Airport extends hours; City service center receives requests, complaints; Gold mine considers its next move; Weekend cultural events and concerts

Miércoles, 30/8/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Taller musical gratuito en la Antigua Escuela (Free music workshop at the Antigua Escuela) – A workshop in the technology involved in the creation of music will be given between el 3 & 5/10 from 14:00 a 18:00 in the Antigua Escuela Central. The workshop will be given by Adrián Matos who will teach production in ‘home studio,’ mixing, mastering and live set performance. This is part of the Rotofest music festival which will be el 7/10. If you are interested in participating, go to www.rotofest.com.

Employees of the Loma Larga mine conduct a survey in the Quimsacocha National Recreational Area near Cuenca. (El Mercurio)

Convocatoria para publicar en revista (Call for publication in a magazine) – The Casa de la Cultura is issuing a new call for articles to published in its magazine, “Monda y Lironda.” The articles should have a central theme of Ecuadorian politics through criticism, literature or an overview. Winners will have their articles published in the December issue and receive an economic recognition of $55. Send your submissions to https.//mondaylironda.cceazuay.gob.ec/. <Here’s your chance to get your complaints about Ecuadorian politics into the public sphere. You’ll have to do more work than just grouse about it on gringo chat venues, though. LIke maybe spend a few years in Spanish classes? But if your article is selected, you will be a published, paid writer!>

Exposición en el vestíbulo municipal (Exhibition in the municipal lobby) – An exhibit titled “Sinfonía Creativa” by artists, Melissa Uzhca, José Córdova, and Rosana Fernández de Córdova, will open this 1/9 in the vestibule of city hall. There are 3 themes: ContraHilo shows the art of weaving or knitting, Arte Cinético is captured in sculptures, and Nunca showcases clay.

De El Mercurio del martes, 29/8/3023 (3 items):
Conciertos en la Casa de la Cultura – The bands, El Funambulista Irrompible, Sugxr Babies, y MegaMonfort will preform el 30/8 a las 19:30 in the terrace of the Casa de la Cultura (Pres. Córdova 7-89, 5th floor). Cost: $8.00. On el 31/8 (same time?), the concert, “Volver a ser semilla otra vez” by Kike Pacherres will be in the Sala Alfonso Carrasco. Cost: $10.00.

Exposición colectiva – The collective exhibit, “Máscaras, arte y cultura” by Eduardo Segovia, Fausto Bravo, y Rosana Fernández de Córdova will open el 7/9 a las 19:00 in the Casa Patrimonial Muncipal del Alfarero (Convención del 45 y Mariscal Lamar) with the artists in attendance.

Revista del CIDAP – Edition 79 of the Revista Artesanías de América (Crafts of Americas Magazine) is available for free in PDF at the CIDAP website: https://www.cidap.gob.ec. The issue has 10 articles about the waist loom, the craftspeople and their activities, and other topics

Titular –

2 consultas para Loma Larga (2 inquiries for Loma Larga) – Loma Larga, formerly known as Quimsacocha, the 2nd of the 3 mining projects in Cuenca, has been suspended. The mine, which was supposed to be active from 2023 to 2034, also crosses into Girón and San Fernando. The Sala Especializada of the Civil y Mercantil of the Court of Justice of Azuay arranged the stoppage last Monday after concluding that the right to prior, free, and informed consultation was violated and should be done by the Government. The court ordered that this be done as well as an environmental consultation before the issuance of an environmental license.  It also mandated that the Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica (MAATE) present a complete report on the current state of the Quimsacocha National Recreational Area which is next to the location of the mine. In this way, the court ratified a 2022 decision by judge Juan Carlos Cárdenas.

The judicial process was in response to an action of protection filed last year by the Federación de Organizaciones Indígenas y Campesinas del Azuay (FOA). Arariwa Sigcha, president of the FOA, called the decision a landmark ruling for the defense of water in Ecuador.

Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) from Canada, responded to the ruling in a press release. It said that the decision reaffirmed the DPM’s mining concession, and clarified that the State should conduct the free, previous, and informed consultation which the business had planned to do as part of the development of the project. It also said that MAATE should have presented the court with the additional studies about the impact of the project on water resources. It said the company would implement the highest applicable <now there’s a waffle word and a future defense if Cuenca’s water supply becomes undrinkable> standards of environmental protection. The company will keep open and transparent communications with interested parties under their corporate purpose to transform resources <like turning water into poison> and generate value shared with all <1 for you, 2 for me, 1 more for you, 4 for me, etc.>.

Cuenca –

De El Mercurio del martes, 29/8/3023 (2 articles):
Aeropuerto amplía horario de 06:00 hasta las 23:00 (Airport extends hours from 06:00 to 23:00) – The Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas (MTOP) zone 6 announced the approval to increase hours of service at the ‘Mariscal La Mar’ Airport in Cuenca. As of ayer (lunes), the terminal can operate from 6:00 to 23:00. This extension of hours will allow more flexibility for passengers and airlines to give the possibility of more connections and options for flights.

As of el 4/8, Aeroregional is operating with a connection to Panamá and from el 10/8 there will be a connection to Lima. Currently the airport has between 49 & 51 flights a week to Quito y Guayaquil. El lunes, Corpac (Corporación Aeroportuaria de Cuenca) gave information about the maintenance of the platform, updating the master plan, and implementation of 2 escalators.

Atención ciudadana en los mercados (Citizen service in markets) – <The headline is misleading – the service center is not in the markets.> One of Mayor Zamora’s campaign promises was to keep direct channels of communications open to receive inquiries and requests from residents in Cuenca. To that end, the Dirección Municipal de Mercados has opened a citizen service center in the Centro de Mercados on calle Pasaje Amancay 1-41 y av. Paucarbamba. It will be staffed on los lunes and los martes from 15:00 a 16:30. There will be no charge to those submitting requests and petitions. Also, complaints can be placed on the social networks. <Another venue for gingos to complain besides gringo chat venues. Doesn’t that make you feel like a bigshot – you’ve got a direct line to the Mayor?>

Empresarial –

Aduanas decomisa cigarillos de contrabando por USD 3,8 millones (Customs seizes contraband cigarettes worth $3.8 million) – The Cuerpo de Vigilancia Aduanera (CVA – Customs Surveillance Corps) of the Carchi province seized a 40 foot container full of contraband cigarettes on el 23/8 at the Rumichaca international bridge between Ecuador and Colombia. <Bad news for all you smokers. Maybe you should find a different bad habit – like biting your nails. At least that won’t give you lung cancer.> According to a study, 8 out of 10 brands of cigarettes are contraband, mostly from Asia. The percentage of illegal trade in cigarettes is 80%.

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, they are the responsibility of El Mercurio. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.