An accelerated local voting calendar is forcing alliances, primaries and survival strategies into overdrive. Ecuador’s political organizations are being forced into a rapid reorganization after the National Electoral Council moved the country’s 2027 local elections up...
Lawmakers back regulation in principle while pressing for changes to safeguards, oversight and access. Ecuador’s National Assembly has taken its first formal step toward regulating euthanasia, opening debate on a bill designed to set the legal, medical and...
This week’s seven stories read less like a neat package of daily news and more like a national personality test. Ecuador, once again, appears to be trying to run a modern country with one eye on the weather, one eye on politics, one eye on the power grid, and no eyes left over for the […]
The revived route is expected to strengthen tourism, business travel, and family ties between the two countries. Aeromexico has returned to Quito, restoring a direct air link to Mexico City that airport officials and travelers say had been sorely missed for nearly two years. The airline resumed operations on March 24th, 2026, with four weekly […]
Bogotá says it can restore electricity sales, but Quito must decide whether to reopen the door. Colombia says it is prepared to resume electricity exports to Ecuador, offering a potential buffer as Ecuador’s power system shows fresh signs of stress from lower...
Electoral council says weather risk, not politics, drove the decision to move voting day forward. Diana Atamaint, president of Ecuador’s National Electoral Council, is defending the controversial decision to move up the voting date for the country’s next local elections, insisting the change is grounded in technical reports and legal authority rather than political convenience. […]
Ministers describe dialogue differently as tariffs, border controls and energy measures deepen the standoff. After two months of escalating trade retaliation, Ecuador and Colombia are still publicly at odds over both the substance and direction of talks meant to ease tensions between the neighboring countries. Although officials from both sides met again this week, their […]
Government says seasonal pressures are being managed even as key plants generate below expectations. Ecuador’s power system is facing renewed strain as falling water levels at the Mazar reservoir and reduced output from the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant expose the country’s continued vulnerability to drought, even as officials insist there is no risk of […]
Government argues provisional deal can be improved in August as critics question its long-term balance. President Daniel Noboa said Ecuador’s recently signed reciprocal trade agreement with the United States is not a final document and will be revisited in August,...
Ruling opens the door to lower tariffs, new market access, and deeper Asian trade ties. Court review completed Ecuador’s Constitutional Court has declared valid the Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement (SECA) signed with South Korea, clearing a major legal hurdle for one of the government’s most ambitious trade initiatives and shifting attention to the National Assembly […]
There are weeks when Ecuador seems to run less on systems than on stubbornness. Oddly enough, that may be one of its strengths. Read through this week’s lineup of stories and the same pattern keeps appearing. The country is dealing with pressure on multiple fronts at once: trade friction with Colombia, uncertainty over long-term agreements […]
Dry conditions and Colombia’s suspension of electricity sales expose strain in the national grid. Ecuador’s electricity system is facing a fresh stress test as reduced rainfall in two key river basins cut hydroelectric generation and forced operators to lean harder on backup sources, self-generation by private companies, and water reserves that officials insist remain under […]
Astrid Arellano March 17, 2026 An investigation reveals that 47.42% of fish samples in Ecuadorian markets contained shark meat sold under false names. Four threatened shark species are being traded: pelagic thresher shark, silky shark, blue shark and, for the first...
Airlines expect adjustments, not cancellations, as authorities restrict Jet A-1 supply for one week. Ecuador’s aviation sector is moving into contingency mode after civil aviation authorities ordered a temporary 50% cut in Jet A-1 fuel supply, forcing airlines to...
