AI programs declare Cuenca tops in South America; Weather is changing; Orchestra performs ‘lyric gala’; Murder in El Centro; Thousands cross ‘green hell’

Martes, 4/6/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Sinfónica en Gala Lírica (Symphony in Lyric Gala) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca (OSC) is performing a Lyric Gala this coming viernes a las 20:00 in the Teatro Pumapungo. The program will include soloists Ruth Díaz and Diego Zamora singing arias from operas by Verdi, Tchaikovski, Puccini y Donizetti. Free until seating capacity reached. <Then you need to pay to sit on someone’s lap? If you can pick which lap you want to sit on, that costs double.>

Two of the top artificial intelligence programs, Google’s Gemini and Open AI’s Chat GPT, have determined that Cuenca is South America’s prettiest and most economical city.

Fiestas bicentenarias en Girón, Gualaceo y Cañar (Bicentennial celebrations in Girón, Gualaceo and Cañar) – Streets and plazas will be the stages for bicentennial celebrations in the 3 cantons.

Girón, Azuay started its party last viernes with the election of Queen Viviana Patiño. Other activities as follows:
Parades – el domingo, 9:00 – a cultural parade with the cholita candidates
viernes, 14/6 – cultural and folkloric parade
domingo, 16/6 – classic car parade
Concert – domingo, 23/6, 18:00 – in the Liga Deportiva Cantonal with Jessy Uribe, Adolescentes Orquesta and more.
Sesión solemne – martes, 25/6, 10:00 – Salón del Pueblo.
Bandas del pueblo – martes, 25/6 at night – parque de Junio.

Gualaceo, Azuay, started last week with a car race.
Viernes, 14/6, 20:00 – coliseo de deportes – election of the queen.
Sábado, 15/5, 20:30 – concha acoustica (band stand?) – night of fantasy.
Domingo, 16/6, 14:00 – concha acoustica – election of the cholita.
Lunes, 24/6, 9:00 – main streets – civic parade.
Martes, 25/6, 16:00 – Teatro Mariscal – sesión solemne.

Cañar, Cañar Province announced more than 50 events including the celebration of Inti Raymi between el 21 & 23/6 in the parque Guantug and the Ingapirca parish.
Sábado, 8/6 – coliseo de deportes – Election of the Queen with music by Tercer Mundo y Gianny.
Lunes, 24/6, 10:00 – Santuario San Antonio – a country mass and procession.
Martes, 25/6, 8:00 – main streets – parade.
16:00 – Centro Cívico – sesión solemne.
19:00 – av. Ingapirca – “Noche de luces.”

Titular –

Días con ‘olas de calor’ y ‘heladas’ (Days with ‘heat waves’ and ‘frosts) – Rigoberto Guerrero, administrator of the research and monitoring department of ETAPA, said that the dry part of the year is starting. In junio, julio, y agosto, temperatures go up, rainfall goes down, and the madrugada (early, early morning) can be frosty. He anticipated that the temperature could reach 28° in the daytime, and fall to 3° or 4° at night in the city and to 1° or 2° in high zones. He explained that in the absence of clouds at night, the heat dissipates. He also did not rule out another drought and low flows in the rivers. What worries him is the supply of potable water and feeding the reservoirs for the hydroelectric stations.

Cuenca –

IA recomienda visita Cuenca (AI recommends visiting Cuenca) – <That would be my neighbor Alberto (AI) who conducts tours in and around Cuenca.> Both Gemini from Google, and Chat GPT from Open AI put Cuenca as South America’s prettiest and most economical city to live in. Gemini mentioned Cuenca’s impressive natural environment of mountains, rivers and valleys. It put Medellín, Colombia in 2nd place, and Curitiba, Brazil in 3d. Chat GPT said Cuenca has a good infrastructure, including high quality health care and a large range of services and amenities. It also mentioned a vibrant expat community, especially from the US and Europe, which helps the integration of new arrivals.

For Patricio Quezada, an information engineer and web designer, it’s important that Cuenca is considered the most beautiful and economical city by chatbots since chatbots, which have artificial intelligence, are replacing search engines. He feels Cuenca’s position in AI is a significant achievement and should be enhanced with different internet strategies. Tourism institutions should keep information about the strengths of Cuenca current along with photos and videos. Elisa Jaramillo, a tourism promoter travel consultant with MCVisitTours, said that there should be constant campaigns promoting Cuenca as a tourism and living destination on web pages, social networks, video platforms and blogs.

