Advancing river damage has exposed years of delayed decisions and increasingly expensive temporary fixes. The relentless erosion of the Coca River has developed into a growing threat to two pillars of Ecuador’s economy: its largest hydroelectric plant and the pipelines that carry much of the country’s crude oil. Six years after the phenomenon began, authorities […] To access this post, you must purchase The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Monthly or The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Annual.

Movement delays alliance announcement while racing to secure candidates and political partners before looming electoral deadlines. The Citizen Revolution movement is concealing key elements of its strategy for Ecuador’s November local elections, delaying the announcement of the political organizations that could provide its candidates with a place on the ballot. The alliance was expected to […] To access this post, you must purchase The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Monthly or The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Annual.

Most investigations have ended without charges, while several prominent mayors remain jailed, indicted or under scrutiny. More than half of Ecuador’s mayors and provincial prefects have appeared in criminal proceedings, creating a sprawling legal record that reaches from the country’s largest cities to remote Amazonian cantons. An examination of the Judicial Council’s electronic case system […] To access this post, you must purchase The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Monthly or The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Annual.

Scientists find abnormal heat extending far below the surface as fisheries and rainfall patterns begin changing. Unusually warm water reaching depths of 100 meters off Ecuador’s coast is providing some of the clearest evidence yet that El Niño conditions are developing, according to findings from a recent scientific expedition. The Ecuadorian Navy research vessel BAE […] To access this post, you must purchase The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Monthly or The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Annual.

Computer records reveal appointments bypassed official controls as investigators examine alleged payments and after-hours printing. A computer analysis of National Transit Agency records has uncovered evidence of a parallel operation that allegedly allowed employees to issue driver’s licenses outside normal procedures, bypass payment controls and serve hundreds more applicants than the official appointment system permitted. […] To access this post, you must purchase The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Monthly or The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Annual.

Overcrowded centers are struggling to rehabilitate teenagers drawn into Ecuador’s expanding criminal networks. Ecuador’s juvenile detention system is facing a mounting crisis as a sharp increase in adolescent arrests pushes facilities far beyond their intended capacity, raising concerns that centers designed for rehabilitation could instead deepen young offenders’ involvement in organized crime. By May 2026, […] To access this post, you must purchase The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Monthly or The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Annual.

New decree opens the door to international deployments while thousands of Ecuadorian soldiers move into violence-stricken provinces. President Daniel Noboa has launched a new phase of Ecuador’s campaign against organized crime, combining a large domestic military deployment with an offer of legal immunity to personnel sent by cooperating foreign governments. Executive Decree 424, signed on […] To access this post, you must purchase The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Monthly or The Cuenca Dispatch Subscription – Annual.