Area needs 10 days of rain to recharge rivers and watershed; González promises road money; 37,000 holiday tourists boost city economy; El Niño preps

Miércoles, 4/10/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Antología rememora obra de fotógrafos cuencanos (Anthology commemorates the work of Cuencanan photographers) – Mañana (jueves) there will be a book launch for “Antología de la fotografía cuencana en los siglos XX y XXI.” The photos were studied and selected by photographer and researcher Gabriela Parra. The book contains the work of 32 photographers whose subjects were landscapes, portraits, photojournalism, and photographic studies. These photos are part of an exhibit on the 2nd floor of the Antigua Escuela Central. The presentation of the book will start at 18:30. Entry to the book launch is free. <If you’re lucky, you might get a free copy. I went to a book launch once and got a free copy of La Lengua Morlaca.>

A crowd enjoys a street performance Calle Santa Ana Street, next to the cathedral, during the three-day holiday weekend. (El Mercurio)

Publicación sobre cosmos presentarán en Planetario (Publication on cosmos to be presented at the Planetarium) – The book “El diseño del cosmos más allá de las estrellas” (The design of the cosmos beyond the stars) by Daniel Patiño will be launched el viernes a las 19:00 in the Planetario Municipal in the parque De La Madre. The book contains data about outer space, curiosities, physical and mathematical elements to explain objects outside our world, and a summary of discoveries made by humans. If you are interested in getting the book, call 098 541 2050 or go to the author’s Facebook page.

Titular – González compromete emergencia vial: Azuay (Gonzalez commits to road emergency: Azuay) – Presidential candidate Luisa González met with Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora over 3 main issues. The first was decentralization. According to the mayor Azuay and the south have been affected by excessive centralization on a recurring basis. They also talked about the insecurity the city lives in, which he attributed to the carcel at Turi which was built in 2014 to house 2,715 prisoners from only Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago. They also spoke about increasing the budget from the Estado (state, or federal government) for the province, cities, and parish juntas. This money was reduced in the last year.

González also met with representatives from the Asamblea Ciudadana Gran Cruzada por la Vialidad del Azuay (Citizens’ Assembly Great Crusade for Roads in Azuay) which was chaired by Cristina García, president of the Cámara de Construcción de Cuenca (CCC). González promised to declare a road emergency in Azuay to guarantee the resources for maintenance and reconstruction of roads. She also offered to delegate the authority for the state (federal) roads in their jurisdictions to the Prefecturas of Azuay and Cañar. The Asamblea Ciudadana Gran Cruzada por la Vialidad del Azuay asked for urgent intervention to the vías Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje, Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme, and roads connecting Azuay with the Oriente such as Gualaceo-Plan de Milagro-Limón, Paute-Guarumales-Méndez, and Sígsig-Chiguínda-Gualquiza. Daniel Noboa will meet with the mayor el jueves to find out what the city needs. <Same things Zamora told González – money, roads, and safety – so if Noboa reads the paper, he should have his promises all lined up and ready to go.>

Elecciones –

Ultiman jornada de votación en las cárceles y en casas (Finalizing voting in prisons and at home) – The CNA met to plan voting this jueves y viernes for prisoners who have not yet been sentenced and Voto en Casa for 36 homebound voters. To be eligible for Voto en Casa you need to be at least 75% disabled, over 50, and unable to get to a polling place. <Think about it – there are places in the US where sufferage is actively being supressed. So real democracy is here in a “banana republic” and not in the “home of the free?”>

Los gastos de campaña deben reportarse al CNE (Campaign expenses must be reported to the CNE.) – The CNE announced that campaign expense reporting will start el 27/10 and finish el 25/11. All political organizations must submit information about the income and expenditures of the funds for electoral promotion. This information must include the sources of all funds and the names of contributors. <No anonymous billionaires shuffling shadowy money into PACs, or trade associations showering candidates with cash for future benefits.> If there are inconsistencies, the CNE will send the information to the Tribunal Contencioso Electoral (TCE).

De El Mercurio del martes, 10/10/2023 (1 article):
Hay condiciones que aplican para la anulación de un voto (There are conditions that apply for the annulment of a vote) – According to the Ley Orgánica Electoral y de Organizaciones Políticas, in order for a vote to be considered null, it must be marked in certain ways. One is to mark a vote for more than one candidate when only one person (such as Pres., or Prefect or Mayor) or pair (such as Pres. and VP) can run and win. Another way is to mark votes for more than one slate of candidates, or select candidates from different slates (when the slate as a whole needs to be elected). You can also mark a ballot with words like nulo or anulado or mark a ballot with erasures that clearly show you want to vote null. <Or you can give the ballot to your 2 year old and let them vote with every color marker you have in your pocket, but not your purse, since you’re not supposed to bring your purse into the polls.>

Cuenca –

Casi tres millones dejó el feriado (The holiday left almost $3 million) – The 3 day 9 de octubre holiday left $2,994,956 according to the City of Cuenca. Hotel occupation was at 77.30% with 37,437 visitors, most of whom were from the Coast, specifically Guayaquil, and Pichincha.

Se requieren más lluvias para nivelar los caudales (More rain needed to level flows) – At least 10 days of significant rain is needed to raise the flows of Cuenca’s rivers to their normal levels. There has been sporadic rain since el pasado lunes which isn’t enough to return flows to the levels needed to consider the drought over.

Campaña con fin social para enfrentar a El Niño (Campaign with social purpose to face El Niño) – All signs point to El Niño being an event that will wreak estragos (havok – your word for the day) on Ecuador. Because of this the Archdiocese of Cuenca through its Food Bank, will conduct a campaign, “Sé el paraguas de alguien más” (Be someone else’s umbrella), to collect non-perishable products, clothing and toys. The idea of the Banco de Alimentos is to be ready for repercussions from El Niño in the different regions of the country. Currently the food bank has two collection centers, one in the Seminario de Monay (calles OEA y Pasto, with hours from 8-17:00) and in the Todosantos Complex on calle Larga (hours from 8-17:00). At the Seminario, volunteers are already sorting donated clothing into boxes for the Sierra and the Costa, and for children and adults. They are now accepting non-perishable food. The food bank was opened in 2020 to help people during the pandemic.

Hay cuatro opciones de voluntario (There are four options for volunteers) – Besides the Food Bank, ther are 4 ways you can volunteer within the organization. The 1st is as a community volunteer where you can help in exchange for 15 kilos of non-perishable and perishable food. The 2nd is for pre-professional internships by students who want to develop projects at the food bank. The 3d is focused on the businesses in the city, and the 4th is with family participation. <I’d say a group of unrelated gringos who want to help would be considered a family – part of the Family of Man?>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne