IMF loan demands and the reaction; 15 presidential tickets register for February election; Orchid grower expands locally, internationally; Respirator donation

Miércoles, 7/10/2020

Hola, Todos –
Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

En el Seminario San Luis se narrarán las historias del pasado (Stories of the past will be told at the San Luis Seminary) – As part of the 9 de octubre holiday, the Archdiocese of Cuenca and the Barojo Collective will bring back the “Rutas de Leyenda” (Legend Routes) to tell the stories of Cuenca. The organizers will hold this tour with a maximum of 10 people. This new story will tell how the San Luis seminary is related to the independence of Cuenca and of General Torres, a little known hero of the independence even though a street is named after him. The tours will be on 9 & 10/10 a las 19:00. Tickets will be sold at the entrance of the Catedral Vieja and cost $7.00 (general) and $5.00 (preferential). <So bring your cedula to prove your age unless you look unmistakably 65 or older. Would it be worth the extra 2 bucks to have someone tell you that you look too young for the senior discount?>

Un libro sobre Juan Miguel Vélez (A book about Juan Miguel Vélez) – The book “Juan Miguel Vélez” by Simón Valdivieso was launched Wednesday in the Casa de la Cultura Núcleo del Azuay. Vélez was a sculptor who worked in the 19th century and was one of the most important sculptors in Cuenca.

Otras cosas –

Three Cuencanos have received approval for locally built respirators that will be donated to hospitals that need them. (El Mercurio)

Titular – Se inscriben 15 binomios ante el CNE (15 pairs are registered with the CNE) – Ayer, the running mates Yaku Pérez-Virma Cedeño (Pachakutic), Isidro Romero-Sofía Merino (Avanza) y Ximena Peña-Patricio Barriga (Alianza País) registered their candidacies with the CNE. Besides the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the CNE also registered candidates for members of the Parlamento Andino and overseas, national and provincial assemblies. In Azuay there were 200 candidates for 10 assembly seats – 5 legislators and 5 alternates. After the primary elections, 19 binomios were selected, but 3 will not register. Fabricio Correa, brother of the ex-president will not run with the Justicia Social movement. Cristina Reyes will not run with the Partido Social Cristiano which decided to support Guillermo Lasso, and Miguel Salem with the Fuerza Ecuador movement (exPRE) also didn’t register. The candidates for Podemos, Paúl Carrasco (ex-prefect of Azuay) and Frank Vargas Anda were rejected by the CNE for irregularities in their registration. Four pairs are correcting irregularities in their registrations and others are in the process to be approved. <I don’t think voters can complain about not having enough choices.>

Cartoon of the day – The drawing shows a hand and arm in a much patched sleeve reaching into a bear trap baited with a bag labelled Préstamo FMI (IMF loan). The caption is “Cayendo 20 veces en la misma trampa” (Falling into the same trap 20 times).

En análisis las gerencias de tres empresas (Management of three companies being analyzed) – The managers of the provincial government businesses of Agrokawsay (agricultural), Lactjubones (dairy) and Asfaltar (roads) are being analyzed by the new prefectura for replacement. There are contractual considerations and labor laws that would apply to removing these managers.

Fabrican respiradores para donarlos (Making respirators to donate) – When the health emergency was declared, Cuencano brothers Galo (medical expertise) and Pedro (mehanical expertise) Ochoa and Santiago Zeas (electronics) started working on building respirators. After tests that resulted in 25 prototypes, they finally got a machine that was approved by Indurama for quality control and manufacturing and by health authorities. The goal is to donate these respirators any health facility that needs one.

FMI pide subir IVA al 15% (IMF asks to raise IVA to 15%) – The agreement between the IMF and Euador for a $6.5 billion loan includes 10 tax related promises, the first of which is to increase the IVA from 12% to 15% and eliminate the refund of taxes to universities and seniors. <Let the whining begin.> Income tax should be applied on the 13th and 14th month incomes for all workers; income tax is currently at 10% and the tax base of $8,140 should be raised since people who earn more than this currently don’t pay this tax <Or something like that – it’s especially confusing to someone who hasn’t prepared her own taxes since the early 80’s – and then in a different country with different laws.> There would also be new taxes created especially for gasoline, for CO2 emissions, and in the telecommunications sector.

Pagina de Negocios –

Empresa Ecuagenera en Alemania y La Florida (Ecuagenera Company in Germany and Florida) – Ecuagenera has opened branch offices in La Florida and Germany with greenhouses and offices to support their own distribution channels. A new location has also been opened on Diez de Agosto in Cuenca. The company also bought 280 hectares of primary forest in northern Ecuador for research. The company was founded in 1992 on the concept of research, conservation and bio-commerce. It started with the collection of its founder, Ángel Andreetta, which had 200 species, and has since grown to 4,000 species and the same number of hybrids. Not all are for sale and over 50% are in conservation with many rare plants which are being reproduced to avoid their extinction. The company exports to all the continents in the world <Although I didn’t see Antarctica on the list – low demand and logistical challenges?> Ecuagenera is known at an international level due to its research and science and attendance at conferences.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne