Ecuador – News Stories About Ecuador - Page 1

Son of Banana Tycoon Wins Ecuador's Presidential Runoff

Banana Empire Heir Wins
Ecuador's Presidential Runoff

Oct 16, 2023 12:00 AM CDT

Banana Empire Heir Wins Ecuador's Presidential Runoff

Daniel Noboa's shortened term runs through May 2025

(Newser) - Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, won Ecuador's presidential runoff election Sunday held amid unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a candidate. With about 96% of the votes counted, electoral officials said Noboa had 52.2% of...

Seventh Suspect in Slaying of
Presidential Candidate Is Killed

Oct 8, 2023 1:15 PM CDT

Seventh Suspect in Slaying of Presidential Candidate Is Killed

All were slain in Ecuadorian prisons

(Newser) - A seventh man accused in the August assassination of an Ecuadorian presidential candidate was killed inside a prison in Ecuador's capital, authorities said Saturday, a day after six others accused of being linked to the crime were slain in a different lockup. The killing of the seven suspects happened...

Ecuadorians Deliver a Hard No on Oil Drilling in Amazon

Ecuadorians on Oil Drilling
Near Uncontacted Tribes: Nope

Aug 21, 2023 9:35 AM CDT

Ecuadorians on Oil Drilling Near Uncontacted Tribes: Nope

As presidential election heads to a runoff

(Newser) - In a historic decision, Ecuadorians voted on Sunday against the oil drilling of a protected area in the Amazon that's home to two uncontacted tribes and serves as a biodiversity hotspot. With over 90% of the ballots counted by early Monday, around six in 10 Ecuadorians rejected the oil...

6 Arrested in Ecuadorean Assassination Are Foreigners

Ecuador Busts
6 Foreigners in
Assassination;
7th Is Killed

Aug 11, 2023 6:46 AM CDT

Ecuador Busts 6 Foreigners in Assassination; 7th Is Killed

6 Colombian nationals arrested in murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio

(Newser) - Six people have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio , the Ecuadorian presidential candidate gunned down Wednesday, and they're all Colombia nationals. Citing a police report, the AP reports the men were found hiding in a home in Quito, Ecuador's capital, and that cops also...

Ecuador Presidential Candidate Assassinated

Presidential Candidate
Assassinated in Ecuador

Aug 10, 2023 12:00 AM CDT

Presidential Candidate Assassinated in Ecuador

Fernando Villavicencio shot dead at campaign event

(Newser) - A campaign event in Ecuador took a horrific turn Wednesday when gunfire rang out and opposition candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated. The former lawmaker was killed at a political rally for the Movimiento Construye (or Build Movement ) political party at a school north of the capital Quito ahead of...

Woman Who Revived
in Coffin Is Now Dead

Jun 18, 2023 9:30 AM CDT

Woman Who Revived in Coffin Is Now Dead

Ecuador's Bella Montoya made international headlines

(Newser) - A 76-year-old woman who had been declared dead and surprised her relatives by knocking on her coffin during her wake earlier this month has died after seven days in intensive care, her family said Saturday. Gilberto Barbera Montoya, the woman's son, told the AP that doctors at the state...

'Dead' Woman Discovered Gasping for Air in Her Coffin

Woman Declared Dead, Then
Found Gasping for Air in Coffin

Jun 13, 2023 3:00 AM CDT

Woman Declared Dead, Then Found Gasping for Air in Coffin

Woman's son says her condition remains dire

(Newser) - An Ecuadorean woman was declared dead last week after suffering a stroke, only to be discovered hours later gasping for air in her coffin. Bella Montoya, 76, is now hospitalized in intensive care and the country's health ministry has opened an investigation into the matter, the BBC reports. Her...

Ecuador Leader
Takes Drastic Step
to Stay in Power

May 17, 2023 4:09 PM CDT

Ecuador Leader Takes Drastic Step to Stay in Power

Guillermo Lasso deploys 'mutual death' mechanism

(Newser) - Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso took a drastic step to stay in power Wednesday—he dissolved the country's legislature before it could vote to impeach him. Under a constitutional measure known as the muerte crazada, or "mutual death," Lasso disbanded the opposition-controlled National Assembly effective immediately, the Washington ...

Earthquake Kills at Least 15,
Traps Survivors

updated

Mar 18, 2023 4:00 PM CDT

Earthquake Kills at Least 15, Traps Survivors

Downed power lines in Ecuador complicate rescue crews' searches

(Newser) - This story has been updated with the most recent death toll. A strong earthquake shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 445, trapping others under rubble, and sending rescue teams out into streets littered with debris and fallen power lines....

Town Elects Candidate
Who Was Shot to Death

Feb 7, 2023 4:45 PM CST

Town Elects Candidate Who Was Shot to Death

Mayoral winner was killed hours before the polls opened in Ecuador

(Newser) - A candidate shot to death the day before elections in Ecuador was elected mayor of the city of Puerto López. Omar Menendez, 41, was killed Saturday by gunmen while he was working in an office with campaign staffers, the BBC reports; a teenager also died of gunshot wounds. Menendez'...

