Morning temperatures drop to zero; Cuenca Int’l Film Festival returns; Vaccine waits are short; Dozens owed ‘Big Money’; Pink Floyd plays the Planetarium

Martes, 6/7/2021

Hola, Todos –
Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

35 filmes sobre derechos y terror trae Festival de Cine (Film Festival brings 35 films about rights and terror) – In spite of limitations imposed by the health emergency, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cuenca will return this year with the 19th edition. The two themes this year are FREEDOM (human rights and liberties) and Zona Oscura. The full length and short films come from Argentina, Colombia, Australia, Francia, Ecuador, and more. Viewers can see all the films between 10-17/7 on https://tv.festhome.com/ondemand. There will also be screenings at the ex Escuela Central, the Teatro de la Casa de la Cultura (CCE), the Seminario San Luis, and the Teatrina del Goveirno Provincial del Azuay with limited seating capacities. For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/Ceacine and https://twitter.com/CeacineCorp.

Films in the FREEDOM section include:
Biabu chupea, un grito en el silencio (Colombia, 2020)
Femicidio. Un caso, múltiples luchas (Argentina, 2019)
Tódalas mulleres que coñezo (España, 2018)
Para’i (Brasil, 2018)
La asfixia (Guatemala, México, España, 2018)
La Kurikinda (Ecuador, 2019)
El sabio de la tribu (Chile, 2020)
Residentes (México, 2020).
Films in the ZONA OSCURA (DARK ZONE) section include:
El juego de las cien velas (Argentina, Nueva Zelanda, 2020)
The Slaughterhouse Killer (Australia, 2020)
Les animaux anonymes (Francia, 2020)
Luz, la flor del mal (Colombia, 2019)

Because of low temperatures, recent snowfall in the Cajas Mountains has been slow to melt.

Esculturas en la Alianza Francesa (Sculptures at the Alianza Franesa) – The exhibit, “Al calor del fuego,” (To the heat of the fire) will be at the Alianza Francesa until 17/7. The works are from the Cuencan collective Fro Art y Diseño and based on the ancient Japanese technique “Shou sugi ban” which burns the surface of wood to get a black color that highlights the material. Hours are from 8-19:00, lunes a viernes in the galaría of the Alianza. Limited capacity.

Planetario une astronomía y música (Planetarium unites astronomy and music) – The Planetario de Cuenca is organizing various activities for those who like space and astronomy. The exhibit, “Astronomía y constelaciones, la imaginación en el cielo” will be showing until 31/7 with hours from 10-16:00 martes a domingo. El próximo 8/7 a las 19:00, the planetarium will play the song “Echoes” by Pink Floyd while showing different images. This sensory experience lasts 30 minutes and you can make reservations at 4079-246.

Titular –

Oferta de más servicios aéreos (Offer of more air services) – As of este viernes, Aeroregional airlines will return to flying between Quito and Cuenca for a round trip fare of $120 that includes taxes and fees, one checked bag of 23 kilos, and a carry-on bag of 10 kilos as part of a promotion for their reentry to the Cuenca market. <And when the promotion is over?> Mayor Palacios announced that Avianca will start service between Cuenca and Quito the last quarter of this year. He indicated that there is another airline interested in offering flights from Cuenca to Guayaquil and Manta. <Please, please, please.>

Cuenca –

Las temperaturas llegan a bajo cero (Temperatures drop below zero) – ETAPA’s Red Hidrometeorológica (Hydrometeorological Network) has detected below cero (zero – freezing in Celcius) temperatures in Chanlud, in the río Machángara watershed (-1.07); in Llaviucu, in the area of the Parque Nacional Cajas (-.34); and close to cero near Miguir (1.00). <For a Minnesotan, those are spring like temperatures. Not so much if you grew up in Louisiana.> The Instituto Nacional de Metoerología y Hidrología (Inamhi) announced that this cold spell in the interandean alley will last at least through the end of the month. Francisco Sánchez, an environmental manager with ETAPA explained that what is happening now is known as the invierno austral (austral winter). Cold fronts are produced at the south pole and these winds move from south to north, creating a circulatory wave along the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay. Ecuador is also influenced and this weather is very characteristic for julio y agosto. Days are typically clear with little cloud cover due to the cold fronts from the south, night time temperatures can drop drastically and there is also humidity which can bring snow to high elevations in the Cajas.

Respuesta positiva a fase 2 de vacunación (Positive response to phase 2 vaccinations) – Several people at different vaccinations sites were interviewed and they were happy to receive the vaccinations. The waiting times were short and service attentive.

Sucesos –

Esperan la devolución de dinero (Waiting for refund of money) – Dozens of people are waiting for the money they deposited into Big Money to be returned. The alleged business was offering returns of 90% interest on capital. Last week, police and the prosecutor’s office raided its offices. In the last few hours, the owner, Miguel Nazareno, announced in a video on social networks that the money would be returned this week but without a date or location. <And that date would be never, and the location nowhere?>

Anuncian plan de seguridad con siete ejes (Security plan with 7 axis announced) – Due to the assaults and robberies in the city, Esteban Bernal, the governor of Azuay, announced a security plan based on 7 actions. He did not reveal the whole project which will be presented in the next few days. Part of the plan includes measures to strengthen joint operations of law enforcement institutions and another will address begging and the use of children. Preliminary information needs to be verified that people are medicating children so they can sleep in the street while adults ask for charity. The governor also referred to the need for increasing the number of police. The current force of 1969 has a deficit of 685 uniformed officers.

Region –

Agua, una prioridad en Chordeleg (Water, a priority in Chordeleg) – Authorities in Chordeleg contracted for a study to guarantee the potable water supply for about 8,000 people who live in the urban and peripheral zones of the city. There were problems with water supply at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 when the río Pungohuayco overflowed and affected the catchments for the potable water system. Temporary works were done, the study showed they were correct, and further recommendations were made.

Nacional –

Pablo Celi renuncia; pero no hay certeza sobre el reemplazo (Pablo Celi resigns; but there is no certainty about his replacement) – After 3 months in jail, Pablo Celi resigned his position as Comptroller General. While he was in jail he appointed a suplente (alternate, substitute, surrogate, stand-in), removed that person, and appointed another. He resigned in a letter sent to the president of the Consejo de Participación Ciudadana y Control Social (CPCCS) who said that the letter should have been sent to the Asamblea National which will decide if it will impeach him, or censure him and prohibit him from holding public office for two years. <And the rest of the article gets too complicated for me to untangle.>

Viteri, fuera de investigación por bloquear pista (Viteri, out of the investigation for blocking runway) – The prosecutor investigating the case of who ordered the Guayaquil airport runway blocked el 18/3/2020, said that a statement Guayaquil mayor Cynthia Viteri made assuming responsibility was insufficient to accuse her. The runway was blocked by 20 city pick-up trucks so that an Iberia flight from Madrid with a crew of 11 could not land. The flight was to land and pick up 200 Europeans stranded by the lock down and border closures. <I think that this might have been when Spain had a huge number of infections.>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.