From mid-March thru the end of September—during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic—410,000 formal jobs (i.e., contracted jobs) were lost in Ecuador. This was reported by Ecuador’s Minister of Labor, Andrés Isch, to the Economic Development Commission on...
Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: UPDATED FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020 As we complete the second week since the national restrictions ended, along with the state of emergency, we can see a slight improvement in numbers both nationally and locally. This is not to say that the country has exited […]
Last October 2nd, protests broke out across Ecuador demanding the repeal of the government’s Decree 883, which eliminated subsidies on gasoline and diesel fuel that had been in place for over 40 years. The plan was part of a package of emergency measures announced by Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno that included a debt restructuring, a […]
I’ve been doing my best to not look at what was going on in the US regarding the upcoming election, but the President has made that so hard to do! As I have already voted, nothing that happens now really impacts me that much. And for my sanity I told myself (and all of you) […]
What follows is almost too hard to believe. This is not a John le Carrénovel. It is not a script to a low-budget mafia movie. It is a story about how deep corruption still buries itself into the soul of Ecuador, even nearly 4 years after the Correa regime. The story continues being added to, […]
On Friday, Diana Atamaint, the President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), announced that the CNE is preparing to convene a popular “consultation” (ballot or election) in Cuenca on the prohibitions for mining exploitation. This comes after the Constitutional Court (CC) issued a favorable opinion on September 21, 2020 on the request by the Municipality of Cuenca to hold […]
Cuenca changes tram price for single ride to 30 cents The Cantonal Council of Cuenca decided last week to reduce the price of a single ride on the Tramvia to $0.30 when paid for with an electronic card. The rate went into effect on Friday and runs thru December 31, 2020. On Thursday night, the […]
In our “Updates” feature, we follow up on some of our most read stories over the last few weeks. Our goal is to bring our readers up to speed on any news that adds to, changes, or increases the impact of previous topics we’ve covered. Update to: Ombudsman’s Office asks the Foreign Ministry to apply diplomatic […]