Peoples’ tribunal challenges IMF, World Bank; Record heat poses growing threat; Mazar reservoir nears historic low; ‘Terror Cinema’ in Paute; Cuenca queen

Jueves, 24/10/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Festival destacará rol de la mujer rural (Festival to highlight role of rural women) – The “Warmi Rural” festival will be held from el 25-27/10 in the plaza de San Francisco. There will be 130 women from different parishes of the canton who will sell their products, crafts and more articles. 20 entrepreneurs from the Casa Municipal de la Mujer will also participate. Musical groups such as Tierra Canela and Orquesta Cuencanísima and other local and national artists will perform.

Low flow levels have plagued Ecuador’s hydroelectric plants in recent months, especially the ones on the Rio Paute, east of Cuenca.

En Nabón se efectuará festival “Guitar Warmi” (Guitar Warmi” festival to be held in Nabón) – The “Guitar Warmi” festival will be held el 3/11 a las 11:00 in the plaza central of Nabón. It will bring together national and international guitarists including Carla Santos, Nivia Flores y Damaris Ortiz with a performance by the Sauroria Orquesta.

Cuatro días para mirar “Cine del terror”: Paute (Four days to watch “Cinema of Terror”: Paute) – This special event called “Cine del terror” and organized by the “Ti Gallery” collective with support from the city, will be held in the teatro municipal (municipal theater) from el 26-30/10. On el sábado, 26/10 the screenings will be at 9:00 and 12:00. From domingo, 27/10 to the next miércoles, 30/10, the screenings will be at 9:00 and 22:00. The movies are classified by age for children and teens aged 7,8,10,12,13,16,& 18. <What happened to the 9, 11, 14, 15, and 17 year olds?>

Titular –

Natalia Arízaga, Reina de Cuenca (Natalia Arízaga, Queen of Cuenca) – Natalia Arízaga Hamilton was elected Queen of Cuenca from a field of 8 candidates at a ceremony el miércoles in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz. She is a 24 year old interior designer and her project is “Proyecto Futuro Seguro” which will focus on empowering women through family planning, combating intrafamilial violence, and entrepreneurship workshops. 30 former Queens of Cuenca were invited to the event. <I find it curious that of the 22 women I could see clearly in the photo, 16 looked to be blondes. That sure isn’t the percentage you see out on the streets.>

Cuenca –

Ola de calor sin precedentes (Unprecedented heat wave) – Cuenca is facing an unusual heat wave with temperatures bordering 30° Celsius. And it is being considered a result global warming. Usually, average temperatures swing between 12 & 20° C. due to the altitude. Rigoberto Guerrero from ETAPA said that in 2014, maximum temperatures oscillated between 23 & 26°. Through this decade, there has been a continual increase in temperatures. In 2023, the temperature reached 29.4°, a historic maximum. Last sábado, the temp. was 29.2 and on martes, it reached 29.4. Another factor that contributed to the conservation of heat was the presence of clouds during the nights which prevents rapid heat dissipation into the atmosphere.

Guerrero said that Cuenca has gotten 4 degrees hotter in the last 10 year. Adriana Fajardo, an environmental engineer and greenhouse gas researcher, said that the high temperatures being felt are a result of the direct sunshine, exacerbated by the lack of clouds during the day. This allows the sun to shine more strongly, elevating temperatures. She said this phenomenon doesn’t only affect the well being of people, but can have negative impacts on the local ecosystems. She mentioned an area such as Tarqui, where there are recommendations to not keep cattle out in the open and to make sure they’re well hydrated since they can get sick and then produce less milk. She said it is crucial to implement measures to help mitigate these effects such as creating green spaces which can offer shade and reduce the urban temperature. She also suggested promoting environmental education in schools so that the population will be conscious of the importance of caring for their surroundings and adopt sustainable practices. Inamhi said people should avoid prolonged exposure to the sun between 10:00 and 15:00 due to high UV radiation.

De El Mercurio del miércoles, 23/10 (1 article):
IVA bajará al 8% para el turismo en feriadas (IVA will be lowered to 8% for tourism during fairs) – IVA will drop from 15% to 8% during the 4-day holiday for the Día de Difuntos (Day of the Dead) and the Independancia de Cuenca for the tourism sector in Cuenca. <I guess that means if you go to Coral and load up on toilet paper, chips and dip, and beer, the tax is still 15%.> The IVA will be reduced on all touristic services and activities from el viernes, 1/11 to el lunes, 4/11. The President issued Decreto Ejectivo 429 as a was to boost the reactivation of the tourism sector.

Tribunal popular busca juzgamiento a FMI y BM (People’s Tribunal seeks judgment against IMF and WB) – El Tribunal de los Pueblos y la Naturaleza (The Tribunal for the People and Nature) against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank celebrated the 1st in a series of hearings el martes. The Tribunal is looking to address the “problemática del sistema de endeudamiento ilegítimo y sus graves impactos sociales, ecológicos y económicos” (problems of the illegitimate debt system and its serious social, ecological and economic impacts) <kind of like owing your soul to the company store, but on a national scale) This initiative, which brings together an international group of social organizations, networks and movements to conduct ‘hearings, whose rulings are given by a popular jury in different countries until noviembre de 2025. The last hearing will be at the Cumbre de los Pueblos (People’s Summit) at COP30 in Belém, Pará, Brazil.

De El Mercurio del miércoles, 23/10 (2 articles):
Se abre mercado para exportar leche a Chile (Market for milk exports to Chile opens) – Ecuador opened the Chilean market for the export of dairy products for human consumption from cows, sheep, and goats. Data from the Centro de la Industria Láctea (CIL), the national production of milk reached 5.7 million liters per day in 2023. Patricio Almeida, executive director of Agrocalidad, said that with the Servicio Agrícola Ganadero (SAG – Agricultural and Livestock Service) of Chile, they coordinated actions so that the SAG accepted the proposal for the animal health certification for export. The next step is to enable those businesses interested in exporting under the procedures established by SAG. <So your next glass of milk in Santiago might come from Ecuador.>

Tras baja en cortes, Mazar opera al límite (Mazar operates at its limit after cut-offs) – According to a report issued ayer, the embalse (reservoir – your word for the day) at Mazar reached critical levels. It passed 2,115 meters above sea level (msnm in Spanish) to 2,112 msnm, and if gets below 2,110 it could damage the turbines. There is also the risk that it could become necessary <Is that a correct translation of the subjunctive?> to increase blackout hours. After the Government’s decision to reduce blackout hours from 10 to 8 starting las lunes, consumption of water in the reservoir reached 9 centimeters per hour. Darío Dávalos, an energy expert, said that the reservoir is only 1.27 meters above the level reached last 10/10 when the Government was obliged to restart blackouts of more than 10 hours.

The situation isn’t better for the Coca Codo Sinclair. Its maximum capacity is 1,500 megawatts, but the in current crisis it has generated up to 1,000 MW, and in the last few days it has fluctuated between 400 & 600 MW due to the lack of rain in that area. A weather alert issued ayer by Inamhi, forecasted episodes of rains and electrical storms in various areas of the Amazon region which would benefit the Coca Coda Sinclair plant. However, no precipitation is expected in the Paute sector.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne