Clandestine bars and parties busted; Employment numbers improve; Crafts shows in Chordeleg, Sucúa and El Vado; Rural cantons focus on mining

Lunes, 30/8/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Intercambio cultural (Cultural exchange) – El Primer Festival de Intercambio Cultural, Productivo y de Hermanamiento (The First Festival of Cultural, Productive and Twinning Exchange) will be held in Chordaleg with the cantón Sucúa el 5/9 a las 9:00 in the plaza “José María Vargas.” The festival which was organized by the two cities, will promote popular arts and crafts of Chordeleg and Sucúa.

From El Periodico del sábado –

Concierto – The Orquesta Sinfónica shared a new concert on its Facebook and YouTube accounts. the work is the Concierto en Sol Mayor for flute and orchestra by Joaquim Quantz, with Augusto Carrión directing and guest flautist Luciano Carrera.

Muestra – The show, “Contado historias, Arte-Textil-Arpillera” (Storytelling, Art-Textile-Burlap), will open el 2/9 a las 10:00 in the Museo el CIDAP (Paseo 3 de noviembre y Escalinata Francisco Sojos). The exhibit in which the “En Espiral” community is participating, will run to 30/9.

From El Periodico del domingo –

El Vado recupera la dinámica de antaño mediante la cultura (El Vado recovers the dynamics of yesteryear through culture) – A group of artists has returned to El Vado to share music, theater, artesanal products and knowledge. Since julio, they have set up tables every sábado between the plaza El Vado and calle Tarqui to exhibit and sell cultural products.

Titular –

Two sisters from Ibarra, Poleth and Anahí Mendes Sánchez, won Gold and Bronze medals in shotput competition at the Paralympics in Tokyo.

Hermanas de oro y bronce (Sisters of Gold and Bronze) – Two sisters from Ibarra, Poleth y Anahí Mendes Sánchez, won Gold and Bronce in the Lanzamiento de la Bala at the Paralympics in Tokyo. (Google translates the event as Bullet Throw. Would shotput make sense?)

Cuenca –

Comercio escolar espera repunte (School commerce expects rebound) – After the Ministerio de Educación announced the return to in person classes in the Sierra and Amazonía, businesses whose income depends on selling educational products are hoping to improve their economic situation. These include shoestores, stationers, bazaars, technology stores, and textile stores. Stationers are less confident since students can use materials bought for previous years, but they are recommending buying the new list of basic school supplies. The price for the Ministerio de Educación’s list of supplies for initial, preparatory, and basic levels costs about $11.30. <Might not sound like much until you multiply it by 3 kids in a household making the basic salary.> The list for middle basic, higher basic, and high school costs about $10.90. Other sectors hoping for a change in income are shoestores and bazaars. Parents are coming into stores around the 9 de Octubre market and shopping, but not all are buying. For the 2021-2022 school year, there are 1,191 schools who will be opening their classrooms – 204 urban, and 987 rural. The Ministerio de Educación data indicates that 55,774 students will return to in person classes on 1/9.

“Cifras de empleos muestran mejoria y generan optimismo” (“Employment figures show improvement and generate optimism”) – Rafael Vásquez, regional director of Trabajo y Servicio Público de Cuenca (Cuenca Public Service and Work) reported that the Red Socio Empleo has placed 2,193 people in different jobs and the country has registered 75,892 new contracts in the Sistem Único del Trabajo. He said that the panorama is encouraging since the country risk has fallen, attracting both national and international investments. The agency has held trainings in different sectors for small and micro businesses and entrepreneurs.

La Casa Obrero da “herramientas” para consequir un trabajo (The Casa Obrero gives “tools” to get a job) – The Casa Obrero in the Dirección de Desarrollo Social y Productivo del Municipio de Cuenca, was created in enero, 2019 to bring job opportunities through training in construction trades, business practices, and links to workshops with accelerated primary and high school studies. The Casa has helped about 1,600 people, and besides training, has helped them with grants for disabled people, exams, and medical and dental attention. Those interested should go to the Casa Obrero at El Batán y Edwin Sacoto with a color copy of their cédula, voting certificate, and vaccination certificate.

Sucesos –

Dos clausuras por incumplimientos (Two closures for non-compliance) – Police closed 2 licoreras (liquor stores – your word for the day. I’m sure many of you could find that useful.) for allowing the consumption of alcohol inside the stores. They were set up like a bar, and contained drunks. A big party was also shut down in the Río Amarillo sector. There were more than 200 people, the majority not wearing masks. Authorities determined that there was an admission fee and liquor sales, both of which need permits. The party was announced on social network sites and conditions were that attendees present an invitation and behave discreetly to not attract the attention of authorities. <Doesn’t sound like that worked – are people capable of behaving discretely when they’re at a party and drinking?>

Region –

4 cantones vinculados con minería (4 cantons linked to mining) – 4 cantons are putting emphasis on actions related to mining, both metal and gravel and rock as they update their general and land use plans (PDOT and PUGS). All 4 have a history of mining in their territories. Sígsig is looking to make the canton free of metal mining and is asking the Government to verify if previously approved concessions are complying with their permits. Arturo Faicán, an environmental technician with the city said that 8 of the 13 concessions are not in compliance with required permits. The canton is looking for a suitable area to develop a quarry.

In Paute, mining activity is concentrated in quarries, but under the new plans, no new mining permits will be given. The PDOT in Santa Isabel established that no new metal mining permits will be granted in order to protect water sources. Quarrying will be permitted, but prohibited in Sulupali which will be a tourist destination. <Tourists next to heavy machinery, noise, dust and heavy traffic? Not so compatible.>

The canton of Camilo Ponce Enríquez is different in that it prioritizes metal mining for its economic development. Its PDOT allows for a large percentage of the canton to be destined for metal mining concessions, and the PUGS recommends regularizing those activities.

Nacional – from El Periodico del domingo –

Cannabis: el cultivo del futuro (Cannabis: the cultivation of the future) – Since the approval of reforms to the Código Orgánico Integral Penal (Penal Code) by the Asamblea Nacional which allowed use of marijuana for medical and therapeutic uses, 49 licenses in 13 provinces have been issued, with a total of 23 hectares under cultivation. Several factors combine to make Ecuador an ideal place to grow high quality non-psychoactive varieties. It has 12 hours of sun which allows 5 harvests per year whereas in Europe there are only 2 harvests – one outdoors and one in greenhouses. Another aspect is the maximum percentage of THC allowed which is 1% in Ecuador and much less in other countries where growers have to constantly control to not exceed the percentage allowed. All of the growers agree that cultivation is not easy or cheap. CanAndes is the first company funded with purely Ecuadorian capital and is working on at least 20 products such as shampoo, creams, drops, beer, coffee, chocolate and gum. It is planning to open its first location in the north of Quito.

Descuentos y compras –

Automekano – KFSK 560, 2022 model, 15% discount from $23,490 to $19,990 – 3 rows of seats – Av. España 10-35, WhatsApp 096 765 0100.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne