Ecuador, just a few years ago, was an oasis of relative prosperity and peace in the region. More recently, however, it’s become overly dependent on oil and, therefore, prey to the dramatic economic swings that often occur in energy commodities. Violence has skyrocketed as the...
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The heir to a banana empire won Ecuador’s presidential election this week, following a poll that was plagued by political assassinations and drug-fueled gang violence, the Washington Post reported. Daniel Noboa defeated his rival, Luisa González, a former leftist lawmaker loyal to former President Rafael Correa,...
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Ecuador’s presidential elections will head to a runoff in October after Sunday’s first round yielded no clear winner, a vote overshadowed by the rising violence in the country and the assassination of a main contender, the Financial Times reported Monday. Preliminary results showed leftist candidate Luisa...
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Just a few years ago, Ecuador, sandwiched between narco-states Peru and Colombia, then grappling with their own civil conflicts, was an oasis of relative prosperity and peace in the region. Now, as voters go to the polls on Aug. 20 to choose a successor to conservative...
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Unknown gunmen shot and killed a local Ecuadorian party leader this week, the third politician to be assassinated in less than a month as the country heads into elections Sunday, the BBC reported Tuesday. On Monday, the assailants shot dead Pedro Briones at his home in...
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Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency Thursday, a day after the South American country was rocked by the assassination of a presidential candidate – who was vocal about ties between the state and organized crime – less than two weeks before a...
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A gunman shot and killed the mayor of Ecuador’s third-largest city this week, the latest attack to rock the country’s political establishment and only a month before general elections, the Associated Press reported. The Mayor of Manta, Agustín Intriago, and another individual were killed Sunday when...
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Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso, facing a looming impeachment vote, dissolved parliament this week, a move observers warned could worsen the crisis in the Latin American country that is currently dealing with a deteriorating security situation, CNN reported. The conservative leader invoked a constitutional procedure known as...
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Ecuadoran lawmakers voted this week to begin an impeachment trial against conservative President Guillermo Lasso, a move many analysts said could set off a political crisis in the Latin American nation, the Washington Post reported. The vote marks the first time an Ecuadoran president has been...
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Ecuadorian authorities began investigating a series of letter bombs addressed to TV and radio stations this week, an act officials and press advocates have described as “an absolutely clear message to silence journalists,” CBS News reported. Interior Minister Juan Zapata said the letter bombs were sent...
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A mayoral candidate in Ecuador, who was gunned down hours before polls opened, won the elections in the western city of Puerto López this week, even as the murder underscores the rising tide of crime in the South American nation, the BBC reported Tuesday. On Saturday,...
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Under the conservative government of President Guillermo Lasso, Ecuador’s economy grew 3.2 percent last year, inflation today is relatively low compared with the region, employers have hired 500,000 people and 750,000 fewer Ecuadorians now live in poverty. In an interview with the Washington Post, Lasso said...
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Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso, managed to drag his country out of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, however, he might be too embattled on two fronts to solve the other major problems facing his South American country. On the one hand, he is trying to put a lid...
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Ecuadorian authorities arrested a suspect connected to a deadly weekend blast in the port city of Guayaquil, an explosion that marked an escalation of gang violence in the South American country, Agence France-Presse reported this week. On Sunday, five people died and 17 others were injured...
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Ecuador lifted a state of emergency in six provinces over the weekend amid an Indigenous-led nationwide strike that has blocked the country’s capital from receiving food and other supplies, the Associated Press reported. President Guillermo Lasso ended the state of emergency following a Saturday meeting between...
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