Covid test project targets neighborhoods; Guayaquil bans recreation for holidays; Controversy over firing; More holiday events; Romo faces impeachment

Martes, 27/10/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Homenaje literario (Literary tribute) – The Centro PEN in Ecuador organized about 2 years ago with writers, poets, journalists, and defenders of freedom of expression joining to talk, debate and above all, to listen. <Probably no gringos in the group if listening is a valued activity.> The group has organized activities for the Bicentennial. On 5/11, the group will be in the El Vado plazoleta to give tribute to Cuenca on its 200th anniversary through poetry and and an open mike. The local PEN members will meet virtually between 1 & 5/11.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Romo esboza defensa (Romo outlines defense) – María Paula Romo is facing impeachment from her position as ministra de Gobierno for her role in the protests of octubre, 2019. She supported the police who have been accused of use of excessive force. <Beyond that, which I would not advise taking to the bank, it gets too complicated for me to figure out.>

Government minister María Paula Romo face impeachment charges for her handling of the October 2019 protests.

Retrasos y fallas en el nuevo “Febres” (Delays and failures in the new “Febres”) – The Contraloría found that a lack of studies and definite designs, and deficiencies by managers to obtain funding delayed the delivery of the new Unidad Educativa del Milenio Febres Cordero (Febres Cordero Millennium Education Unit) in Misicata. The school was supposed to be ready in 2015 but was not completed until the end of 2017. 9 extentions increased the contract period from 365 to 1010 days. The delays were justified because payments were not made on the dates they were due, causing the contractor to stop work. The anticipo (advance payment, retainer) was supposed to be 50% of the entire job but only 30% was paid. <Who in their right mind cuts a check for half the job before the first shovelful of dirt is dug? It’s actually illegal for a contractor in Calif. to ask for that big a deposit.> Besides the delays, the Comptroller found inadequate work, and deterioration.

Salud inicia estudio sobre la COVID (Health begins study on COVID) – A study to give 2,000 Covid tests to Cuencanos in both urban and rural parishes starts mañana. The goal is to determine the prevalence of Covid in the city and identify areas of high and low incidences of the virus. The workers will be trained in how to handle the test samples safely and in decontamination procedures. All participation by citizens is voluntary and the objective of the study will be explained. The data collected will help improve measures adopted to slow the advance of the virus.

As of the weekend, 8,285 cases were found in Cuenca with 5,534 people who have recovered. The public hospitals had a slight increase in patients in ICU beds which are completely full.

Que explique remoción de Harris piden a Atamaint (Atamaint asked to explain Harris’ removal) – There have been reactions to the sudden and unexpected removal of Jorge Harris Aguas around midnight del viernes as a director of the CNE (Consejo Nacional Electoral – National Electoral Council) in Azuay. An assembly person for Cañar has asked Diana Atamaint, president of the CNE to explain why. Andrés Valencia Arévalo, who was named as Harris’ replacement, refused the appointment citing previous professional committments. Harris thought that the removal was politically motivated.

Entregan Fondo a grupos políticos (Funds given to political groups) – 12 organizations have not complied with the requirements established in the Ley Orgánica Electoral y de Organizaciones Políticas (Organic Electoral Law and for Political Organizations) to get money from the Fondo Partidario Permanente (Permanent Party Fund). The CNE approved access to these funds for Pachakutik, Creando Oportunidades (CREO), Alianza País, Izquierda Democrática, Partido Socialista Ecuatoriano, Partido Social Cristiano y Sociedad Unida Más Acción (SUMA). <If the CNE is deciding who is eligible for public campaign funding – I’d consider that political. Very political.>

EMOV capacita sobre tránsito a los “delivery” (EMOV trains delivery drivers on transit) – As part of an accident prevention program, the Empresa Pública de Movilidad (EMOV EP) is training people who work as motorcycle delivery drivers about rules of the road. The goal is to reduce the number of accidents due to speeding. <How about cutting between cars in order to make a right hand turn in front of an F-150 from that non-existent middle lane?> The training is from ayer to el 30/10 and will cover Traffic Regulations, Statistics and Traffic Operations, Vehicle Technical Review, and Sensibilización (Sensitization) which will be a testimony about the loss of a relative in a traffic accident. 14 delivery businesses are participating and one owner said the training is important to strengthen knowledge of laws, registration, driving and more. He mentioned that there are many foreigners working as delivery drivers.

