• Huge network of ancient cities uncovered in the Amazon rainforest
• Historic land win for Ecuador's Siekopai sets precedent for other Indigenous groups
• A cluster of lost cities in Ecuadorian Amazon that lasted 1,000 years has been mapped

• The Global Mother Divine Organization reports achievements in Ecuador: Third International Congress
• Ecuador to expand Prevention Wing of security forces
• Latin America: Six countries reach required number of Yogic Flyers for national invincibility

• Ecuador's blooming flower industry feels pandemic's punch
• Ecuador quake toll rises to 350; rebuilding to cost billions
• Ecuador moves to shut down press freedom group

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Huge network of ancient cities uncovered in the Amazon rainforest
27 January 2024 - Archaeologists working deep in the Amazon rainforest have discovered an extensive network of cities dating back 2,500 years. The highly structured pre-Hispanic settlements, with wide streets and long, straight roads, plazas and clusters of monumental platforms were found in the Upano Valley of Amazonian Ecuador, in the eastern foothills of the Andes, according to a study published in the journal Science on Thursday [11 January]. (more)

Historic land win for Ecuador's Siekopai sets precedent for other Indigenous groups
12 January 2024 - After winning a historic lawsuit, an Indigenous community in Ecuador has finally obtained legal ownership of its land in a protected area -- 80 years since being forcibly displaced. According to experts, this new ruling may change the approach communities use to obtain their ancestral lands in Ecuador, and the country may see more communities filing similar lawsuits to obtain lands locked away for state conservation. (more)

A cluster of lost cities in Ecuadorian Amazon that lasted 1,000 years has been mapped
11 January 2024 - Archeologists have uncovered a cluster of lost cities in the Amazon rainforest that was home to at least 10,000 farmers around 2,000 years ago. (more)

Ecuador to reintroduce species on Galapagos island
11 September 2023 - Ecuador's government has announced it will spend $3.4 million on reintroducing 12 endemic bird and turtle species that have disappeared from an island in the Galapagos archipelago where Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution. The project, funded with government money and donations, will also seek to weed out invasive rodents and cats on the island of Floreana, the environment ministry said late Saturday [9 September] (more)

Ecuadorians vote to ban oil drilling in the Amazon in 'historic' referendum
22 August 2023 - Ecuadorians have voted to ban oil drilling in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the Yasuni National Park, situated in the Amazon rainforest. ...The referendum comes as the impacts of human-caused climate change accelerate, as the world continues to burn fossil fuels. Last month was the planet's hottest June on record, and some scientists warn that the Amazon is heading towards a dangerous tipping point. (more)

Ecuadorians vote to halt oil drilling in biodiverse Amazonian national park
22 August 2023 - The referendum result protecting Yasuni reserve will benefit huge range of species as well as 'uncontacted' Indigenous peoples. Ecuadorians have voted in a historic referendum to halt the development of all new oilwells in the Yasuni national park in the Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. (more)

Scientists discover pristine deep-sea coral reefs in the Galapagos Marine Reserve
18 April 2023 - Scientists have discovered extensive, ancient deep-sea coral reefs within the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) -- the first of their kind ever to be documented inside the marine protected area (MPA) since it was established in 1998. ... The new discovery made during dives by scientists in the HOV Alvin shows that sheltered deep-water coral communities have likely persisted for centuries in the depths of the GMR, supporting rich, diverse, and potentially unique marine communities. (more)

Scientists discover pristine deep-sea Galapagos reef 'teeming with life'
18 April 2023 - Scientists operating a submersible have discovered deep-sea coral reefs in pristine condition in a previously unexplored part of the Galapagos marine reserve. Diving to depths of 600 metres (1,970ft), to the summit of a previously unmapped seamount in the central part of the archipelago, the scientists witnessed a breathtaking mix of deep marine life. This has raised hopes that healthy reefs can still thrive at a time when coral is in crisis due to record sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification. (more)

First recorded Pink Iguana hatchlings found on Galapagos Island
23 December 2022 - With seven expeditions over the past ten months, scientists in the Galapagos Islands have been studying the last surviving population of critically endangered pink iguanas. Made up of an estimated 200 to 300 adults, the population has been declining and aging over the last decade, leading to concern about the species going extinct. Now, scientists have made a major discovery: They've revealed the first-ever documented nesting sites of the reptile and the first recorded pink iguana hatchlings. (more)

