City rehabs old bike lanes, adds new ones; The ABCs of voting; Foundation holidays attracted thousands; Yoga, indigenous dance workshops are offered

Miércoles, 17/4/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Presentación de libro — There will be a book launch of “Los recicladores” by José Luis Crespo el jueves, 18/4 a las 18:30 in the Salón del Pueblo Efraín Jara Idrovo (Sucre y Benigno Malo). Free.

Taller de danza Shuar – The FIDAF Ecuador will hold a Shuar dance workshop taught by Jimmy Chamik el jueves, 18/4 from 18:30 – 20:00 in th Sala de Ensayos of the Casa de la Cultura (Pres. Córdova 7-89, 4th floor.) Cost: $5.00.

Despite the country’s energy emergency, preparations of Sunday’s national referendum continue in Cuenca and throughout the country. (El Mercurio)

Meditación de Sahaja Yoga – There will be a workshop of Sahaja Yoga meditation el sábado, 20/4 a las 14:00 in the “Catalina Sojos” auditorium (Pres. Córdova y Luis Cordero). All ages can participate in this workshop. Free.

De El Mercurio del martes, 16/4 (2 articles):

3 lugares acogen el Salón de Artesanía (3 venues host the Crafts Show) – The first Salón de Artesanía Contemporánea (Contemporary Crafts Show) has been set up in 3 locations in Cuenca and will run until this coming junio. The installation which is part of ARDIS, the first biennal of crafts, design, and innovation which has been organized by CIDAP, shows works by craftspeople from various parts of Ecuador. The more than 20 pieces include embroidery, jewelry, clothing, and more. The venues are the Casona del CIDAP (Paseo 3 de Noviembre, next to the escalinatas), the Casas de Arte-Museo Universitario de la Universidad de Cuenca (Av. 12 de Abril, next to the Hospital Militar), and the Museo de Arte Moderno (Sucre y Coronel Talbot).

Agenda cultural –
18/4, 15:00 – Inauguración, Mural de la Casa de la Juventud – Calle Latinoamerican y Brasil.
19/4, 10:00 – Exposición, Ellas en su vida – Museo de Arte Moderno.
20/4, 10:00 – Circo, Circo en tu barrio – Parque Cristo Rey.

Titular –

Gobierno declara la emergencia eléctrica (Government declares electricity emergency) – See today’s article in CHL for story.

Un ABC de las votaciones (An ABC of voting) – There are 4 days left until the elections. <And remember that the ley seca (dry law) applies so if giving up drinking for 3 days will be a problem for you, better stock up tomorrow. I’ve heard DT’s are something you don’t want to go through.> There are 641,034 people on the voter rolls in Azuay with 340,263 women and 300,771 men. The total number of voters in the country is 13,450,047. Remember you need to mark your ballot question by question. Do not mark your vote with a continuous line <as in, running a line thru all the “si’s” or all the “no’s.” The back part of the ballot has the appendices or attachments to each question.

There are 11 questions in all, 5 in the referendum and 6 in the consulta popular. The consulta asks the population through a vote about aspects that affect it, especially in political, economic, and social areas. A referendum asks voters if they want to change any specific subject or article in the Constitution.

The Voto en Casa will be held el viernes, 19/4 so that elderly and disabled voters can vote in their homes. There are 29 in Cuenca, 2 in Santa Isabel, and 1 in Gualaceo. The Voto de Personas Privadas de la Libertad (Voting by Persons Deprived of Liberty) will be tomorrow <jueves, 18/4>. 90 prisoners who do not have an executed sentence and for whom voting is mandatory, will vote in the prison at Turi. Also, 7 minors will vote in the Centro de Adolescentes Infractores (CAI -Center for Juvenile Offenders).

In Azuay, 14,021 people have been selected to the Juntas Receptoras del Voto (JRV – Boards Receiving the Vote – poll workers). Of these 11,474 (81.83%) are university students, 778 (5.55%) are private employees, 460 (3.28%) are public servants, 1,304 (9.30%) are residents of rural areas, and 5 (.04%) were selected randomly from the list of voters. <What if a gringo with limited Spanish skills gets randomly selected? Can you argue your way out of serving?> To fulfil this obligation, poll workers need to attend training and those who do not, have to pay a fine of $46 or 10% of the Basic Salary (SBU). Those who do not show up at the polling place are fined $69 or 15% of the SBU plus they need to pay $46 for not voting. If a worker abandons his station without justification, the fine can be from 10-20 times the SBU or from $4,600 to $9,200. <Whew – there’s an incentive to stay until the polls close.>

Cuenca –

Ciclovías en rehabilitación y planes de construcción (Bike paths under rehabilitation and construction plans) – The Empresa Municipal de Movilidad (EMOV EP) will complete rehabilitation of 20 km. of bike paths by the end of the year. It will also build 5 km. more to close the circuit between 3 of the universities. The city has 79 km. of bike paths in different sectors, and maintenance work started in 2023. So far 12 km. have been rehabilitated with replaced lane separators, collapsible sign posts in the most problematic areas, and safe crossings at intersections.

De El Mercurio del martes, 16/4 (1 article):
Feriado, en Cuenca, dejó 31.3 millones de dólares (Holiday in Cuenca left US $31.3 million) – The holiday for the fiestas for the founding of Cuenca left a positive balance for the tourist sector. The city had 123,998 tourists with hotel occupancy at 70%, and revenues of $31,347,103.40. <Have you ever wondered how they figure out the income down to the last $3.40?> One of the biggest attractions was the gastronomic offerings in the mercados which received 48,000 visitors. 71 chanchos (roast pigs) were sold representing sales of $88,000. There was a large number of people on the ‘Ruta de Papas con Cuero’ in the 27 de Febrero, 10 de Agosto, 3 de Noviembre, 9 de Octubre, 12 de Abril y El Arenal markets where about 33,200 plates of comida tipica were sold. About 28,600 people visited the ferias in the Calle del Artista, San Blas, calle Federico Malo, av. 12 de Abril and Paseo 3 de noviembre. This translated into $55,000 in sales for the 200 booths.

Another event was the ‘Feria Inernacional del Libro de Cuenca: La ciudad de la lectura’ (Cuenca International Book Fair: The city of reading) which 29,772 people attended between el 10 & 14/4. 60 writers including 38 Cuencanos, 16 Ecuadorians, and 6 Latin Americans participated. However, this event was marred by alleged harassment of a writer on the night of el 14/4 during a parallel event to the book fair. A group of women, writers, and political activists, issued a statement expressing their rejection, because the alleged harasser was invited “despite his record”. <Kind of like inviting Trump to a beauty contest and expecting him to keep his hands off the contestants’ private parts?>

Nacional –

De El Mercurio del martes, 16/4 (1 article):
Insisten en el derecho a la desconexión digital (Insistance on the right to digital disconnection) – The Committee of the Right to Work of the National Assembly analyzed the partial veto by the President of the Law of Workplace Harassment. It approved a report for the full assembly to ratify the initial proposal that not respecting the right to digital disconnection is an act of workplace harassment. Pres. Daniel Noboa objected to the digital disconnection and disrespect of workers’ rest time, leaves and vacations. For the full assembly to ratify the initial text there needs to be 90 votes, but to override the veto only needs 70. <I think California is looking at a similar regulation. No more messages from your boss telling you to produce some report or whatever after you’ve already gone to bed or while you’re on vacation.>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne