City considers three bus fare options; Recent murders are linked to criminal gangs; Warmi Festival features exhibits and events at San Francisco Plaza

Bored?
Segundo festival Ídolos “Jóvenes del Ecuador” – The Dirección (Department) Municipal de Cultura y la Asociación de Artistas Profesionales del Azuay (AAPA) announced the 2nd edition of the Festival Ídolos “Jóvenes (Youth) del Ecuador” which is dedicated to promoting creativity and talent in young artists inspired by the traditional genres in the country. The event will be el 23/10 a las 20:00 in the Teatro at the Casa de la Cultura. The festival is seeking to strengthen cultural identity and offers a platform where new generations can interpret and revalue traditional Ecuadorian musical expressions. <What would be traditional American musical expressions? Blues, jazz, clogging, square dancing, boy bands, elevator music?>

Rata Blanca regresa a Cuenca con Saratoga y Bajo Sueños – The well-known Argentine rock band, Rata Blanca, will return to Cuenca along with the bands Saratoga and Bajos Sueños. The concert will be el 24/10 a las 17:00 in the Jefferson Pérez Coliseum as part of Rata Blanca’s “Magos, espadas y rosas” tour of S. America. Tickets are available from www.ticketshow.com.ec or at the ticket sales booth at the Mall del Río. Cost: from $21 to $78.

This weekend’s Warmi Festival at the San Francisco Plaza will feature 140 exhibitors. The main event will be the election of a Mini Cholita Cuencana.

Se elegirá a la primera MIni Cholita Cuencana – The Festival Warmi Rural 2025 will be celebrated from el 24-26/10 in San Francisco plaza with participation by women from rural parishes in Cuenca and the province. This meeting seeks to strengthen ties between the country and city, making the work of women in the country more visible, and boosting the local economy through the sale of agricultural, crafts, ancestral medicines, bee products, and traditional foods <some yummy, grease dripping off your chin cuy anybody?> from 140 exhibitors. One of the main events will be the election of the Mini Cholita Cuencana on the 26/10 a las 10:00. This initiative is by the current Cholita Cuencana, Guadalupe Romero with the goal of little girls learning about and valuing the customs and traditions of the 21 rural parishes of Cuenca. <Looks like that whole Jon Bonet Ramsey syndrome of baby beauty contests has arrived in Cuenca.>

Ultiman festival de Carnes Asadas – <This event is for all of you who love the marriage of meat and fire.> The Parish Junta of San Joaquín is organizing the 2nd Festival de Carnes Asadas for el domingo, 26/10 starting at 10:00 in the central plaza of the parish. The festival will celebrate one of the most traditional and representative dishes of the parish. There will be a competition in 3 categories: the best BBQ <from the picture it looks like grilled and not barbequed meat>, the most creative recipe, and the best booth. The judges will evaluate the flavor, cooking techniques, juiciness, texture and seasoning, creativity in the recipes, presentation, and quality of service to the client. <The poor quality of the last item being the subject of recent (or perpetual) complaints in this publication.> The organizers are expecting/hoping to surpass the 8,000 who attended last year. Entertainment will include the Banda 24 de Mayo, Patty Ray, and the impersonator from “Yo me llamo,” Rudolfo Aicardi.

Curious?
Cuatreros dispararon a la policía – A security camera caught a confrontation between members of the Policía Nacional and 4 suspected rustlers on the vía Turi-Gullanzhapa. The video shows a cop and patrol car blocking a road, just after which a pickup truck appears. 2 occupants of the pickup got out of the truck, ran, and shots were heard. Another 2 suspects jumped out of the truck bed and ran into the bushes. After that, neighbors burned the pick up after suspecting it was being used to steal cattle. They told the police that they saw a lump in the truck which turned out to be a cow. A community chat was activated to catch the rustlers, and during the chase shots were fired against the police who returned fire. <Sounds like the wild west out there in cow country.

Cuenca, otra vez bajo fuego – There was another violent week in Cuenca with a new armed attack leaving 2 dead and 2 injured, barely a week after a similar attack. The latest attack was on Saturday night in the Cayambe barrio when occupants of a vehicle came to the site and started shooting. A man who lived in the neighborhood and collected recyclables while accompanied by several street dogs he fed, was killed near the parking lot of the Oasis night club. Police said he was a collateral victim. Two men who were on the sidewalk were both injured and both had police records for crimes such as drug trafficking, possession of illegal substances, firearms trafficking, and crimes against public health. <I’m wondering what a crime against public health could be – spitting or s***ting on a public sidewalk? It wouldn’t be pissing in a public place or half the male population in Cuenca would be in jail. Maybe selling expired seafood?>

Police are investigating if this attack is related to the fight between two gangs for control of micro trafficking drugs in Cuenca.

