RIYADH, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - South American oil producer Ecuador has rejoined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which it left in 1992, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Saturday.

In an opening speech at a summit of OPEC leaders here, Chavez referred to 'the 13 member countries of OPEC,' indicating that the previously 12-member cartel had welcomed in the new member.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa was sat with the other 12 representatives from the member nations of the organisation, which pumps about 40 percent of world oil.

QUITO, Oct 13, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador will return to OPEC's fold next month, its President Rafael Correa said Saturday.

'Ecuador is going to be taking a great step next month, which is its return to the Organization of Petroeum Exporting Countries,' Correa said in his weekly radio program.

Ecuador's bid is backed by Venezuela, the only Latin American member of OPEC. Ecuador produces 530,000 barrels of oil per day -- the country's top export -- and is the fifth largest producer in South America.

QUITO, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - President Rafael Correa Thursday announced that Ecuador will keep 99 percent of windfall oil profits, changing a law that called for an 50-50 share with foreign oil companies of profits stemming from rising oil prices.

By a new decree 'it is established that 99 percent of the windfall oil profits will go to the state and the remaining one percent to companies,' Correa said.

The president said the previous law had to be changed because 'its not enough for Ecuador to get 50 percent' as in the past.

QUITO, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - Leaders of Ecuador's Congress on Tuesday said President Rafael Correa's plans to dissolve the legislature after he won control of a new Constitutional Assembly were unconstitutional.

The leftist Correa won what he claims is an overwhelming majority in a vote Sunday to elect a 130-member assembly to re-write Ecuador's constitution.

On Monday he said the vote was a mandate to dissolve the opposition-controlled Congress.

Jorge Cevallos, who heads the single-chamber legislature, disagreed.

QUITO, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa said Monday he will dissolve Congress and rewrite a constitution with no foreign influence, after his ruling party won majority control of a newly elected Constitutional Assembly.

'Its very difficult to deal with Congress and I believe the Ecuadoran people's statement (on Sunday) was resounding: Congress must go home,' Correa told a group of foreign reporters.

QUITO, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa celebrated victory Monday after claiming that his ruling coalition had won a solid majority in a newly elected assembly that will rewrite the country's constitution.

'The projections are clear: the victory of the citizens is unquestionable,' Correa told a news conference, predicting that his government would win 80 out of the 130 seats up for grabs on the future Constituent Assembly.

QUITO, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa celebrated victory Monday after claiming that his ruling coalition had won a solid majority in a newly elected assembly that will rewrite the country's constitution.

'The projections are clear: the victory of the citizens is unquestionable,' Correa told a news conference, predicting that his government would win 80 out of the 130 seats up for grabs on the future Constituent Assembly.

QUITO, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa claimed a triumph for his radical reform drive in Sunday's vote for an assembly to rewrite the constitution, which could reshape country's political landscape.

'The projections are clear: the victory of the citizens is unquestionable,' Correa told a news conference, predicting that his government would win 80 out of the 130 seats up for grabs on the future Constituent Assembly.

QUITO, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuadorans voted Sunday in an election for an assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution, which could profoundly reshape this South American country's political landscape.

Some 9.3 million voters were eligible to cast ballots, with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by leftist President Rafael Correa, 44, who was elected one year ago on promises of radical change.

'This will be a historic election,' Correa said at the start of balloting.

QUITO, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Voting closed Sunday evening in Ecuador's election for an assembly to rewrite the constitution, electoral authorities said, wrapping up polling that could reshape the country's political landscape.

The South American country's polling stations closed at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT), the Supreme Electoral Court said.

Voting passed off 'without incident,' Enrique Correa, the Chilean head of the election mission of the Organization of American States, told AFP.

QUITO, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Millions of Ecuadorans went to the polls Sunday to select delegates for an assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution, which could profoundly reshape this South American country's political landscape.

Some 9.3 million voters are eligible to cast ballots, with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by leftist President Rafael Correa, 44, who was elected one year ago on promises of radical change.

'This will be a historic election,' said Correa at the start of Sunday's balloting.

QUITO, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuadorans on Sunday vote for an assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by leftist President Rafael Correa.

Correa, who was elected one year ago on promises of radical change, wants the assembly members who will be elected on Sunday to dissolve the unicameral Congress, which he calls 'corrupt and incompetent,' and boost state control of the economy.

'It's necessary to do away with the myths of neo-liberalism,' Correa has said repeatedly during the campaign.

QUITO, Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuadorans on Sunday vote for an assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by leftist President Rafael Correa.

Correa, who was elected one year ago on promises of radical change, wants the assembly members who will be elected on Sunday to dissolve the unicameral Congress, which he calls 'corrupt and incompetent,' and boost state control of the economy.

'It's necessary to do away with the myths of neo-liberalism,' Correa has said repeatedly during the campaign.

QUITO, Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuadorans on Sunday vote for an assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by leftist President Rafael Correa.

