I mean about 300 square feet. So, nothing to brag about. But I can say that it is finally a house. When we bought our property, the little house was even littler, about 200 square feet. And the walls were not really […]

The Ministry of Public Health reported 1,077 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 nationwide : 650 remain stable and 427 with a reserved prognosis. The Ministry has not updated the hospitalization figures in the last nine days. In a statement, he explained that they are restructuring the information system.    Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: Updated […]

The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office has opened preliminary proceedings against the far-right presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori for a “crime against the right to vote in the form of disruption or impediment to the electoral process.” Fujimori has other open cases for corruption and irregular financing of her campaign. The investigation is based on the presentation of 760 […]

The new oil policy, proposed by the government of Guillermo Lasso, through decree 95, proposes a renegotiation and free and voluntary migration of the current Service contracts to Participation contracts and opens the debate on the legal channels and the possible interest that it could generate in some oil companies to accept the changes. According to the proposal, the new Participation contract (which […]

Leonidas Iza Salazar, the new president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) stresses that his first mission is to promote the resolutions of the groups of the movement, especially, to seek dialogue with the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, and that the executive decrees that allowed the release of fuel prices be repealed. He […]

Bank profits showed an improvement in the first half of 2021 compared to the results obtained in the first six months of the previous year. Thru last June, the country’s large banks made about $107 million in profits; medium banks, about $68 million and small ones lost $2.42 million. The net income of the banking system […]

All travelers whose point of origin, stopover or transit is India or Brazil, must now present a negative result of a PCR test carried out 72 hours before embarking to Ecuador. And, even with a negative test result, they must go into isolation for ten (10) days and report if they have symptoms compatible with Covid-19. This is a […]

The bilateral relationship between Ecuador and the United States will be further strengthened under the current government of Guillermo Lasso, says Michael Fitzpatrick, US ambassador to the country. He says that the dialogues will be deepened to close a commercial agreement and that agreements to improve drug trafficking control are also a priority. Fitzpatrick adds that they […]

  With caution, we are happy to report that there were some very positive changes over the last week. However, there are two indicators that still raise concern and may mean a worsening of the situation in the coming week. First, the good news. New Covid-19 deaths fell by 40% this week, going from 230 […]

Sometimes I just have nothing to say. When it happens, it reminds me of Andy Rooney. He used to do his opinion piece at the end of every 60 Minutes episode. And one episode in particular stands out to me, the piece he did on a paper clip. I mean, he REALLY had nothing to […]

Last Monday, the Constitutional Court sent the notice to the Assembly to endorse and send the Reform Law to the Tax Code to the Official Registry

The 58-year-old and was elected by an absolute majority. The 155 candidates who will draft the new Constitution of Chile this Sunday elected Elisa Loncon, an indigenous woman, to preside over the body that will create the new fundamental law, which will replace the current one, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). Loncon […]

It took then-president Jamil Mahuad Witt, and his team, almost five months to assemble a stable three-legged platform, solid enough to give the exchange system and announce the dollarization of the Ecuadorian economy, on January 9, 2000. This is how he relates it in his book How We Dollarize Ecuador. Memories of a historical success in Latin […]

Update to: Companies and workers propose five ways out of unemployment in Ecuador Published: Volume 4, issue 45 With 6.3%, May had the highest unemployment rate of the year May was the worst month of the year in terms of unemployment in Ecuador. This indicator stood at 6.3%, a higher figure than that registered in January […]

Not surprisingly, as we get farther out from the lifting of national restrictions, some of the numbers we follow have been getting worse. This week we saw an increase in the percent of tests returning positive, an increase in the percentage of new cases, and an increase in the number of hospitalized patients. On a […]

A World Bank report estimates that 4.7 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean are no longer in the middle class The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused 4.7 million people from the middle class to move into vulnerability or poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a new World Bank report, “The Gradual […]

108° in Portland? Really? Hottest day EVER in Portland. Other cities across the US broke heat records last week (while Colorado had snow in the higher elevations). And here in Azuay, we recorded colder temperatures than normal.  What is going on? Oh, wait! It’s that ‘climate change’ thing we used to talk about. You remember, […]

Last week, the Ambassador of Ecuador to the United States, Ivonne Baki, signed an Agreement to enter the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The ICSID is a space for the resolution of investment conflicts at the international level. Upon signature, Ecuador becomes the 164th state to sign the Convention, but it has yet to be […]