Latin American leaders warn that diplomacy is being eclipsed by force and unilateral power. The United Nations is facing renewed criticism from two of Latin America’s most prominent leaders, with Colombian President Gustavo Petro arguing that the organization has failed in its central mission of preventing war and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva […]
Five-year intervention gives National Police control of surveillance tools and strategic road monitoring. The National Police has formally taken control of the Samborondón Transit and Surveillance Authority’s operational infrastructure in what the government describes as a direct strike against the criminal networks that use the canton’s roads to move drugs, dodge checkpoints and connect with […]
Regional mediators hope talks in Lima can cool a fast-growing diplomatic and commercial dispute. Relations between Ecuador and Colombia are set for a critical test next week as the two neighboring countries prepare to send high-level delegations to Lima for talks aimed at easing one of the sharpest bilateral disputes in recent years. The meeting, […]
Government moves from a regional alert to a national emergency as flooding, landslides, and river overflows intensify. Ecuador’s government has expanded its response to the winter crisis by declaring a 60-day national emergency as relentless rains continue to batter...
Agreement removes tariff pressure from key exports while sharpening Noboa’s confrontation with Rafael Correa. Ecuador and the United States signed a Reciprocal Trade Agreement in Washington on Friday, March 13th, in a move the Noboa government says will ease pressure...
There is a theme running through this week’s Cuenca Dispatch, and it is not exactly subtle. Ecuador is trying to modernize, stabilize, digitize, securitize, flexibilize and subsidize itself all at the same time, while standing knee-deep in floodwater and checking whether the lights are still on. That is not entirely a criticism. It is more […]
Legal ratio improved in 2025, but total state commitments still point to deeper fiscal strain ahead. Ecuador ended 2025 with its official public debt ratio moving in the right direction, at least under the formula required by law. The country’s consolidated public debt reached $65.54 billion, equal to 49% of Gross Domestic Product, according to […]
New investment plan comes as fresh research again rejects claims that 5G poses a health threat. Claro’s parent company, América Móvil, says it will invest $600 million in Ecuador over the next three years, a move aimed at expanding network capacity, improving coverage and accelerating the country’s transition to 5G service. The announcement was made […]
New labor agreement allows longer daily shifts while preserving weekly limits and night work surcharges. Ecuador’s new labor rules allowing employees to work as many as 10 hours a day without exceeding the 40-hour weekly limit are now in effect, setting off a national debate over how the change will work in practice and whether […]
New investigative unit will target trafficking, terrorism financing, and organized crime operating across Ecuador’s borders. Ecuador will soon host a permanent FBI office in Quito under a new bilateral agreement with the United States aimed at strengthening investigations into organized crime, terrorism-related activity, and cross-border criminal networks. The accord was formalized Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, […]
With deadlines approaching, key movements are fighting for control, survival and a viable path to the ballot. With less than six months left before candidacies must be registered for Ecuador’s February 2027 local elections, several political organizations are entering the campaign cycle weakened by legal uncertainty, leadership fights and unresolved internal fractures rather than by […]
Rising global oil prices are complicating Ecuador’s effort to cut fuel subsidy costs in 2026. Ecuador’s long-running effort to reduce the fiscal burden of fuel subsidies has reached a new turning point, with Extra and Ecopaís gasoline now set to be sold at...
Relentless rains push rivers over their banks and deepen Ecuador’s growing rainy season emergency. Babahoyo spent the second week of March fighting water on nearly every front, as swelling rivers, blocked roads and fast-rising floodwaters turned Ecuador’s capital of Los Ríos province into one of the clearest symbols of the country’s worsening rainy season crisis. […]
Government proposal would let companies offset part of their income tax by donating social housing. Ecuador’s government has sent the National Assembly a bill that would allow companies to reduce part of their Income Tax burden by donating social housing for vulnerable families, opening a new path for private-sector participation in addressing one of the […]
Washington flags high-risk zones, urges emergency planning, and tells app users to verify who they meet. The United States has sharpened its warnings for Americans in Ecuador, painting a picture of a country where travel may still be possible in many areas but where...
Political interference, criminal infiltration and institutional paralysis are eroding Ecuador’s justice system from within. Ecuador’s justice system is facing a deepening institutional collapse, with judges and prosecutors caught between political pressure, organized crime and an administrative structure that appears increasingly unable to defend its own independence. A new report by the Citizenship and Development Foundation […]