$70 billion lost to corruption; Student vaccination is voluntary; Ecuador leads Latin America for illegal migrants to U.S.; Jazz concert at the U. of Cuenca

Sep 15, 2021 | 1 comment

Martes, 14/9/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Presentación de obra (Presentation of work) – The Casa de la Cultura will present a book titled “La novela histórica del Ecuador contemporáneo” by Gloria Riera Rodríguez on 16/9 a las 16:00 in the Salon del Pueblo (Sucre y Benigno Malo).

Concierto de jazz (Jazz concert) – Wednesday, the Museo de la Universidad de Cuenca will start meetings of art, a space for cultural events, and a jazz concert with the Martín Navarro Quartet. It will be a las 18:00 in the museum at av. 12 de Abril y Solano.

Exposición en la Lira (Exhibit en la Lira) – A show, “Dunamis, testimonios de esperanza” (Dunamis, testimonies of hope) will open el 8/10 in the Casa Patrimonial dela Lira. Hours for the show which contain work related to “realities that violate rights” are from 8-16:45.

Titular –

A groups of Ecuadorian migrants are held at a processing center in Mexico.

Ecuador, el número 1 en emigración irregular (Ecuador, number 1 in irregular emigration) – Since 4 months ago, Ecuador has been 1st in the number of undocumented migrants from South America and the Caribbean to the US. In julio, 2021, the number of Ecuadorians detained in the El Paso area of the border has exceeded the number of Mexicans in spite of having to travel 4,700 km. Over 36,000 Ecuadorians were stopped by border patrol agents. Guatemala has returned to being the route to the US since México stared requiring visas for Ecuadorians. There are about 80 migrants from Cuenca, Gualaceo, Azogues, Cañar, Sucúa and Quito being held at La Aurora international airport in Guatemala. <Aren’t you glad to be privileged as a US citizen and that the worst thing about your migration south has been residency paperwork?>

Cuenca –

Vacunación previa convocatoria (Vaccination prior to notification) – Some parents brought their 12 to 15 year old kids to be vaccinated at one of the two locations prior to the notification from their school. Schools will notify their students of the date, time, and location for their vaccinations. Parents need to sign a “consentimiento informado” (informed consent) and show their kid’s cédula to verify age. Ximena Garzón, ministra de Salud, said that this age group will get two doses of Pfizer with the 2nd dose 6 months after the 1st. Kids from 12-15 with aggravated illnesses and any type of immunodeficiency will get doses 28 days apart.

The schedule of vaccines started el lunes with students from UE (Unidad Educativo) Sindicato de Choferes, Escuela Enriqueta Cordero Dávila y Rafael Borja going to the Coliseo Mayor; and students from UE Santiago de Compostela, Escuela Abelardo J. Andrade, UE Zoila Aurora Palacios, Escuela Elías Galarza Arteaga, Escuela Federico Proaño, and UE San Francisco going to the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana. There will be no massive vaccinations due to the flow of vaccines, and schools who are holding classes presenciales (face-to-face) or semi-presenciales are being prioritized. Kids who are about to turn 12 and kids not registered in school will be vaccinated later. The plan is to vaccinate 12-15 year olds and laggard 16 & 17 year olds.

<And now for the news those of you who prefer to not vaccinate are looking for. It’s buried way down in the article.> Return to classes presenciales will be progressive, controlled and voluntary. Vaccinations are also voluntary with unvaccinated kids able to return to classes presenciales. <I wonder if the other parents will have something to say since Cuencanos are welcoming the vaccine.>

<Now here are some statistics for you numbers junkies.> 96% of the professors, about 18,000, have been vaccinated in Coordinación Zonal 6. 1,072 schools have been approved for a return to classes presenciales or semipresenciales in Azuay (436), Cañar and Morona Santiago. 1,800 students between 12 aznd 15 are planned to be vaccinated each day – 800 in the coliseo Mayor, and 1,000 in the UPS. 98,000 students are planned to be vaccinated in this new phase in Zone 6.

Maestras velven a zonas rurales (Teachers return to rural areas) – Teachers have been going into rural areas to find children between 3 and 4 years old to be part of the Servicio de Atención Familiar para la Primera Infancia (SAFPI – Family Care Service for Early Childhood) program. The program is for families who cannot register their children for pre-school since they are not near one, or have no transport to get to one. The program was suspended during the health emergency since there needed to be interaction between the kids and the teachers for the child’s development. Currently, there will be only 3 kids per class and guidance for the parents in childhood development.

Nacional –

USD 70 mil millones ha costado la corrupción (Corruption has cost $70 billion) – A 2019 study by the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) showed that corruption has cost the country $70 billion, more than double the $32 billlion national budget for this year. Lasso said that $40 billion corresponded to overpricing and diversion of funds executed in public procurement, and the other $30 billion was a product of inefficiency in the execution of projects. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the President and the Organización de Naciones Unidas (UN) to bring international assistance in the detection of cases, investigation, and recovery of assets. Soon, Pres. Lasso will present an anticorruption public policy which will guide the work of the Comisión Interinstitucional Anticorrupción and its relation with the authorities of control. <I wonder if somewhere in Ecuador, someone is sittting on a government purchased $5,000 toilet seat?>

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

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