Marijuana legalization advances in Nat’l Assembly; Foundation holiday events agenda; City’s earthquake vulnerability studied; ‘Night of the fools’ restaged

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 8/4) Obra “La noche de los giles” vuelve a tablado (The play “La noche de los giles” — The night of the fools/suckers/idiots returns to the stage) – Between the night of el 4/11/1985 and the madrugada (early morning) of el 4/12, thousands of Cuencanos poured into the streets, alarmed by a rumor of an imminent earthquake. José Edmundo “Loco” Maldonado, a journalist with El Mercurio popularized the event as “La Noche de los giles” in an opinion piece on el 10/11/1985. This story inspired 6 theater collectives in Cuenca to stage the story and who added elements such as fear, Cuencanan identity, and collective history. One of the actors, Daniel Montalván, explained that the goal was to explore conflicts generated by disinformation and how a rumor can unchain chaos.

During the Cuenca Foundation Holiday weekend most museums will be open, many with extended hours. (El Mercurio)

The play invites the spectator to reflect on the power of information and the effects on collective paranoia. Not only are the fears and uncertainty of that night revived, but the play explores universal themes such as manipulation of the media, and fragility of human emotions in moments of crisis. The current interpretation seeks to connect the public not only with the local memory, but contemporary dilemmas about confidence and fear in the digital era. <Think fake news, AI generated content, the movie “Wag the Dog,” and influencers>

The performance will be on the 14 & 15/4 <at an unannounced time> in the Teatro Sucre. Tickets available at Librería Palier, Café de Alicia, Break Coffee and Art, and La Escuela Mi Mundo Mágico. Cost: $3.00.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 8/4) Actos para conmemorar cumpleaños de mercado (Events to celebrate market’s anniversary) – The Mercado 12 de Abril will celebrate its 41st anniversary el domingo, 12/4 with a series of activities under the theme, “41 años de tradición y servicio con amor.” The events will start at 10:00 with the anniversary of the Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Yuyay, followed by a commemorative session a las 13:00. In the afternoon there will be musical performances a las 14:00 with Los Herederos and Carla Cueva a las 15:00, and Proyecto Coraza a las 16:00.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 9/4) Se encienden celebraciones por fundación (Celebrations for founding (of Cuenca) turned on) – The festive mood in Cuenca can be seen in the red and yellow flags decorating the Centro Histórico and there will be more than 130 activities this month including parades, crafts fairs, concerts, exhibitions, and sports events. One of the central events will be a student parade with 25 schools at 8:00 on sábado from San Blas to Parque Calderón and ending in Parque San Sebastián.

There will be many crafts and food fairs.
10-13/4 from 8:30-20:30 – Gran Feria de la Ruralidad with 70 booths from 21 rural parishes selling typical, gastronomic, crafts and cultural products from every corner of the canton – across from the Parque de la Madre.
11/4 from 11:00 to 16:00 – Festival de Trueque (Swap Meet) – Centro Cultural Municipal Los Sauces.
10-13/4 – “Siente el Amor por Cuenca” fairs – in the Plazas de Santo Domingo, María Auxiliadora and Av. 12 de Abril.
10-13/4 from 9:00 to 18:00 – Central Cultural Cemuart – General Torres y Pres. Córdova.
11/4 starting at 10:00 – Bailatón “Cholas Cuencanas” – Mirador de Turi.
3-13/4 – Feria Expo Cuenca with textiles, electronics, jewelry, leather and crafts people from Chordeleg – Totoracocha.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 10/4) Múltiples actos en tres días de Feria de Libros (Variety of events over the three days of Book Fair) – The 6th edition of the Feria de Libros “Segundas Lecturas” (Second Readings) will be from the 10-12/4 at the Biblioteca Municipal “Daniel Córdova Toral” on Benigno Malo y Sucre. There will be book launches, workshops, and reading sessions. The only book that caught my attention was “60 instrucciones para acabar, de una vez por todas, con el Ecuador que conocemos (60 Steps to Put an end, once and for all, with the Ecuador we know) <I think you are the wrong audience to list every book to be launched since most of you would be unable to read anything more complicated than a comic book.>

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 10/4)  An ad for Ecuagenera – Open house with orchids and tropical plants – Big discounts – 9-13/4 from 9am to 6pm – Gonzalo Cordero Dávila and Federico Proaño. <An activity without a language barrier. Flowers speak for themselves in all languages.>

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 8/4) Dan paso a tramitar ley para el uso de cannabis (Moving forward with legislation for the use of cannabis) – The Asamblea Nacional voted 142 to 6 to allow the citizen initiative Ley Orgánica para la Regulación Integral de uso responsable de Cannabis (Organic Law on the Comprehensive Regulation of the Responsible Use of Cannabis) to pass to the 2nd phase in which the Consejo Nacional Electoral will verify the signatures. The law would allow access to medical marijuana and use by adults in Ecuador. The law seeks to promote responsible, safe, and regulated use, establish controls to reduce risks to public health, discourage the illegal market and the associated problems with safety. It would remove pot from the list of controlled substances.

