New credit card rules favor consumers; Noboa takes leave of absence to campaign; Cajas National Park turns 30; International feminist film festival screens

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del lunes, 9/11) Festival de Videoarte (Video Art Festival) – The U. of Cuenca will hold its 1st Festival de Videoarte UCuenca el miércoles, 11/11 a las 19:00 in the Casa de los Arcos, with free admission. The program will include the projections of the works that won the Premios Cultura UCuenca2026 and recognition of the creators. The initiative seeks to expose the public to experimental audiovisual proposals developed by Ecuadorian artists and give a space to new forms of video art expression.

The National Assembly granted President Daniel Noboa’s request for a leave of absence to campaign for ADN party candidates before the Nov. 29 elections. Vice President Maria Jose Pinto will take over official duties during his absence. (El Mercurio)

(De El Mercurio del lunes, 9/11) 3 funciones de cine feminista (3 functions of feminist cinema) – Cuenca will be the official seat of the VIII edition of the Festival Internacional de Cine Feminista EQUIS which will be from el 17-22/11 with 17 films from 13 countries. The programming includes 2 feature length films and 6 short films. The agenda starts el 17/11 at the Alianza Francesa with Being Maria (France, 2024) directed by Jessica Palud. The film is the history of the actress Maria Schneider and was presented at the Cannes Film Festival. On el 18/11, Animale (France, 2024) by Emma Benestan will be screened. The production has elements of fantasy and horror films. El 21/11, a selection of 6 short films for all age groups will be shown at the Teatro Pumapungo. <This sounds like any of you who are interested need to get on your search engine to get details about times and venues. I’m just opening the door. You have to walk through it for yourselves.>

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del domingo, 8/11) El Cajas cumple 30 años (Cajas turns 30) – The Parque Nacional Cajas was declared a national park el 5/11/1996. This protected area has an area of 28,544 hectares and is one of the main water reserves for Cuenca and Azuay province. The history of protection for the Cajas goes back to 1977 when it was incorporated into the Patrimonio de Áreas Naturales del Estado in the category of Área Nacional de Recreación. in 1996, with resolution 057, it achieved Nacional Park status. The natural reserve conserves páramo ecosystems, forests, and lakes that supply water to Cuenca and is home to important biodiversity.

As part of the commemoration, the Cuerpo de Bomberos de Cuenca (Cuenca Fire Department) ratified its responsibility for protecting the natural area with its work in prevention, surveillance, and response to forest fires. It said that it keeps special brigades to respond to emergencies and reduce the risks of fires in this ecosystem. These actions seek to protect the vegetative cover, water sources and the species that inhabit the park. <I’ve got a Bomberos T-shirt, but I’ve been too chicken to wear it for air travel.>

(De El Mercurio del lunes, 9/11) Noboa pide licencia para la campaña (Noboa requests a leave of absence for the campaign) – The political landscape is shifting. The Consejo Nacional Electoral set the dates and the elecciones seccionales (local elections/midterm elections) will be el domingo, 29/11. Noboa is looking to play a leading role during the campaign. He has received permission from the Asamblea Nacional for a temporary leave of absence between el 12 & 26/11 which coincides with the electoral campaign. Noboa is planning to lead the activities alongside members of his party, the Acción Democrática Nacional (ADN). <I think he looked at the wipeout of the GOP in the US and is hoping to protect his party in the Asamblea.>

