Nine-year-old Ecuadorian girl detained by ICE; Heavy rains will continue; Carnival events announced; Mall del Alto opens in three months; Airport fees increase

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del martes, 3/2) Obra de danza-teatro interpela indiferencia (Dance-theater work challenges indifference) – A theater-dance production organized by the Espacio Escénico will be staged on el 5 & 6/2 in the Auditorio Catalina Sojos in the Casa de la Cultura a las 19:45. The production is an invitation to reflect on war, social indifference, and human responsibility in the face of the suffering that the world is going through. It questions silence, passivity, and the progressive loss of sensitivity in the face of violence, proposing a critical reflection about the role of the individual and the collective against these scenarios. <It sounds like they’re looking for a response besides “overwhelmed and paralyzed by the news.”> Tickets are available on Meet2Go or the Taita Panadería on calles Larga y Manuel Vega. For more information, call 593 98 801 4071.

Heavy rain is triggering landslides and closing highways into Cuenca. The Cuenca-Giron-Machala highway and the Cuenca-Molleturo-Guayaquil highway have both experienced closures in recent days. (El Mercurio)

De El Mercurio del miércoles, 4/2) Cuenca con ‘carnavales, a lo grande’ (Cuenca with ‘carnivals, in a big way’ <or should that be “bigly?>) – The Municipio de Cuenca has prepared more than 80 activities to celebrate Carnaval. You can see details about the main events at a display inside the Mercado 10 de Agosto. The main events start with the Jueves de Compadres y Comadres on el jueves, 12/2 a las 18:00 in the parque La Libertad with music groups Arjé, Gerardo Morán and Los Dukes. On el viernes 13/2 <Friday the 13th in case that affects your planning> there will be a Color Fest 5k race starting a las 17:00 at the parque El Paraíso and ending at the Alejandro Serrano Aguilar stadium. Later, a las 18:00, also in the stadium, there will be a concert with the groups Lolabun, Papaya Dada, Swing Original Monks, and Máquina Camaleón.

El sábado, 14/2 will start early with the Carnaval 4 Ríos de Cuenca parade from the parque San Blas along calle Bolívar to the plazoleta San Francisco where the the biggest Motepata in the world Festival will start a las 10:00. During this event, representatives from the Guinness World Records will award an official recognition to the City. In the evening a las 20:00, the Carnaval Cuenca Flow concert will take place in the stadium featuring Nicky Jam with Trébol Clan and DJ Pablo Control. Proceeds from the ticket sales go to ETAPA so it can buy land in the Kimsacocha zone to increase the páramo conservation and preservation area. <This makes sense if you know that ETAPA manages the Cajas National Park, which is the source of water that ETAPA treats and sells to you.> Tickets will be available starting el jueves, 5/2 in the branches of the Municipal Farmacia Solidaria (Farmasol). Prices vary from $5 for general admission to $35 for the Box zone.

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del martes, 3/2) Nuevas tasas rigen en el aeropuerto de Guayaquil (New fees in effect at Guayaquil airport) – Starting on el 1/2, airport fees at the José Joaquiín de Olmedo in Guayaquil rose by 2.56%. The increase was approved by the Guayaquil City Council and responded to a contractual obligation to Tagsa, the business with the concession to run the airport, which authorized the increase in line with inflation. The new fees are: domestic departure, $12.12; international departure, $34.60; security fee, $6.54 totalling $28.66 for domestic departures and $41.14 for international. Tagsa pointed out that the airlines will decide whether they will assume the fees or pass them on to flyers.

(De El Mercurio del martes, 3/2) Otra niña ecuatoriana detenida por el ICE (Another Ecuadorian girl detained by ICE) – Volunteers and teachers at a public school in Colombia Heights, Minnesota started a GoFundMe campaign to help, Elizabeth Z, a nine-year-old. The GoFundMe page said that “Elizabeth is a student in the 4th grade and has been part of our community since she was in kindergarten”. She and her mother, both Ecuadorians, were detained by ICE when they were on their way to school. Elizabeth was able to call her father and indicated that the ICE agents assured her that she would be dropped off at school. <Liar, liar, pants on fire.> The father went to the school immediately, but his child never got there. Hours later the father confirmed that his wife and child had been taken to an ICE detention center in Texas. <Can you imagine yourself as a parent in that situation? A complete family in the morning and a few hours later, split up and almost 1,300 miles apart?>

De El Mercurio del miércoles, 4/2) Según ETAPA las lluvias serán toda la semana (According to ETAPA, it will rain all week) – Rigoberto Guerrero, a technician with ETAPA announced that during the rest of this week there will be an 80% chance of rain in Cuenca. He said the intensity of the rain in enero and so far in febrero has exceeded the normal levels in the last years. The rain in the Ucubamba sector on el 2/2 that caused flooding was more than 20 mm. per hour, an amount that exceeded the capacity of the creek which overflowed. On martes, a flood alert was issued for the río Tarqui. The other 3 rivers were in normal condition. The continuous rain has saturated the watersheds so that the rain doesn’t filter into the soil, but runs off and enters the river directly.

The Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología (INAMHI) is recommending staying away from the riverbanks and staying alert. On lunes, at least 12 houses were flooded in the Ucubamba sector. The fire department reported flooding in homes in the Paccha and Ricaurte sectors. The rains provoked a landslide on kilometer 49 of the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje, in the Pichanillas sector, in the Sayausí zone as well as on the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme. Another slide was reported on the vía Zhud-Cochancay with one house at risk of collapsing.

De El Mercurio del miércoles, 4/2) – Parque Calderón: las mejoras en 4 etapas (Parque Calderón: improvements in four stages) – The changes to the paving in Parque Calderón started with fencing in the sector of Calle Sucre in front of the New Cathedral and Hemiciclo. <That sounds like the SW quarter of the park.> The work will continue in segments with the area across from the Corte de Justicia next <SE>, followed by the section across from the Casa Amarilla and the provincial offices <NEZ, with the area across from the Seminario San Luis and Tosi last . Each quadrant will be closed for about a month and half with workers on the job 24/7 with a 210 day total construction period. The scope of work will be changing the ceramic tile flooring, renewing the electrical system, installing security cameras and a loudspeaker system. The new flooring will be andesita martelinada stone. Measures will be applied to minimize dust and noise.

De El Mercurio del miércoles, 4/2) El nuevo Mall del Alto está por abrir (The new Mall del Alto is about to open) – The Mall del Alto is less than 3 months away from opening. This new project from the Go Corp, part of the Grupo Ortiz, is across the autopista from the Mall del Río. Different international brands including HM, GAP, Old Navy and Banana Republic <Really? That sounds like taunting – Banana Republic in a “Banana Republic”> will be in the mall. There will also be experiences other than shopping including a go-kart track, a bowling alley, and state-of-the-art movie theaters. The Mall will be inaugurated in the last week of abril. <Get your credit card ready, and spend, spend, spend. Uphold the consumer society reputation that the US and its citizens have.>
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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.