No foreign military bases allowed, French presence in Ecuador, Citizens’ committee controversy, Canadian violinist, Billiards championship of Azuay

Martes, 20/2/2018

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Ongoing agenda event –

Morlaquita – The Department of Culture at the U. Católica de Cuenca announced that registrations are open for the Morlaquita 2018 contest. This beauty contest is part of the history and traditions in Cuenca.

Articles about –

France and Cuenca – La Alianza Francesa, the honorary consul, and the Municipio met to talk about uniting on cultural projects including San Alfonso church. This church is on the Ruta Francesa tourist route. The stained glass windows which are being restored were works of Louis Victor Gesta who worked in mid-late 1800’s on over 8,000 churches all over the world. They were the first stained glass pieces to arrive in Ecuador and are the first to be restored. The director of the Alianza stressed that the traditional friendship between France and Ecuador, particularly Cuenca. <I guess Cuenca has been forgiven for being the stage for the killing of the doctor on one of the French geodesic missions.>

Día Internacional de la Lengua Materna – Miércoles 21 de febrero, is the International Day of the Mother Tongue which will be celebrated with an event in the lobby of the CCE (Pres. Córdova y Luis Cordero) a las 16:30. It will start with a talk and then there will be an open mic at 19:00. It will end with a performance by Yanantin.

Violinist – Canadian violinist Angéle Dubeau performed Tuesday in the teatro Pumapungo.

Agendas – The Comité Permanente de Festejos (Standing Committee for Celebrations) is calling for artistic, cultural, and economic events to be included in the agenda for abril, 2018, celebrating the Spanish founding of Cuenca. Submit proposals by 2/3.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Recelos en la oposición (Misgivings in the opposition) – The Legislative Administrative Committee qualified the Ley de Participación Ciudadana and the Ley de Plusvalía <Citizens participation committee and Capital Gains questions on the referendum – numbers 3 & 6.> The opposition had misgivings that the method of selecting members of this committee would not result in an new independent CPC.

Pres. Moreno has submitted 7 “ternas” <a group of 3 – sounds like a primary member with two back-ups> to constitute the temporary CPC (Consejo de Participación Ciudadana y Control Social – Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control). These include a progressive social activist, the manager of CONAIE (Confederación de Nacionalidades Indigenas del Ecuador), a cofounder of AP (Alianza País), a former director of the Pichincha Chamber of Industries, a professor who served at a high level in the justice system, a journalist, and a social leader. <Know a man by his political appointees. None of these is a corporate CEO.>

Foreign bases – Patricio Zambrano, the Defense Minister, assured reporters that no foreign military bases would be installed in the country. The Constitution specifically prohibits such presences in national territory. He pointed out that accepting international support, such as was given after the attack in San Lorenzo, is different from a base. He also remarked that the US has always wanted in a presence in different countries of Latin America.

Voting – The CNE in Azuay has opened the process to declare address changes for voting in the 2019 “elecciones seccionales” (sectional/local and provincial? elections). Bring your original cedula and voter certificate <Don’t worry about this if you’re in a category where voting is optional.>, and an original or copy of a utility bill (electric, water or phone) at your new location.
Citizens who couldn’t vote in the 4/2 referendum, can bring their excuses. People who were overseas can show their passport with the date stamps to prove it and can get a voting certificate.

Only in Ecuador – Felipe Vega de la Cuadra worked in theater for 30 years, was involved in activism and education for sexual and reproductive rights, and is now the Sub-secretary for National Defense. He is activating a cyber-defense command, mapping the continental shelf, and improving military equipment for defense and for emergency support. A current need is to improve Navy equipment to protect the coasts from anything from narco trafficking to piracy.

Mercado agroecológico – Agroecological producers are asking that spaces and hours for fairs be part of the new ordinance. Agroecología signifies the harmony in the relation between the 5 subsystems of water, earth, crops, animals, forests and now a 6th, the human element, is added. <I guess at some point, we forgot that we’re animals, too.> This results in chemical and contaminant free products. Two networks, each with about 900 small producers, want more ferias to sell their produce.

Aduana – The National Customs Service in Zone 6 will donate 3,800 articles of clothing and shoes valued at $20,000 to MIES in Zone 6. <Your civics lesson of the day – Zone 6 is an multi-provincial zone used by the Feds for organizational and administrative purposes. It contains Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago.

Deportes –

Billar – The best players in Azuay will compete in the Ranking Provincial de Billar from miércoles 21 al viernes 23/2 a las 18:30 in the Complejo Deportivo Bolivariano.

Corriendo por la Vida – This 8K run will be el próximo domingo, 25/2 a las 9:00 starting from parque El Paraíso. The run will benefit La Fundación de Ayuda a Pacientes con Fibrosis Quística (Foundation to Help Patients with Cystic Fibrosis). Register until noon del sábado at Mi Boletería Mall del Río, Boutique Loch (Bolívar 10-79 y General Torres), Formalab (Federico Malo 1-90 in the parque de La Madre sector). Cost: $10.00.o SD

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne