New bridge will connect two malls; Pink Floyd goes symphonic; Nat’l Assembly visits Cuenca, passes new prison law; Pawkar Raymi celebrated; Agenda

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del jueves, 19/3) – Agenda –
viernes, 20/3 – 11:00 – Pawkar Raymi: El florecimiento de nuestra memoria (The blossoming of our memory) – <Unfortunately, my memory is in the phase where all the petals are falling off.> – Parque Ecológico de Ictocruz (Vía Turi-Ictocruz).
14:00 – (Craft Workshop: Unique Animals) – Biblioteca Municipal de Octavio Cordero (Octavio Cordero Municipal Library) (Parish Center).
14:30 – Taller: Chacana por el Día Internacional de la Felicidad (Workshop: Chacana for International Day of Happiness) – Casa Patrimonial
viernes, 20 – dom. 22/3 – 9:00 – III Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres Parteras y Sanadoras (3rd National Gathering of Midwives and Healers ) – Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno (Sucre y Coronel Talbot).
sábado, 21/3 – 11:00 – Ruta teatralizada: Colectivo Artístico Barojo (Dramatized walking tour: Barojo Artistic Collective) – Museo Municipal de la Paja Toquilla y el Sombrero.
18:00 – Plaza Monroy.
19:00 – Proyección de pelicula al aire libre (Outdoor movie screening) – Plaza del Rollo/Av. Héroes de Verdeloma y del Rollo.

Taita Diego Pesántez and Dianisa, members of the El Vado cultural collective, will participate in the Pawkar Raymi Ritual in El Vado on Friday. (El Mercurio)

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 19/3) El lado sinfónico del rock (The symphonic side of rock) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca will interpret the most emblematic songs of Pink Floyd este viernes, el 20/3 a las 20:00 in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura. On stage will be the OSC, the Sobrepeso Band, and singers Carolina Padrón of Tribus and Santiago Muñoz. Johanna Lucero Gusñay, executive director of the orchestra, said this type of production is part of their work to diversify the artistic proposals of the OSC. It wants to attract young people and new audiences, and break the perception that classical music is only for a specialized public or old people. Tickets are available at Ticketmas. The upper level is sold out. VIP tickets cost $22.00, Box tickets cost $27.00, and the Pink Floyd zone costs $32.00 and includes a souvenir.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 19/3) Danza y ritual en Pawkar Raymi (Dance and Ritual in Pawkar Raymi) – Pawkar Raymi or Musku Nina, the traditional Andean fiesta of the “Fuego Nuevo” will be celebrated Friday, 3/20 in the plazoleta de El Vado. The ancestral ceremony marks the start of the Andean calendar as a time of renovation and gratitude to the earth. The ritual will start at 16:00 and will honor the 4 elements – water, air, sun, and earth. It also seeks to strengthen the connection of the community with nature and life.

Taita Diego Pesántez from the El Vado collective, said the activities will include dances, drums and a ceremony to open a spiritual space <note that spiritual has nothing to do with spirits, and I doubt the ceremony includes getting drunk>, to clean energies, and to receive a new cycle of abundance. The celebration coincides with the equinox when the sun is closest to the Earth and this enhances the energy of the ritual. The event is open to the public which can participate with the drums, dance or conscious presence in a fiesta that rescues tradition and gives thanks to Pachamama.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 18/3) Difunden la agenda por el Día del Agua (Schedule for World Water Day released) – During this week, there will be a series of activities for the World Water Day which will be commemorated el domingo, 22/3. The Cabildo Popular por el Agua de Cuenca is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The program starts el viernes, 20/3 a las 9:00 with conferences in the auditorium at the Jardín Botánico. There will be a commemorative act a las 17:00 with a historical tour of the Cabildo and the significance of the Quinto Río (5th River) <The 5th River is the river of 110,000 people who mobilized to protect water resources in Cuenca and formed a 5th River during the March for Water.>