Gang Members Storm Hospital
in Ecuador Looking for Rival

Nov 28, 2022 7:21 AM CST

Gang Members Storm Hospital in Ecuador Looking for Rival

Seven men are arrested in brazen attack

(Newser) - The BBC reports that gang violence in Ecuador has been on the upswing in last few years, and a hospital in Chone got an unwanted demonstration of that. Seven members of a gang stormed the facility looking for a member of a rival gang named "Dirty Face." The...

In Ecuador,
a 'Declaration
of Open War'

Nov 2, 2022 1:49 PM CDT

In Ecuador, a 'Declaration of Open War'

Murders of 5 police officers on Tuesday attributed to criminal gangs

(Newser) - Five police officers were killed in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil on Tuesday, including two shot dead in their patrol car, in what some say is evidence of "criminal rule," per the Guardian . Officials described nine attacks in the city in apparent response to the transfer of hundreds...

Ecuador Announces
Vaccine Mandate

Dec 23, 2021 5:25 PM CST

Ecuador Announces Vaccine Mandate

Only exceptions will be for those with conditions that could be worsened by the dose

(Newser) - Ecuador said Thursday that vaccination against the coronavirus will be mandatory for most citizens. Only those with a medical condition that could be complicated by vaccination will be exempt from the new rule, the government said in a statement. Those people must have documentation to prove it, according to the...

Prison Gang Battle Leaves
68 Dead in Ecuador

Nov 14, 2021 8:31 AM CST

Prison Gang Battle Leaves 68 Dead in Ecuador

At least 25 wounded in the coastal city of Guayaquil

(Newser) - A gun battle between rival gangs inside Ecuador’s largest prison killed at least 68 inmates and wounded 25 on Saturday, while authorities said it took most of the day to regain control at the Litoral Penitentiary, per the AP . The killing erupted before dawn at the prison in the...

After Riot, Pope
Addresses
Prison Life

Oct 3, 2021 10:10 AM CDT

After Riot, Pope Addresses Prison Life

'May God help to heal the wounds of crime that enslave the poorest,' Francis tells crowd

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Sunday called for "more humane" prison life in the wake of bloodshed in a prison in Ecuador in which 118 people died and dozens more were injured. Francis told the public in St. Peter’s Square that he was "very pained" by what happened last...

Prison Riot Leaves 116 Dead,
5 of Them Beheaded

Sep 30, 2021 7:05 AM CDT

Prison Riot Leaves 116 Dead, 5 of Them Beheaded

It was Ecuador's worst ever

(Newser) - At least 116 people were killed after the deadliest prison riot Ecuador has ever seen erupted Tuesday. Five of the dead were beheaded, and another 80 were hurt in the melee between rival gangs linked to international drug cartels at the Litoral Penitentiary in the coastal city of Guayaquil, the...

Ecuador Revokes
Julian Assange's Citizenship

Jul 28, 2021 12:11 AM CDT

Ecuador Revokes Julian Assange's Citizenship

Wikileaks founder's lawyer pledges to appeal

(Newser) - Ecuador has revoked the citizenship of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks who is currently in a British prison. Ecuador’s justice system formally notified the Australian of the nullity of his naturalization in a letter that came in response to a claim filed by the South American country’s...

Shrunken Head
Used as Movie Prop
Was the Real Thing

May 11, 2021 2:27 PM CDT

Shrunken Head Used as Movie Prop Was the Real Thing

It was borrowed from university for John Huston's dark 1979 comedy 'Wise Blood'

(Newser) - A shrunken head used as a prop in a 1970s movie was made of real human skin, researchers have discovered. The head, known as a "tsantsa," was attached to a fake shrunken body in John Huston's dark 1979 comedy Wise Blood, People reports. Tsantas, talismans made of...

'Guerrillas' Try to Sway
Election, Bird Blows It for Them

Feb 9, 2021 8:11 AM CST

'Guerrillas' Try to Sway Election, Bird Blows It for Them

Attempt to influence Ecuador polls with fake 'guerrilla' vid fails after bird guide hears bird call

(Newser) - Nothing gets past an eagle-eyed, carefully listening ornithologist—not even a propaganda video meant to sway an election. Manuel Sanchez, a bird-watching guide based in Ecuador, was watching just such a video shared on social media, supposedly showing three armed left-wing men from Colombia's ELN guerrilla force deep in...

Kids' Zoom Class Went From
Normal to Criminal in Real Time

Kids' Zoom Class Went From Normal to Criminal in Real Time

One of their classmates got robbed during online class in Ambato, Ecuador

(Newser) - A class of Ecuadorian students had their Zoom class go from perfectly normal to terrifying in an instant: Per the Daily Dot , a teacher was instructing a class of two dozen students online when, to the horror of the kids watching, one of their classmates got caught in the middle...