Holiday draws big crowds; City cleans walls in historic areas; Poverty rate is 25%; ‘Grill Fest’ at Feria Libre; Murders drop in ’24 but crime still high

Miércoles, 14/8/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Sábado de “Asado fest”, en la Feria (Saturday of “Asado fest” at the Feria) – This sábado, 17/8, “Asado fest” will be at the Feria Libre with a variety of meats and seafood cooked over charcoal. It will start at 9:00 in the platform that also serves as the parking lot. 20 vendors will prepare the meat with mote, llapingachos, and other gastronomic delicacies on the side <like that little dab of salad?>

El viernes dictarán taller de danza contemporánea (Contemporary dance workshop to be held on Friday) – <This is for those of you with young children.> The Museo Pumapungo and “Lumiere Danza Independiente” is organizing the Contemporary Dance Workshop for children from 7-11. It will be el viernes, 16/8 from 9-12:00 in the museum. If interested, register through the museum’s social networks or at https://forms.office.com/r/qLUA3qF8k0 and fill out the registration form. The workshop is free and has limited spaces.

A street vendor sells fruit to motorists on Cuneca’s Av. Ordoñez Lasso. The growth of informal sales reflects Ecuador’s high poverty rate, which reached 25.5% in June. (El Mercurio)

De El Mercurio del martes, 13/8 (2 articles):

Tres megaconciertos habra en el “RotoFest” de octubre (“RotoFest” in October will have 3 mega-concerts) – The “RotoFest Festival” 2024 is preparing 3 megaconcerts of avant-garde music. It will take place in 2 cities with over 100 artists, workshops, exhibitions, and launches. This electronic music festival is one of the longest running ones in Ecuador. This year it will coincide with the 9 de octubre holidays that celebrate the Independence of Guayaquil. The”Opening” will be el jueves,10/10 a las 16:00 in the Parque de la Libertad; the Rock Stage” will be el viernes, 11 a las 13:00 in the same venue. The “Electronic Stage” will be el sábado 12/10 a las 13:00 in the Centro Ecoturístico en Yunquilla.

Fiestas en Cutchil, parroquia de Sígsig (Festivals in Cutchil, parish of Sígsig) – The schedule for the celebration of the 74th anniversary of the Parish of Cutchil will start el lunes, 19/8 with a celebration mass. There will be a motocross competition el 24/8 a las 10:00 in the playa de Citicay. At 12:00 in the multiuse sports field, there will be el cuadrangular de indor <I have no idea what this is but I’ll guess that it’s indoor fútbol. I know you’ll let me know if I’m wrong and how could I be such an ignoramus.>

At 21:00 the queen will be crowned with a performance by an impersonator of Jessi Uribe from the program “Yo me llamo” (My name is). On el domingo 15/8 there will be a civic parade a las 9:00 and a las 14:00 in the parish stadium, there will be the election of the cholita and a musical show with the “Los Garles” trio. Sebastián JImenez, president of the Parish Junta is inviting Azuayans to join the events and taste the culinary offerings such as roasted cuy and trout. <And how many of you are trying not to barf just thinking about cuy on a spit?

Titular –

¡Bienvenido, campeón! (Welcome, champ!) – Daniel Pintado was welcomed home o Cuenca – see Wednesday’s article in CHL.

Cuenca –

Agua con bacterias (Water with bacteria) – <And this isn’t some $40.00 per bottle designer water meant to both hydrate and promote gut health.> The Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control y Vigilancia Sanitaria (ARCSA) found elevated levels of aerobic mesophiles (bacterias) in lot 130 of “Acuaplanet” brand “agua purificada envasada sin gas” (non-carbonated bottled purified water) <I guess not purified enough. I wonder if it would kill the bacteria if you just stuck the water in the freezer overnight – uncapping the bottle first.> ARCSA ordered the product to be removed and warned citizens who have bought that brand to verify if it’s from a contaminated lot and discard it immediately if it is.

De El Mercurio del martes, 13/8 (2 articles):

Limpian fachadas (Facade cleaning) – The Dirección de Áreas Históricas y Patrimoniales has started a campaign to clean facades and public spaces as well as maintain flyers posted in the streets of the Centro Histórico. Personnel of the department started at calles Benigno Malo y Sucre and others to clean walls that have been covered with glues, paint, and other elements that deteriorate the appearance of spaces. This initiative seeks to conserve the esthetics of spaces and promote respect for the heritage.

USD 15,4 millones inyectó el feriado a economía local (Holiday injected $15.4 million into local economy) – The inflow of visitors during the 10 de agosto holidays for the “Primer Grito de Independencia,” left an economic impact of $15,461,715.85 with a hotel occupancy rate of 90.9%. 72,170 came to the city, most through the Terminal Terrestre or in private cars. 3,053 came by air. The places most visited were the Centro Histórico, Parque Calderón, Seminario San Luis, the museums and churches, and the Mirador de Turi. 75,450 people went to the mercados with 33,000 to the mercado 10 de agosto alone which celebrated its 70th anniversary. In addition to the city’s beauty, tourists highlighted aspects such as safety, cleanliness, and the friendliness of Cuencanos as the main attractions for visiting.

Actualidad –

Servicios municipales se pueden hacer en la web (Municipal services can be done on the web) – On the City of Cuenca’s web page (www.cuenca.gob.ec), there is a section titled “Dile al Muni-Atención Ciudadana” where you can enter petitions, complaints, requests, suggestions and denunciations. <Such as why is the light for the bike lane on Alfonso Morena Mora at Solano always red?> You can also follow up on paperwork you’ve already started as well as access public information in 5 steps which are detailed in the same web page. <But you’ve got to be ready to do it in either Spanish or the garbled Google translation to English.>

Pobreza rural del 43.2% en junio: INEC (Rural poverty at 43.2% in June: INEC) – According to data from INEC, the national poverty level in junio, 2024 was at 25.5% while the rural poverty level reached 43.2% with extreme poverty at 24.1%. The poverty line is a monthly per capita family income of $91.55, and extreme poverty is an income of $51.60/month or $1.72 per day. <Imagine living the whole day on less than you spend on a fancy coffee.> Data from the “Pacto por la Niñez y Adolescencia” (Pact for Children and Adolescents) foundation showed the sad reality of increasing child labor in Ecuador. In 2022, 270,000 children worked and today it is close to 370,000.

Sucesos –

Auge de violencia en Ecuador (Rise in violence in Ecuador) – The rise of organized crime in Ecuador made the country the most violent in the region in 2023 when it reached a rate of 47.2 killings per 100,000 inhabitants. Authorities attributed this extreme violence to organized crime dedicated to narcotics trafficking and illegal mining. (see today’s article in CHL) Against this insecurity, Pres. Noboa categorized the fight against organized crime as a “conflicto armado interno” and the gangs as “terroristas.” He also declared a state of emergency and militarized prisons. According to the Government, these measures have reduced the violent deaths to date in 2024 by 17% from the same period in 2023. However, there are still episodes of extreme criminal violence, and other crimes such as extorsions and kidnappings have not stopped.

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.