More rain is forecast but drier days lie ahead; National Assembly rejects Noboa’s campaign decree; It’s the 25th anniversary of Ecuador’s adoption of the dollar
Weather forecasters are predicting more rain into the weekend but say a drying trend could begin by Sunday. “We advise residents to take preventive measures for heavy to moderate rain in the next three to four days,” ETAPA meteorologist Lenin
Alvarez warned Wednesday. “Rain will be the heaviest in the southern intermountain valley. After that, we expect a change during the weekend as drier air replaces moist air from the Amazon.”
A rockslide on the Cuenca-Azogues autopista is one of many in the area since Monday.
Cuenca and much of southern Ecuador experienced the second day of flooding rains Wednesday, as rivers reached flood stage and streets and highways were closed or restricted by landslides and flooding.
On Tuesday, the north side of Cuenca was the scene of widespread flooding as the Machangara River overflowed its banks, inundating more than a dozen homes and businesses and stopping traffic on nearby streets.
Weather stations in Ricarte and Labrado recorded rainfall totals of 52 to 53 millimeters (2 inches).
On Wednesday, areas of Cuenca’s southside were inundated as the Tomebamba and Yanuncay Rivers overflowed their banks in several locations.
Meteorologist Alvarez said recent rains are “unseasonably intense” but believes normal weather patterns are returning. “Unfortunately, we are paying a heavy price to end the drought,” he said.
National Assembly rejects Noboa’s decree
The National Assembly has rejected the terms of President Daniel Noboa’s presidential decree 500, which entrusts the presidency to Cynthia Gellibert while he campaigns for reelection. The decree states he will turn over official duties from January 9 to January 12 as well as on other occasions when he campaigns.
Assembly Secretary Alejandro Muñoz justified the rejection, saying that Noboa was not complying with the provisions of article 146 of the Constitution, which requires candidates for reelection to step down during the entire campaign period. “We are returning the president’s letter, advising him of his violation of the constitutional rule,” Muñoz said.
Muñoz’s statement to Noboa continued: “The constitution states that in case of temporary absence in the Presidency, the Vice President will replace him,” adding that the “legal” vice president is Verónica Abad, not Gellibert.
It’s the 25th anniversary of dollarization
January 9 marks the 25th anniversary of Ecuador’s adoption of the U.S. dollar as its official currency. In 2000, in the face of strong political opposition, President Jamil Mahuad ordered the conversion from the sucre at a time when annual inflation was more than 100%.
According to economist Walter Spurrier, Ecuador could have easily “followed the path of Venezuela” into financial chaos had Mahuad not made the decision. “We were heading for disaster when he ordered the change,” Spurrier said in a recent interview. “It was painful but the consequences of not doing it would have been more painful.”
Mahuad acknowledges the pain in his 2021 book This Is How We Dollarized Ecuador. “It is true we experienced hardship as a result of dollarization, but the economic crisis produced by devaluation was robbing the country of its future,” the former president wrote. “We had reached an exchange rate of 28,000 sucres to each U.S. dollar, which led to capital flight and hyperinflation. Banks across the country were failing, taking people’s life savings with them.”
On January 9, 2000, Mahuad ordered the freezing of 50% of all bank deposits and loans in the country. A day later, the Central Bank of Ecuador adopted the dollar as the country’s official currency, and the sucre was abandoned.
