The distinctive language used in Ecuador’s Andes, including its capital Quito, blends Spanish with Kichwa, an indigenous language spoken since the Inca settlement of the region.

In Ecuador’s highlands, a seamless mix of Kichwa and Spanish creates a language that bends grammar, adds melody and goes unnoticed by many who speak it every day.

Residents of coastal communities in Colombia and Ecuador said the airstrike campaign was making many reconsider anything involving the ocean as a livelihood.

The Times visited a village where the United States and Ecuador said they destroyed an armed group’s training camp. Residents said it was actually a dairy farm.

At a gathering in Florida, the president asked the leaders of a dozen Latin American and Caribbean nations to help the U.S. military crush armed trafficking groups.

Drug gangs have turned the South American country into one of the most dangerous in the region and the world’s leading exporter of cocaine.