Cuenca plans 200th independence celebration, Anti-plastic ordinance debated, Route of the Legends, Dengue epidemic plagues Belize

Sábado, 27/7/2019

Hola, Todos –
Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

Feria – <for you shoppers out there> – There was a crafts and other products fair Satureay the Portal Artesanal. <Bolívar y Huayna Cápac>.

Bicentennial – The bicentennial of Cuenca’s independence will be 3/11/2020. <It’s first independence.> The end of Spanish Colonial era and the beginning of the Republican era started with the first battle on 3/11/1820 and continued the next day. But the Spanish reclaimed the city on 20/12, and were not defeated for good until 21/2/1822. The mayor is planning for the Bicentenario.

Non-reusable plastic bottles could be banned by new ordinance.

Rutas de las Leyendas – There will be a new theatrical tour el 1 & 2/8 a las 20:00 in the Iglesia de Santo Domingo. It will dramatize the donation of the crown made by poet Remigio Crespo Toral to the Morenica del Rosario in 1930. Cost: $7.00. On 17/8 a las 18:00, the tour will be in the Museo de las Conceptas on the Saint’s Day for Beatríz de Silva. Cost: $5.00. The tours are being given by the Municipal Tourism and Culture Department, the Archdiocese of Cuenca, and the Teatro Barojo Group.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Vicealcaldía para mujer (Vice Mayor for Woman) – An acción de protección filed by councilwomen Marisol Peñaloza and Paola Flores against Mayor Palacio and their colleagues on the council has yielded results. A judge ruled that the election by the council of Pablo Burbano, violated the rights of women council members to accede to the second in authority. <The constitution has an article requiring parity and equity in gender representation in public functions and directorships.> The judge ruled to cancel the election and hold another in 5 days to elect the Vice Mayor. Palacio says there’s no guarantee a woman will be elected on the new ballot.

High School Grads – In Zone 6 (Azuay, Cañar, y Morona Santiago), there are 18,000 new high school grads. There are 10,800 just in Cuenca. That number includes 10 prisoners who have a constitutional right to education. <How many of those kids are going to be competing for the limited spaces in the universities?>

Police camp – The Policía Nacional in Azuay will run their summer camp for kids between 7 – 13 years old from 29/7 to 16/8 from 8-12:00. Some of the activities will include traditional games, visits to special units like the mounted police and search and rescue unit. There is space for 200 kids with a ration of 1 cop per 12 kids. Register at any of the Unidades de Policia Comunitaria (UPC). <Do you know where your police station is?>

Drug use in Cuenca – Cuenca is above the national averages in narcotics, cigarette and alcohol use by youth from 12-17 years old. <Probably above the national averages for use of those drugs by the tercera edad, too.> Marijuana consumption by students is 8.5% nationally and 10.9% in Cuenca. For alcohol, national consumption is 40.6% and 46.4% in Cuenca. Cigarette use is at 13.7% nationally and at 22.37% in Cuenca. A psychologist and consultant on drug prevention programs attributed the higher consumption to more money. He also said the high level of migration in Azuay influenced the high level of use of drugs. Drug dealers can charge 2 or 3 times as much in Cuenca as they do in other cities.

Solo use plastics – The Provincial Government is preparing an ordinance on Environmental Public Policy for the Regulation of Single Use Plastic in Azuay. The second and definitive debate will be in septiembre and the ordinance will likely be approved with it’s application starting the 2nd half of 2020.

Visas – Venezuelans will be able to get two kinds of visas – one for those already in Ecuador, and the other for those seeking to enter the country. The president says that the number of Venezuelans entering the country has exceeded Ecuador’s capacity to host them. In 2018, it spent $576,000,000 to provide them with health, education, and security services. A UN statistic places the number of Venezuelans at 350,000 with the number expected to rise to 500,000 by the end of the year.

Internacional –

Belice – The government of Belize has announced there have been over 600 cases of dengue in the country, especially in the north. The number of cases doubled in the 1st 6 months of 2019 v.s. the whole of 2018.

Descuentos y compras –

RM – 2×1 sale – until 31/7 – no payments until octubre 2019.

And that’s all for today so Hasta la Próxima Semana –

Jeanne