According to figures from the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor), exports to the United States for the first four months of the year grew by 20%, with shipments of $1.209 billion led by shrimp and bananas with $335 million and $181 million, respectively. They were followed by flowers ($154 million), cocoa ($79 million) and fresh fish ($72 million). Meanwhile, […]

It appeared last week that the country would be bypassing the increases in deaths, new cases, positivity rate, etc. that we had typically seen three weeks post-events; however, at four weeks post lifting of the restrictions across the country, we are seeing increases in almost all the important figures we track. Last week we warned […]

The new “traffic lights” for the tracking of the coronavirus announced this week by the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE), will take into account several factors. This traffic light system will be used first in the progressive and face-to-face return to work for the central government, which will be partial, and then in other activities. That return to work is […]

The President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, announced this past Thursday, June 17, 2021, that in the second week of July, he will personally present to the National Assembly a bill to reform the Organic Law of Higher Education (LOES). Lasso pointed out that the objective of this reform is to have ” free universities and free young people.” It is sought, […]

I’ve been reading a lot this week about the things that the Lasso government is doing to focus on some serious social problems: childhood malnutrition, unemployment, Covid vaccination, and even the imbalance of salaries and working conditions between men and women in the country. They’ve even retracted the policy of the Correa government that limited […]

Last Wednesday, El Salvador became the first country in the world to allow the use of Bitcoin as a legal exchange currency. This came after the approval by the Congress of a bill promoted by President Nayib Bukele three days before. The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, with an official majority, approved the Bitcoin Law, which will allow the […]

At three weeks out from the lifting of restrictions, we are seeing a slight increase in the number of new cases—though this may be due to a similar slight increase in the number of tests completed and a small decrease in the number of backlogged cases. The good news is that for the third week […]

The list includes oil contracts, bribes from Odebrecht, distribution of hospitals, IESS, electricity and mining concessions, among others. Last week the Oversight Commission approved a work plan that involves investigating 57 cases raised by the assembly members that make up that legislative body, who suspect administrative irregularities, signs of corruption and an impact on State […]

The government of Guillermo Lasso took over the government with a financing need of $8 billion and arrears in the amount of $2.7 billion. That is why the Minister of Economy and Finance, Simón Cueva, has identified at least four sources of financing in his sights that will allow him to weather this fiscal gap. Most of what is required, […]

Well, I’m back from another trip to the US. This was much shorter one than last month. But the outcome was the same. I left not wanting to go back. After all these years, I finally can’t imagine ever living in the US again. And it’s not a political thing. It’s a people thing. On […]

This week I want to talk about something completely unrelated to politics or the coronavirus, and that’s work ethic. Right now, we have two local brothers, both in their mid-twenties, working on construction projects at our house. We’ve had them there for 3 months. We started first with having them rebuild an old carport that […]

We are two weeks out from the lifting of restrictions and the number of new cases and new deaths continue to fall. In the past, we have seen a rise in these numbers at around 2-3 week’s post increases in mobility. So, it is encouraging to see these numbers continue to improve even as we […]

Update to: Quito mayor on trial for embezzlement; Ombudsman arrested for sexual assault Published: Volume 5, Issue32 The Municipal Council removed Jorge Yunda from the position of mayor of Quito It took the Metropolitan Council of Quito more than eight hours last week to decide the removal of Jorge Yunda as Mayor of Quito, in […]

Although remdesivir does not have a sanitary registration in Ecuador, and its use has not yet been officially approved, there are doctors who are prescribing it. Andrea’s 50-year-old father is in the intensive care unit at a Guayaquil hospital because he was infected with Covid-19. She says that to “improve” his condition, the doctors sent her […]

Just one COVID-19 patient is in critical condition at the Dr. Geraldo Cesar Reis clinic in Serrana, a city of almost 46,000 in Sao Paulo state’s countryside. The 63-year-old woman rejected the vaccine that was offered to every adult resident of Serrana as part of a trial. Doctors say the woman was awaiting one of […]

The organization 1-800 Migrante, has registered the disappearance of ten illegal Ecuadorian migrants on the border between Mexico and the United States, between March and May 2021. Johanna Tapia dreamed of leaving her job in a beauty parlor in Guayaquil and traveling to Boston, Massachusetts, to connect with her boyfriend Xavier and to start a […]