Ecuador expands the Galapagos Marine Reserve by more than 23,000 square miles
4 February 2022 - The world is full of beautiful habitats, but the Galapagos Marine Reserve is an ocean ecosystem unlike any other. These protected waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands (a territory of Ecuador) contain over 3,000 species of marine life, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Ecuador has designated an additional 23,000 square-miles of protected waters to expand the reserve and protect migratory routes. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

The Global Mother Divine Organization reports achievements in Ecuador: Third International Congress
23 July 2010 - The Global Mother Divine Organization (GMDO) in Ecuador is flourishing, especially in the adoption of Transcendental Meditation and Consciousness-Based Education in schools. The organization reported on its many achievements on the final day of the recent GMDO Third International Congress in MERU, Holland. (more)

Ecuador to expand Prevention Wing of security forces
13 July 2010 - The recently established Prevention Wing of 400 Yogic Flyers in the security forces of Ecuador is already large enough to create an invincible state of peace and progress for the nation, and soon even more officers will be participating in the programme. Other Latin American countries are consolidating their progress towards invincibility and introducing Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes in schools. (more)

Latin America: Six countries reach required number of Yogic Flyers for national invincibility
2 July 2010 - Six countries in Latin America have now reached the number of Yogic Flyers needed to create invincibility for the nation through the Maharishi Effect of coherence in national consciousness. These countries are Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and Curacao; a sixth nation, Ecuador, also attained this status on 2 July. (more)

Ecuador quickly rising to invincibility
8 September 2007 - Dr Jose Luis Alvarez, Raja (Administrator) of Latin America for the Global Country of World Peace, reported that 110 students at a school in Guayaquil recently became Yogic Flyers. Along with the 150 students already practising Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Programme and its advanced techniques including Yogic Flying, they will help create invincibility for Ecuador. (more)

Maharishi School students raising Ecuador to invincibility
11 February 2007 - Guayaquil, the second-largest city in Ecuador, is home to well-established Maharishi School Liceo Maharishi, a secondary education institution with 400 students, all of whom practise Transcendental Meditation; 200 have learned Yogic Flying. By practising Yogic Flying together as part of the daily routine of the school day, they are creating invincibility for the nation. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Ecuador's blooming flower industry feels pandemic's punch
30 August 2020 - Flower growers in Ecuador are trimming back their fields, cutting plants at the root, and in some cases tossing out piles of colorful blooms entirely as the pandemic delivers a devastating blow to one of the nation's biggest export industries. Over 10,000 jobs have been cut and more than $130 million in revenue lost. Ecuador is the world's biggest producer of roses and prized for its favorable equatorial climate and optimal soil conditions that allow for a bevy of floral varieties. (more)

Ecuador quake toll rises to 350; rebuilding to cost billions
18 April 2016 - Ecuador's earthquake death toll rose to 350 on Monday as rescuers hunted for survivors, victims clamored for aid, and looting broke out in the Andean nation's shattered coastal region. (more)

Ecuador moves to shut down press freedom group
9 September 2015 - President Rafael Correa's government has initiated proceedings to shut down Ecuador's sole remaining press freedom group, accusing Fundamedios of political partisanship. The Associated Press called the Communications Secretariat and was told no one there would comment. Correa's government has used criminal libel prosecutions against critical voices as well as a restrictive media law considered among the most repressive in the hemisphere. (more)

Federal judge rules for Chevron in Ecuadorean pollution case
5 March 2014 - Since losing a $19 billion judgment in an Ecuadorean court three years ago, Chevron has drawn the condemnation of human rights and environmental activists by refusing to pay anything in fines or accept blame for polluting the Ecuadorean rain forest. But on Tuesday, Chevron won a major victory. A federal judge in Manhattan ruled that a two-decade legal effort to punish the company was marred by fraud and corruption, making it increasingly likely that the oil company would be ultimately successful in beating back the legal and financial challenge. In his nearly 500-page ruling, United States District Judge Lewis A Kaplan did not dispute that pollution occurred in the Ecuadorean Amazon. But he did support Chevron's complaint that Mr Donziger, a Manhattan lawyer, and his litigation team engaged in a conspiracy and criminal conduct. (more)

