Ecuador

Closing the Darién Gap with a barbed-wire fence

Immigration

Panama has started to build a barbed-wire fence in the Darien jungle between South and Central America. The goal is to stop migrants from reaching the US. But by blocking the trails most frequently used by the migrants, the fence could reroute people on their journeys, pushing them to take dangerous detours.

People gather during the Kanua film festival in Ecuador.

Film festival makes its way through Ecuador’s Amazon by boat

Arts, Culture & Media
mopeds and motorbikes lined up outside of a hotel

A new underground gig economy is booming in New York City as migrants wait for work permits

Screenshot from "Cape Flats Kung Fu" by Eavesdrop.

‘Planet Hip Hop’: The music will always be the voice of the people, Samy Alim says

Planet Hip Hop
Paul Moposita (wearing blue tracksuit), his daughter Sisa and some of the members of Mugre Sur, a band he started more than 20 years ago. 

Ecuadorian group creates political hip-hop with bunnies and clowns

Planet Hip Hop
The capital Quito is the city in Ecuador that has received the biggest numbers of Venezuelan migrants. 

As Ecuador’s political crisis deepens, Venezuelan LGBTQ migrants feel the pain

LGBTQ

Ecuador is in the throes of political turmoil and discrimination against foreigners is on the rise. This is affecting gay and transgender Venezuelans particularly hard.

Urchin perch on live coral (left) with fossil coral, the foundation of the live reef, in the foreground, live reef in the background.

Galapagos discovery offers clues to climate impact on deep-sea corals

Climate Change

Scientists say research into newly found reefs could lead to important conservation efforts

people outside building

Impeachment trial begins against Ecuador’s President Lasso

Conflict & Justice

​​​​​​​Ecuador’s National Assembly is debating the future of President Guillermo Lasso. If it votes to remove Lasso, it would be the first impeachment of an Ecuadorian president since the country’s return to democracy in 1979.

Children play in a flooded area of Leticia, Colombia, Feb. 14, 2017, located by the Amazon River, on the border with Brazil and Peru.

Brazil’s neighbors wary of environmental impact of a Bolsonaro victory

Environment

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has promised to continue facilitating mining and agro industry in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon if he wins another four-year term. But destruction of the Amazon affects the air quality and jeopardizes the water supply in neighboring countries.

Demonstrators ride trucks as they arrive to the capital to protest against the government of President Guillermo Lasso, in Quito, Ecuador, Monday, June 20, 2022. 

‘We are here with one idea, one heart’: Ecuador’s Indigenous groups rally for rights in mass protests

Protest

Indigenous leaders have 10 demands including reducing gas prices, halting new mining and gas projects, providing funds for health care and education, and economic relief for millions of families in debt.