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Government to crack down on pirated music and movies Under pressure from international watchdog groups, including the World Trade Organization, Ecuador says it will step up its vigilance of illegally copied DVD and CD and their sales sales. It is estimated that 50,000...
The Cuenca transportation office is speeding up construction work for the new light rail system, Tranvia de los Cuatro Rios, despite protests of its route through the historic district. In addition to Avs. España and Las Americas, the speed-up includes more work hours...
As opposition to Cuenca’s new light rail system mounts, its leaders are accusing new Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera of betrayal. Project opponents, almost all of them property and business owners in the historic district, say that Cabrera had campaigned on promises to...
Cuenca city bus fares are probably headed higher. The current fare of 25 cents has been in place since 2003 and has, since 2008, been maintained by government subsidies. Government officials, from President Rafael Correa to Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera, say an...
What were the biggest issues new Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera faced in his first 100 days in office? That’s easy, he says. Taxi fares and the tram. Although he said he has worked on a number of major projects, including reorganizing city government to "maximize...
The long-awaited evaluation of Cuenca’s light rail project and renovation plans for San Francisco Square began yesterday as a technical team from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) met with city officials. The team will...
As strong earthquake aftershocks continue to plague Quito and the surrounding area, Quito Mayor Mauricio Rodas urged residents to avoid attending public events as well as unnecessary travel on roads prone to landslides. Quito experienced 4.7 and 4.0 aftershocks on...
Cuenca’s Municipal Control Agency has shut down construction on one site and is considering closing others in the environmental buffer zone just east of the Cajas National Park. The department says that property owners, many of them foreigners, are not abiding by...
More than a 100 national police and Ecuador Internal Revenue Service officers (SRI) swooped down on a Cuenca neighborhood on Wednesday, confiscating cars and handing out legal writs for nonpayment of taxes. The early morning raid in the Calles Amazona and Chile barrio...
Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera is negotiating with the French government for a grant to study converting the city’s bus fleet to electric or LP gas power. Currently, buses use diesel fuel, which is blamed for localized air pollution in some areas of the city,...
Although it began as a protest against road work, a group of historic district business owners are now demanding that Cuenca’s light rail project be stopped. Business owners and their supporters marched through the historic district on Friday demanding that Mayor...
A Cuenca committee reviewing new taxi fares says that new federal rules prevent it from deciding on fares proposed by a University of Cuenca consulting team. Taxi owners and some committee members were angered by the new delay of at least 15 days. It was not clear how...
As the proposed taxi fares schedule faces its first government review today, no one is happy. A tripartite committee of taxi owners, citizens and government officials meets this afternoon to discuss the fares proposed by a team of consultants from the University of...
Ecuador’s poverty rate has dropped by 12% since 2006 according to Ecuador’s Ministry of Planning and Development. The ministry also reports that Cuenca has the lowest poverty rate among the country’s municipalities. According to Pabel Muñoz, planning and development...
The first phase of the project to renovate Cuenca's San Francisco Plaza is underway as workers prepare the Passage León building on Presidente Cordova for reconstruction. The building, which features a large glass-roofed foyer, belonged to bank that failed 14 years...
Planning continues on the three-year-old project to open the alley to the north of Cuenca’s cathedral to crafts shops, art galleries and cafés. The entrance to the alley, to the left of the Raymipampa Restaurant, has been bricked shut for more than a century. The...
Following last week’s announcement that Cuenca’s tram project is five to six months behind schedule, Mayor Marcelo Cabrera says that the number of workers on the project will be increased and work hours will be extended in an effort to make up lost time. Cabrera...
Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera described the first two months of his administration last week, saying that the tram project and taxi meter issues have dominated his agenda. Cabrera said that final tram construction details will worked out after a team from UNESCO visits...
The general manager and the chief auditor of the failed Cuenca financial cooperative Coopera were found guilty of money laundering by the Azuay Criminal Trial Court on Monday. The crime carries a prison term of six to nine years. Chief Judge Carmita Campoverde issued...
The University of Cuenca team hired by the city of Cuenca to develop a new taxi fare schedule is cautioning local taxi drivers against expecting a large increase over current fares. Victor Aguilar, dean of university economics department, says that his team of...
