Update to: Women quarantine to keep the virus out, but inside the house the danger of domestic violence grows in Ecuador and worldwid Published: Volume 4, Issue 48 Woman in Shushufindi was killed by her partner, who later committed suicide Inhabitants of the Los Bosques neighborhood, in Shushufindi, in Sucumbíos province, woke up this Saturday […]

You know how someone is about to feed you a line of crap? When they open by saying, “I come only with the power of the Virgin Mother and truth.” That’s what happened last week when a correista led the charge to censure and dismiss Ecuador’s now former Minister of Government, María Paula Romo. As […]

Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: UPDATED FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020 In a sharp turn of events, we feel comfortable in reporting that the country does seem to have seen significant improvement in the spread of COVID-19 over the last week. As our last month of reports makes clear, we […]

One in 10 residents in Cuenca has already acquired COVID-19. This was revealed by a study titled “Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV 2 in Cuenca,” carried out by the University of Cuenca and the Municipality of Cuenca. Between September 23rd and October 8th, the seroprevalence study was carried out in Cuenca by University of Cuenca researchers David Acurio, […]

With the pandemic restricting mobility, many Ecuadorians have been gravitating toward the option of buying online in stores abroad and receiving their packages by courier or express mail. Likewise, operations for this have been gaining ground in the country and are even diversifying their services to move around these purchases. Courier companies that provide these […]

Last October, the country went through a “shutdown,” not from the coronavirus pandemic, but rather from the Government’s attempt to remove fuel subsidies that in some shape of form had been in place since the 1970’s. The government sought to reduce (or cancel) the subsidy as part of its austerity measures, to try to plug […]

The National Assembly censured and dismissed María Paula Romo as Minister of Government on November 24th, with 104 votes, after an impeachment process with the main accusation that she authorized the use of expired tear gas bombs in the October 2019 demonstrations. The motion of censure was raised by opposition assembly member, Roberto Gómez (former […]

The reduction in mobility due to COVID-19 accelerated the number of users of applications such as Glovo, Rappi and Uber in the country. This increase caused these companies to apply strategies to improve or maintain service during and after the pandemic, discover new market niches and expand their coverage in sectors where demand arose. Daniel Arévalo, […]

Last week there was a story in the local press about the begging that is occurring on seemingly every street corner in Cuenca. The story pointed out some of the problems related to this, and specifically mentioned the use of children as “props” to entice people to give money. What disturbed me the most about […]

Fight misinformation, verify the veracity of Ecuador’s political speech in the 2021 electoral campaign, and develop tools that allow citizens to decide who they support based on accurate information. Those are the objectives of Ecuador Verifica, a group of Ecuador’s media companies that have promised to fight “fake news” by researching and verifying the truth—or pointing […]

Last week, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), requested the cooperation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the G20 to help Latin America and the Caribbean continue to apply expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to mitigate a crisis that it estimates will last longer than expected. In a virtual meeting […]

Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: UPDATED FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2020 Two weeks ago, we reported a sharp turn in the spread of COVID-19 in Ecuador and stated that we felt the country seemed to have gotten better control of situation. We also said we would only believe that the […]

Traditional puppet contest is suspended in Cuenca The traditional contest of old years, that until 2019 was held every December 31st in different neighborhoods of the city of Cuenca, is suspended for this year, the organizers announced. The decision was made to avoid an increase in COVID-19 infections. Weeks ago, a virtual event was proposed as […]

The mega biodiversity of Ecuador makes it a unique country, because its small territory—compared to other countries such as Brazil and Colombia—makes it the place with the most species per area in some classes of animals, such as amphibians. But it also has a long list of endangered species. According to Santiago Ron, an Ecuadorian scientist […]

Update to: Government negotiates billions of dollars in credit from China tied to crude oil Published: Volume 5, Issue 5 Managers of Petroecuador and Petroamazonasboth resign within 24 hours Two important “casualties” in the oil companies occurred in less than 24 hours last week. Ricardo Merino and Juan Carlos Bermeo resigned from their positions as manager of […]

In last week’s virtually held IX Binational Cabinet between Colombia and Ecuador, Colombian President Iván Duque showed his support for Ecuador to join the so-called Pacific Alliance. “I reiterate my commitment, in the face of the pro tempore presidency (of the Alliance) that I will assume very soon, to promote the entry of Ecuador to […]

Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: UPDATED FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2020 As we went through last week, the numbers that are coming out from the government each week are only somewhat of a “barometer,” something to tell us what direction the spread of the coronavirus is going in. It is […]

“In general terms, I could say that the vast majority of those sentenced (in the Bribes case 2012-2016) are able to pay (their full reparation) out of the property they own. The Execution Court will be responsible for ordering the seizure of those assets and take them to auction so with the money obtained in […]

On October 29th, María Alejandra Muñoz served her one hundredth day as the Vice President of the Republic of Ecuador; she is the fourth person to hold this position during the Lenín Moreno government. Muñoz was given three tasks when she agreed to take over as Moreno’s Vice President: facilitate foreign trade, work on Ecuador’s […]

On Saturday afternoon, Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno sent a congratulatory message to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris after reports of the United States Presidential election results gave Biden a victory over Donald Trump, labeling Biden President-elect 46. Moreno wrote that he hopes the relationship between the two countries will remain firm and prosperous during the […]