Explicadores

Explainer- Sinohydro bribery -Dec 10 2025

Here’s an Explainer on the Sinohydro bribery case in Ecuador — neutral, friendly, and up to date as of 10 December 2025. This is an ongoing case: no one has been convicted in this specific process yet, and all accused are presumed innocent. 1. What is Sinohydro and what is Coca Codo Sinclair? Sinohydro is a large Chinese state-owned construction company, active around the world in hydroelectric dams and other big in…

Daniel Noboa Current President

Here’s a fuller, friendlier explainer that leans more into who Noboa is, what correísmo means, and where he sits on hot-button issues like drugs and abortion.

Explainer - Rafael Correa

Rafael Correa is one of those figures you have to understand if you want to make sense of Ecuadorian politics today – even though he’s been living in Belgium for years. Below is a factual, big-picture explainer: who he is, what he did in power, his legal problems, and why he still matters. 1. Quick snapshot Full name: Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado Born: April 6, 1963, in Guayaquil Profession: Economist (studied in E…

Explainer- The Portoviejo–Manta–Bahía Corridor: One Coastal Region, Three Different Economies

The Portoviejo–Manta–Bahía Corridor: One Coastal Region, Three Different Economies (with Crucita, San Clemente, San Jacinto, Canoa, Chone, Calceta, Tosagua, Rocafuerte, Bahía de Caráquez & San Vicente in the background) 1. One corridor, many economies If you look at a map, Portoviejo, Manta and Bahía de Caráquez/San Vicente sit along one logical coastal corridor: farms and small towns in the interior, a capital city…

Explainer - Ecuador and Dollarization

1. How Ecuador ended up dollarized In the late 1990s Ecuador went through a devastating crisis: Banks failed, deposits were frozen, and many people lost part or all of their savings. Inflation shot up and the sucre collapsed in value: it lost around two-thirds of its dollar value in 1999, and then another quarter in just the first week of 2000. Poverty and unemployment surged, with especially harsh impacts in rural…

Explainer - Portoviejo's Urban Lab

Here’s your explainer, with a short bilingual wrap-up at the end.(And as requested on earlier pieces: this article was created by ChatGPT.) Portoviejo’s Urban Lab: how Ecuadorian cities are trying to change for their citizens 1. What is an “Urban Lab”? An urban lab is basically a city-sized workshop: a place where local government, universities, citizens and sometimes NGOs test ideas using real data from the city. I…

Explainer - Ecuador and Oil

Here we go—Ecuador & oil, big-picture explainer. 1. Why oil still matters so much to Ecuador Oil is still one of the pillars of Ecuador’s economy, even if its relative weight is slowly shrinking. In 2023, crude petroleum was Ecuador’s single biggest export, worth about US$13.1 billion. At the same time, Ecuador spent about US$4.2 billion importing refined fuels (gasoline, diesel, etc.), because its refineries cannot…

Explainer Manta’s hydrosanitary master plan:

Explainer / Explicador Manta’s hydrosanitary master plan: how it works, who pays for it, and what it means for the cityEl Plan Maestro Hidrosanitario de Manta: cómo funciona, quién lo financia y qué significa para la ciudad 1. What is Manta’s hydraulic / hydrosanitary plan? 1. ¿Qué es el plan hidráulico / hidrosanitario de Manta? EN:When people in Manta talk about the “Plan Maestro Hidrosanitario” or “Plan Maestro d…

Ecuador's place in the world

An explainer on Ecuador’s place in the world and how it deals with its main partners. 1. Big picture: a small country in a busy neighborhood Ecuador is a small, dollarized country on the Pacific, squeezed between Colombia and Peru and highly dependent on trade, migration and security cooperation with others.

Serie: Ecuador-politics · Parte 1

Explainer -Ecuador and Mining

Here’s your explainer on mining in Ecuador, with Dundee / Loma Larga folded in. 1. Big picture: where mining fits in Ecuador’s economy Ecuador has large deposits of copper, gold and silver, similar in potential to Peru and Chile, but it is still a latecomer to large-scale mining. For decades, the extractive sector was basically oil + small-scale gold mining. Now metals are growing: Mining exports were a bit over USD…

Explainer – How the Illegal Drug Trade Is Affecting Ecuador’s Economy

Explainer – How the Illegal Drug Trade Is Affecting Ecuador’s Economy Over the last decade, Ecuador has gone from being a quiet neighbor between Colombia and Peru to being described as a key hub of the global cocaine trade. Weak institutions, a dollarized economy, modern ports, and a free-trade link with Europe have made it attractive for foreign cartels and local gangs. (Crisis Group) The economic impact is two-sid…

How the Illegal Drug Trade Is Affecting Ecuador’s Economy

Over the last decade, Ecuador has gone from being a quiet neighbor between Colombia and Peru to being described as a key hub of the global cocaine trade. Weak institutions, a dollarized economy, modern ports, and a free-trade link with Europe have made it attractive for foreign cartels and local gangs.

Serie: Economy of Ecuador · Parte 2

EXPLAINER – How Ecuador’s National Assembly Works (and how it connects to the President)

The Asamblea Nacional is Ecuador’s single national parliament – it’s unicameral, meaning there’s just one chamber, not two like in some countries. Right now it has 151 members (asambleístas), elected for four years. They come from three kinds of districts: 15 national members (elected by the whole country), 130 provincial/district members (elected in each province and big metro area according to population), 6 repre…

EXPLAINER – How Ecuador’s national budget is made

EN: The Presupuesto General del Estado (PGE) is basically the country’s yearly money plan. It estimates how much money the government will receive (from taxes, oil sales, fees, etc.) and how much it will spend (on education, health, roads, security and many other areas). The Constitution and the Código Orgánico de Planificación y Finanzas Públicas (COPLAFIP) say that the budget must follow the National Development P…

Why Do Investors See Ecuador as “High Risk”?

Why Do Investors See Ecuador as “High Risk”?Written with ChatGPT (GPT-5.1 Thinking) When news sites or banks talk about “sovereign risk”, they’re talking about how risky it is to lend money to a country’s government. Countries like Canada and the United States are usually seen as very safe borrowers. Countries like Ecuador are often classified as high risk. That doesn’t mean Ecuador is a disaster or “doomed” — it ju…