Áridos del Tamuga (Aggregates from Tamuga) – The mayor of Paute, Raúl Delgado, who is also president of the Asociación de Municipalidades del Ecuador (AME), said that the Gobierno Provincial del Azuay should receive the aggregate from the new phase of stabilizing the Tamuga hill in the La Josefina sector. The province, in turn, would use the material at their asphalt plant for public works projects in the 7 eastern cantons of Paute, Guachapala, El Pan, Sevilla de Oro, Gualaceo, Chordeleg y Sígsig. These were the cantons affected by the 1993 landslide. Delgado estimated there could be 800,000 cubic meters of material obtained from the stabilization work.

Guayaquil cerrará lugares de recreación durante el feriado para evitir contagios (Guayaquil will close places of recreation during the holiday to avoid contagions) – The national COE suggested restricting entry into cemeteries during the coming holiday, a suggestion most of the cities in the country will comply with. Cynthia Viteri, mayor of Guayaquil has also included closing places of recreation, pedestrian only sites such as the Malecón 2000, and the boulevard of av. 9 de octubre. Other closures will be clandestine parties charging admission with owner of those sites subject to fines. Large assemblies in hotels and events centers will be regulated and private parties restricted. There will be sanctions for noise. The functioning of bars and discos will be prohibited, opening of sports fields will be postponed, and consumption of alcohol in public spaces will continue to be prohibited. <Guayaquil isn’t going to be much fun this holiday so save your bus fare and stay in Cuenca.>

Internacional –

Londres – Inmunidad en ancianos crea vacuna de Oxford (Oxford vaccine creates immunity in the elderly) – The covid vaccination being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is generating a strong immune response in the elderly according to an article in the “Financial Times.” The trials are in phase 3 and the vaccine is generating T cells and antibodies in seniors.

Agenda of Cuenca Holiday Events – Note all in person agenda items have a limited capacity.

viernes – 30/10/2020:

9:00 – Concurso: Tradiciones de antaño. La Cholita de pan más bonita. La colada morada (Contest: Traditions of yesteryear. The most beautiful La Cholita bread. The colada morada.) – Mercado 10 de Agosto.
10:00 – Descubre Cuenca desde la ruta del Tranvía (Discover Cuenca from the Tram route) – Plaza Civica y Plaza de Santo Domingo.
10:00 – Entrega de desfibrilador automático (DEA) (Presentation of an automatic defibrillator) – Parque Lineal de la Av. 1 de Mayo.
15:30 – Mediación lectora. Obra: Cuenca en cuentos (Reading mediation. Work: Cuenca in stories), author-Piotr Zalamea – register at jemora@cuenca.gob.ec.
18:00 – Sonido de Resistencia: Lanzamiento del disco de música independiente ecuatoriana y exposición de los cancioneros (Sound of Resistance: Launch of a CD of independent Ecuadorian music and exhibit of the songbooks) – Casa Patrimonial Municipal del Artista.
18:00 Inauguración del Centro Diurno del Adulto Mayor (Inauguration of the Day Center for the Elderly) – Facebook Live @AccionSocialCuenca.
20:00 – Festival de Orquestas Bañenses en honor al Bicentanario de nuestra ciudad de Cuenca (Festival of Baños’ orchestras in honor of the Bicentennial of our city of Cuenca) – Facebook GAD Parroquial de Baños, Programa La Chirimía.

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. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.