Daily coverage from across the country, written for the expat community
Indigenous leader Marlon Vargas calls President Noboa's urgent mining and energy reform a threat to water, territories, and collective rights. The National Assembly has until March 2 to vote on the bill, and CONAIE is calling for unity against it.
The National Electoral Council unanimously approved the start of the electoral period on February 14, setting the stage for mayoral, prefect, and council elections on February 14, 2027. Campaign season officially begins in January 2027.
Since December 24, 2025, only the Rumichaca crossing (Colombia) and Huaquillas crossing (Peru) remain open for international land transit. All other border bridges are physically barricaded as part of the government's security strategy.
Extortion rackets once concentrated on Ecuador's coast have spread to Quito neighborhoods including Carapungo, Calderón, and Solanda. Business owners report demands of $100 to $2,000 per month, and 62% of small businesses nationwide have paid.
Coffee grown in Quito's UNESCO-designated Chocó Andino Biosphere Reserve is gaining international recognition and finding growing markets in Europe, adding another dimension to Ecuador's agricultural export story.
The International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts, and Tourism has awarded Ecuador's Manabí province the title of World Region of Gastronomy 2026 — the first in Latin America — recognizing its peanut-based culinary traditions, ceviches, and sustainable food culture.
Repeated wave surges have flooded condo lobbies, destroyed sea walls, and damaged vehicles in Salinas and Punta Blanca. Experts warn that sea levels have risen 39 centimeters since the 1970s — and the worst is yet to come.
The Ministry of Public Health invested in 92 laparoscopic towers for hospitals across the country, bringing minimally invasive surgery to previously underserved areas including the border town of Macará near Vilcabamba.
A joint investigation by the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands confirmed that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with epibatidine — a rare neurotoxin produced by a poison dart frog native to Ecuador's southwestern Andes.
Ecuador's Constitutional Court has determined that the trade agreement negotiated with South Korea requires a full legislative vote before ratification — a higher procedural bar than the recently concluded U.S. deal.
Ecuador's Naval Oceanographic Institute warns of agitated seas and dangerous rip currents along the entire Pacific coastline on February 17, as a spring tide coincides with Carnival's peak beach crowds. Salinas alone expected up to 300,000 visitors this weekend.
The original 18-karat gold FIFA World Cup Trophy is on display at Quorum del Paseo San Francisco in Cumbayá from 2:30 PM to 9:00 PM today — the fourth time the trophy has visited Ecuador. With La Tri set to face Germany at MetLife Stadium this summer, World Cup fever is running high.