In Ecuador, oil boom creates tension
16 February 2014 - An unprecedented drilling push by Ecuador's government has brought new tensions to the village of Yawepare and the country's Amazon lowlands. As the chain saws and bulldozers cut deeper into the forest, critics say the government is triggering brutal warfare between the Waorani and a smaller, breakaway tribe living in 'voluntary isolation' beyond the oil frontier. Ecuador, an OPEC member, pumps more than 500,000 barrels of crude a day, but with production falling, the country is moving to drill inside one of the world's most ecologically complex and fragile places, Yasuni National Park, an area that is also home to the tribes. The government says it needs the money to pull the country out of poverty and provide education, housing and electricity to the Waorani and other forest inhabitants who have been living on the sidelines of the oil rush for too long. Tepa Quimontari, a Waorani Indian, marched with with women from other forest tribes all the way to Qito to try and meet Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa. She wanted to warn him that if the companies take out more oil, the forest will sink. 'There won't be any animals. The rivers will die,' she said. 'More diseases will come.' The President did not meet with the women. (more)

Ecuador shuts down nonprofit environmental group
5 December 2013 - President Rafael Correa's government has shut down a nonprofit environmental group that opposes Amazon rainforest oil drilling, alleging it was involved in disturbing public order. The closure Wednesday is the first of an advocacy group by Correa's government, which has been criticized as hostile to free expression and has broadened state authority over nonprofits by decree this year. More than a dozen government agents descended unannounced on the Quito offices of the Pachamama Foundation and shut it down. 'We consider it an act of violence,' foundation director Belen Paez said. 'That is not how one notifies a legally constituted organization that it is being shut down.' says the group did nothing illegal and will file suit in Ecuador and an appeal to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights. (more)

Ecuador expected to open Amazon's Yasuni basin to oil drilling -sources
15 August 2013 - Ecuador is expected to open part of the Amazon rainforest to oil drilling on Thursday after rich nations failed to back a conservation plan that would have paid the country not to explore in the area, government sources said. In 2007 Ecuador's President Rafael Correa launched an initiative to protect the Yasuni area of the Amazon basin, which boasts one of the planet's richest ranges of wildlife. However, the sources said that decision has been reversed and an announcement on the plan's future is expected late on Thursday. One of the government sources said Correa would announce 'the necessary steps' to begin exploration in the area, which consists of three untapped oil blocks known collectively as the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) field. (more)

Ecuador extends Quito state of alert indefinitely
10 October 2010 - Ecuador's government said on Saturday that capital city Quito would remain in an indefinite state of alert, allowing the army to patrol certain areas and guard Congress, after violent police riots erupted on 30 September. Police officers, angry about a new law cutting their bonuses and other perks, took to the streets at the end of last month. The protesting officers teargassed and physically bullied President Rafael Correa when he went to Quito's police headquarters to address them. The leftist leader was trapped in a hospital for 10 hours surrounded by mutinous police until he was rescued in a hail of gunfire by army commandos. (more)

Ecuador: Police attack President
1 October 2010 - Ecuador was under a state of siege Friday, with the military in charge of public order after rescuing President Rafael Correa from a hospital where he had been surrounded, roughed up, and tear gassed by rebellious police. Correa and his ministers called Thursday's revolt -- in which insurgents also paralyzed the nation with airport shutdowns and highway blockades -- an attempt to overthrow him and not just a simple insurrection. Thursday's nationwide action prompted businesses and schools to close early as police abandoned streets and took over barracks in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities. Some police set up roadblocks of burning tires, cutting off highway access to the capital. Looting was reported in the capital -- where at least two banks were sacked -- and in the coastal city of Guayaquil. That city's main newspaper reported attacks on supermarkets and robberies. (more)

Rebel video hounds Ecuador's Correa
18 July 2009 - An hour-long video police found in a computer of an alleged rebel appears to confirm that Colombia's largest rebel army gave money to the 2006 election campaign of President Rafael Correa of Ecuador. The video shows the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia reading the deathbed manifesto of founding leader Manuel 'Sureshot' Marulanda. The manifesto states that the FARC made contributions to President Correa's campaign, but it's possible that he wasn't aware of them. Ties between Colombia and neighbouring Ecuador are deeply frayed, and the video is sure to complicate relations further. Colombia is outraged that the FARC, a leftist group on the US State Department's terror list, was operating out of Ecuador, allegedly with the support of that country's leftist government. (more)