Demand surges for passports, cedulas; Yaku Pérez forming new party; ‘Vaccine passports’ are promoted; Teachers block highway; Orchestra in concert

Miércoles, 4/8/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

OSC cierra temporada con recital (OSC closes season with recital) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca will close its first season with 2 concerts. The first, on 5/8 a las 17:00 in the iglesia de Santo Domingo, will be to honor Santo Domingo de Guzmán who founded the Dominican Order. The same concert will be performed el 6/8 in the teatro Casa de la Cultura in honor of the Día Nacional de la Cultura. Both are free with biosecurity measures.

Long lines at Cuenca Civil Registry locations have promoted the government to open a new office. (El Mercuiro)

Titular – Motos y vehículos serán chatarrizados (Motorcycles and vehicles will be scrapped) – EMOV EP has restarted the process of scrapping 53 vehicles and 125 motos that have been in the impound lots for over a year and half. The unclaimed vehicles are evaluated by the Revisión Técnica Vehicular <The same vehicle inspection cars have to pass for the annual registration.> The 49 vehicles that were in good shape will be put up for auction. Liquid contaminants are being removed from the cars in bad shape and will be sent to ETAPA which will scrap them. Car owners will have a last chance to claim them before they are junked. The most common causes for motos to be in the lots are lack of legal purchase contracts and abandonment. <So in the case of motos, it’s not “cheaper to keep her?”> The main areas of noncompliance for motorcyclists are lack of documents, no plates, noise, and passengers without helmets.

Cuenca – “Pasaporte de Vacunación” promueve la inmunización (“Vaccination Passport” promotes immunization) – The alliance between the Gobierno Nacional and private businesses allowed the creation of new vaccine centers in the whole country, and it is now promoting the “Pasaporte de Vacunación” initiative. With this plan, citizens who have received their 2nd dose can access different benefits and discounts on a national level including food, drinks, entertainment, health and beauty, travel and more. You need to register at www.pasaportevacunacion.ec. At the site, click on “Quiero mi Pasaporte” and fill out your data. You will receive a code on your cellphone or email to validate and then create a password for your account.

Some of the businesses who have joined are Corporación Favorita <Supermaxi>, Corporación GFP <Fybeca, SanaSana>, Grupo KFC, Cervecería National <How many of you would get your vaccination if they gave you free beer? And now you want to know, “How much beer?”>, Cinemark, Movistar, CBS Tesalia, and the Agremiación de Restaurantes de Pichincha. The Director of Public Affairs at GPF said the vaccination process reflects the solidarity and responsibility that Ecuadorians should have to reactivate the country. <But I suppose some ex-pats (we) do not think of yourselves as Ecuadorians (them) and therefore owing neither responsibility to nor solidarity to the country we live in.>

Refuerzan el turismo con capacitaciones (They reinforce tourism with training) – From 28/7 to 3/8, 40 members of the Policía Nacional in Cuenca are part of a training program in tourism. The pilot program seeks to offer the local and internacional community in Ecuador services of the Policía Turística, made up of agents trained to offer security and excellent service to domestic and foreign tourists. The officers will be hosts for the city and their activities will include guiding, caring for, informing, accompanying, and assisting in the needs of tourists who visit Cuenca.

Obras de pavimentación rígida en Cdla. Eloy Alfaro (Rigid paving projects in Ciudadela Eloy Alfaro) – The city is finishing paving projects on calles Cantón Celica, Cantón Gonzanamá, y Cantón Macará in the Yanuncay parish. The project generated 336 direct and indirect jobs and cost $410,554. 557 residents will benefit directly from the project. <And they will get a bill for it, too.>

Demanda ciudadana rebasa capacidad de Registro Civil (Citizen demand exceeds the capacity of the Civil Registry) – People seeking passports and cédulas are crowding the Registro Civil office with 600 documents being delivered each day – triple the normal number. Also, staff has been reduced and are working overtime. To solve the problem, a new office was opened in the Parque La Libertad, appointments are assigned on line, and production in the El Batán office is being increased. At the moment, 300 tickets are being given out daily for passport appointments. From 6/8, hours for cédulas and passports are from 7-17:00, and on sábado, for passports, from 8-15:00.

Maestros protestan con cierre vial (Teachers protest with road closure) – Teachers in the Unión Nacional de Educadores (UNE) del Azuay temporarily closed the southern entrance to Cuenca with burning tires as part of the radicalization of the protest to demand the application of the reforms to the Ley Orgánica de Educación Intercultural. Roads were also closed in Durán, Samborondón, Santo Domingo, Quevedo, and Cañar. There were marches in Gualaceo and Chordeleg. The hunger strike is continuing with one striker needing to be taken to a health center.

Region –

Yaku Pérez presentará nuevo grupo político el 14 de agosto (Yaku Pérez will present a new political group on August 14) – Ex-presidential candidate Yaku Pérez will launch a new political group in the facilities of the Sindicato de Choferes Profesionales of Cuenca el 14/8. The movement will include various social organizations, and will be characterized by being ecologista, ecofeminista, comunitarista (ecologist, ecofeminist, communitarian), and above all, for the defense of nature and water.

Dos acciones contra minería ilegal (Two actions against illegal mining) – Yesterday, the Gobierno Provincial del Azuay and the Municipio de Sígsig announced a technical closure of a stretch of the vía Curuncay-Infiernillos and the expiration of 9 mining concessions in order to stop illegal metal mining that is putting the rió Santa Bárbara at risk for pollution. The road was not allowed according to the coordinates in the environmental permit. The 9 mining concessions did not comply with a requirement for an environmental registration and other specifications in the Ley de Minería. <So tell me again. There is responsible mining? Just not here?>

Nacional –

200,000 dosis de CanSino será para población en zonas de difícil acceso (200,000 doses of CanSino will be for the population in hard-to-reach areas) – A Qatar Airlines flight brought 200,000 doses of the one-dose CanSino vaccines to Quito. These will be used to vaccinate people in remote areas on the northern frontier, in the Amazonía, pueblos and indigenous nationalities in the Sierra, and prisoners. <I can understand not wanting to go into the prisons with needles and syringes more times than necessary.> Authorities have identified 18 cantons in the country with less than 50% vaccine coverage. Ximena Garzón, ministra de Salud, said after reaching the goal of vaccinating 9 million people in 100 days, they will continue until they reach 85% of the population in diciembre. The plan is to vaccinate people over 12 years old. Currently the country is applying Pfizer with an effectiveness of 95%, AstraZeneca with 70%, Sinovac with 50%, and now CanSino with 65.28 effectiveness.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne