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 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 […]

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 […]