On Saturday el 18/10, a man from Guayas and a Venezuelan woman were killed by 2 hitmen on a motorcycle in the La Uncovía sector in the north of Cuenca. The man died at the scene and police investigations showed the woman was a collateral victim. Her husband, also Venezuelan, was also injured. The bullets also hit 2 other citizens who were in the area.

Crime data: Between enero, 2025 and octubre to date, 21 violent deaths were reported in Azuay. In the same period of 2024, there were 85 cases.

From National Police data, 60% of the crimes in 2024 were concentrated in the Camilo Ponce Enríquez canton.
4 deaths were reported in the Turi Prison.

A report from the Observatorio Ecuatoriano de Crimen Organizado showed that homicides increased in Ecuador in the first half of 2025.

Azuay Province had a rate of 1.56 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. By comparison, Guayas Province has a rate of  34.04.

The Policía Nacional and the Fuerzas Armadas (FF.AA. – military) applied plan 2.0 in Ponce Enríques in western Azuay to reduce violence, which has reduced murders by more than 90%.

Sicarios no dan tregua – A new attack on Monday night, el 20/10, on calle Cardenal Pablo Muñoz Vega in the Las Peñas barrio, resulted in 2 people killed and another injured. One of the dead men had a criminal record for robbery, drug trafficking and trespassing. The 2nd victim has not been identified. Neighbors told the police the victims were drinking when 2 subjects came on foot and started shooting. The attackers fled in a white Tucson with polarized windows and without license plates.

In the past 9 days from el 11-20/10, 6 people have been killed in a series of armed attacks. The attacks took place in La Uncovía, the barrio Cayambe, the Parque Nacional Cajas and Las Peñas. According to Hugo Arroyo, commander of the Azuay subzone of the Policía Nacional, the crimes were related to recent arrests and sentencing of members of the Los Lobos gang in Cuenca. On el 13/10, 13 members of Los Lobos operating in Cuenca were sentenced to 7-10 years, starting an internal power struggle. The police chief said that the people killed in Cuenca were linked to trafficking and consumption of drugs <like that unfortunate recycler?> and were not natives of Azuay province. <So are some of you commenters going to tell the rest of us that it’s time for all of us law abiding citizens to go out and buy guns?>

3 escenarios para pasajes – The debate over adjusting the fares for urban transit has reached a decisive phase. After more than 2 weeks of intermittent service, the Concejo Cantonal is getting ready to analyze 3 alternatives to guarantee continuous service. Currently bus fare is 30 cents, and increasing operating costs and elimination of fuel subsidies has reopened the fare discussion. One proposal is to raise fares to 40 cents, of which the rider will pay 35 cents with the City subsidizing 5 cents. This will raise the municipal subsidy to about $1,000,000 more a year. This option doesn’t completely address the demands of the transportation union, but it will permit resuming normal service.

The 2nd alternative is that the City would cover 100% of the subsidy which would represent about $10,000,000 per year. This would imply halting construction projects, and citizens would probably object to bearing that cost.

A 3d proposal from councilman Román Carabajo is to create an integrated mobility system that functions with a personalized card permitting unlimited trips on buses, the tranvía and public bicycles for a monthly fee of $20 to $25. According to a 2023 study by the U. of Cuenca, the transport system has over 258,000 riders. Of those, 79% or 204,089 pay full fare, 8% or 20,667 pay half fare, and 13% or 33,584 pay a student half fare. Each rider spends an average of $19.80 a month on transport. A monthly fare could cover the $53 million of the transport systems’ operating costs. This model would require a technological redesign and regulations, but Carabajo considers it the ideal alternative for the future. He said that people who use public transport infrequently would keep the normal fare and vulnerable groups would keep their benefits.

According to the U. of Cuenca study, the fare should be set at 40 cents, but the transportation sector doesn’t agree. The President of the Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca said the study is not technically supported and it presented alternatives from a floor of 44 cents to a ceiling of 57 cents. The recommended 40 cent fare considered criteria outside of provision of services.
__________________

Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.