Although we are only getting started, we aim to progressively extend our coverage of countries around the world.
Fernando Villavicencio, a prominent anticorruption candidate to the 2023 presidential elections in Ecuador
was assassinated in August, just prior to the election.
In Ecuador, political turmoil and a deepening security crisis are putting reporters and press freedom at increasing risk.
President Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the country’s National Assembly in May as it took steps to impeach him,
has proved ineffective at stemming the rise in violent crime and journalists are watching uneasily
as the party of the most anti-press politician in recent memory,
former President Rafael Correa, seeks to increase its power in upcoming August elections. [1]
5.69
Full democracyFlawed democracyHybrid regimeAuthoritarian regime
64.61
GoodSatisfactoryProblematicDifficultVery Serious
Elections take place regularly, and some key state institutions have recently displayed greater independence. Freedoms for media and civil society expanded under former president Lenín Moreno, the chosen successor of leftist Rafael Correa. The 2021 elections marked the first time in 14 years that neither Correa nor his preferred candidate won the presidency. Ongoing challenges include official corruption, due process violations, and violence in prisons and during protests.
Internet freedom continued to improve in Ecuador, bolstered by expanding internet penetration rates and faster speeds, a lack of arrests and charges for online speech, and a decrease in cases of physical violence in retaliation for users’ and journalists’ online activities. Debates around the country’s legal framework regarding online speech have continued; while some concerning provisions have been proposed, President Guillermo Lasso has successfully halted some legislative efforts to introduce penalties for online speech. Though the government did not block or filter political or social content, a state body ordered blocks on websites used to download streaming content.
The Republic of Ecuador is a country in northwestern South America,
bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west.
History of Ecuador since 1990, after its return to democracy in 1979.
With the adoption of a new constitution in 2008 under president Rafael Correa,
Ecuador became the first country in the world to enshrine a set of codified Rights of Nature
and to inform a more clarified content to those rights.
The politics of Ecuador are multi-party.
The central government polity is a quadrennially elected presidential, unicameral representative democracy.