City bus companies want a fare hike; Cuenca-Quito-Miami flights begin; Masquerade parade is Friday but U. of Cuenca hosts its own version on-campus

Miércoles, 4/1/2023

Hola, Todos –

Titular –

Germán Cáceres, a cárcel de Guayaquil (Germán Cáceres, to Guayaquil prison) – See Wednesday’s article (miércoles) in CHL for story.

Cuenca –

331.959 dólares por predios en 2 días de pago (331,959 dollars for properties in 2 days of payment) – About 100 people lined up el martes at the Tesorería Municipal to pay property taxes. In the first 2 days, $331,959 was collected. The current projection is to collect between $70 & $75 million in 2023. In 2022, $70.1 million was collected, $60.8 million in 2021, $53.6 in 2020, and $70 million in 2019. Taxpayers are rewarded for early payment with a 10% discount for payments received in the first 15 days of enero. The discount is gradually reduced until it reaches 1% at the middle of the year.

People line up to pay their property taxes at the municipal building. Earlier payers get a 10% discount. (El Mercurio)

There are 17 physical windows where you can make payments: 7 in the Tesorería Municipal (Sucre y Benigno Malo), 1 in the Parque La Libertad, 2 in the Alcaldía de Cuenca, 2 in Control Municipal (Aeropuerto Mariscal La Mar), 1 each in Capulispamba and Mayancela, and 2 in the edificio Municipal (Coactivas). Payments can also be made at Farmasol pharmacies, ETAPA EP, Registro de la Propiedad, EMOV EP, and different banks and cooperatives. Various banks will take credit and debit card payments.

People can also make interbank transfers into the following accounts: Banco del Pacífico – Cuenca (sic – I think it should be Cuenta) Corriente Nro. 5623014 and Banco Pichincha – Cuenta Corriente Nro. 3245659004. The code for depositing at a window is 30100 and for a bank transfer it is 30200. For a bank transfer you also need this data: Razón Social – GAD MUNICIPAL DEL CANTÓN CUENCA, and the RUC 0160000270001.

Para pagos en línea (For online payments) – A virtual window has also been set up. Call 07 413 4900, ext. 1129 and the tax collector will tell you the process to follow. <Think of this as a test of how well you’re doing in Spanish classes. Can you have a phone conversation?> To make online payments, use the Pagos PlaceToPlay button where the following credit cards are accepted: Diners Club, Discover, Visa Titanium, Visa Pichincha, Mastercard Pichincha, Associates (Visa Banco General Rumiñahui, Banco de Loja & Comercial de Manabí). You can also use the button for payments for the Austro del Austro <?? – Banco del Austro?>

Comparsas vuelven sin las universidades (Comparsas return without universities) – The Mascaradas parade and contest, organized by the Amistad Club, will return to av. Huayna Cápac on Friday, January 6 this year after a two year absence. The parade will march from the intersection of avenidas República and Huayna Cápac and end at the El Vergel bridge where platforms will be erected. One of the differences is that the 3 winners of the last contest in 2022 will not be participating.

The U. of Cuenca, U. de Azuay, and the cooperative Jardín Azuayo cited the uncertainty left by the pandemic and the investment needed to present a contingent as reasons for not participating this year. Families and individuals who participated in the last Mascaradas have not confirmed if they will return this year. One comparsa that will be marching is the Instituto Technológico Sudamericano which will have about 400 students and professors marching with a Covid-19 related theme.

Although the U. of Cuenca is not going to be in the Mascaradas, its Asociación Cultural y Artística Universitario (ACAU) decided to organize an event dedicated to the university community which will be a parade inside the campus. The public is invited to attend the event which will be el 6/1 from 19:00 in the main campus parking lot. <Sounds like both events are going to be low key compared to pre-pandemic years.>

De El Mercurio del martes, 3/1/2023:
Los transportistas urbanos piden revisión de pasajes (Urban carriers request fare revision) – The Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca (CTC) is asking for an update or adjustment to bus fares. It argues that there is an ordinance that allows an adjustment every two years apart from the increases in fuel, costs of maintenance, and more. Diego Idrovo, president of the CTC, pointed out that since 2018, the year the bus fleet was renewed, the cost of fuel has gone up 75%. In the same time, ridership has gone down and the Tranvía started operating. In 2018, there were 400,000 riders each day and now the demand varies between 320,000 and 340,000 daily passengers. The basic salary has also gone up, affecting salaries for drivers which is now over $680. Two riders who were interviewed disagreed with the increase in fares since it is those with the lowest incomes who need the bus for transportation and would be most affected by fare increases.

Empresarial – 

De El Mercurio del martes, 3/1/2023:
Cuenca con vuelos diarios a Miami (Cuenca has daily flights to Miami) – The inaugural flight of Latam’s new Cuenca-Quito-Miami route took off el lunes a las 6:10 with 123 passengers. The airplane got the traditional water arch which is given when new routes are started <I guess the nose is too high to break a bottle of champagne across it. Could they hire a retired baseball pitcher to throw the bottle at the nose?>. The plane landed in Quito at 6:58 and took off for Miami at 8:30, landing at its final destination at 12:45.

Passengers got off in Quito to go through customs, but their luggage was checked through from Cuenca to Miami. These will be daily flights. The return flight leaves Miami a las 14:35. The 4hr. 30 min. flight arrives in Quito a las 18:55 with an hour and half layover before the flight to Cuenca leaves a las 20:25, arriving in Cuenca a las 21:20. The Airbus A-320 will stay in Cuenca to repeat the itinerary the next day. <But without the shower.>

Boris Palacios, general coordinator of Mobility for the City of Cuenca, said that this connection is an important step in internacionalizing air service from Cuenca to different cities in the world, and it opens the possibility of increasing routes and frequencies.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne