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☆ Ecuador legislature begins new session, Noboa joins leftists for majority
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Members of Ecuador's National Assembly take part in a session, the first since President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the assembly, to elect a new head of the legislature, in Quito, Ecuador November 17, 2023. The legislature was dissolved in May by outgoing President Guillermo Lasso to avoid his own likely impeachment, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections scheduled for 2025. Analysts say the coalition could help Noboa ensure he is able to govern - unlike his predecessor Lasso - during his truncated term. Noboa, who won a runoff election in October to beat Correa's protégé Luisa Gonzalez, will be sworn in next week. Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Guillermo Lasso, Karen Toro, Daniel Noboa, Rafael Correa, Henry Kronfle, Noboa, ADN, Alfredo Espinosa, Fernando Villavicencio, Correa, Correa's protégé Luisa Gonzalez, Alexandra Valencia, Oliver Griffin, Richard Chang Organizations: Ecuador's National, REUTERS, Rights, National, Social Christian Party, PSC, Noboa's National Democratic, Thomson Locations: Quito, Ecuador, Rights QUITO

☆ Explainer: Ecuador's Lasso dissolved the legislature. What comes next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Police stand outside the National Assembly after it was dissolved in a decree by Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections, a day after he... Read moreQUITO, May 17 (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree on Wednesday, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections, a day after he defended himself in an impeachment hearing. WHAT IS PRESIDENT LASSO ACCUSED OF? Lasso, a former banker who took power in 2021, has denied the charges and says they are politically motivated. Ecuador's National Assembly began an impeachment hearing against Lasso on Tuesday, following a vote on May 9 to move forward in the process against him, which was passed with 88 votes from the 116 legislators present. Lasso invoked the "two-way death" on Wednesday, citing Ecuador's grave political crisis.

☆ Ecuador assembly begins impeachment hearing against President Lasso
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

QUITO, May 16 (Reuters) - Ecuador's National Assembly on Tuesday began an impeachment hearing against President Guillermo Lasso, who could be removed from his post, though the process increases the likelihood he will dissolve the legislature to avoid a final vote. The opposition, including members of the party of ex-President Rafael Correa - himself accused of corruption - has been invigorated following the re-election of Virgilio Saquicela as president of the National Assembly on Sunday. "The Ecuadorean people want Guillermo Lasso (...) to go home," said opposition lawmaker Viviana Veloz while presenting a motion to vote on the censure and dismissal of the president. CONAIE, Ecuador's largest indigenous organization, backed the measure to remove Lasso in a statement, saying that "with Guillermo Lasso Ecuador doesn't have a future, only fear and uncertainty." The assembly voted to continue with the impeachment process last Tuesday with 88 votes in favor out of 116 legislators present.

☆ Ecuador lawmakers re-elect National Assembly president
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

QUITO, May 14 (Reuters) - Independent lawmaker Virgilio Saquicela was re-elected president of Ecuador's National Assembly on Sunday, supported by politicians who want an impeachment process against President Guillermo Lasso to advance to a vote for his possible removal. Saquicela, who took over as president of the National Assembly in May last year, has become a principal figure in the process against Lasso, who is accused of embezzlement in an oil transportation contract. The assembly voted to continue with the impeachment process on Tuesday in a session convened by Saquicela with 88 votes in favor out of 116 legislators present. A majority of 96 lawmakers of the 136 present voted to re-elect Saquicela. He was supported by allies of former President Rafael Correa, who is convicted of corruption, as well as other opposition and independent parties.

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Ecuador sealed the world's largest "debt-for-nature" swap on record on Tuesday, selling a new "blue bond" that will funnel at least $12 million a year into conservation of the Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most precious ecosystems. Tuesday's $656 million "Galapagos Bond," as it has been dubbed, will run until 2041 and gave investors that bought it a 5.645% "coupon" or interest rate, its bankers said. Ecuador sovereign bonds currently yield from 17% to 26%, but the new bond has an $85 million 'credit guarantee' from the Inter-American Development Bank and $656 million of political risk insurance from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC), effectively making it less risky. The driver has been the remote Galapagos Islands, some 600 miles (970 km) off Ecuador's mainland coast, that inspired Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Scott Nathan, the chief executive of DFC, said people needed to "stay tuned" for similar deals in other countries and the Galapagos deal had been a long time coming.

☆ Ecuador committee fails to pass report saying no cause for Lasso impeachment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The report, which says there is no cause for Lasso's trial or removal, was shot down by five of the committee's nine members. Despite the outcome of the committee vote, the report will now pass to the plenary of the 137-member assembly, which will decide whether to possibly remove Lasso. Other opposition parties are divided on whether to back Lasso's removal, while his allies have said they have enough votes to block the motion. Lasso's lawyer has said the opposition failed to establish what alleged loss of funds took place in relation to the contract. Under Ecuador's constitution, Lasso could call early presidential and legislative elections rather than face a removal vote.

☆ Ecuador committee report does not recommend Lasso removal, lawmaker says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

QUITO, May 5 (Reuters) - The oversight committee of Ecuador's National Assembly will debate a draft report that concludes President Guillermo Lasso did not participate in embezzlement and recommends against his impeachment, a lawmaker said on Friday. Oversight committee president Fernando Villavicencio said the draft report is based on an analysis of all the evidence presented in hearings by the committee. "We have prepared and concluded the report which recommends that there is not cause to try or remove President Guillermo Lasso," Villavicencio told TV station Teleamazonas. Regardless of the committee's decision, the report will then pass to the plenary of the 137-member assembly, which will decide whether to hold hearings and possibly remove Lasso. Under Ecuador's constitution, Lasso could call early presidential and legislative elections rather than face a removal vote.

☆ Ecuador lawmakers declassify documents in bid to impeach Lasso
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Legislators of Ecuador's National Assembly attend a session to debate a report recommending the opening of impeachment hearings against President Guillermo Lasso, in Quito, Ecuador March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Karen ToroQUITO, March 14 (Reuters) - Ecuador's national assembly on Tuesday voted to declassify documents tied to investigations into allegations of corruption at public companies, in a bid to shore up impeachment charges against President Guillermo Lasso. Lasso has denied corruption accusations and said his government will cooperate fully with the investigations by the attorney general's office. Any impeachment process against Lasso - who survived an ouster attempt last year during anti-government protests - would also require approval by the constitutional court. The CONAIE Indigenous organization, which led protests last year, has called for Lasso's resignation but so far not backed national protests.

☆ A couple's retirement plan was derailed in 2008, so they moved abroad for a lower cost of living. They explain how they live comfortably on Social Security and spend just $2,000 a month.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Edd and Cynthia Staton's retirement plan was derailed when the Great Recession wiped them out. They took what savings they had and moved to Ecuador, where the cost of living was lower. They've been living comfortably abroad for over a decade on a budget of $2,000 a month. Edd and Cynthia Staton met as teenagers when Cynthia's family moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia in 1967. Living stress-free on $2,000 a month in Ecuador for 10 yearsTheir immediate hurdle was finding a place to live.

☆ Demonstrators in Ecuador protest woman's killing, demand payment to pension system
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ecuadorians gathered outside police headquarters in Quito to protest the death of lawyer Maria Belen Bernal. Her husband, German Caceres, who the attorney general's office says is the main suspect in the killing, is on the run. Demonstrations against the killing followed earlier protests led by union leaders, who argued that the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute's (IESS) financial situation has muddled health services for users and put the retirement pension system at risk. "Social security isn't bankrupt, it's poorly managed," Mesias Tatamuez, one of the union leaders, told reporters. Ecuador's government reached an agreement last week to disburse $300 million through December to apply to what is owed.

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