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Ecuador’s National Institute of Statistics and Census reported Tuesday that labor informality continues to grow in the country. INEC claims that 54.4% of Ecuadorians work in the informal sector, which means they do not contribute to the Social Security system or pay income taxes. The figure is a 2.3% rise from the same period of...

President-elect Daniel Noboa and President Guillermo Lasso met Tuesday in what both say is the beginning the transition between the two governments. The two men held a private two-hour meeting that included current and future cabinet members. “This was very constructive,” Noboa said after the meeting. “I need all the information I can get to...

By Liam Higgins Because of his unexpected rise to the presidency, relatively little is known about Daniel Noboa other than the fact he is the son of banana magnate and billionaire Álvaro Noboa. Even his politics are something of a mystery; much of the media call him center-right although he says he’s a centrist with...

A 260-seat passenger jet is on the way to Tel Aviv to bring home Ecuadorians stranded in Israel by the war against Hamas. According to President Guillermo Lasso, 140 Ecuadorians have been able to leave the country on other flights but at least 200 remain. Most scheduled air service to Tel Aviv has been suspended...

By Juliana Manjarrés Money laundering is the second-most prevalent criminal economy in Ecuador, according to a new study. Yet efforts to counter the crime are hindered by the country’s use of the US dollar, a booming drug market, and underlying structural issues. In new research, the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime (Observatorio Ecuatoriano de Crimen...

By Moira Ritter Deep within the unexplored depths of Ecuador’s Andes mountains, a tiny creature made her home in the leaf litter covering the floor of a volcano slope. Then she was nabbed by researchers. The small, “cryptic” rainfrog looked like other species, but scientists noticed some peculiar traits and realized they had discovered a...

In a presidential debate described by one analyst as “boring, flat and linear,” Luisa González and Daniel Noboa stuck to their campaign talking points Sunday night, offering no surprises. The debate was held two weeks ahead of the October 15 election. “Both candidates were faithful to their scripts in terms of addressing their respective constituencies,”...