Correa, who was elected one year ago on promises of radical change, wants the assembly members who will be elected on Sunday to dissolve the unicameral Congress, which he calls 'corrupt and incompetent,' and boost state control of the economy.

'It's necessary to do away with the myths of neo-liberalism,' Correa has said repeatedly during the campaign.

QUITO, Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) - The following are key facts about Ecuador, where voters head to the polls on Sunday to elect a 130-seat constituent assembly.

- GEOGRAPHY: Ecuador, which straddles the equator in South America, has an area of 256,370 square kilometers (98,985 square miles,) including the Galapagos Islands. It is bounded by Colombia, Peru and the Pacific Ocean.

- POPULATION: 13.6 million

- CAPITAL: Quito

- LANGUAGE: Spanish and several indigenous languages

- RELIGIONS: Roman Catholic (94 percent.)

QUITO, Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuadorans on Sunday elect an assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution in a move leftist President Rafael Correa says will stem political instability in the volatile South American country.

A US and European-educated former finance minister, Correa, 44, also expects the 130-seat Constituent Assembly to boost the state's control of the economy, but ruled out nationalizing private companies.

BOGOTA, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - A powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 on the open-ended Richter scale struck Colombia's Pacific coastline near the border with Ecuador on Sunday, Colombian authorities said.

The quake shook much of southwest Colombia, but early reports gave no indications of victims or destruction.

Colombia's Geographical and Mining Institute said the epicenter was located in El Chorro, in the department of Narino, on the border with Ecuador, and had a depth of 32 kilometers (20 miles).

BRUSSELS, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Belgium on Friday slammed the Ecuadoran president's wife for claiming it was guilty of using 'Gestapo' techniques in the detention of two Ecuadorans.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht complained of the matter to Ecuadoran Ambassador Fernando Yepez, saying he found the comments of Anne Malherbe -- the Belgian wife of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa -- 'offensive and totally unfounded'.

BRUSSELS, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht on Friday summoned Quito's ambassador following 'unacceptable' remarks from the Ecuadoran president's wife on a high-profile child detention case.

Anne Malherbe, the Belgian wife of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, accused the Belgian authorities of hypocrisy and using practices worthy of the Gestapo in an interview with the Spanish EFE agency on Thursday.

BRUSSELS, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador has formally protested to Belgium over alleged police maltreament of an Ecuadorian mother and child as officers tried to deport the pair, its foreign ministry announced late Tuesday.

Ecuador's ambassador to Belgium also protested what he called the 'physical and psychological maltreatment' the pair allegedly suffered during one month of detention in Belgium as illegal aliens, said the ministry.

QUITO, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador sent Belgium a 'strong protest' Tuesday for the alleged maltreatment of a mother and child from Ecuador at Brussels airport by police enforcing a deportation order, the Foreign Ministry said.

The formal protest that Ecuador's ambassador to Belgium gave the Belgian foreign office also addresses the 'physical and psychological maltreatment' the Ecuadoran pair allegedly suffered during one month of detention in Belgium as illegal aliens, the ministry said in a statement.

BRUSSELS, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Belgian immigration officials on Tuesday admitted there had been a violent incident at Brussels airport involving an 11-year-old Ecuadoran girl and her mother amid accusations of maltreatment in custody.

Belgian police however denied accusations from Quito of mistreating the Ecuadoran pair, whose widely-publicised case has thrown the spotlight on the detention of minors in Belgium, which can last for months.

BRUSSELS, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Belgian police on Tuesday denied claims from Quito that they mistreated an 11-year-old Ecuadoran girl who was held in detention, in a case that has become a cause celebre here.

Angelica Cajamarca and her mother Ana were freed by court order on Monday after being held for a month in a closed detention centre pending repatriation.

BRUSSELS, July 30, 2007 (AFP) - A Belgian court on Monday granted a last-minute reprieve from repatriation to an 11-year-old Ecuadoran girl and her mother in a case which became a rallying point against the practice of interning minors.

Angelica Cajamarca and her mother Ana had been taken from a closed holding centre in a Brussels suburb to a restricted area at Brussels airport earlier Monday ahead of their expected repatriation to Quito via Amsterdam.

BRUSSELS, July 30, 2007 (AFP) - Angelica, an 11-year-old Ecuadoran who has become a cause celebre in Belgium, was taken with her mother to Brussels airport prior to their expected expulsion on Monday, a foreign office source said.

The affair, widely covered in the Belgian media, has thrown the spotlight on the internment of minors which can last for months and has been denounced here by local rights groups.

The expulsion for illegal stay will go ahead on Monday evening, Belgian foreign office press officer Karen Vandeweghe told AFP, despite pleas for clemency.

QUITO, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - President Rafael Correa`s decree legalizing the sale of shark fins caught by accidental fishing has put the Galapagos shark in peril of extinction, environmentalist groups warned Monday in Ecuador.

Prized as an aphrodisiac and gourmet delicacy in Asia, shark fins had been illegally harvested until Correa`s decree, which he said will directly benefit 200,000 Ecuadoran fishermen and their families.