Since I moved to Ecuador a dozen years ago, I’ve made a point of visiting my friends in Vilcabamba at least once a year. I was enchanted with this peaceful, isolated valley the first time I saw it in 1998 and even considered settling there until business considerations – I need to be c... [More]

The Ecuadorian government needs to decide how it will treat the debts, which accounted for two-thirds of the $10 billion the country owed last December ahead of its second default in a decade, Correa said yesterday in Quito. As with the defaulted bonds, criminal acts were committed by previous gov... [More]

Concerns about data storage and privacy were among the issues that held up the transfer of name-matching duties from the airlines to the government, which was mandated by Congress in 2004. While many of those objections have been addressed by narrowing the scope of the information collected,... [More]

World Trade Organization members agreed on Thursday to allow Ecuador to impose temporary import restrictions because of balance of payments problems. The move was hailed by rich and developing countries as proof that the rules-based trading system umpired by the WTO was working well despite ... [More]

How do Cuenca and Quito compare? It's a question in the minds of many foreigners considering relocating to Ecuador.  The short –and probably the best-- response is, ‘come down and see for yourself.’ There are, however, similarities and differences that the prospective ex... [More]

Plaques and portraits of Ecuador's 105 presidents line the yellow walls of the antechamber to the restrooms in El Pobre Diablo (The Poor Devil), a bohemian hangout in Quito, the capital. Spoofing the presidential palace's silk screen Yellow Salon, each is marked with the number of days the... [More]

In a country as geographically diverse as Ecuador, it is not surprising that its capital, Quito, finds itself spurned by most international retirees and second home buyers. They would rather be at the country's many beaches or majestic mountains. Foreigners who move to the city are usually the... [More]

Ecuadoreans will head to the polls on Sunday without a drink in their system, at least if they are abiding by the country’s temporary dry law, which went into effect at noon Friday and is to last until Monday. The 72-hour ban on alcohol is intended to ensure that citizens cast their bal... [More]

One local candidate is comparing his crime-fighting abilities to Batman's. A would-be president has promised to raise the minimum wage to $77, because seven is a good number. And the government's "revolutionary" version of the Beatle's song "Hey Jude" has incurred t... [More]

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's political movement is expected to win control of the country's new legislature, new polls show. A nationwide Cedatos-Gallup International poll of 2,824 people showed 54% of Ecuadorians voting for Correa's Alianza Pais party in the April 26 ele... [More]

Although real estate sales have fallen in some areas of Ecuador, the market remains strong in Cuenca according to local officials. Eduardo Garces, vice president of the Association of Real Estate Brokers of Azuay, says that the local housing sector is experiencing a surge in property sales. ... [More]

The world economy is in a free fall, and the prospects for tiny, oil-producing Ecuador are bleak. But at Grupo Superior, workers in hairnets and white smocks churn out growing orders of pasta and animal crackers, and the company plans to expand from three factories to four. The rosy future f... [More]

“Is Ecuador recession-proof?” It is a question that Quito attorney and business advisor Rick VandDercreek hears frequently these days and he notices that most of those asking are North American and European investors. “I’m not sure where people are getting the i... [More]

U.S.-based developers have announced plans for what they are calling “a first of its kind residential community in Cuenca.” Daryl Lassiter, project spokeman for Cuenca Casas, said that the community will be designed to appeal to both foreigners and local residents. &ldq... [More]

Ecuador’s Economic Policy Minister, Diego Borja, defended the country’s use of the U.S. dollar and said President Rafael Correa wasn’t planning to abandon the system. “The president has been clear, we are going to defend dollarization,” Borja said today in an in... [More]