Martes, 15/5/2017: Flood toll mounts, San Francisco Plaza update, Tranvía legal report, Cuenca international marathon

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Header event –

Concierto – A concert of Cuencanan and universal music will be el jueves at 19:00 in the Iglesia de las Conceptas with pianist Jannet Alvarado on the organ and soprano Vanesa Regalado.

Articles about –

Música nacional – The 3d edition of “Lo mejor del siglo XX” by Oswaldo Carrión is now in circulation.  The research is contained in two books and 5 CDs with about a hundred songs, considered the best of the 20th Century based on interviews with “numerosos” musicians.

Taller literario – “Los cuerpos que salen del clóset: una aproximación desde la narrativa ecuatoriana” (The bodies that leave the closet: an approach from the Ecuadorian narrative) will be held by Pedro Artieda Santacruz Wed. from 15-19:00 and on sábado from 1-13:00.  He is also the author of “Nadie lo sabe con certeza, “Bajo el hábito,” and “La homosexualidad masculina an la narrativa ecuatoriana” (No one knows for sure, “Under the habit,” and “Male homosexuality in the Ecuadorian narrative), <which should give you an idea of which closet he’s talking about and is that closet getting less crowded nowadays?  Hello….you can come out now – or are you waiting for your 106 year old mother to die?>

Ley de Cultura – Crimes against culture and patrimony will be punished with serious penalties ranging from fines of 20 basic salaries (SBU) as well as jail.  Crimes against cultural rights <ayahuasca for all?>, against creativity in the arts  <is being a lousy artist going to be a crime?>, against cultural patrimony and social memory, the culture of peace or impeding institutions in the accomplishment of their functions are punishable by fines.

Exposicion – “Rostros del Sígsig” (Faces of Sígsig) is a foto show at the Jadite Galleries in NY of faces from Sarar that no one would think were Ecuadorians. The people of this farming enclave are white, blond and blue eyed.  <OMG, the aliens have landed!>

Festival de la Lira – There will be an event on martes, 23/5 at 9:30 in the Juan Eljuri Chica auditorium to present the background and the agenda for the VI Certamen de Peosía HIspanoamericana Festival de la Lira (VI Latin American Poetry Contest Lira Festival) which will have Poesía y Ciudad as its theme.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Aumentan daños (Damage increases) – Consequences of the rains over the weekend include landslides, overflowed rivers and possible suspension of water service.  ETAPA’s Tixán water plant is monitoring water turbidity and measuring Unidades Nefelométrica de Turbiedad <I bet I won’t know what it means in English, either.>  (Nephelometric Turbidity Units)  <I was right –  I don’t know what it means in English.>  If the NTU exceeds 1,000 the plant will shut down and stop producing potable water.  As of lunes, the Tixán reserve tanks were at 13% and not enough water is going out to other tanks around the city.  If levels drop, there could be water rationing caused by the rain.  <Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink.  Or something like that.>  This plant serves 45% of Cuenca in sectors to the north such as Miraflores, Totoracocha, av. Huayna Cápac, Ricaurte, etc.  Cuenca has three plants – Tixán which used the Machangara, Cebollar which takes water from the Tomebamba and Sústag which is on the Yanuncay.

18 locations reported flooding in last Sunday’s rains, 3 houses were flooded and there was one reported death.  Since the rainy season started last 10/3, houses have collapsed in Sinincay, Machángara, Llacao and Paccha.  <Case made for strong building codes.>

Tranvía – Mayor Cabrera announced that there were anomalies in the Tranvía contract.  The participation of Euskotren, a Basque government business, in the Consorcio Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca was reduced from 51% to 3% after the contract was signed.  In an interview, the Mayor said that the contract was awarded because of Euskotren’s experience and knowledge, but that substitutions of the participants were made without notifying the city.  Currently, Isolux Corsán has 57.5% of the CCRC, and it is in the process of liquidation.  <Sounds like Cuenca got hosed. Liquidation is one way of getting rid of obligations and law suits.>

Unidad Anticorrupción – The new Attorney General, Carlos Baca Mancheno, wants to charge Pedro Delgado, Pres. Correa’s cousin, with illegal enrichment, and create a new “Unidad Nacional Transparencia y Lucha contra la Corrupción” (National Transparency and Anti-Corruption Unit) as his first acts as AG.

Presidential Museum –   Pres. Correa inaugurated the Museo de la Presidencia de la República yesterday.  It will contain the gifts, valued at $2.5 million, that he received during his 10 years as president.  A 2014 decree said that gifts received by government officials with a value more than the SBU (basic salary)  <that’s the value of the gift and not the politician>  are part of the country’s patrimony.  The 11 room, 400 s.m. space is in the south wing of the ground floor of the Palacio de Carondelet. Gifts include keys to cities, medals, and up to sapphire and diamond pieces.  Gifts of high monetary (as opposed to simbolic) value are sold at auction with proceeds used for social projects.  <Better than lining the presidential suitcase which has happened in other times and places.>

San Francisco Plaza – The merchants will be relocated by 28/5 around calle Padre Aguirre.  The work will take place in two phases – first the parking lot for the mercado Diez de Agosto and work on the Casa Jlluari, the surrounding streets, and the plaza itself.  The second phase is the atrium of the iglesia San Francisco and the continuation (?) of Padre Aguirre and Pres. Córdova.  <Two eye witnesses told me it didn’t look like anyone was getting ready to move.  Everything is still the same. I wonder what it’ll take to move those venders short of tactics no one wants to see on Eyewitness News at 10.>

Traffic jail – 70 prisoners will be transferred today to the new Centro de Detención de Infractores de Tránsito (Detention Center for Traffic Offenders) on av. Enrique Arízaga and De Las Américas.  The jail can hold 12 women and 116 men in separate pavillions.

Vía Cuenca-Loja – E35 in Oña needs maintenance.  The bridge over the río León should be resurfaced and to the south, there are large cracks in the road.  <Looks like a landslide waiting to happen since there’s also subsidence.>  Before, before the road was paved, it took 6 or 7 hours to get to Loja.  Now it takes 3.5-4.

Deportes –

Maratón – The Maratón Internacional Ciudad de Cuenca will be on 18/6 starting from parque De La Madre at 6:30.  Register at www.cuenca.gov.ec, in the Complejo de Cazhapata and Referee locations.  There are 400 spaces.  There are 1200 spaces for the half marathon.  Cost:  free.

Archery – The 1st National Archery Championships will be in Cuenca from 19-21/5 in the estadio Alejandro Serrano Aguilar.  Practice will start at 8:30 and the competition at 9:00.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne