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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.
Ecuador's state electricity company CELEC has filed a lawsuit in US federal court alleging that Progen, a private contractor, delivered refurbished and non-functional emergency generators under $149 million in contracts while draining the project's bank account to zero. The fraud is directly linked to the 2024 blackout crisis.
Ecuador's online-only visa system, mandatory since December 15, 2025, has pushed processing times to 4-5 months across most visa categories. Pensioner and Rentista visas now require $1,458/month in income, Digital Nomad $1,446/month, and Investment visas $48,200 in capital. Paper applications are no longer accepted.
Ecuador's National Assembly passed a new mining and energy law 77-70 on February 26, replacing environmental licenses with simplified authorizations and allowing rock extraction in the Galapagos Islands. CONAIE and environmental groups are protesting the changes as a rollback of decades of conservation policy.
President Noboa signed a decree suspending work on April 30, creating a 4-day weekend alongside May 1 (Labor Day). Banks, government offices, and many businesses will close April 30 through May 3. Expect heavy domestic travel, booked hotels, and coastal congestion.
President Noboa signed Decree 353 on April 2, declaring a 60-day state of emergency across 9 provinces and 4 additional cantons. Unlike the previous emergency that ended March 30, this renewal does not include a curfew -- but it does authorize police raids and suspends home inviolability in affected areas.
Ecuador became the first Latin American country to sign a security cooperation agreement with Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency. Published in the Official Register on March 30, the deal enables joint operations against transnational organized crime and has already produced results -- including the dismantling of a cocaine network tied to Los Lobos and Albanian criminal organizations.
Police K-9 units intercepted nearly 22,000 dried shark fins weighing 1,905 kilograms at Guayaquil's Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport on April 2. The shipment -- 75 bundles disguised as fish bladders -- was bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is one of Ecuador's largest shark fin seizures in recent years.
A New York Times investigation found that a joint U.S.-Ecuador military strike in early March, promoted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as destroying a drug trafficking camp, actually destroyed a cattle and dairy farm in San Martin. Workers reported beatings, choking, and electrical shocks by soldiers.
Ecuador's government announced intentional homicides dropped 28% in March 2026 year-over-year, following a two-week nightly curfew in four provinces. The curfew provinces -- Guayas, Los Rios, El Oro, and Santo Domingo -- are not major expat areas, but the security trend is nationally significant.
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.
January 2026 crude production hit 466,400 bbl/d, down 1.8% year-over-year and 13% below a decade ago. Illegal pipeline taps surged from 36 in 2022 to 770 in 2024, costing $100 million annually. Ecuador needs 550,000 bbl/d just to cover basic fiscal needs.
