City minga targets graffiti in El Centro

Cuenca’s historic center committee is taking aim at graffiti in the city’s historic district.

Dozens of volunteers will clean graffiti today. (El Tiempo)

The committee has organized a work minga on Saturday and is equipping volunteers from 29 organizations with solvent, gloves, brushes, and paint in a campaign to eliminate graffiti in El Centro.

According to committee director Pablo Barzallo, the campaign is the result of numerous complaints from both tourists and city residents. “We are receiving an increasing number of complaints, especially from visitors, who tell us that the graffiti degrades the historic character of Cuenca, and we agree,” he says. “We want to eliminate this eye sore and are developing a continuing effort to deal with it.”

Today’s graffiti minga begins at 8 a.m. and continues until 2 p.m. and will concentrate on the area bordered by Calles Vega Muñoz, Tarqui, Calle Larga and Mariano Cueva.

Barzallo said that today’s project does not involve punishment for perpetrators. “That would require coordination with law enforcement. This is strictly an activity for volunteers who want to clean up the city.”