I’ve written a little more about Ecuador in a new post over at Southern Exposure. The long and the short of it:
1) Presidente Lucio’s hanging in there; and
2) here’s a lengthy, detailed, and quite moving expose of the Ecuadorian human trafficking industry; the New York Times published it today, and it’s a must-read.
Staggering numbers of Ecuadorians pay exorbitant amounts of money to be ferried from the Ecuadorian coast to Guatemala; from there, they travel to Mexico and then, finally, to the US, where they typically work low-wage jobs and send money home to their relatives. Not only is the story riveting, but it hits home for me: I lived in Cuenca, where the trafficking ring is based.