Noboa declares new holiday; Local governments are responsible for El Niño response; Trash cans removed for misuse; Rabies shots available; New flights added

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del jueves, 8/10) Escenarios del Mundo (Stages of the World) – The Festival Internacional Escenarios del Mundo will present “De como murió el teatro” by the Colectiva Yama el viernes a las 20:00 in the Teatro Pumapungo. The work reconstructs the memories of Ecuadorian theater during the pandemic. Tickets available at Meet2Go.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 8/10) Cinema593 en la CCE (Cinema593 at the CCE) – The Casa de la Cultura will host the new round of Cinema593, dedicated to Ecuadorian cinema, with the short films Chigualo, by Christian Rojas, and Verano no Miente by Ernesto Santisteban. “Historias del centro del mundo” seeks to connect national productions with new viewers with functions that gather works from Ecuadorian filmmakers.

The Cuenca Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno is commemorating its 45the anniversary with an exhibit of 125 works selected from its collection of more than 700 paintings and sculptures. (El Mercurio)

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 8/10) MMAM abre su reserva al público (MMAM opens its collection to the public) – The Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno (MMAM) is commemorating its 45 years with an exhibit of 125 works selected from its collection of some 700 paintings and sculptures. The show occupies 14 rooms with work from 105 artists, 27 of them women, and 38 of them foreign. It is presenting a large selection from its reserves for the first time. The collection is made up mainly from donations from local, national and international artists. Among the selected works are those from distinct eras, techniques and origins with one piece by Eduardo Kingman. The exhibit will run until the middle of noviembre with hours from 9:00 to 16:45.

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del lunes, 5/10) Se retiran 237 papeleras debido a los malos (237 trash cans being removed
due to misuse) – About 237 of the 550 waste baskets installed in the past 15 years have been gradually removed because people are using them to throw away household trash. Currently, there are about 313 available in the city. These waste baskets were originally intended for use by pedestrians to throw out small things considered ‘basura de bolsillo’ (pocket trash), and installed in strategic public spaces with high pedestrian traffic such as parks, plazas, and streets. There have been complaints about these removals, against which the Empresa Municipal de Aseo (EMAC EP) explained they responded to other verified complaints about the misuse of the cans.

Juan Vicuá, manager of EMAC, explained that when it detects misuse, it first makes an evaluation and notifies the neighbors to improve their habits. If the situation persists, it removes the can. If a particular offender is identified, they can be fined. <Which leaves the poor pedestrian with a napkin full of the remains of a melted ice cream cone in his hand to carry to the next can, or stuff into his pocket, or throw on the street. And what about poor dog walkers who have conscientiously picked up after their dog and now have to carry a bagful of poop around?.>

(De El Mercurio del lunes, 5/10) “GAD son responsables de planes para El Niño” (“GADs are responsible for El Niño plans”) – <A GAD is a Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado (GAD – Decentralized Autonomous Government), basically any government below the federal level.> Carolina Lozano, the National Secretary of the Gestión de Riesgos (Risk Management) was interviewed about the role of the GADs and the Government <Gov’t with a capital G is the feds in Quito.> She said 100% of the municipal and provincial GADs have their Action Plans and now need to implement them, with the Gov’t monitoring them. Citizens can consult the advances on Alístate Ecuador. She said just presenting the plans is not enough, and the GADs need to implement them with concrete actions and the necessary funds in time to reduce the impacts and avoid adverse events which can provoke irreversible consequences for the population.

She said the responsibility of the Gov’t is to identify vulnerabilities, reduce risks and increase the capacity to respond. The Gov’t’s integrated response is to strengthen capacities, 24 hour monitoring of events, coordinate setting up temporary shelters and emergency logistics, and bring humanitarian assistance where it is most needed. There is a federal budget of $650 million for El Niño response. <But it sounds like the Gov’t response to power outages – you’re on your own. Is the Gov’t going to redeploy military from drug fighting to flood fighting? I think I´m going to start stockpiling bottled water. If the rivers don’t completely dry up, there’s my source of toilet flushing water.>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 6/10) Hallan rara especie de rana “venenosa” (Rare “poisonous” frog species discovered) – 2 populations of this small 15.1-18.3 mm. long frog was found to the north of the Cordillera del Cóndor, and the río Paute watershed. The two populations have different colorations. Those in the Cordillera have green backs with irregular yellow spots, and those in the río Paute watershed are green with scarlet patterns. Both are threatened by mining. Although small, Ecuador is megadiverse with 703 species of amphibians. Only Colombia and Brazil have more, but both are much larger countries.

