The Best Ecuador History eBooks of All Time

In 2007, the left came to power in Ecuador. In the years that followed, the “twenty-first-century socialist” government and a coalition of grassroots activists came to blows over the extraction of natural resources. Each side declared the other a perversion of leftism and the principles of socioeconomic equality, popular empowerment, and anti-imperialism.

In Resource Radicals, Thea Riofrancos unpacks the conflict between these two leftisms: on the one hand, the administration's resource nationalism and focus on economic development; and on the other, the anti-extractivism of grassroots activists who condemned the government's disregard for nature and indigenous communities. In this archival and ethnographic study, Riofrancos expands the study of resource politics by decentering state resource policy and locating it in a field of political struggle populated by actors with conflicting visions of resource extraction. She demonstrates how Ecuador's commodity-dependent economy and history of indigenous uprisings offer a unique opportunity to understand development, democracy, and the ecological foundations of global capitalism.

The Golden Bean. Origins of Cacao in Ecuador, takes the reader on a journey that spans for 5,300 years, revealing scientific data on the domestication of cacao and first evidence of use by humans. Archaeological and Genetic findings are revealed about the origin of cacao, and the first humans who domesticated, cultivated and consumed this fruit. Discover the fascinating history of Cacao, a tropical fruit that when processed into chocolate captivates palates worldwide. If you appreciate chocolate, and are curious about what is behind the food you consume.

If you delight by the view of a cacao orchard, or feel attracted to stylish chocolate shops where cacao is king. Then, we invite you to get to know the “Golden Bean”, and savor this book with all your senses. The book focuses on the role of cacao as a central source of income for Ecuador, nowadays the third largest producer and exporter of cacao beans worldwide. This crop and its trade influenced the struggle for independence from Spain, gave impetus to the Liberal Revolution, and was key for opening Ecuador’s economy to the world in the XIX and XX centuries. In The Golden Bean. Origins of Cacao in Ecuador, author Lourdes Paez and photographer Fernando Espinosa do justice to the rich history of cacao, and the old tradition of craft chocolate in their homeland. Moreover, they show cacao as the finest ambassador of their country, bringing joy and well-being worldwide. Author Lourdes Paez and photographer Fernando Espinosa were inspired to create this book by their love for chocolate, and the genuine desire to make known the ancestral cacao culture of their country: Ecuador. As a team, they combined photographic art with skilled research and writing. But it was not a simple task, as it took more than four years to complete their travels throughout Ecuador, Europe, North America and Central America. Following the trail of the “Golden Bean” took them to orchards, ports, factories, chocolate shops, museums, laboratories, and kitchens. In these places, they captured brilliant photographs and interviewed the amazing people who make chocolate possible.

The first nation to consecrate itself to the Sacred Heart was Ecuador. The Archbishop of Quito, His Grace Jose Ignacio Checa y Barba, and President Gabriel Garcia Moreno jointly and solemnly consecrated Ecuador to the Sacred Heart on March 25, 1874. The importance of this national consecration can be surmised as it was foretold by Our Lady of Good Success two hundred seventy four years in advance when she said, "A truly Catholic president will come in the nineteenth century, a man of character, to whom Our Lord God will give the palm of martyrdom in the plaza where this convent of mine is.

He will consecrate the republic to the Divine Heart of my Blessed Son. This consecration will uphold the Catholic religion in subsequent years, which will be tragic for the Church." This book gives the history of the one hundred years following this consecration, to show how the battle for the Kingship of Christ in Ecuador continued to be fought, even after the martyrdom of the "Great Man" of Ecuador, President Gabriel Garcia Moreno.