Richard Carapaz became the second Equatorial athlete to ever win a gold medal at the Olympics, he did so by winning his Road Cycling category at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Two new orb-weaving spider species have been discovered in the Amazon rainforest, as Ecuador has expanded its biodiversity records and confirmed for the first time the presence of the American spider genus Pozonia

After sparking a violent crime wave with his 2024 prison escape, Ecuador's most wanted drug lord 'Fito' has been recaptured while facing extradition to the US for trafficking and homicide charges

In response to escalating gang violence, Ecuador has passed reforms that grant broader powers to security forces, enable direct asset seizures, and impose harsher penalties on organized crime

Following a historic gunmen ambush that killed 11 soldiers during an anti-mining operation on 9 May, 1.800 soldiers have been deployed in a massive response that seized heavy machinery used in illegal mining, one of the most lucrative criminal economies