Blackouts return due to electrical system neglect; Backpacks, vendors banned at voting polls; Security increased for candidates; Holiday weekend agenda

Viernes, 6/10/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Agenda cultural –
7/10 a las 10:00 – Feria – Entrepreneurship and culture – Puente Roto.
8/10 a las 20:00 – Teatro – Instrucciones para abrazar el aire (Instructions for hugging air) – Teatro Pumapungo.
9/10 a las 9:00 – Exposición – El encanto de la imaginación y el color (The enchantment of imagination and color) – Antigua Escuela Central.
10/10 a las 8:30 – Muestra – Entre barrotes (Between (or behind) bars) – Casa Márquez.

Low water levels in the rivers at Ecuador’s electrical generation plants has reduced the country’s power supply. The Rio Tomebamba in Cuenca is flowing at near-record low levels.

‘Tren Loco’ llega desde Argentina (“Crazy Train” arrives from Argentina) – The heavy metal band, Tren Loco, will perform in Cuenca el sábado, 7/10 a las 18:00 in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura. They will be accompanied by the bands Basca, Maddbrain, Inmutable, and Dogma Pagano. Tickets are available at Círculo Musical, El Surtio and the ticketmas.com.ec platform. <Earplugs available at your closest pharmacy.>

Inicia encuentro de saberes y música (Knowledge and music meeting begins) – The Primer Encuentro
de Mujeres Sanadoras y el Festival Azuay Vívelo 2023 (First Encounter of Women Healers and the Azuay Live It 2023 Festival) starts mañana (sábado). These events were organized by the Provincial Government for the 9 de octubre holidays. The meeting of women will be held on both days <I’m assuming Saturday is one of the days, and guessing Sunday is the other.> starting at 9:00 in the Casa de la Provincia. There will be over 40 exhibitors, especially the “Mamas sanadoras” (“Healing Mamas”) from different provinces. <All of them with their kits of hugs, kisses, and mercurochrome (remember that red stuff that went on cuts and scrapes?)>

The music festival will be el domingo from 12:00 in the parque La Libertad. Bands will include La Máquina Camaleón, Papaya Dada, Lolabúm, Zuchos del Vado, Los Longos, Funambulista Irrompible y Dj María José Orellana. There will also be a gastronomic fair and local businesses. This event should have been held el 12/8, but was suspended due to the state of emergency after the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Titular –

Vuelve fantasma de apagones (Ghost of blackouts returns) – After 36 days without rain, the first electricity rationing took place in the north zone of Cuenca (or in the zone north of Cuenca) la noches del pasado miércoles (last Wednesday nights). <This writer is especially unclear so this translation may just be so much garbage.> There were also blackouts in Quito, Guayaquil, Durán y Loja. Esteban Albornoz, ex-minister of Energía and professor, said that electrical sector authorities didn’t make plans to deal with annual droughts. He also pointed out 2 more problems – little or no expansion of the electrical system and lack of maintenance of electrical infrastructure such as the thermoelectric plants. He said that demand for electricity has grown by 4-5% each year which means an annual 200-300 megawatt increase in production which has not been done.

Marisol Peñaloza, vice mayor of Cuenca, said that the electricity generators and distributors should analyze and identify where to proceed with rationing, taking into account commerce and population groups. Juan Cristóbal Lloret, prefect of Azuay commented that once again, improvisation <also known as seat of your pants planning> has brought the country into an extreme situation. He announced that the Prefecture of Azuay made a proposal to the Ministerio de Energía to execute the Pimo wind energy project, planned with Elecaustro. This project would generate 200 megawatts at a cost of $260 million and cover 50% of the demand from the Centrosur electric company. According to ETAPA forecasts, there is a 62% chance of rain el próximo martes, 10/10. <Now is the time to start praying that the weatherman isn’t forecasting with a dart board.>

Nacional –

Refuerzan seguridad de binomios presidenciales (Reinforced security for the presidential binomials) – Even though the Policía Nacional assessed the risk index for Fernando Villavicencio at 94%, at the moment of his assassination, there were only 1 official and 3 police officers. This has changed for the two presidential candidate finalists who are protected by over 100 uniformed officers. Security for González and Noboa will be in the hands of the Fuerzas Armadas (Armed Forces) who work jointly with National Police Intelligence. The Policía Nacional is in charge of security for the vice-presidential candidates, Verónica Abad and Andrés Arauz, who have 23 and 25 uniformed officers respectively. After a vulnerability study, there will be security for various elected assembly members who asked for security after receiving threats during the campaign. These security teams will be activated when the candidates show up to vote.

National Police started disciplinary proceedings against Captain Cristian Cevallos who was in charge of security for Fernando Villavicencio. Cevallos produced proof that he had asked for better protection for the candidate, including reinforcement agents, an armored vehicle, and long arms but was ignored by authorities. His requests dated from last julio y agosto and were only answered after the assassination on el 9/8. <Sounds like he’s resisting getting thrown under the bus.>

Ni mochilas ni comercios ambulantes (Neither backpacks nor street vendors) – The CNE and Policía Nacional have decided to repeat successful actions from the first round of elections, including restricting entering polling places with backpacks and handbags. Those who bring them will be subject to an inspection by uniformed officers. Additionally, helmets and masks are prohibited as are street vendors.

Descuentos y compras –

ETAFASHION – 72-hour sale from 7-9/10 – Up to 50% off selected merchandise + 10% with direct credit – also buy at ETAFASHION.com.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne