President Correa 24 May announced backing constitutional amendment which would allow him and other state representatives to run for re-election indefinitely.

Security forces 3 July intercepted arms shipment in El Oro, 29 June recovered 1 surface-to-air missile in Sucumbíos; military sources said intended recipients were Colombian armed groups operating near border.

Interior Minister Serrano 3 June said global war on drugs has failed, decriminalising drug use islogical policy response to problems associated with narco-trafficking; also said Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel is only foreign trafficking group with significant  operations in Ecuador. 

Security forces 10 April exchanged fire with unknown illegal armed group on Colombian border, second such attack by groups in Sucumbíos province in less than a month.

President Correa 17 Feb secured re-election with 56.7% of vote; runner-up Guillermo Lasso won 23%. Correa 19 Feb said his party likely won three quarters of seats in Congress, vowed to “steamroll” through reforms to entrench his “citizen’s revolution”.

President Correa registered his candidacy for re-election Feb 2013; 8 candidates will dispute Presidency; Correa ahead by 30 points in polls.

International Press Institute 23 Oct said Ecuador’s private media outlets “being targeted” by govt. Armed forces mid-month arrested 5 suspected members of Colombian armed groups, handed over to Colombian authorities

Govt requested UK to authorise transfer of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Ecuadorean embassy in Sweden so he can respond to sex crimes allegations, in move to end diplomatic standoff with U.S..

Ecuadorian embassy in UK 16 Aug granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange triggering diplomatic stand-off with UK govt. Ecuadorian National Electoral Council (CNE) 24 Aug began manual verification of submissions for party registration for 2013 election after attorney general received thousands of complaints regarding falsification of signatures.

Amnesty International 17 July said judicial system being used by authorities to clamp down on indigenous and farmers’ leaders in attempt to prevent protests on environmental, land issues. Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists 17 July expressed concerns over further radio, TV station closures by govt.