Another day, another bloody riot in the Ecuador prison system. This time the scenario played out early Monday morning at the Bellavista Rehabilitation Center in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas prison. The Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed 44 inmates died in the riot...
Cuenca creates more full jobs than the rest of the country
Six out of 10 people have full employment in Cuenca, the highest rate in the country. The Azuay capital also registers the highest labor income. The situation of the labor market in Cuenca stands out in the first quarter of 2022. This is evidenced by the latest...
Ecuador becoming a key transit connection for cocaine shipments to Europe
During the first four months of 2022, at the national level, more than 85 tons of drugs have been seized nationwide in Ecuador: double what was registered last year. More than half of the seized substances were already in the containers, about to leave for North American and European ports. In the balance of 2021, […]
Photo caption: Tadpoles of the marsupial frog were released in protected areas of the Bicentennial Park in Quito.
In danger of extinction, the marsupial frog returns to Quito Of five species of frogs that once existed in the Ecuadorian capital, three no longer exist. Approximately 200 marsupial frog tadpoles were reintroduced into protected areas in Quito’s Bicentennial Park, where the old airport used to be, in the north of Quito. On Saturday morning […]
Ecuador pays lower interest rates for most of its foreign and public debt
The financial cost of Ecuador’s foreign debt has fallen since 2019, however domestic debt obligations are becoming more onerous. The average interest rate on Ecuador's public debt stood at 3.99% in February 2022. This is the lowest indicator since 2019, when the...
Zone 8 Commander says “We are concerned about the amount of weapons entering the country”
In a recent interview, the Police Commander of Zone 8, Víctor Zárate also questioned why the Police should guard people under house arrest instead of patrolling the streets. General Víctor Zárate, Commander of Zone 8, made up of Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón, says that the Police are wasting resources in guarding people under house arrest, […]
Los Choneros and Los Lobos may become the next big drug cartels
The so-called ‘cockroach effect’ adds to the mutation of the hegemonic gangs that seek to become cartels. In the middle of everything is the operation of microtraffickers, who compete for space. The Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, says that all the linked acts of violence, especially in Guayaquil, as well as the strengthening, in […]
The Court of Justice of Guayas revokes habeas corpus to alias ‘JR’
Update to: Alias ’JR’ house arrest under habeas corpus cancelled Published: Volume 6, Issue 30 The Specialized Chamber of the Guayas Provincial Court of Justice revoked the habeas corpus issued in favor of Junior Roldán, alias ‘JR,’ second in command of the Los Choneros criminal gang. With this decision, ‘JR’ must remain in the Guayas […]
But it’s safe here!
Wow, I saw a draft of this week’s edition of The Cuenca Dispatch, and it seems like it could be called the “Annual Crime Edition.” But I guess as stuff happens, it has to be written. And this week, the gangs seemed to have jumped to the front pages. And there wasn’t even a story […]
Prado acknowledges that Ecuadorian shrimp has problems entering China
Update to: China says coronavirus found in Ecuador shrimp packaging; Ecuador says all exports meet international biosafety protocols Published: Volume 4, Issue 41 China's temporary suspensions of companies in the shrimp sector and the closure of the port of Shanghai...
Inflation reached 2.89% in April 2022, according to the INEC
Update to: Inflation, driven by transportation, reaches 2.71% in February, Published: Volume 6, Issue 22 The cities where consumer prices increased the most, in annual terms, are Cuenca, Santo Domingo and Manta. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose and stood at 2.89% in April 2022, compared to the same month in 2021, according to the […]
CFN and BanEcuador will merge to create new public bank
The new entity will be the Bank for Economic Development of Ecuador BP The National Government is in the process of merging the National Financial Corporation (CFN) and BanEcuador, as approved under in the Organic Law for Economic Development and Fiscal...
Cuenca to push for popular consultation defining Turi as a “locals only” prison
Over the years, the Cuenca prison ceased to be regional and became national. From the model with which it was conceived, it has become a prison that houses ringleaders and high-risk prisoners who come from all over the country. That prison has not been exempted from gang disputes and inmate murders, a worrying situation in a […]
Eight Minister’s and one Secretary resigned from Lasso’s cabinet in the first year of his term
Most resignations occurred in April 2022. In its first eleven months, President Guillermo Lasso’s government has had nine ministers and secretaries resign. At least 5 of those were in April 2022, a few weeks before President Lasso celebrates a year (on May 24th) in office. Mae Montaño, Minister of Economic and Social Inclusion The first Minister to go, […]
Glas appears before a judge in the Guayas Court of Justice
Update to: Glas released from prison after serving only 4 years for three different felony crimes Published: Volume 6, Issue 27 On Friday, April 29th, the former Vice President of the Republic, Jorge Glas, arrived at the Court of Justice of Guayas to appear before a...
