Free Republic

Quito, Jul 30 (EFE).- The Ecuadorian navy detained 114 emigrants headed for Guatemala and from there to the United States, the press reported Sunday. A navy vessel on routine patrol spotted the fishing boat Mi Esperanza on Saturday 54 nautical miles off the western port city of Manta, the El Comercio newspaper said. The 15-meter (49-foot) boat was packed with the more than 100 emigrants, Navy spokesman Capt. Temy Mantilla said. The boat, which was being lashed by heavy waves, later sank, Mantilla said. The emigrants, 64 men, 32 women and 18 children, were mainly from southern Ecuador. The fishing...

Quito, Nov 4 (EFE).- Hundreds of Ecuadorians are visiting an area in the southern province of Loja where people say an image of Christ's face is visible on the trunk of a tree. The face was first seen on Oct. 19, and since then hundreds of people have visited the site, located in the village of Zamora Guayco. The Catholic Church has asked several priests to examine the tree trunk privately, the TV channel said. Most of Ecuador's 12.5 million people are Catholic. The face on the tree trunk has aroused much interest and drawn increasingly large crowds to the...