Cuenca promotes travel adventure; New parks will open soon; Traveling with children; Ecuador and S. Korea sign free trade pact; Traffic accidents drop

Cuenca acoge el Adventure NEXT 2025, turismo de aventura – The tourism event, Adventure NEXT 2025, started el 1/9 to showcase the natural and cultural richness of Cuenca to the world. For 3 days, over 30 international buyers and 10 specialized media outlets will be meeting to learn what the city has to offer and to establish alliances with Ecuadorian tourism operators. Nicolás Caram, VP of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) for Latin America, emphasized that the event will be a catalyst for attracting new travelers.

INEC: Hay disminución de accidentes – The Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC) published results on traffic accidents for the 2nd quarter of 2025 with data for injuries and deaths at certain sites, the types of vehicles involved, and more. Between April and June 2025, there were 4,939 transit accidents nationally which is an 8.76% drop compared to the same period a year ago. Collisions were the most common type of accident representing 46.02% of the total. La impericia e imprudencia (inexperience and recklessness – your words for the day) of the driver were the main causes, accounting for 38.9% of the accidents.

Ecuador’s rules for traveling internationally with children also apply to foreign residents.

There were 4,771 victims of whom 88.26% were injured and 11.74% killed, with Guayaquil and Quito accounting for 41.55% of the victims. Men represented 73.49% of the victims <What does that say to you about the driving habits of men v.s. women?>, and people between 30 and 45 years old represented 19.44% of the victims.

La salida de menores del país tiene normas – The exit of minors leaving Ecuador without one or both of their parents requires paperwork with the express authorization of the parent or guardian who is not traveling. The paperwork starts with a document signed by a lawyer containing the exit date, reason for the trip, the return date, the address at the destination, and the address in Cuenca. Copies of cedulas for the minor, parents or their representatives, and the person with whom the minor is traveling must be attached. If only one parent is going with the child the other parent has to give consent, and if not, the resolution goes to a judge. There are different requirements depending on the destination, aimed at protecting the child.

This regulation also applies to children and teens of foreign residents. <Take note and find a lawyer in plenty of time if you have kids and one of you is going to take the kids out of Ecuador for whatever reason. Good luck if you’re trying to get back to the US to enroll them in a school run by some cult, and the other parent doesn’t even know you’ve gone yet.>

Soterramiento de cables retrasa la apertura de obra – Undergrounding cables, removing the posts, and final cleaning are the last items to be done before the $2.6 million parque del Ferrocarril <Railroad Park> can open. The opening, originally scheduled for early September has been delayed. ETAPA has already installed the underground conduits and the private internet companies who use the above ground cables and remaining posts are responsible for pulling the cables into the underground system. The Agencia de Regulación y Control de las Telecomunicaciones (Arcotel) and the private companies have been asked to start the undergrounding process. <I wonder if these private companies are ones that got missed when all those “noodles” of wires got cleaned up, and all cables had to be labeled by the service provider. Maybe these are the same freeloaders.>  A city spokesperson said that the city’s intention is to open the park in October.

The $1.3 million parque del Arco is at 90% completion. The contractor is working on the green areas and final finishes. The floor of the lookout area, one of the main attractions in the park, will be installed in the next few days. The park will be inaugurated at the end of September.

Corea del Sur y Ecuador firman un TLC – The two countries signed the Acuerdo (Agreement) Estratégico de Cooperación Económica <After changing the order of the words, you translated that for yourselves, right? If not, your education must have gone seriously off the rails in your childhood and youth.> in Seoul yesterday. This agreement allows 098.8% of Ecuadorian exports to enter Korea with 0 tariffs. The agreement primarily benefits traditional products such as shrimp, cocoa, coffee, bananas, fish, dairy products and chocolates as well as newer goods such as meats, frozen potatoes <I could never freeze a potato that I’d want to eat afterwards – the texture gets weird.>, pineapple and cranberries <so where are Ecuador’s cranberry bogs? or are they talking about arandanos azules (blueberries)?>

The hope is to promote growth of non-petroleum exports to S. Korea by 27%, opening up opportunities for small and medium businesses and artisans. The agreement also considers long-term tax relief for sensitive sectors such as metalworking, textiles and household appliances to allow national industry to adapt progressively to the new commercial dynamics. In 2024, the trade deficit between Ecuador and S. Korea was $214 million with imports exceeding exports. <My question is why would S. Korea import household appliances from Ecuador when Korea already exports so many?>

Oña: opera primero de 5 portales de seguridad – In the Oña cantón, the provincial government of Azuay inaugurated the first of 5 security portals planned for strategic accesses in the province. This modern system allows traffic monitoring in real time between Azuay and Loja. The portal has facial recognition cameras, license plate readers, and LED screens that show current information about road conditions, tourist alerts and other news directed at drivers. <Such as turn around, the road fell into the valley 5 km. ahead.> The other 4 portals are expected to start operating in the next few weeks. They are located at the old toll station in Chaquilcay on the access to the eastern cantons; in the Tamarindo sector on the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme; Sarayuna on the vía Cuenca-Girón- Pasaje; and in the El Descanso zone on the Cuenca-Azogues-Biblián highway. The portals are connected directly to the Sistema Integrado de Seguridad ECU911 allowing more effective coordination and response times to emergencies.