Those who want to use marijuana personally, will be able to grow up to 30 plants as long as it is not for commercial purposes. Asambleísta Ana Herrera, stressed that personal cultivation should not be allowed in people’s houses unless it is for medicinal uses, unless cultivators get permission and comply with requirements. Also adults can join clubs to use, sell, plant and store home grown marijuana for adult use in quantities that the law will determine. According to data from 11 organizations that worked to legalize cannabis, the experience of Uruguay which was the first country to completely legalize marijuana, showed that regulation could lessen the influence of organized crime. The groups said that since legalization in 2013, the illegal market was reduced significantly with 60% of users reporting that they buy through legal channels.

By regulating marijuana in Ecuador, criminal activities tied to narco-trafficking will be reduced and pressure on the judicial and prison system will be relieved since currently, people are being charged with minor crimes associated with possession. <How many of y’all are now high fiving each other?>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 7/4) Estudian resistencia sísmica de Cuenca (Study on the seismic resistance of Cuenca) – Cuenca faces a high risk of earthquakes with the most vulnerable buildings concentrated in the Centro Histórico. Faced with this situation. the U. of Cuenca is developing a study to determine how these buildings will respond to different levels of earthquakes. <My guess is pretty poorly, and that would include the highrises where the columns are only minimally tied into to the floor slabs, and the use of rebar could be categorized as economical.> The research analyzes the capacity of the buildings to resist earthquakes, with a sample of 54 two and three story brick buildings both without reinforcement, and with vigas de amarre (tie beams?). Programs that simulate structural behaviors during earthquakes will be used. Juan Carlos Jiménez, the project director, said that the Centro Histórico is vulnerable due to the age of the buildings and high population. <Time to import some structural engineers from California?>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 7/4) 2 feriados habrá en la ciudad este mes (There will be two holidays in the city this month) – El domingo, 12/4, Cuenca will celebrate 469 years since its founding. Since this is local, the holiday will only be in the canton with work and school activities suspended. Since 12/4 is a domingo, the asueto (day off – your word for the day) will be observed on lunes, 13/4. To celebrate, there will be activities such as ferias and private events in different locations. In addition, Pres. Noboa decreed an extended holiday for the Día de Trabajo (Labor Day). Normally, the holiday would be on el viernes, 1/5, but the executive decree adds el 30/4 as a day off. So Cuencanos will have holiday days on el 13 & 30 of abril. <Like retired life isn’t already a 24/7/365 holiday.>

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 9/4) 35 puntos para hacer cambios de domicilio (35 places to update your address) – The CNE (Consejo Nacional Electoral) has set up 35 locations in the province to receive change of address requests for voting. You have until el 17/4 to do this <assuming you even registered to vote>. You need to show your original cédula along with a utility bill that shows your new address. You can also change your address online at www.cne.gob.ec. Go to “Trámites y Servicios and pick “Servicios Ciudadanos.” After that, pick the “Cambio de domicilio electoral nacional y exterior” where you need to create an account with a username and password. Once you’ve done this, the system will automatically redirect you. <And hopefully not into a repeating, aggravating loop.> Lastly, click on “Solicitar cambio de domicilio”, pick one of the 4 options, attach a photo with you holding your cédula, and finish the personal data. When you’re done, you’ll get a confirmation email.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 10/4) Califican a restaurantes (Restaurants are rated) – La Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control y Vigilancia Sanitaria (ARCSA) held a special event this morning in the Única Cantina Mexicana Cuenca on the 5th floor terrace of the Tosi garage to award 9 “A” ratings to different restaurants and cafeterías in the city. <It would have been nice to see which restaurants those were so those of you with sensitive stomachs could enjoy worry free dining out.> The “A” rating is given to recognize sanitation and food safety quality in establishments that comply 90-100% with hygiene regulations.