Grand Prix car race takes over city streets; Crime dominates mayoral campaign agenda; Personal income tax threshhold rises to $1,750 a month

Viernes, 6/1/2023
 
Hola, Todos –

Titular –

Pase del Niño Rey aviva fe cuencana (Parade of Niño Rey revives faith in Cuencans) – The parade carrying the image of the Niño Rey from the Parque San Blas to the iglesia del Cenáculo returned this year after a 2 year absence. <Like a lot of other public celebrations.> It has been held every 5 enero for at least 100 years. Hundreds of faithful participated in the parade. The Pase del Niño Rey is different from other parades since it has at least 180 priostes, each of whom supports the parade financially.

Crime and law enforcement are the primary issues for the February sectional election. Cuenca mayoral candidates present their proposals.

Elecciones 2023 – 

De El Mercurio del jueves, 5/1/2023:
Seguridad, eje clave en planes (Security, a key focus of plans) – Safety is one of the principal problems that Cuenca currently has. Crimes such as robberies of houses, commercial locations, and auto and auto accessory thefts are daily occurances. 9 mayoral candidates presente their proposals for safety. <Feel free to read the campaign blah, blah, blah on your own. I’m too tired to even try translating that s**t.>

Pocas propuestas para vialidad (Few proposals for roadways) – Wilson Abad, a member of the Asociación Frente Unido de Taxistas (AFUT <Kind of an ironic name for a taxi guild if you pronounce it as “afoot.”> said that one of the main problems in Cuenca is the lack of road projects in periurban and rural parishes. He said public transport, mainly taxis and buses, can’t provide normal service because of the bad state of the roads. He said some roads are almost impassable and can damage the vehicles and cause accidents. 9 candidates for mayor of Cuenca presented their proposals for roads.

Cuenca – 

Tome precauciones ante cierre de vías (Take precautions due to road closures) – The first road closures for Friday’s Mascaradas 2023 parade which closed av. Huayna Cápac from calle República to 12 de Abril. There will be more closures el sábado y domingo for the Campeonato Zonal de Circuitos Gran Premio Ciudad de Cuenca car race. Traffic will be restricted in the area of av. Del Estadio y Florencia Astudio from 11:00 for the technical inspections of the vehicles. The race will follow on domingo with the Automóvil Club del Azuay setting up the security barricades starting at 6:00. Streets that are part of the race route will be closed until 20:00, domingo.

The route of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

De El Mercurio del jueves, 5/1/2023 (2 articles):
Circuito Urbano con 26 espacios para aficionados (Urban Circuit with 26 spaces for fans) – There are designated spaces for the public to watch the race, some of which are inside the perimeter of the circuit. You can get into these spaces in the minutes before 8:00. Spaces where the public will be allowed are marked with yellow tape, and areas prohibited to the public will be marked with red tape. Otherwise, the race course will be blocked off with barriers to keep people from crossing the track during the race. <You don’t want me writing about you as the clueless gringo who crossed in front of a racecar and got launched into eternity. You’d probably even make the news in your home town or state.> The following streets will be completely closed on domingo, 8/1 from 7-16:30: av. Solano y Daniel Córdova (Colegio Benigno Malo – start), av. Remigio Crespo, Agustín Cueva, Padre Julio Matovelle, Juan Iñiguez, Gonzalo Cordero, José Fajardo, Padre Julio Matovelle, av. Solano, av. Del Esadio, av. José Peralta, Alfonso Cordero, Florencia Astudillo, Federico Malo, Tadao Torres, José Alvear, av. Solano y Daniel Córdova. <If you’re planning a trip to the SuperMaxi El Vergel, better do it on sábado and be ready for bad traffic and high taxi fares. Or better yet, wait until lunes.>

On el sábado, 7/1, av. Del Estadio will be closed between the Hotel Zahir and the stadium access door to General Norte and access General Sur from 12-18:00. This area will have the technical-administrative control and driver check-in.

Máxima pericia en el km. 49 (Maximum expertise at km. 49) – The bypass at km. 49 of the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme is only 5-8 m. wide, paved with gravel and with a maximum speed limit of 20 km/hr. There are steep grades (up to 17%) when entering and leaving the bypass and it is recommended that drivers use 1st or 2nd gear and maintain a safe distance between cars. The road is also full of hairpin turns and tight S curves. <If driving in the mountains in Ecuador makes you nervous, take the long way around through La Troncal. Or take a plane to get to Guayaquil. And definitely don’t have anyone in the car prone to car sickness.>

Empresarial – 

El Impuesto a la Renta sobre USD 1.750 al mes (Income Tax on $1,750 a month) – Starting this year, whoever makes a monthly salary of $1,750 or more has to pay income tax, <After this, the article and tax stuff gets too complicated for me. You need to talk to an accountant for advice.> There are deductions the tax payer can take for health, housing, food, clothing, tourism and education up to a maximum of $5,327/yr.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne