Mayor studies photo radar removal; Corpus Christi festival begins next week; Gov’t promises Cuenca-area highway fixes — again; Drunks targeted

Miércoles, 31/5/2023

Hola, Todos –

Titular –

Con informes definirán el futuro de los radares (Reports will define the future of radars) – There will be a meeting this week to talk about what actions will be taken to fulfill mayor Zamora’s promise to remove the speed radars. His manager of EMOV EP, Darío Ordóñez, has been in office 15 days, and said that EMOV is preparing technical, financial, economic, and legal reports about the links with Movil Technology. One of the alternatives for EMOV is to come to an agreement with that business. The directorship is worried that Cuenca will become the “capital mundial de los radares.” <I hope you don’t need me to translate that simple and almost English sentence.>

Preparations are underway for the annual Corpus Christi festival. (El Mercurio)

One official said that neither Lima nor Argentina <like, all of Argentina? the whole country?> have as many sanctioning devices and that the objective is to make money. He calculated that if the whole system were implemented, it could generate $1 billion. Just in marzo y abril, it generated $200,000 and so far has billed $4 million. <A billion sounds like everyone getting a ticket each time they take their car out for the next year. It also sounds like enough to fix the road problems between Cuenca and everywhere else.> Councilman Gustavo Valencia, a member of the Comisión de Movilidad said they are advancing towards cancelling the radar contract. He said information from the Attorney General’s office and someone not linked with the Audit Commission of the Asamblea Nacional said the contract process was flawed by defects and corruption.

To see if you have fines, go to https://moviltechnology.com/ and go to consult infractions, enter your cédula, license plate, and passport or RUC. Verify the amount to pay. <If you had enough Spanish to pass the written driving test, you should have enough Spanish to navigate the page. I don’t know if the system will work if you bought your license from “Start Driving in Cuenca Tomorrow,” but whoever’s car you were driving will probably never lend it to you again.>

De El Mercurio del martes, 30/5 (1 article):
En prioridades del MTOP hay 2 vías del Azuay (MTOP’s priorities include 2 roads in Azuay) – César Rohon, the minister of Transporte y Obras Públicas (MTOP) said the priority in his administration is 4 roads: la Troncal Amazónica, Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje, Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme, and Bucay-Riobamba. The Government has $120 million for these projects. <So keep those radars running and fining speeders.>

Organized sectors in Azuay want emergency attention to the roads since those that connect the province to El Oro, Guayas and Pichincha are in bad shape or impassable. Machala, Guayaquil, and Quito are the main markets for imports and exports to and from Cuenca. The industrial sector is hoping construction can start on the vías Cunca-Girón-Pasaje and Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme in junio considering that contracts for studies and work to solve more than 40 critical points have been signed. Heads of the Cámara de Industrias, Producción, y Empleo de Cuenca and the Cámara de Turismo del Azuay said their members have reported losses due to increases in transportation costs and a drop in tourists. Hotel occupancy rates during last week’s holiday which hoteliers hoped would reach 80% only reached 65%. <Do you think there might be a market here in Cuenca for ultralight aircraft? Not that those would help get your ceramic floor tiles or potatoes to Guayaquil.>

Cuenca –

Cuenca se alista para la fiesta del Corpus Cristi (Cuenca gets ready for the Corpus Christi festival) – The sweetest festival in the world is coming in junio. The Curia is preparing the masses which will be held every day in the Catedral de La Inmaculada. The first will be el 4/6 in which the sweets will be blessed. <You know that blessed sugar has no calories. But it will still cause cavities and give your dentist lots of work.> Merchants are preparing the dulces (sweet, candies) which will be sold around the New Cathedral and Parque Calderón. The city has not announced the number of vendors, but the expectation is for at least 40, similar to 2022.

Calendar of Events
4/6 – 9:00 – Blessing of the Corpus Cristi sweets – Catedral Nueva.
8/6 – 7:00 – Opening mass – Catedral Nueva.
– 18:00 – Hora Santa (Holy Hour) – San Sebastián.
– 19:00 – Procesión – San Sebastián to Catedral Nueva.
– 20:00 – Mass
– ? – Fireworks and Castillos after mass.
9/6 – ? – Mass led by Monsignor Andrés Carascosa.
9-15/6 – Masses at 7:00, 9:00, & 17:00 – Catedral Nueva?

De El Mercurio del martes, 30/5 (1 article):
Cierre vial en avenida De las Américas (Road Closure on De las Americas) – Starting today (martes), av. De las Américas will be partially closed between av. Turuhuayco y calle Laderas for repaving. For the last two weeks or so, the City has been milling the paving. It is recommended that you take alternate routes.

Sucesos –

En las calles se reanuda control contra libadores (Renewed controls against drinking on streets) – The Guardia Ciudadana is reinstating controls against drinking in public spaces. Commander Damián Román, said that the controls will be frequent in problem sectors. He said the Guardia will try not to fine people but to take actions to raise awareness. Only if it is necessary, and as a last result, will they proceed with giving a ticket which involves a fine. <So if you’re out boozing on the street and a cop stops you, just smile and nod, pour the drink out, and leave. Getting aggressive and flaunting a “Do you know who I am” attitude will get you a fine.> Just drinking gets you a $225 fine and reoffending gets you a $450 fine. Selling or giving away alcohol on the street gets you a $450 fine. <So don’t share that drink with your friends either. At least not in front of the cop.>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.