Explainers

Ecuador Legal System Part 3- Family Law

Ecuador Family Law for Immigrants Marriage, unión de hecho, divorce, children, and inheritance (including wills) — with Canada comparisons Ecuador is a civil-law country: family rules come mainly from written codes and the Constitution, and procedures/formalities matter a lot. Canada is bijural: most provinces use common law, Quebec uses civil law for private matters, and federal law applies nationwide in areas like…

Series: Ecuador Legal System · Part 3

Ecuador Legal System Part 2 - Civil

Civil-Law Disputes in Ecuador (Contractors, Car Repairs, Services) — An Immigrant Explainer with Canada Comparison This explainer focuses on everyday civil disputes immigrants often face in Ecuador: a contractor who didn’t finish work, a remodel gone wrong, a mechanic who “fixed” the car but the problem returned, a deposit not returned, or a service you paid for that wasn’t delivered as promised. It also adds a prac…

Series: Ecuador Legal System · Part 2

Ecuador Legal system Part 1 Criminal

Ecuador’s Legal System — an Immigrant-Friendly Explainer (with Canada comparison) Audience: Immigrants/expats who are used to other legal systems (especially Canada).Scope: A practical overview of how Ecuador’s system generally works, with extra clarity on denuncias and the police–prosecutor relationship. 0) The “30-second” big picture Ecuador is a civil-law country: the main rules are found in written laws and code…

Series: Ecuador Legal System · Part 1

Explainer - Chevron Case in Ecuador

Here’s a clear, date-anchored explainer of the Ecuador–Chevron case and where it stands as of today.Dec 11 2025 1. What is “the Chevron case” in Ecuador? It’s a pair of intertwined legal battles: Lago Agrio / UDAPT case (Ecuadorian courts vs. Chevron)– Amazonian communities sued over massive oil contamination from Texaco’s operations (1964–1992).– They won a US$9.5 billion judgment in Ecuadorian courts, which Chevro…

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 - Vilcabamba, Loja: long lives, long holidays,

Vilcabamba, Loja: long lives, long holidays, and long arguments about “the gringos” 🌱 1. Where is Vilcabamba and why do people talk about it so much? Vilcabamba is a small parish in the canton of Loja, southern Ecuador, about 40 km south of the city of Loja, in a valley at roughly 1,500–1,700 meters above sea level. It sits where the Andean foothills start to relax toward the lowlands, with green hills, a mild “eter…

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 - The Incas in Ecuador

this article was created by ChatGPT. The Incas in Ecuador: a short, sharp empire on an ancient land 1. Before the Incas: Ecuador was already busy When people think of the Incas, they often picture a giant empire stretching from Colombia to Chile. But by the time the Incas reached what is now Ecuador, the land was already full of powerful peoples and cultures. In the southern highlands (Cañar, Azuay), the Cañari cont…

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…

Ecuador Weather

Here we go — weather-nerd hat on. ☁️🌧️ 1. Why Ecuador’s weather feels “weird” compared to North America Ecuador sits right on the equator, squeezed between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes, with the Amazon basin to the east. That combination produces: Strong influence from ocean currents (Humboldt cold current and warm equatorial currents). A steep mountain wall that rises from sea level to >5,000 m in a short distan…

Series: Weather in Ecuador · Part 1

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…

Explainer – The Economic Hierarchy of Ecuadorian Cities

[ratemypost] [ratemypost-result] (Article created by ChatGPT / Artículo creado por ChatGPT) 1. What this article does (and doesn’t) do 1. Qué hace (y qué no hace) este artículo EN:Ecuador doesn’t publish a perfect, regularly updated ranking of cities by GDP, so any list has to be approximate. In this explainer, created by ChatGPT from official census data and economic studies, we look at population (2022 census) plu…

Explainer plus-Use of large rocks (riprap) to control coastal erosion

Uso de piedras grandes (riprap) para controlar la erosión costera Use of large rocks (riprap) to control coastal erosion 1. ¿Qué es el riprap? / What is riprap? ES:El riprap (o escollera) es una capa inclinada de piedras grandes y angulares colocadas en la orilla, frente a un malecón, carretera o edificio. La idea es que las rocas rompan la energía de las olas antes de que golpeen directamente la tierra o el hormigó…

Explainer- Coastal erosion and sea-level rise on Ecuador’s coast

(with examples from San Jacinto & San Clemente) 1. What is coastal erosion? English Coastal erosion is the gradual loss of beach and land caused by waves, tides, currents and storms. Little by little, the shoreline moves inland: the beach gets narrower, dunes disappear, and sometimes roads, houses or seawalls collapse. On Ecuador’s Pacific coast, erosion is not new. Studies show that the central Manabí coastline has…

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.

Series: Ecuador-politics · Part 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 – Japotó / Charapotó and the Archaeological Site

1. Where is Japotó, exactly? Japotó is an archaeological site located in the community of Santa Teresa, between Charapotó and San Jacinto, in the parish of Charapotó, canton Sucre, northern Manabí. (Revista Mundo Diners) Today it sits inside the Biocorredor Estuario del Río Portoviejo, a conservation area that covers mangroves, estuary and nearby hills and farms along the Portoviejo River. (biocorredor.com) So if yo…

Explainer – San Jacinto, Charapotó, Portoviejo, the Spanish… and the “gold question”

When you stand on the beach at San Jacinto or look across the estuary at La Boca, you’re basically standing in a very old “frontier zone” between sea and river trade routes. Long before the Spanish arrived, this coast was part of the world of the Manteño-Huancavilca peoples, famous sailors and merchants who lived along what is now Manabí and Santa Elena from at least around 700 CE. They farmed the hills, fished the…

Explainer- Electrical system Nov 2025

1. Big picture: why Ecuador’s electric system feels “fragile” Ecuador’s electricity is officially a public service run mainly by the State, with a grid that covers almost the whole country. Most power still comes from large hydroelectric dams, backed up by diesel and gas plants, plus a small but growing amount of solar and wind. (Trade.gov) That model worked fairly well in wet years. But in 2023–2024, a combination…

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…