Daily coverage from across the country, written for the expat community
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Starting June 1, 2026, Ecuador's tax authority requires VAT declarations to be filed and paid in a single transaction. Partial payments — even with credit notes — invalidate the declaration. If you run a business, rental property, or freelance income through SRI, this is a meaningful workflow change. Here's what's required.
Ecuador's tax authority SRI reported $267.2 billion in reported sales for 2025, a 9% increase over 2024, alongside $21.5 billion in tax collection (+6.8%). The online portal pulled in 167 million visits and 3.5 million access-credential transactions. Mobile service brigades jumped 226%.
Ecuador's Armed Forces have inspected 663 of the country's 1,130 licensed private security firms so far, part of an escalating weapons-control campaign triggered by evidence that private security arsenals have been feeding organized crime. A January 2026 raid on a Los Lagartos-linked firm recovered 200+ weapons with altered serial numbers.
President Noboa signed Decreto 353 on April 2, declaring a 60-day state of exception across nine provinces and four cantons. Warrantless searches are now legal in affected areas, though no curfew has been imposed. Expats in Pichincha, Guayas, Manabi, and other covered provinces should understand what rights have been suspended.
A joint Europol-Ecuador operation dismantled a Los Lobos-linked trafficking network, seizing 3.7 tonnes of cocaine in the Netherlands, 3+ tonnes in Belgium, and over half a tonne in Ecuador. 16 arrested including a high-value target. $810,000 in cash confiscated.
The two-week nightly curfew across four coastal provinces ends March 30, concluding the largest single anti-narcotics mobilization in South American history. 75,000 soldiers and police were deployed with U.S. Reaper drone support and FBI intelligence.
The FBI opened a permanent office at the U.S. Embassy in Quito on March 12, assigning a full-time agent to coordinate joint investigations targeting drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering. Ecuador simultaneously created a new National Police unit to work alongside the bureau.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has established its first permanent office in Ecuador, operating out of the U.S. Embassy in Quito. The office will focus on counter-narcotics intelligence, transnational crime, and cybercrime affecting both nations.
The United States and Ecuador formally signed their Agreement on Reciprocal Trade on March 13, 2026, cutting tariffs on 53% of non-oil exports worth $2.8 billion. Key sectors including bananas, shrimp, cocoa, coffee, and flowers get preferential access, while Ecuador eliminates its price band system on U.S. agricultural imports.
Relations between Ecuador and Colombia have deteriorated sharply in March 2026. Ecuador raised tariffs to 50% on Colombian goods on March 1, Colombia retaliated with tariffs on 280 products, and President Petro has accused Ecuador of bombing Colombian territory. $2.8 billion in annual bilateral trade hangs in the balance.
Despite a 2023 referendum and an Inter-American Court of Human Rights order to stop drilling, Ecuador continues pumping 44,000 barrels per day from Block 43 in Yasuní National Park. HRW documented 29 oil spills and contaminated water affecting uncontacted indigenous groups.
A motorcycle factory blaze on February 9, the Multicomercio building inferno on February 11 that burned for 50 hours and collapsed two towers, and a third alarm-3 fire on February 15 — all in Guayaquil within six days. The Interior Minister says the fires aren't coincidental. Here's the full timeline.
