Cuenca celebrates 25th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site; In change of plans, government will add two power barges; Airport improvements
Domingo, 1/121/2024
Hola, Todos –
Titular –
Elecaustro alquilará 2 barcazas (Elecaustro will rent 2 barges) – The Empresa Electro Generadora del Austro (Elecaustro) announced that they will contract for the services of renting, operating, and maintaining 2 thermoelectric power barges which can provide at least 200 megawatts to the country. The contracts were issued el 17 & 28/11 and the contractors will be selected ayer y hoy (sab. y dom.). The contract calls for implementing the floating electrical generation systems in 20 days. Elecaustro was selected to administer the contracting process since it has the legal and regulatory capability and it will be responsible for incorporating this new system into the Sistema Nacional Interconectado (SIN).
Cuenca is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Concerts and other special events began last week.
Contracting for the two power barges is a change of plans from the Energy Ministry’s November decision to import mobile thermal generation units from the U.S. instead of adding more barges. One barge is already in operation in Guayaquil, producing about 100 megawatts.
By the end of this year or the beginning of the next, the Government espera <hopes, expects, waits <Funny how esperar translates to 3 very different meanings in English, and the context doesn’t always clarify which meaning is intended. Or is it all the same in Spanish?> to put a new 204-megawatt hydroelectrical center and the thermal generation units into use.
Special Section C –
This special section has articles about the 25th anniversary of Cuenca being named a patrimonial Cultural de la Humanida (Cultural Heritage of Humanity – World Heritage Site) by UNESCO on 1/12/1999. Before Cuenca, only the Galapagos and the Centro Histórico of Quito enjoyed this designation in Ecuador. <And that’s why you see all the vendors’ tents along the Tomebamba and elsewhere.> Cuenca had to meet 3 criteria to be declared a World Heritage Site.
First, the city illustrates the perfect implementation of urban planning of the Renaissance in the Americas. This includes the grid pattern of the streets <as opposed to a main street that started out as a game trail and later became a cow path>, cobbled streets and tiled roofs. 2nd, there is a successful fusion of the different societies and cultures of Latin America. You can see the Cañari and Incan origins at the Pumapungo archeological park, and the architecture from Republican <referring to the Republic era and not the US political party> to the modern. Another feature that distinguishes Cuenca from other cities is the Barranco next to the Tomebamba. 3d, Cuenca is an outstanding example of Spanish colonial city planning in the interior. Most American cities founded by the Spanish are on the coasts while Cuenca is located 300 km. inland.
Also, Cuenca has public policies supporting its patrimony so that the center of the city is still inhabited by its people. This reduces gentrification where the value of real estate and commerce are paramount which causes fewer people to live in the city center.
Un concurso para celebrar (A competition to celebrate) – For the celebration of Cuenca’s naming as a World Heritage Site, there will be the “Cuenca, 25 años como Patrimonio Mundial” photo contest. The contest and subsequent exhibit are to show the rich history, diverse culture and exceptional values of the city and the Reserva de Biosfera Macizo del Cajas. The contest opens el 1/12, photos will accepted until el 30/1/2025, winners will be announced el 15/2/2025 and the exhibit will start el 31/3/2025 in the parque Calderón. The contest is open to everyone. There are 4 categories of submittals – children, high school, youth and adults. Each participant can send up to 3 original photos that include aspects such as artistic quality, originality, and relation to the theme.
Cuenca –
De El Mercurio del viernes, 29/11 (1 article):
Aeropuerto: cierres semanales (Airport: weekly closures) – The first closures of the airport for runway maintenance was from el 29/11 a las 23:00 to el 1/12 a las 18:00. The work will be done over the next 8 weekends at the same hours. The work will including recapping the central strip of the runway which is the part that supports the most impact during take-offs and landings, and applying micro paving on the side strips. The side strip material is designed to prevent the surface from detaching or peeling especially during rains. In addition to the runway work, there have been improvements in the terminal including installing escalators and preparing areas for immigration and customs with an eye towards making Cuenca an international airport. This will need a sustained increase in national and international tourism while there has been a contraction due to the image of Ecuador as being unsafe.
Following are the dates for the closures:
2024 2025
6/12 – 8/12 1/1 – 5/1
13/12 – 15/12 10/1- 12/1
20/12 – 22/12 17/1 – 19/1
27/12 – 29/12 24/1 – 26/1
Nacional –
De El Mercurio del viernes, 29/11 (1 article):
Pregunta de referéndum (Referendum question) – Pres. Noboa has sent a referendum question to the Asamblea Nacional. The question is related to eliminating Government financing of election campaigns. It asks, “¿Está usted de acuerdo con que se elimine la obligación del Estado de asignar recursos del Presupuesto General del Estado a las organizaciones polÃticas reformando parcialmente la Constitución?” (Do you agree with the elimination of the State’s obligation to allocate resources from the National General Budget to political organizations by partially reforming the Constitution?) The appendix makes it clear that parties and movements should finance campaigns with support of its members and supporters. <No public financing favors incumbents and rich people so is this why we’re not hearing anything about collections of back taxes?>
Descuentos y compras –
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ETAFASHION Рlast days for Black Friday, 28/11 Р2/12 РAll fashion and shoes in store up to 70% off, plus an 10% off with Cr̩dito Directo Planeta on selected merchandise.
And that’s all for today so hasta ? –
Jeanne