Vice President Maria Jose Pinto will assume the Government’s leadership in Noboa’s absence. The president announced that he will stay in Ecuador at least 7 days during the campaign period. <Gringos should pay attention to this if they want to be a Cuencano, and this would be common knowledge for most Cuencanos. The law says that a seated elected official cannot both continue to serve in office and campaign at the same time. So if a city council member is running for mayor, they have to take a leave of absence from their city council duties which will fall to an alternate. So did some of you who are not Tom learn something about Ecuadorian elections? Or are all of you way ahead of me, and you knew all of this so I shouldn’t bore you with stuff you already knew?>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 10/11) Baja demanda a Chiclayo (Low demand for trips to Chiclayo) – The charter flights between Cuenca and Chiclayo <Perú>, planned for the Pope Leo’s visit to South America, were cancelled by the Alpha Wings and Aeroregional Airlines due to low passenger demand. The Corporación Aeroportuaria de Cuenca (Corpac) announced that operations in smaller airplanes will be postponed until authorizations are obtained from the Dirección General de Aviación Civil. In spite of this decision, the steps to make the Mariscal La Mar airport international will continue with cooperation between local and national institutions. The project contemplates preparing spaces for Immigration, Anti-narcotics, Interpol, and airport surveillance services.

(De El Mercurio del martes, 10/11) Alertan enfermedades respiratorias (Warning about respiratory illnesses) – The Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social (IESS <now you know what IESS stands for>) warned about the increase in respiratory illnesses during El Niño due frequent rain, high temperatures, and drought which will affect sectors of the Costa and Sierra. The main effects will be la gripe (flu) and el resfriado común (common cold) which can cause fever and muscle pain; acute bronchitis characterized by inflammation of the bronchi and a persistent cough; and pneumonia, a lung infection which can cause difficulty breathing and chest pain.

To prevent these illnesses, IESS recommends wearing adequate clothing against the rain, carrying umbrellas, eating well, and using a mask when you have respiratory symptoms. The Ministerio de Salud Pública (MSP – Ministry of Public Health) has started a flu vaccination campaign in Azuay which will receive 150,000 doses. The shots are geared towards priority groups – children and seniors. You can get a shot at the various centros de salud. <Or not – your body, your health. Just don’t cough or sneeze on me if you get sick.>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 10/11) Al pagar con tarjeta, hay ‘reglas’ para comercios (When paying by card, there are “rules” for merchants) – A resolution approved by the Junta de Política y Regulación Financiera y Monetaria (JPRFM) provided that using a credit, debit, or prepaid card cannot cost more than paying cash. Merchants should have the same price for all payment methods and apply the same promotions and discounts. Luis Tobar, an economic analyst, said that the commission banks and operators charge to process cards has not disappeared. The merchant should assume these costs and not transfer them to the consumer through a surcharge. This will affect small businesses the most since they have less capacity to negotiate the fees banks charge businesses.

Another change will be that new physical cards will be issued without the account number, expiration date, and CVV security code. Cards already in circulation with this data will still be valid. <Because this is an Ecuadorian resolution, who knows how it will affect your US cards.> Adrián Torres, a financing advisor, said that the information needed for a transaction will be available through electronic means imbedded in the card. For internet purchases, there will be additional mechanisms to verify identity with no cost to the client. <I wonder how this will affect Amazon, Temu and Ali Baba purchases?>

The card issuers also need to send free notifications in real time through at least 2 independent electronic channels, make immediate blocking of cards easier, and maintain 24/7 customer service channels. The regulation establishes the return of money in determined cases of fraud including transactions made after you report a lost or stolen card. The resolution also regulates reward programs and insurance. The client must be informed of the characteristics, costs and conditions before they accept those plans, and clients can refuse to contract for these programs. Acceptance of these benefits cannot be required to get or keep a card. For those accepting loan insurance, the cost should be calculated based on the account balance and not on the credit limit for the card. <How would you calculate the insurance fee for a no limit card anyway?>

Luis Tobar said that compliance with these measures depends on the supervision of the financial entities. The requirements for security, notifications and customer service imply costs to the banks and will require monitoring so that the costs won’t be passed onto cardholders through other charges. The resolution establishes that businesses responsible for processing payments have a maximum of 5 working days to pay current sales (ventas corrientes as opposed to difiridos — deferred – pay over time — to the merchants. What do you answer when the store clerk asks “corriente o difirido?”). It also prohibits exclusive contracts so merchants can accept different “brands” of cards.
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Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.