ECUADOR DIGEST2011 voter ban ends Quito bullfighting after 52 years

Organizers of the annual bullfighting festival in Quito are calling it quits a year after it stopped killing bulls in accordance with the will of voters.

Organizers point out that other festival events will continue as scheduled and that the bullfights were only a small part of the overall festival.

Ecuador approved a 2011 ballot question banning the killing of animals for entertainment.

The Quito festival bullfights had run for 52 years, attracting top bullfighters and generating about $15 million in revenues over six days. This year's festival begins Dec. 1. In a letter to the mayor, organizers blamed the cancellation of the fights on the killing ban and continued opposition to the spectacle. More than 40 bulls were killed during past fights.

Bullfighting will continue in some smaller Ecuadorean towns where voters did not approve the ban.

JACKASS DENIED CANDIDATE STATUS FOR FEB. ELECTIONS

A request by dozens of Ecuadorian citizens to qualify a burro to run for the country’s National Assembly has been denied by elections officials in Guayaquil.

At least 40 people paraded their candidate through the city’s streets to the electoral council offices. Sr. Burro, as he is called even wore a tie. But officials refused to even let them in the door on Thursday despite the fact that backers had dummied up a mock voter registration card showing the candidate’s photo superimposed on a man wearing a business suit.

Jackass backer Daniel Molina told local television stations the goal was to call voters’ attention to the seriousness of the February election, not to insult any party. Elections official, begged to differ, claiming it made a mockery of the elections process.

ECUADOR’S FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED TILL 2013

The launch of Ecuador's first orbiting satellite has been delayed until Feruary or March of 2013, due to technical problems according to the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency.

The small devise, a cube measuring 10 by 10 centimeters and weighing 1.2 kilograms, was originally scheduled for launch November 20, along with 23 satellites of other countries, atop a Russian RS20 rocket.

The satellite, named Pegasus, will be used for collecting weather and environmental data

According to the Ecuadorian space agency, the project will cost about $580,000.

IMPORTS OF VEHICLES AND CELL PHONES DROP

Due to new taxes and import quotas, the number of new cars and trucks entering Ecuador dropped by 43% in the first half of 2012, according to Ecuador’s Interior Ministry. Among other imports affected by the taxes and quotas, cell phones and cell phone assessories showed a similar drop, down 39%.

Photo captions: A 2011 referendum banned bullfighting in Quito; Sr. Burro, with supporters, on his way the election qualification office in Guayaquil.