Leaked tapes lead to resignation, ‘Censored’ art exhibit reopens, Biggest Christmas tree, G77 + China

Martes, 12/12/2017

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events –

Ffilme – “Dunkirk,” directed by Christopher Nolan was shown Tues. in “La Guarida” Centro Cultur cal (Mariscal la Mar y Luis Pauta (Convención del 45). <Were the Saturday matinees when I was a kid even that cheap?>

Articles about –

Exhibición – “Difícil de leer entre mi luto y mi fantasma” (Difficult to read between my mourning and my ghost) by artist Marco Alvarado will be reopened Wednesday a las 19:00 in the Sala Proceso at the CCE. This exhibit was at the Museo de las Conceptas and was supposed to run until febrero, but was closed on 13/11 after 15 days due to controversial content. The current curator, Juan Pablo Ordóñez asked why the exhibit was censored, and thought it was from fear of provoking “actos violentos” (violent acts) that occurred in the Museo de las Conceptas. A letter signed by 67 artists to Mayor Cabrera expressed indignation at the closing and asked why.

El Avispero – This art collective is 22 years old. As part of its celebrations, it will present “Lluvia” (Rain) from mañana until el sábado a las 20:00. In febrero, the actual anniversary, it will stage “El Angel Administrador” (ACAY) and “El vendedor de cabezas” (The seller of heads).

Directory – The Hemisferio Creativo Project has prepared a Directory of
Cultural Services and Properties that is divided into design, literature, music, audiovisual, visual arts, scenic arts, festivals, cultural spaces, collectives and cultural businesses with 600 listings. The hope is that the next edition will include various artisans. Both the print and digital versions will be available in enero.

Catechism classes – Classes preparing students for their first communions have been held at the Heraldo del Evangelio, Caballeros de la Virgen congregation since 1854. <I don’t think I got this right, but sleep deprivation does bad things to my Spanish. I can read the “dots,” but can’t connect them.>

Otras cosas –

Titular – Tras polémico audio, E. Mangas renuncia (After controversial audio, E. Mangas resigns) – The CREO party asked the A. G. to investigate misuse of public funds and possible fraud in the 2017 presidential elections. <Lasso didn’t give up – he just took some time to catch his breath.> In a 38 minute recording that went viral, Mangas, the presidential general secretary, said about the AP party, “Perdimos la primera vuelta y perdimos la segunda vuelta también, eso no fue ganado.” (We lost the first round and we lost the second round too, that wasn’t won.) <Now if AP equals Correa, then no, AP didn’t win.>

G77 and China – Ecuador took the lead in an international conference on “Crisis ecológica y conflictos geopolíticos: Por un planeta sostenible” (Ecological crisis and geopolitical conflicts: For a sustainable planet) that started Tuesday in Quito. Ecuador holds the presidency of the G77 plus China <which contains 134 countries> and will work for the southern global agenda. The director of Oxfam’s Fiscal Justice group said that Ecuador’s role in the fight against tax havens is fundamental, in that it will catch on with other countries to fight tax evasion. She cited a UN study that reported the world’s 8 richest people own as much as the bottom 50% of the world’s people. <WTF is an appropriate reaction. Feel free to expand on that.>

Donations – MIES is taking donations of non-perishable food, clothing in good shape, and toys to distribute to people who are vulnerable or of limited means at Christmas. The 3 collection points are at the Gobernación and offices of MIES.

Budget – The Concejo Cantonal approved the 2018 municipal budget el pasado domingo for $244,039,519 with an add-on of $29,796,600. The 8 municipal businesses also approved budgets. <And here starts your civics lesson.> The municipal businesses are: Emurpalg EP – livestock market? – $3.2 milllion, Farmasol EP – pharmacies – $21.3 mil, EDEC CP – economic development – $4.5 mil, EMUCE EP – cemetaries – $2.2 mil, EMUVI EP – housing – $14.9 mil, ETAPA – telecommunications, water and sewer – $130 mil, EMAC EP – garbage – $27 mil. in 2017 <This is the business that relies on the electric company to collect is bills, and which hasn’t been able to come up with a way to bill and collect on their own for 2 years.>

Forum on gender violence – A forum started hoy a las 9:00 on the 2nd floor of the Museo de la Ciudad.

Mining – Delegates from Conaie (Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador) marched 15 days from Unión Base-Puyo to Quito to meet with Pres. Moreno. In those meetings, the president announced he would stop granting mining concessions.

Tree – The Christmas tree in Otorongo was lit Tuesday night – all 150,000 lights.

Budget – The Prefectura will have a budget of $156 million in 2018. Prefecto Paúl Carrasco said that Azuay would not start new projects, but would concentrate on work pending from 2017. Some of the budget items listed were MAR (strategy for mitigation, adaptation and reversal of climate change), industrial development, tourism, community management and irrigation, and roads.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne