2020 census delayed by Covid; Cuenca expected to show strong growth; Live theater returns; Bars could reopen for Cuenca holidays; Run for office, avoid jail

Martes, 13/10/2020

Hola, Todos –
Actividades –

De la pagina cultural de viernes – 9/10/2020 –

Teatro regresa al tablado de Escenarios del Mundo (Theater returns to the stage with Stages of the World) – The Escenarios del Mundo theater festival will open el 28/10 with performances at the teatro Pumapungo, in the parque De La Madre, plaza 9 de octubre and on line. The selected works are based on comedy since Cuenca needs a good laugh. Attendance at the Pumapungo will be limited to 200 per performance (30% capacity). Performers and theater workers will be tested before every performance. The plays at the Pumapungo can also be seen on line. The in person season ticket is $35 with individual performances costing $10 each. The prices for the on-line version are $20 and $5. The open air performances are free. The theater schedule is below:
28/10 – Opening, 20:00 – Pumapungo
29 & 30/10 – Carlos Michelena, 20:00 – CCE
31/10 – Ladies night, 20:00 – Pumapungo
1/11 – Ladies night, 18:00 – Pumapungo
2/11 – Cuando llegue Rosa, 20:00 – Pumapungo
5/11 – Los cumpleaños invisibles, 20:00 – Pumapungo
6/11 – Sinónima y antónima, 20:00 – Pumapungo
8/11 – El corazón de la cebolla, 18:30 – Pumapungo

Coro Polifónico llama a proceso de audiciones (Auditions for Polyphonic Choir) – The U. of Cuenca is auditioning for the choir until 16/11 at their email address: coro-polifonico@ucuenca.edu.ec. Send two unedited videos with contrasting songs, one with accompaniment, either a sound track or instrument, and the other a capella along with your datos <name, cedula, contact info, etc.>.

Otras cosas –

Cuenca’s bars could be allowed to reopen for the holidays.

Titular – Hoteles, al 45% (Hotels, 45%) – EMOV reported that 18,000 people came to Cuenca for the holiday on public transport, and 89 hotels that provided information were 45% occupied. Data from the Gobernador Jorge Cabrera were similar and delegates from the Ministerio del Turismo showed 44%. The 58 hotels with Cuenca biosegura badges were 60% occcupied, and 5-star hotels were 95% occupied. <Take a guess as to what economic strata was travelling and staying in hotels.> The Parque Nacional Cajas, even with an occupancy rate of 30% got 1,814 national and 42 foreign tourists. <How do you decide when a 280 sq. km. park is 30% occupied, or is that for the visitor center?>

Health officials are watching for consequences of the holiday which will be visible 10 to 15 days from now when symptoms of possible infections will present. ECU-911 reported that the holiday in agosto had 229 reported aglomeraciones (packed crowds – your word for the day because the mouth feel is like the meaning) while there were 226 this past weekend. Quarantine breakers went from 8 to 15 between the two holidays.

Apertura de bares (Opening bars) – <Something all you hard drinking gringos have been waiting for? A nicer ambiance than your kitchen table?> The director of the Fundación Turismo para Cuenca is working on a protocol to open bars via a pilot plan that will be analyzed by authorities and representatives of the sector. It is thought that authorizing the opening of bars that comply with bioprotection measures will attract more tourists to the Bicentenario of the Independence of Cuenca in noviembre.

Inspección por venta de dióxido de cloro (Inspection for selling chlorine dioxide) – Sales of chlorine dioxide <used for bleach> are prohibited by the Ministerio de Salud for use as a medicine against Covid. <And did you notice that nowhere did bleach appear as one of the medications, experimental or otherwise, given to Trump during his treatment for Covid. At least his doctors knew better even if he prescribed drinking it.> The Agencia de Regulación y Control Sanitario (ARCSA) conducted a surprise control of 110 tiendas naturistas (health food stores) to tell them about this prohibition.

Candidatos no pueden ser detenidos ni procesados (Candidates cannot be arrested or prosecuted) – Article 108 of the Ley Orgánica Electoral y de Organizaciones Políticas in El Códico de la Democracia says that candidates, from the time they have been accepted by the CNE to the announcement of the winner, cannot be arrested nor criminally processed. <I can see the point of that if you’re running for president of Venezuela – or the US.> They also cannot be prosecuted except in cases of delito flagrante (caught redhanded), sexual assault, or gender or intrafamily violence. After results of the election are announced, criminal proceedings can start except against the winners unless the case is for intrafamily violence.

Karina Salamea, a law student at the U. of Cuenca is one of the promoters of the ¿Eres candidato transparente? (Are you a transparent candidate?) campaign. She said that running for office is a way to avoid jail and evade justice, even if temporarily. <Maybe that gives the candidate time to get out of the country.> The campaign will publish a list of candidates in Azuay who are in judicial proceedings as well as what they have declared to Servicios de Rentas Internas (SRI – Internal Revenue Services) from public information accessible to any citizen. ¿Eres candidato transparente? will also publish the candidate’s campaign promises that were filed when they registered and review them for plagiarism. c

Los datos proyectan a la ciudad (Data projected for the city) – Censuses have been conducted in Cuenca, albeit only de vez en cuando (once in a while/ occasionally, now and then), since 1778 when the population was 18,040. Research published in 1990, “Cuenca en el siglo XIX” (Cuenca in the 19th century), concluded that the wars of independence and migration to the coast reduced the population in the early 19th Century with a large decrease from 38,056 in 1854 to 15,700 in 1861. <Maybe none of those migrants to the coast wanted to make the long uphill hike back home to Cuenca.> The first national census was in 1950 and Cuenca had a population of 122,434 which grew to 331,028 in 1990. In the 21st Century, the 2001 census counted 417,632 people and 524,563 in 2010. The estimate for 2020 is 636,996. (The metro population is estimated at 725,000).

Until 20 years ago, the data focused on population and housing but in the last 10 years has included statistics on poverty, education, health and more. The Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC) projections for 2020 are that 1/3 of Cuencanos are between the ages of 15 and 29 and more than half are women. 60% of the working population had adequate employment as of last year and the main economic activities are commerce, auto and motorcycle repair, manufacturing, transport and warehousing. As of diciembre, 2019, Cuenca had the lowest level of poverty with 4.1%. The main causes of death are related to cardiovascular and hypertensive illnesses. INEC had planned for a 2020 census which was rescheduled to between 2021 and 2023. <Covid does kind of throw a wrench into the works, doesn’t it.>

Recambio de funcionarios en el GAD del Azuay (Replacement of officials in the GAD of Azuay) – The prefecta del Azuay, Cecilia Méndez, presented her team for the rest of the administrative term to provincial employees and workers. There are about 21 officials, between career employees in the institution and new employees. Méndez will also change the logo of Azuay from its current water and Andean beliefs and “Azuay Ecológica Prefectura” phrase with the shield of the province and the phrase “Azuay Prefectura.”

Internacional –

Primer caso de COVID e influenza en una persona (First case of COVID and influenza in one person) – México confirmed that a 54 year old woman has both Covid and the flu. Doctors are worried that the confluence of Covid and flu season could overwhelm hospitals. The patient suffers from autoimmune disease, has had cancer, and a background of obesity and chronic lung disease.

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. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.