Illegal immigrants off-shore Colombia, World Water Day, Palestinian movie, Bus cards

Viernes, 16/3/2018

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming agenda event –

Palestinian film – The show “Cine Palestino” will be from 21-23/3 in the CCE. The Palestinian Ambassador to Ecuador, Hani Ayoub Remawi, will attend the opening el próximo martes a las 10:00. He will hold a conference.

Articles about –

Recital – The OSC is performing 2 concerts with guest saxophonists, Sixto Gallegos and Paul Morocho, <Sorry that Rahsaan Roland Kirk won’t be there.> The first concert was Friday night. The second will be Saturday a las 11:00, both in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz.

Conference – The Cine Debate-Documental “El Arte después de DuChamp: A cien años de La Fuente” started ayer and will run hasta mañana in the Arts Department at the U. of Cuenca. <Highly academic.>

Juan Morales Ordóñez – This professor from the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja has been invited to hold conferences at two universities in Brazil.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Detenidos por caso de menor asesinada (Arrests in case of murdered minor) – 18 people were arrested for organized crime and an alleged child pornography ring was broken up after an investigation started by the murder of a child in 12/2017 in Loja. Arrests were made and properties were raided in Quito, Portoviejo, Santo Domingo, Manta, Cuenca and Loja.

Olimpiada de Matemáticas (Math Olympics) – Students from 65 high schools will participate in the Cuenca Math Olympics on 17/4. There are 6 levels of competition and winners will go onto national and international competitions.

Illegal migrants – The Colombian Coast Guard intercepted a boat that was behaving suspiciously and rescued 24 illegal migrants from Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, and Ecuador, including 4 minors. Authorities consider them victims of trafficking in migrants.

Bus cards – In 15 days, only bus cards will be accepted for payment of fares. The card readers are being installed in the 475 buses. <The photo shows an old SIT card next to card reader. Does that mean they will still be accepted?> For regular fare cards, one or more passengers can use it when boarding a bus. Discounted cards for students, elderly, and disabled can only be used by the registered cardholder. A student who was interviewed hoped that bus drivers would respect riders more by stopping at stops and not in the middle of the street and not taking off before riders are completely on or off the bus.

Festival – International Water Day will be on 22/3 and several institutions are planning a festival with different events. On domingo, 25/3 there will be a 5K run from the parque De La Madre. <Be patient – there will probably be a more detailed article closer to the event.>

Avoiding water contamination – Catgalina Albán, the director of the City’s Environmental Management Commission said that the sources of water in the Parque Nacional Cajas are still at risk since the mining concessions of Río Blanco and Loma Larga have not been revoked. The city has been taking actions including declaring Cuenca and its páramos free of metal mining in 1/2017. In 2016, it contracted with the Universities of Cuenca and Azuay to conduct studies to determine if mining operations will affect water sources. <Is there any mining that doesn’t pollute?> ETAPA and other municipal entities have bought real estate in the high zones of the canton. <That’s taking control of the watershed seriously. They put their money where their mouth was.> An environmental consultant was hired by the city to compile and assemble the technical-legal guidelines for the path the National Government can take to reverse the mining concessions.

Bacalao – Salt fish for fanesca and other ingredients are at the markets. <Much easier to go out to eat fanesca than to try make it at home. Much, much easier and you won’t have gallons of left over fanesca to deal with.>

Amenidades –

Taller de Mandalas – There will be a workshop Saturday desde 15:00 in the Centro Pascana (Puente Todos Santos y Paseo 3 de Noviembre) on how to make a mandala with taut thread.

Movies – as usual, go to www.multicines.com.ec for show times and locations. The following movies open this week.

3D & 2D Tomb Raider – Esp.
2D Tomb Raider – Sub.
2D Maldición de la casa winchester – Esp. y Sub.
2D Peter Rabbit – Esp.

The following movies are continuing. All are in 2D.

Huracán categoría 5 – Esp.
Pantera Negra – Esp.
Noche de Juegos – Esp.
La Forma del agua – Esp.
Desèrtar de los muertos vivientes – Esp.
Deseo de matar – Esp.
Operación red sparrow – Sub.

Internacional –

Perú – The Congress of Perú approved debating the motion for “destitución”(impeachment) against Pres. Kudzynski for “permanente incapacidad moral” (permanent moral incapacity). <Now that certainly has a ring to it, and certainly applies in spades to a more northern president, and probably to all politicians in general.> due to his alleged ties with Odebrecht.

Colombia – Peace talks restarted between the Government of Colombia and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a guerrilla group, yesterday after a 2 month suspension. The talks are being mediated in Cashapamba, Ecuador.

US – At least 4 people were killed when a new pedestrian overpass collapsed ayer in Miami.

Brazil – 565 people were found in conditions of slavery at an hacienda belonging to a religious sect, “Comunidad Evangélica Jesus, la Verdad que Marca” (Evangelical Community Jesus, the Truth that Marks). <So do you think that will give evangelicals a bad name or were those slaves just grateful to be working off their sins in this lifetime?> The Prosecutor raided haciendas belonging to the sect in 15 different cities. The sect has been under investigation since 2013 when another 348 people were found in inhumane working conditions. <Would Jesus have held slaves?>

Venezuela – “Apatía” (apathy – your word for the day) marks the the Venezuelan precampaign. In two days, the opposition against the elections scheduled for mayo are calling for a “protesta mundial” (world protest). Only 41% of Venezuelans are strongly inclined to vote in mayo contrasted with 70% who intended to vote in 2013.

Deportes –

Día Mundial del Agua – “Soy Agua, Soy Energía” is the sports festival to celebrate Internacional Water Day. It will be el domingo, 25/3 a las 9:00 with a run or bike ride from Parque de la Madre. Register in the Parque Calderón, ETAPA in Gapal, and on weekends, in the Parque de la Madre or Paraíso. Cost: a plant, a symbolic registration. <Hey – your patience paid off. And you just had to wait until the sports section.>

Discuentos y compras –

CEDEI – 10% discount in registration fees from 19-23/3 for English classes <not that you need them if you’re reading these translations, but it’s a sale.>

Fanesca at Doña Charito – starting today – Remigio Crespo 7-79 y Guayas – 288-4026.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Domingo –

Jeanne