Ecuador

QUITO, Sept 8 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — An Ecuadorian court upheld an eight-year prison sentence against former President Rafael Correa for breaking campaign finance laws, blocking him from participating as a vice-presidential candidate in the 2021 election.

Correa, who was in power for a decade until 2017 and currently lives in Belgium, announced last month his candidacy for the vice presidency as part of a coalition to challenge President Lenin Moreno – a Correa protégé who later fell out with him.

QUITO, May 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The first case of the novel coronavirus has been detected in one of Ecuador’s indigenous Amazon tribes, the health ministry said.

Waorani organisations – speaking through the GO Alliance for Human Rights in Ecuador (DDHH) – warned COVID-19’s spread could be “catastrophic and highly lethal” for their community, which is vulnerable to diseases.

The first case reported in the Waorani tribe is a “pregnant woman, 17 years old, who began to show symptoms on May 4”, the ministry said in a statement.

QUITO, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno on Monday said he named Rommel Salazar to serve as the new director of the National Risk and Emergency Management Service, after its former head resigned earlier in the day due to allegations of corruption.

Alexandra Ocles is under investigation for his involvement in a possible kickback scheme that saw the agency buy food kits at inflated prices for distribution to households affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.

Prosecutors launched the investigation last week.

QUITO (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has approved a request from Ecuador for emergency financing to fight the coronavirus pandemic, granting a $643 million loan, the Andean country’s economy ministry said on Friday.

Ecuador has been among the hardest-hit countries in Latin America by the coronavirus, with 24,675 confirmed cases and 883 deaths, plus a further 1,357 deaths that were likely caused by the virus.

QUITO, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno on Friday asked employers and employees to come to agreements to avoid layoffs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has strongly impacted the economy.

"These are difficult times for Ecuador and the world. That is why it is important, especially now, that the employer and worker work together, that they reach agreements, forming a single team to get ahead," Moreno said while speaking on national television to mark the occasion of International Workers' Day.

13 April 2020; AFP: Ecuador said police have removed almost 800 bodies in recent weeks from homes in Guayaquil, the epicenter of the country's coronavirus outbreak, after the disease overwhelmed emergency services, hospitals and funeral parlours.

Mortuary workers in the Pacific port city have been unable to cope with a backlog, with residents posting videos on social media showing abandoned bodies in the streets.

GUAYAQUIL, April 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador said police have removed almost 800 bodies in recent weeks from homes in Guayaquil, the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, after the disease overwhelmed emergency services, hospitals and funeral parlours.

Mortuary workers in the Pacific port city have been unable to cope with a backlog, with residents posting videos on social media showing abandoned bodies in the streets.

QUITO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A National Court of Justice tribunal in Ecuador on Tuesday sentenced ex-President Rafael Correa to eight years in prison for bribery.

Another 17 people, mostly former aides, received the same sentence for accepting bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in exchange for juicy government contracts, the national Prosecutor General's Office said on Twitter.

QUITO, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 10 days of anti-government protests sparked by fuel hikes left six people dead and 1,507 people injured in Ecuador, the government said on Tuesday.

A total of 1,330 people were arrested for protest-related crimes, such as vandalism, Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said at a joint press conference with General Commander of the National Police Nelson Villegas.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Thousands of indigenous demonstrators, student volunteers and local residents launched a mass cleanup Monday of a Quito park where anti-austerity protesters fought police for days, leaving piles of burning tires, trees and construction material.

President Lenín Moreno signed a new decree returning gas prices to traditionally low, subsidized levels a day after striking a deal to cancel a disputed austerity package and end nearly two weeks of protests that paralyzed the Ecuadorian economy and left seven dead.