If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be
“It’s déjà vu all over again.” Yogi Berra said that. He said a lot of “Yogi-isms” over the years. Like, “You can observe a lot by watching.” Or “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” He was one heck of a ball player and certainly a character. And I got to meet him once. I […]
Lasso accuses Correa and Nebot of manipulating the Assembly
According to Lasso, the two want to “destabilize Ecuadorian democracy.” “Mr. [Rafael] Correa and Mr. [Jaime] Nebot together, these twins from the first day of my government are seeing how they destabilize Ecuadorian democracy,” said President Guillermo Lasso. According to him, former President Rafael Correa and former Mayor of Guayaquil, Jaime Nebot, —two of the most important […]
New Minister of Energy and Mines will try to tackle Lasso’s oil production goals
Vice minister Vera replaces Juan Carlos Bermeo who only lasted 11 months in the role. Xavier Vera Grunauer is a civil engineer from Guayaquil. He was the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines until Thursday, when President Guillermo Lasso installed him as head of that ministry, replacing Juan Carlos Bermeo Calderón. Bermeo, who had held the position since June 2021, […]
State of exception decreed in Guayas, Manabí and Esmeraldas putting soldiers and police in the streets
The measure includes a curfew in certain parishes and special operations by the Police and the Armed Forces Making international news, President Guillermo Lasso announced that there will be a 60-day state of emergency in Guayas, Manabí and Esmeraldas. The objective of the state of exception, Lasso said, is to try to combat the criminal gangs that dominate those provinces. Lasso made […]
Over the last 4 years 678 police officers have been dismissed for ‘very serious’ offenses
Corruption reaches all spheres, including institutional ones. The National Police is no exception and has the task of investigating their own. In the last few weeks alone, six policemen have been protagonists of different illegal acts. On April 26, 2022, a sergeant...
Alias ’JR’ house arrest under habeas corpus cancelled
Update to: Judge who granted habeas corpus to Los Choneros leader dismissed by the Judicial Council Published: Volume 6, Issue 29 Junior Roldán, alias ‘JR’, will have to go to a hospital. This was ordered on Thursday by the judge of Penitentiary Guarantees, Carlos Cedeño. The magistrate decided to revoke the house arrest of the […]
Car bomb explodes in front of the Guayaquil regional prison
It happened at half past three in the morning. It is the third bombing in 2022. The terror of organized crime networks hammers insistently in Guayaquil, which has become one of the most violent cities in the world. Adding fuel to this statement, at half past three in...
Judge who granted habeas corpus to Los Choneros leader dismissed by the Judicial Council
Lawyer Pedro Moreira only lasted five months as judge of the Guayaquil Penitentiary Guarantees Unit. The plenary session of the Judicial Council decided to dismiss the now former judge Moreira on Monday, April 25, 2022. It did so after Moreira used a controversial ‘habeas corpus’ ruling to grant house arrest to Junior Roldán Paredes, alias JR, one of the leaders […]
Ecuador’s business climate deteriorated in the first quarter of 2022
The war in Ukraine, the lockdowns in China and the power struggle between the Government of Guillermo Lasso and the Assembly have had an impact on the business climate in Ecuador. After a spike due to expectations of a change in government, the business climate in...
Lasso says he will not allow the siege of criminals ‘assisted’ by corrupt judges in Ecuador
President Guillermo Lasso, said this Sunday that he will not allow the siege of criminal gangs that have generated a wave of insecurity in the country, aided by judges who, according to him, have abused their hierarchy to favor criminals. “I will not allow Ecuador to become a State besieged by drug gangs aided by […]
Lasso insists on an investment law with public-private partnerships
Update to: Guillermo Lasso: ‘I must govern without considering that the National Assembly exists’ Published: Volume 6, Issue 25 The investment law is still in the plans of the national government. This was indicated by President Guillermo Lasso, in his weekly press interview on April 26, 2022. The President said that his first two paths […]
Court requests extradition of Correa, Belgium granted him asylum
Belgium has granted political asylum to former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who has an executed sentence of eight years in prison for the crime of bribery in the Bribery case—which he maintains is an act of judicial persecution. The former president’s Belgian lawyer, Christophe Marchand, confirmed the news on April 22, 2022, the same day it was learned that […]
Dive boat sinks causing diesel fuel spill in Galapagos
A diesel spill is being controlled in Galapagos. Around 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022, a diving boat sank in Academia Bay, on Santa Cruz Island — the most populated island in the insular province. The boat’s sinking caused a diesel spill in the area where the accident occurred. According to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, personnel […]
Monsters do exist
It’s early summer here. The locals call it rainy season, but to me, it’s early summer. The mornings are crisp and cool, and the birds wake early at 6:00 a.m. to start their day. I tend to lounge in longer than that, though their tweets (the original tweet) get louder quickly and demand that I […]
Ernesto Weisson, one of the ‘Miami Boys’, pleads guilty in the United States
Update to: Ecuadorians’ investment firm defrauded South America’s wealthy out of over $350 million Published: Volume 6, Issue 18 The founder of the massive Biscayne Capital scam, used to pay bribes to officials in Ecuadorian corruption cases, plead guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The first of the ‘Miami Boys’ to […]