Assembly wants revision of Central Bank bill; Post Office pick-up note; Symphony live tonight; Carriers protest informal vans; Shortage of kids’ vaccines

Jueves, 11/2/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Cuatro repertorios para concierto de Sinfónica (Four repertoires for Symphony concert) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca (OSC) will present a new concert Friday a las 19:00 in the Treatro Pumapungo with 30% capacity. Once that number has been reached, no more people will be admitted. Concert goers will neeed to use masks and observe social distancing. On the program are the grand allegro from the Alla Mendelssohn concert by Giovanny Bottesini; Oblivion by Asto Piazzolla; Introduction theme and variations for clarinet and strings by Joseph Kuffner; and Ballet Idomeneo by Mozart.

Dos días de cine en la Alianza Francesa (Two days of cinema at the Alianza Francesa) – The Alianza Francesa (Tadeo Torres y av. Solano) will show films on el 23/2 and 24/2 alas 19:00. The first film on el 23/2 will be a viewers’ choice between “Play” by A. Marciano and “Habitación 212” by C. Honoré. Vote at cultura@afcuenca.org.ec. The second film on 24/2 will be “Cartas del continente” which contains 21 danced testimonies and 21 letters written by African artists in the middle of the pandemic. Free, with reduced capacity,

Otras cosas –

Special – This is NOT an unApril Fool’s story. A friend went to the Correas del Ecuador on Borrero and found it was open and he picked up his mail from Social Security. If you search online for Correas del Ecuador, Cuenca, it tells you if it is open or when it will open. My friend said the hours were from 8-1, and 2-5. So if you’ve been waiting for Proof of Life forms or other documents, check out the post office. They may be there. This is not information I have confirmed for myself by going to the P.O.

Titular – Tensión por saber resultados finales (Tension to know final results) – See Thursday’s CHL article for story.

The Cuenca Symphony Orchestra is back in action tonight at the Pumapungo Theater.

Conteo de actas termina en Azuay (Ballot count ends in Azuay) – The president of the Junta Provincial Electoral del Azuay indicted that all ballots will be counted by jueves. The count on the Consulta Popular por el Agua (referendum on mining) is the slowest with 63% of the ballots counted at the time El Mercurio went to press. Over 60% of the votes are for Sí, 13% for No, and the rest are null or blank votes.

Legisladores electos conformarán frente por las autonomías (Elected legislators will form the front for the autonomies) – Marcelo Cabrera, elected from Azuay, is spearheading an alliance to promote the interests of el Austro (south) in the Asamblea Nacional. So far, Virgilio Saquicela, elected from Cañar has officially signed on. Cabrera has talked to politicos from el Austro and will meet with the winners of the elections from neighboring provinces to establish a voting block that will be separate from political parties and movements. The southern provinces have 21 of the 137 members fo the Asamblea Nacional. <Sounds like Cabrera is maneuvering to amass power since his presidential run didn’t go anywhere.>

Centros de Salud sin vacunas infantiles (Health centers without childhood vaccines) – The vacuna pentavelente (pentavalent vaccine – 5 in 1 against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenzae type B) is not available in the public health system. It is available for $60-80 not counting the doctor’s fee in the private system. A pediatrician said he feared that not immunizing children in the middle of the Covid pandamic could lead to a return of these diseases and that this is a public health problem. Diphtheria has not been reported in at least 6 years in Ecuador.

Recicladoras de plásticos en cuatro parroquias rurales (Plastic recyclers in four rural parishes) – 4 new PichayBot plastic recycling machines have been installed in the parishes of Baños, Checa, Chiquintad, and San Joaquín. The machine will take plastic bottles and give you points on a card which can be redeemed for compost, seeds, and plants. The PichayBot in Cuenca was installed in the Parque El Paraíso el 5/8/2020 and up to 31/1/2021, has collected 48,969 bottles.

Transporte hizo nuevo plantón (New transport protest) – Members and drivers of the Unión de Cooperativas de Transporte Interprovincial de Pasajeros de Azuay (Uctipa – Union of Cooperatives of Interprovincial Transportation of Passengers of Azuay) protested again yesterday to ask authorities for better controls on informal transport in vans, which also offer interprovincial services. Many of these van services are on av. Remigio Crespo which is where protesters parked their buses to impede entry and exit. The protest was also to solicit the Agencia Nacional de Tránsito (ANT) to consider a revision to fares to reflect reality.

Frutas de Bulán venden en la vía Paute-Matrama (Fruits from Bulán sold on the Paute-Matrama road) – Along the vía Paute-Bulán-Matrama you can buy fruit from roadside stands directly from the growers whose orchards are in that sector. The produce includes peaches, pears, apples, reina claudia, and more to make traditional Carnaval dulces (fruit cooked in a spiced sugar syrup). There are also U-pick orchards along the 15 km. stretch. Vendors comply with the use of masks, alcohol and disinfectants. <If you select the U-pick alternative, bring your own alcohol to spray the fruit before pick them. You don’t know who that fruit has been hanging out with before you touch it.>

No califica el proyecto de reformas (Does not qualify the reform project) – The members of the Consejo de Administración Legislativa (CAL) voted de forma unánime (unanimously – your word for the day) to not qualify the Proyecto de Ley para Defensa de la Dolarización which would reform the Código Orgánico Monetario y Financiero. The Council returned the project to the president who wanted to shield the Banco Central so that its assets could not be used in a discretionary manner by a sitting government. The decision was made since the project did not comply with the requirements of the constitution. Moreno says he will send a the Assembly a revised version of the bill. <If it becomes law it would keep Arauz from handing out those $1000 payments using Banco Central funds?>

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