Cuenca turns on Christmas ‘magic’; IESS operates on wrong patient; U. of Azuay goes solar; Turi prison director threatened; Guayaquil hwy. security boosted

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del domingo, 23/11) “Danza Butoh de los Andes” (Butoh Dance of the Andes) – Susana Reyes will present her work, “Danza Butoh de los Andes” on el martes, 25 & miércoles el3 26/11 a las 19:30 in the Sala Alfonso Carrasco. The work is a stage ritual that offers an intimate and poetic journey toward love, gratitude and human rebirth. Described as a hymn to life, the work explores the process of interior transformation that allows resurgence of a human being, like a phoenix, to raise their wings to a new dawn. <Whew. I wonder what that’s going to look like? The Philistine in me asks if it’s going to be a lot of graceful flapping around the stage.>

(De El Mercurio del lunes, 24/11) Cuenca enciende su magia navideña (Cuenca turns on its Christmas magic) – The City presented its Christmas agenda on Monday and reported on how the city will be lit up with allegories of lights, manger scenes <not the same manger protected by Aesop’s dog>, and the traditional Christmas tree. The lighting will be on December 4 with more places lit than were lit last year. The tree will be in the Plaza San Francisco, the pesebre (Nativity scene — your word for the day)) will be in the Plaza del Otorongo, and many of the bridges will be decorated.

An investigation is underway following an operation on the wrong patient. (El Mercurio)

The churches will be outlined with tubes of LED lights, and the length of Simón Bolívar will have luminous stars hung over the street. Many businesses along Bolívar will add to the Christmas spirit by lighting their establishments. All of the trees as well as some of the monuments and posts along Solano will be lit. There will be show el 4/12 along the street with performances. The new Parque del Ferrocarril and City hall will also be lit. LED lighting will be used for less electrical consumption and the lights will be on from 18:30 to 2:00.

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del lunes, 24/11) UDA, referente global en sostenibilidad (Universidad de Azuay, a global leader in sustainability) – The UDS received an Honorable Mention in the prestigious ISCN (International Sustainable Campus Network) Excellence Awards 2025 as one of the 6 most sustainable campuses in the world this year. The main campus of the UDA reached energy self-sufficiency this year by installing about 1,000 photovoltaic panels that generate clean and renewable energy. The investment was $500,000, a little more than 1% of its annual budget. The university calculates it will recuperate its investment in about 4 years.

(De El Mercurio del lunes, 24/11) Atentado fallido a director de cárcel (Failed attack on prison director) – There was an attack in the madrugada (early morning/wee hours — a bonus word for the day) on Sunday, el 23/11 against a house in the San Vicente de Las Caleras barrio. According to preliminary information, the attackers shot at the wrong house and left a threatening message next to a decapitated stuffed toy, dynamite, and a crown of flowers. The attack was probably aimed at the director of the Centro de Rehabilitación Social, CRS Turi. Pamphlets were found in the area warning the official to “move” the people recently transferred to Turi or “face the consequences.” The text also included direct threats against the director and his family. The attackers confused the address and shot at another house in the sector. <So a new disclosure for real estate agents should be that the listing is in the same neighborhood as a person who might be a target of criminal attacks?>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 25/11) Tamarindo con obras nuevas y viejos temores (Tamarindo with new projects and old fears) – While authorities were inaugurating a new security portal and Unidad de Policía Comunitaria (UPC – Community Police Unit), Bernardo Mancera, owner of a store in the sector, asked if this new infrastructure will really contribute to reducing levels of crime on the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme-Guayaquil. He came to the area 20 years ago and opened a store on the highway near the UPC. At that time the zone was calm and crime was sporadic. Over time, and especially since Covid, insecurity increased with frequent robberies at any time and any place including close to the UPC. Other neighbors preferred to speak anonymously. María commented that in the past 2 weeks, the situation seems to have quieted down, but it is an uneasy silence since she is afraid the delinquents are planning new attacks. She hopes that these new projects will be accompanied by more police and patrol cars given that the number of police currently operating in the sector is insufficient.

The prefects of Azuay and Guayas who inaugurated the project, said that security is a responsibility of the Central Government and not the provinces. <Do you also see that buck being passed to Quito?> Both have allocated resources since 2023. In Azuay, 5 security portals have been installed at entries into the province; the UPC building, which was in bad condition, was reconstructed; and lighting was renovated between Miguir and Molleturo. In Guayas, video surveillance cameras were installed in different segments of the highway and patrol patrol cars were acquired for the police.

(De El Mercurio del martes, 25/11) Nuevo error médico en el José Carrasco (New medical error at José Carrasco) – There was a new case of alleged negligence at the IESS hospital on el 20/11. The “evento adverso” (adverse event) happened in the trauma unit where a patient received an invasive procedure intended for another patient. A patient identified as V.A.C.F. entered with a traumatic hemothorax, and the planned medical procedure was a thoracentesis to extract liquid or air from the pleural space — the space between the lungs and the thoracic wall. Because of a mistake, the procedure was done on patient V.M.A.U. who was admitted for infectious gastroenteritis. The patient who received the procedure developed neumotorax and suffered a collapsed lung. The patient, who is expected to make a full recovery, is still hospitalized and the incident was reported to Quality Control as a possible adverse event which would need to be investigated. A prior operation which was categorized as an adverse event occurred in junio, 2024. A 12-year-old girl had the wrong leg operated on because of a lack of verification of the surgical site. The report on that mistake is part of the current investigations. <Maybe you’re now thinking of private insurance?>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 25/11) IESS – As of el 1 de diciembre, 2025, 2nd level external health providers to IESS will stop treating IESS patients due lack of payment of their bills. The lack of payment threatens health contractors with bankruptcy or laying off their staff including doctors and nurses. The accumulated debts are preventing them from paying the extra month’s salary to their workers. <And if your reason for staying with IESS is because if IESS couldn’t treat you, they would refer you to an outside health provider, giving you the best of both worlds — free, and well-treated. Ever heard the saying “You get what you pay for?>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 25/11) Nieta y abuelo ganan certamen gastronómico (Granddaughter and grandfather win cooking contest) – Samantha Alonso Cordero, a 17-year-old high school student, won the 9th edition of the Congreso Internacional de Gastronomía y Turismo “Sabores y Saberes Ancestrales del Ecuador” contest in Loja. Next to her mentor and grandfather, José “Tata” Alonso, she presented a cuy tamal with palm heart aji <For you newbies, that’s the pink sauce that’s as ubiquitous on Ecuadorian dining tables as ketchup is in the US.>. She was inspired by a family recipe handed down from her great-great grandmother. She wants to finish high school, study gastronomy, and open a restaurant in honor of her paternal grandfather.
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Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.