The draft “Organic Law on Freedom of Expression and Communication” signed by President Lasso on his first day in office and sent to the National Assembly, does not include the constitutional mandate of the popular consultation of 2011, regarding the existence of the Council of Regulation, that regulates the dissemination of content of sexual or […]

Update to: National COE loosens up COVID-19 entry restrictions at both international airports Published: Volume 5, Issue 24 Beginning June 3rd, American Airlines will have 6 daily flights between Quito, Guayaquil and Miami American Airlines will soon have three daily trips to Miami, from both Quito and Guayaquil. After receiving approval from the Ecuadorian Civil […]

One full week after Ecuador’s mobility restrictions were lifted it appears that the rate and number of new cases of COVID-19 have fallen; however, in the first week of reporting under the new Government, the rate of new samples collected and tests completed have fallen, and the rate of backlogged tests has increased. With that […]

I’ve got to admit that I’m curious to see how President Lasso is going to move forward on several fronts. First, he tried to clean up a big mess on his first day and is now getting slapped around by the assembly because of it. He signed a draft law on freedom of the press, […]

Lasso tasked his team to fight corruption, emphasized the lack of resources, said that there is nothing more precarious than the lack of employment and spoke of concessions. Last Thursday, President Guillermo Lasso introduced fourteen more members of his cabinet, including former assembly members and people who have been close to Creando Oportunidades (CREO) years ago. […]

Ecuador’s new President, Guillermo Lasso, has already announced several tax reforms intended to stimulate the economy April 11, 2021, will unquestionably go down in Ecuadorian history as one of the country’s most memorable days. After a long year of pandemic-related restrictions and effects, not to mention years of governments dazzled by the promises of 21st […]

President Guillermo Lasso. We are going to have to get used to saying that. Today he finally became the President of the Republic of Ecuador, after trying to get to the seat over eight years and three elections. A lesson in “stick-to-it-ness?” Or a lesson in change? Let’s hope this is a lesson of life […]

Forty-eight hours before leaving his Presidency, Lenín Moreno held his last meeting with his enlarged cabinet, where he carried out a kind of rendering of accounts on his management of the government for the last four years. Moreno left power on Saturday when the transfer of command to the president-elect, Guillermo Lasso, was made. The ceremony […]

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has published the results of the 10th Flow Monitoring Survey on the Venezuelan population in Ecuador carried out in February and March 2021. The survey, part of the Displacement Monitoring Matrix (DTM), was implemented through 4,258 interviews with people of legal age (54% men, 46% women and less than […]

Last year an oil spill in the Ecuadoran Amazon that contaminated the Coca River, local Indigenous groups are still struggling to adapt to alternative livelihoods It started as an ordinary morning in Ecuador’s eastern Orellana province. Abel Jipa’s sons, Byron and Johnny, and his son-in-law, Gibson, set out on the Coca River to go fishing […]

As we reported last week, one of the more alarming bits of information that was published last week was just how many “unusual” deaths occurred over the past year. That term in Ecuador means deaths that are above and beyond the average number of deaths seen year-on-year. Without repeating the details that we reported last […]

Quito mayor, Jorge Yunda, called to trial for embezzlement, then his defense team quits The mayor of Quito, Jorge Yunda, is one of the 14 accused of the crime of embezzlement related to the purchase of PCR tests to detect COVID-19 Twelve days after the mayor of Quito, Jorge Yunda, was called to trial for […]

President-elect, Guillermo Lasso, who will take office on May 24th, announced this week that his administration will sign an agreement with Russia for the provision of Sputnik V vaccines to strengthen its immunization plan. This was something that the outgoing government failed to achieve. In the electoral campaign, Lasso said his administration would vaccinate 9 million Ecuadorians in […]

The businessman Juan Eljuri died at the age of 78 in Cuenca on Monday, May 10, 2021 When Juan Eljuri Antón inaugurated one of his ventures or businesses, he preferred that his executives were in charge of public speeches. He opted for a lower profile, a little away from the cameras and the media gaze. Within […]

Some critically ill patients have damage to 75% of their lungs and require urgent mechanical ventilation, but ICU beds are hard to find The aggressiveness of the new variants of coronavirus that circulate in Ecuador hits the health system from different fronts. One of the most serious problems is that patients arrive at hospitals with […]