Sucesos –

Dos asesinatos en los 3 primeros días de junio (Two murders in first 3 days of June) – A 42 year old man was killed, hitman style, el 3/6 around 13:00 at calles Miguel Heredia y Gaspar Sangurima in the Plaza del Arte sector of Cuenca. The victim ws known as “El Tuerto Rendón” (One-Eyed Rendón) and had been arrested at least 20 times for different crimes including for theft and micro-trafficking. Security cameras captured 2 hitmen arriving on a motorcycle. One got off and intercepted the victim who was walking on the sidewalk, shooting him several times, and killing him instantly. Police are investigating. <For those of you thinking to move here, it’s still a safe city. Unless you’re a drug dealer in which case don’t relocate. Cuenca has recorded six murders through the first half of the year. Compare this to Manta, a city half the size, which has had 127.>

In another case, Castro Merchán, a native of Sígsig, was identified as the man who was killled el sábado, 1/6 and his body left on a bank of the Tomebamba River in the Balzay sector. The Azuay prosecutor’s office said the cause of death was a head injury and the victim had been hit on the head, face and arms. Carlos Revadeneira, chief of the Subzone of the National Police in Azuay, announced that evidence indicated the man had been killed elsewhere and then abandoned by the river. Neighbors reported the body was covered with a sheet. They expressed their worry that the area near the river has become dangerous due to a lack of lighting. People come in the their cars and drink, and couples commit actos inmorales (immoral acts – those might as well be your words for the day) in that public space. The Policía Nacional explained that they had patrol cars in the area, but when the police leave, the drinkers and canoodlers return.

Actualidad –

De El Mercurio del lunes, 3/6 (4 articles):
Justicia indígena vista como una sanación para personas (Indigenous justice seen as healing for individuals) – Talking about cases of indigenous justice, Jorge Arévalo, president of the community of Gualalcay, said that what we do is a healing and not a punishment. The strictness depends on the seriousness of the act that was committed. The international seminar on “Coexistencia efectiva entre los derechos de la naturaliza y la justicia indígena” is being held in Gualalcay. The U. of Cuenca through its School of Jurisprudence and the Federación de Organizaciones Indígenas y Campesinas del Azuay (FOA) picked this community for its fight and the effective way that this form of random and ordinary justice is applied.

The community has applied indigenous justice since 2002 with 10 cases from 2023 to date. Most dealt with stealing animals, land disputes, and division of property. Giving miscreants the chicote –nettle– and water has a meaning. This is done to remove bad energy and attitudes from the person with the intention of changing them, so they won’t repeat. <If you’ve ever brushed up against nettle, you know you wouldn’t want to be beaten with it. Just the thought might make you change your attitude about stealing that cow.>

Mujeres migrantes, victimas de robos, violación y con sus hijos a cuestas (Migrant women, victims of robbery, rape and with their children in tow) – At one time, migration was a thing for men, but now women are crossing the “infierno” (hell – your word for the day) that is the Darien Ggap; they cross alone, with children or their partners. Doctors Without Borders said that it has treated over 1,300 people for sexual violence between abril de 2021 and enero de 2024.

Decálogo de los riesgos (Decalogue of risks (in the Darien Gap)) –
1. Mafias, drug and contraband gangs, guerillas and paramilitaries who steal belongings and food from migrants.
2. Illnesses and injuries, fatal insect bites, sprains and fractures, heat, dedydration, lack of food, contaminated water.
3. Hundreds of animals and insects that inhabit the jungle including snakes, scorpions, jaguars, pumas, tigrillos, wild pigs, foxes, bush dogs, 8″ spiders, and a giant ant whose poison can cause death.
4. Sexual violence.
5. At least 4 rivers that are especially dangerous when the water is high.
6. Risk of exploitation by human traffickers.
7. Rain.
8. Getting lost in the dense vegetation.
9. Deportation since there is no guarantee migrants can enter Panama.
10. Crossing the Darien is not the end of a successful migration since the roads to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and México are dangerous.
<This would be a good time to be thankful that nothing in your life forced you to risk such a dangerous journey.>

Ecuatorianos, el segundo grupo más grande en cruzar el “infierno verde” (Ecuadorians, the second largest group to cross the “green hell”) – According to the MInisterio de Seguridad Pública de Panamá, 520,085 migrants crossed the jungle between Colombia and Panama in 2023. 120,000 were minors. This is more that double the number in 2022. Venezuelans comprised the largest number of migrants entering Panama from the Darien gap with 328,667. Ecuadorians were second with 57,222 and Haitians with 46,558. <That doesn’t count those who died. What a human tragedy.> In 2020, only 8,594 people crossed the gap. In 2021 this increased to 133,726, and in 2022 to 248,283.

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.