Qualla: Pasaje Canton

Pasaje Canton: Introduction

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Jubones River, in Quechua, carries a name that translates as "devourer of men." The indigenous and mestizo settlers who tried to build a town along its banks during the late 1700s learned what that meant. Their first settlement, founded around 1760 at a place called Guaboplaya, was drowned out by the river's unpredictable risings. They moved across to Uzhcaplaya around 1780 and lasted twenty years before giving up on that bank too. Around 1800, a hundred exhausted survivors tried once more at higher ground. That third try became Pasaje. Two centuries later the canton it founded has a population of nearly 63,000 and a history of refusing to let a single river defeat it.

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Pasaje Canton: A Town Bargained Into Existence

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The story begins in 1758, when the indigenous Governor of Machala, a man named Ambrosio Gomal, went to Guayaquil to defend the land that would become Pasaje against speculators who wanted to auction it off. Captain Antonio de Argote, the land judge, struck a deal: the indigenous ...

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Pasaje Canton: Liberators Passing Through

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In 1822, according to local tradition, Mr. Gabino Serrano - great-grandfather of a later Pasaje resident named Andrés Corsino García - hosted Marshal Antonio José de Sucre at his house as Sucre's liberating army passed through on its way north. The army was marching toward the Ba...

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Pasaje Canton: A Priest, a President, and a Grudge

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

By 1890, Pasaje wanted out of Machala's shadow. Cantonization would bring political autonomy and control over local taxes, and Pasaje had outgrown being a mere parish. But Ecuador's president at the time, Dr. Luis Cordero, carried a grudge. Pasaje had not supported him in the ele...

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Pasaje Canton: Banana Coast, Gold Coast

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Pasaje Canton sits in El Oro Province, whose name translates literally as "The Gold" - a reference to the region's long mining history. The canton's capital, the town of Pasaje, is the main population center. The rest of the canton is organized into urban parishes (Ochoa León, Bo...

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