Azuay mirrors national referendum results; Drug traffickers, money launderers nabbed in Gran Fenix op; Crafts expo continues; Prison warden shot dead

Lunes, 22/4/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Exposición de artesanías (Crafts exposition) – There is a crafts show en the Casa de Arte-Museo Universitario (av. 12 de abril y Solano) until el 15/5. 13 craftspeople are showing their work as part of the Salón ARDIS de Artesanía Contemporánea. Free.

Convocatoria a cineistas (Call for filmmakers) – The Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares (CIDAP) will take proposals for short and full-length films, both fiction and non-fiction. The films will be part of the XI Ciclo International de Cine about Artesanía and Cultura Popular which will be held between el 23 & 25/10. Send proposals to http://tinyurl.com/Ciclo-de-cine until el 30/6. No cost to submit proposals.

The vote counting from Sunday’s referendum continued Monday morning in Cuenca. Local election results followed the national trend. (El Mercurio)

Creaciones de herreros (Blacksmiths’ creations) – There will be an exhibit, “El Herrero,” in the Casa de Chguarchibana which shows the art of working with fire and the work that blacksmiths of Cuenca do. The exposition is open from lunes a viernes, from 9:00 to 16:30. You can also see the historic house. Free.

Titular –

De las 11 preguntas, Noboa gana en nueve (Of the 11 questions, Noboa wins nine) – See today’s (lunes) CHL article for story.

Consulta Popular –

Tendencia se replicó en Azuay (Trend replicated in Azuay) – The referendum and consulta results in Azuay were similar to the national results. As of the close of Monday’s issue of El Mercurio, 50% of the votes in Azuay had been tabulated compared to 15% at a national level. Azuayan voters rejected international arbitration with 65.82% no votes, and a return to hourly labor contracts with 69.06% no votes. <I talked to a friend who referred to how badly Ecuador was treated by international judicial bodies in the Chevron case. I can imagine voters thinking, ” Nope – don’t want any more of that injustice.”>

Ausentismo, ‘elevadísmo’ (Absenteeism, ‘very high’) – 72% of Ecuadorians voted on Sunday with an absentee rate of 28%. <I wonder how they count extranjeros who vote? As Ecuadorians for the day? Maybe if you’re not required to vote and don’t vote, you wouldn’t show up as part of the absentee rate.> José Cabrera, a spokesman for the CNE, said the absentee rate was worrisome since historically, it’s never surpassed 20%. After all the votes are counted, the CNE will research why people didn’t vote, as well as the exact sites where fewer voters showed up. It is considering some options such as that citizens put less importance on a consulta popular as opposed to elections of authorities. Another factor would have been the holiday declared because of the energy crisis in the days just before the elections so that people travelled away from their homes.

Cuenca –

De El Mercurio del sábado, 20/4 (1 article):
Termina capacitación a rescatistas de animales (Animal rescue training completed) -The Comisión de Gestión Ambiental (CGA – Environmental Management Commission) with the U. Católica de Cuenca held the 1st training workshop for animal rescuers. This will provide trained people to look after the welfare of the animals. Attendees received certificates and ID cards. The CGA is scheduling more workshops for animal lovers to become rescuers. <Sounds just like what you need if you already have 5 dogs and just volunteered to take on a mother and her 7 nursing puppies.>

Sucesos –

Asesinan al director de la cárcel El Rodeo en Ecuador (Warden of El Rodeo prison in Ecuador murdered) – Cosmo Damián Parrales Merchán, director of the El Rodeo prison in Portoviejo, Manabí Province, was murdered el domingo, 21/4. The killing is under investigation and is the 3d assassination in 5 days following the murders of 2 mayors.

De El Mercurio del domingo, 21/4 (1 article):
Indagaciones por tráfico de drogas y lavado de activos (Drug trafficking and money laundering investigations) – <This is your latest drug bust article. Seems like there are either more big busts or more newspaper coverage than before. But what do I remember? Entre no mucho y casi nada.> The Prosecutor’s office charged 2 people who were arrested el 19/4 in the Port Terminal in Guayaquil where 2,498 tape wrapped packages containing 2.48 tones of cocaine were seized. The drugs were inside cases of bananas. <I’m reading your minds – you want to know who grew and shipped those bananas don’t you.>The two people arrested and placed in preventive prison were the representative of the exporting company and the driver of the container.

The prosecutor linked an Albanian, 2 Argentinos, and 2 Ecuadorians as well as several businesses: Damascoswett S. A., Agricomtrade S. A., Sentilver S. A., Cresmark S. A., Neoglobal S. A., Ingrenier S. A. y Carniproducción S. A. in alleged money laundering of about $31 million. Another 5 people were processed in this case and were arrested el 7/4 in the ‘Gran Fenix 13’ operation in Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Guayas, El Oro, Azuay, y Los Ríos. The launderers created new businesses and used existing businesses to hide the source of narco-trafficking money. Some of the companies were exporters of agricultural products (banana), buyers and sellers of real estate, meat producers and cannabis producers. The national financial system noticed unusual movements of about $31 million between 2015 – 2024. During this time the alleged criminal gang bought personal property, high-end vehicles and real estate in Guayas, Los Ríos, Cotopaxi and Santa Elena. The Anticorruption Judge ordered preventive prison and arrest warrants. He also arranged for the Superintendencia de Compañias to intervene in the businesses and seize property and hold accounts.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). If information is incorrect, it is the responsibility of El Mercurio. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.