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...

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, […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

“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 […]

 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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]