(De El Mercurio del martes, 6/10) El 20 de noviembre se aplicará IVA en el 8% (8% VAT rate will be applied on November 20) – The November 20 holiday that was created by decree and does not celebrate any national civic date will have a reduction of the IVA from 15% to 8%. The president also decreed that it would be a holiday for both public and private sector employees to encourage participation in the Festival Internacional de Artes Vivas de Loja (FIAVL) which will run during noviembre. <So this is another bread (or tax relief) and circuses approach to dealing with El Niño and power outages which might just black out the FIAVL. It is also positioned days before the sectional elections, in which the government’s candidates are competing.>

(De El Mercurio del martes, 6/10) Arranca impresión de las papeletas para comicios (Ballot printing for the election begins) – The printing of 84,756,938 ballots for the interim elections on el 29 de noviembre has started. The first to be printed will be for the offices of mayors and prefects in the Galápagos and then Santa Elena, Zamora Chinchipe and Carchi Provinces. The election material will use high security technology. Each ballot has anti-copying effects, microtexts with different screen patterns, and bar codes, as well as special inks that impede falsifications, alterations, duplications or substitutions. <Say what you will about Gov’t response to El Niño and electrical outages, it does know how to run an honest election and just about everyone between 18 and 65 votes.>

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 7/10) Cuidado del agua (Water conservation) – EMAC EP is asking citizens to reduce their water consumption and avoid wasting it during the drought as part of preparatory actions against El Niño. It is recommending saving water in households to use for watering plants. <Time to go back to your 2024 water saving routines.> It also recommended saving energy because of its relation with water needed for the hydroelectric reservoirs.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 7/10) Campaña gratuita de vacunación antirrábica (Free rabies vaccination campaign) – Last 1 de octubre, the Ministerio de Salud pública (MSP) started a free rabies vaccination campaign for cats and dogs that’s been extended to el 25/11. In Azuay, you can get these at the centros de salud. The campaign is seeking to immunize 123,000 pets and 2.6 million doses have been acquired for distribution nationally. Freddy Mora, who is responsible for provincial strategies to prevent and control metaxenic and zoonotic diseases explained that pets can be vaccinated after 3 months. He said that animals presenting with acute systemic illnesses or fever should wait until 2 weeks after recovery before being taken to a centro de salud for vaccines. He said that annual vaccines control transmission of rabies which has been eliminated in Ecuador since 2006. The campaign seeks to maintain this situation through periodic vaccinations of pets. <I’m curious – do those of you who refuse vaccinations for yourselves and your kids also not vaccinate your pets?>

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 8/10) Alistan ruta aérea Cuenca-Chiclayo (Plans underway for a Cuenca-Chiclayo flights) – In noviembre, the Mariscal La Mar airport will have international flights with the starting of he Cuenca-Chiclayo route. The Corporación Aeroportuaria (Corpac) is finishing all the requirements established during a technical inspection. Aeroregional Airlines will be operating the routes with daily flights between el 11 & 15/11. <I think these days coincide with the Pope’s visit to Perú.> José Luis Aguilar, director of Corpac said they are analyzing the possibility of a pilot flight at the end of octubre. The cost of the flight will be $450.01.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 8/10) 94 años de sabor y tradición (Mercado 9 de Octubre: 94 years of flavor and tradition) – The Mercado 9 de Octubre is celebrating its 94 years of operation el jueves y viernes. The schedule for viernes starts at 9:00 with mariachis and continues a las 10:00 with the first ‘Los mercados tienen talento’ (The markets have talent) festival with performers from the different mercados in Cuenca. There will be a solemn session a las 13:30, and a las 14:00 the vendors will host a get-together. The festivities will end a las 15:00 with a musical show featuring the ‘Los Choleros’ band <Don’t confuse the band with the Los Choneros drug gang>, and other surprises for attendees.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 8/10) Vuelos a Guayaquil (Flights to Guayaquil) – As of el 1/11, Cuenca will have a daily flight connection to Guayaquil on a new route operated by Avianca. The Guayaquil-Cuenca flight will leave a las 12:40 and arrive a las 13:30 while the Cuenca-Guayaquil will depart a las 11:05 and arrive a las 11:55. Tickets will be available on the digital platforms of the airline.
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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.