The Andes

Colombia pays Ecuador for fumigation damages

Colombia paid Ecuador $15 million after anti-narcotics fumigation planes dropped herbicides along the border, harming crops and communities in Ecuadoran territory.

The Amazon

Ecuador: indigenous leaders get prison terms

A court in Ecuador’s Amazon city of Macas convicted indigenous leaders Pedro Mashiant and Pepe Acacho on charges of “terrorism” and “sabotage”  for their roles in a 2009 protest.

The Amazon

Ecuador opens Yasuni reserve to oil interests

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa announced that he is abandoning plans for an ambitious internationally funded conservation program at Yasuni National Park in the Amazon.

The Andes

Edward Snowden and Ecuador press freedom

Edward Snowden seeks refuge in Ecuador, just as the Andean country has passed a media law protested by the Committee to Protect Journalists as imposing arbitrary censorship. 

The Amazon

Ecuador violates prior consultation: Amnesty

Amnesty International charges that Ecuador is not respecting the right of indigenous peoples to prior consultation on development decisions impacting their territories.

The Andes

Sinaloa Cartel kingpin nabbed in Colombia

Colombia announced the arrest of Cesar Demar Vernaza AKA “El Empresario”—accused crime boss of Ecuador and top South American operative of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. 

The Andes

Ecuador: protests mount over mining, oil

Protesters crashed the opening of the Expominas trade fair at the Quito Exhibition Center, where Ecuador's government sought to win new investors for the mineral and oil sectors.