Climate change march on Friday, Retirees want cash not bonds, City markets report rising prices, Theater and movie festivals

Miércoles, 25/9/2019

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Teatro – The Escenarios del Mundo theater festival opened Wednesday with a performance of “Lear” by Viajeinmóvil from Chile a las 20:00 in the teatro Pumapungo. The opening parade starts from the Plaza la Merced a las 18:00 <one more minute, gringo time>.

Concierto – Singer Roberto Ávila will present “QARA” mañana (jueves) a las 19:30 in La Guarida (Mariscal Lamar y Luis Pauta). <I think it will be Brazilian music, but who knows. Maybe it was just a quote from Ávila that “la música brasileña tocó el alma” (Brazilian music touched the soul) and has nothing to do with what he’ll perform.>

Produce prices are going up at city markets.

Cine – Films showing today in IV Festival de Cine Etnográfico del Ecuador include “Días de Circo” from Bolivia a las 19:30 in the sala Carrasco. At the CIDAP auditorium, “Floida” y “Pedro Mapitsi” will be shown a las 19:00.

Danza – There was a performance of “Da la Re a la Pre vuelve a escena” Wednesday in Saladentro as part of the Festival de Improvisación y Movimiento OTRO. <Was this a flailing around type of dance in which the dancers show off how much more flexible they are compared to you?>

Del cuerpo del periodico –

Señor de Girón – Girón is preparing for the fiesta del Señor de Girón which will be in the middle of octubre and continue for about 6 weeks.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Jubilados no quieren los bonos (Retirees do not want bonds) – 16 representatives of 120 retired teachers in Azuay remained in the Azuay provincial offices to demand that their retirement compensation be paid in cash and not in bonds. They went into the building on lunes for a 10:00 meeting and were told told they would be seen at 10:00 el martes. So they decided to wait. Families and friends are not being allowed to bring the retirees food or medicines.

More government debt – Ecuador issued $2 billion in government bonds to be added to the total public debt of $55.729 billion as of agosto, 2019. One issue of $600 million at 7.85% has a due date of 2025, and the other issue of $1,400 at 9.5% is due in 2030. It was anticipated that the WMF loans of $10.2 billion would allow Ecuador to avoid issuing bonds, but those disbursements are not going well. <Too many strings attached to that money?>

Teenage pregnancies rising – This has been a public health problem for a while. In Azuay in 2018, 2,235 babies were born to mothers younger than 19 representing 16% of the total births in the province. Experts pointed out that there are multiple causes for this which need to be addressed.

Donations – “Compañeras Unidas” is a group of women who donated backpacks and school supplies to 12 students at the escuela Ignacio Escandón. <Have you ever priced what it costs to buy the uniforms and annual school supplies? Can be several hundred per kid.>

Prices in feria libre – Vendors report that prices for food have gone up in the last two months, sometimes close to double. One vegetable vendor said an “atado” (bunch – your word for the day) of carrots used to cost $2.00 and is now from $3.50-4.00. Similarly, garlic, cabbage and cilantro have gone up. Brocolli and cauliflower go up and down too often to have a fixed price. One seller said the problem is in the production. Many of the growers are old and their children are going into the city to study and work so fields get abandoned with no one to farm them. However, verdes (green plaintain), tomatoes and onion have gone down in price.

Remissions – According to the Banco Central del Ecuador, remissions exiting the country are growing faster than those entering. In the first half of 2019, $317.3 million was sent out and $1,554 million was received mostly from the US, Spain, and Italy. The 5 cities sending out the most money are Quito, Guayaquil, Tulcán, Ibarra and Cuenca. Pichincha, Guayas and Azuay Provinces together send out $189 million or 59.5% of the total. These locations also have high numbers of Colombian, Venezuelan, Peruvian, and Cuban immigrants. A tripling of remissions going out since 2015 is attributed to the arrival of Venezuelans. In 2000, there were about 70 Venezuelan families in Cuenca; today there are an estimated 3,000.

Climate Change March – The government of Azuay province will participate in the march against climate change el próximo 27/9. Other participants will include the Federación de Organizaciones Indigenas y Campesinas del Azuay, collectives and activists <and maybe some non-denier gringos?>. The march will start in the parque de La Madre.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne