Ecuador declares national emergency as wildfires, drought intensify
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Ecuador’s government declared a 60-day national emergency due to raging forest fires made worse by a severe drought, risk management officials said on Monday. A cloud of smoke and ash is seen covering Quito, as the city has five active fires in its surroundings, Ecuador, on 4th September, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Karen Toro/File […]
Snapshot: Ecuador’s Cotopaxi volcano
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Wildfire rages in Ecuador’s drought-stricken capital
Quito, Ecuador Reuters A raging wildfire filled Ecuador’s capital of Quito with smoke and threatened homes on Tuesday as authorities rushed to control the blaze at a time when a historic drought has stretched resources and patience. President Daniel Noboa said the armed forces had been deployed to fight the fire, which started around midday […]
Ecuador court sentences five people for up to 34 years in candidate murder
Quito, Ecuador Reuters A court in Ecuador on Friday handed down prison sentences of 12 years and 34 years for five people found guilty of murdering presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Journalist and former legislator Villavicencio was shot while leaving a rally in August, 2023, becoming the most prominent victim of Ecuador’s spiralling violence. Hugo Espin, […]
Mexico welcomes home Ecuador embassy staff after armed raid
Mexico City, Mexico Reuters Mexico welcomed the return of its Ecuador embassy personnel on Sunday, two days after police raided the facility in an act that triggered an abrupt diplomatic break while provoking global shock and condemnation of the South American nation. Ecuadorean police and soldiers forced their way into Mexico’s embassy in Quito late […]
Mexico suspends relations with Ecuador after arrest of ex-VP
Quito, Ecuador/Mexico City, Mexico Reuters Ecuadorean authorities arrested former Vice President Jorge Glas on Friday evening, seizing him from the Mexican embassy and prompting Mexico to suspend bilateral relations. Glas, convicted twice for corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, a request Mexico granted earlier on […]
Eleven prison guards held hostage by inmates in Ecuador freed
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Eleven prison staff members who had been held by inmates at the Esmeraldas prison in Ecuador were freed on Saturday, police said. They were among 158 guards and 20 administrative staffers taken hostage since Monday in at least seven prisons amid a sharp increase in violence in the South American country. Eight […]
Assassinated Ecuador candidate Villavicencio mourned by family, public
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Assassinated Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was honoured on Friday at a funeral mass and public memorial in Quito, as a legislative candidate reported an armed attack during which she was lightly injured. Villavicencio, a former lawmaker and crusading anti-corruption journalist, was gunned down as he left a campaign event on Wednesday […]
Suspects in Ecuador assassination are Colombian, police say
Quito, Ecuador Reuters One dead suspect and six others arrested in the assassination of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio are Colombians, Ecuadorean police said on Thursday, and the government said it was pursuing the “intellectual authors” of the murder. The fatal shooting on Wednesday night, less than two weeks before the election, has sent shockwaves […]
Ecuador presidential candidate assassinated, suspect dead – authorities
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organised crime, was killed on Wednesday evening during a campaign event in northern Quito, authorities said. Local media reported Villavicencio had been shot, but Ecuador’s police and Interior Ministry did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the details of […]