Also on el 20/3 a las 9:00, there will be a parade organized by the Junta Administradora de Agua Potable de Baños through the main streets of the parish. The Junta de Agua Comunitaria Victoria del Portete-Tarqui along with the Federación de Organizaciones Indígenas y Campesinas del Azuay (FOA) will celebrate a mass in the Catedral el sábado, 21/3 a las 8:00. After mass, the attendees will go to the páramo de Kimsacocha to reinstall the image of the Virgen de las Aguas. On el domingo, 22/3 a las 10:00, ETAPA EP will hold the Encuentro Familiar por el Agua y la Vida, titled “Del Páramo al Quinto Río” in the Jardin Botanico. <I hope they get the damage repaired and the mud from last week’s Yanuncay flooding fixed by then.>

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del jueves, 19/3) Cierre parcial de vía por las obras en el nuevo mall (Partial road closure due to construction at the new mall) – Until el 23/3, there will be a closure of the autopista Cuenca-Azogues because of the start of a pedestrian overpass that will connect the Mall del Alto with the Mall del Río. The closure of both directions of traffic will be between 22:00 and 5:00 with the goal of minimizing impact on traffic. EMOV is recommending that drivers follow preventive measures and use established alternate routes. Mall del Alto opens on May 22.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 18/3) Nueva ley de cárceles se aprueba en Ecuador (New prison law passed in Ecuador) – The Asamblea Nacional met in Cuenca yesterday and approved the Ley Orgánica Reformatoria para el Fortalecimiento del Sistem Penitenciario (Organic Law Amending the Law to Strengthen the Prison System) with 84 votes in favor with 148 Assembly members present. The law establishes that the Sistema Nacional de Rehabilitación Social will incorporate a public policy for inmate work programs within a maximum of 6 months. The objective is to guarantee exercise of the right to develop work and productive activities, in compliance with the rights and guarantees in the Constitution. Prisoners who are suitable to participate in these activities will be selected based on technical criteria for safety, health, ability and the rehabilitation program. The law introduces the Régimen Penitenciario Especial, designed especially for highly dangerous prisoners who represent a real threat to peace and the current state system.

There will be a new classification system for prisoners in the system: maximum, medium, and minimum security which will allow strategic management of each prisoner according to their risk profile. The Cuerpo de Seguridad y Vigilancia Penitenciaria (Correctional Security and Surveillance Corps) will be consolidated as an armed, hierarchical, and technical civil entity in charge of the custody and internal order of the prisons. The law will also allow rehiring of retired police and military into the prisons. These personnel will keep their pensions. A Subsistema de Inteligencia Penitenciaria, a unit specializing in identifying threats in time and in breaking up criminal networks inside the prison blocks, will be created.

Technology to block signals in maximum security centers will impede gang leaders’ abilities to coordinate crimes from their cells. Court hearings will be virtual, reducing risks associated with transporting dangerous prisoners to court. The disciplinary system will be hardened for serious offences, and prisoners with a high risk profile will not be allowed into open and semi open systems. Personnel in prisons for high-risk inmates will follow an obligatory rotation system to prevent their corruption or coercion by the gangs.

An Escuela de Formación Penitenciaria will operate for ongoing training and periodic evaluations of the guards. The Fuerzas Armadas (FF.AA. – Armed Forces) will have a complementary role for exterior and perimeter security and will intervene only in exceptional cases such as riots beyond the capacity of the Policia Nacional to handle. The law seeks to eradicate the illegal economies inside prisons and will sanction “vacunas” (protection rackets), renting cells and basic services. Visits at maximum security prisons will be virtual, limiting physical contact to avoid transferring illegal orders.

(De El Mercurio del martes, 17/3) MSP modificará turnos médicos (MSP will adjust medical appointments) – Vice-president María José Pinto announced that the Government is working to strengthen health centers and modify their hours to adapt to the needs of each sector of the country. Setting up appointments for nights and sábados or shifts from lunes to sábado with adjusted hours are being analyzed. She said one of the problems of the health system is that the population usually goes to a doctor when the disease has advanced. Ecuadorians are accustomed to getting attention for a cure rather than prevention. <I think not just Ecuadorians – some people put off going to the doctor until they think they’re dying. Others rush to emergency if they sneeze.> The Government is studying the possibility of applying a model similar to Spain’s where there are health centers that cover nights and weekends. She detailed 3 measures to improve the health system: make a national registry to know the available infrastructure, implement an interconnected hospital management system, and strengthen primary care. For the supply of medicines, Pinto said that between julio and agosto of 2026, 80% of the medicines required in the public system should be available.