Prison population drops but conditions still poor; Salesian polytech univ. is recognized; List of tax debtors published; The art of cabinetmaking

Viernes, 30/6/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Susana Reyes llega con su obra NIDO (Susana Reyes arrives with her play NIDO) – Susan Reyes and Moti Deren will perform their work, “NIDO – el camino del retorno” el 13/7 a las 19:30 in the Teatro Carlos Tamariz. The dance performance with live music uses the metaphor of a bird returning to its nest. It shows the journey that leads humans to the reconnect with their essences and their uniqueness with their environment, with the divine and the sacred. <Or something like that – too spiritually complicated for me to comprehend.>

De El Mercurio del jueves, 29/6 (1 article):
Casa del Alfarero recibe arte de la ebanistería (Casa del Alfarero receives the art of cabinetmaking) – The show ‘Bargueños: arte y tradición’ opened at the Casa Patrimonial Municipal del Alfarero. Over 40 works by master Segundo Ayabaca will be on display until el 28/7. He uses ancient techniques such as inlay, carving, marquetry and turning. The focus for the show are the bargueños, a type of desk with lots of drawers, some of them hidden, and a fold down writing surface.

Internationally known Ecuadorian ballerina Susan Reyes will perform the work, “NIDO – el camino del retorno” July 13 in the Teatro Carlos Tamariz. (El Mercurio)

Titular –

Ecuador tiene 31,321 presos (Ecuador has 31,321 inmates) – <Just in case any of you is interested in what the prison population of Ecuador looks like> The Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC) presented the results of the Prison Census for the 36 prisons in the country, conducted between agosto y diciembre de 2022.

It showed a reduction in overcrowding, but also the weaknesses in the social rehabilitation system. Overcrowding was reduced significantly since 2021 when it was at 30%. Currently there are 31,321 prisoners where the capacity is 29,897. Authorities attributed this success to the Plan Rescate Ecuador. <Sounds like it could be a plan for saving stray animals. Maybe it is.> Strategies to accomplish this were early release programs and finishing paperwork for prisoners who’d completed their sentences but remained in jail. Although general overcrowding has been reduced, there is still overcrowding within cells with 57.5% men and 70% of the women sharing a cell with an average of more than 5 people.

In terms of treatment, 66.5% felt that they weren’t being given enough food, <I hope if any of you winds up in jail you have enough good friends to bring you food. Or consider it an extreme weight loss program.> 23.5% did not feel safe inside their cells <I guess not if there’s a 1 in 5 chance that a cellmate was sentenced for rape.>, and 39.7% felt unsafe in the prison. 51% did not have potable water and 65% considered the quality of hygienic services as bad or regular. The ages of the prisoners ranged from 18 to 93 years with 40.4% of them youth from 18-29 and 42% between 30 & 44. Mario Carrillo, a prison safety expert, said that the large percentage of young adults opens up the possibility of reinserting them into society. There should be an investment in their training and rehabilitation to avoid recidivism.

The Census showed that 54.4% inmates had educational levels equal or less than basic education, only 7.3% of the women and 13% of the men have any kind of education at all. However, 6,828 are studying in the prisons, and 13,757 participate in occupational or work activities. 24% of the men were sentenced for homicide and 19% for rape or sexual abuse. 72% of the women and 32% of the men were sentenced for drug trafficking. 75% of the incarcerated women had minor children.

Cuenca –

Falla en Miraflores deja sin servicio de agua a 47 sectores (Failure in Miraflores leaves 47 sectors without water service) – About 5,000 families have been affected by the lack of or intermittent water service in 47 sectors. The complaints which started 7 months ago, have intensified in the last month. ETAPA explained that there is a broken pipe in the Central de Miraflores barrio which is causing the problem. In that same neighborhood, there are 5 houses that showed cracks, and two of the owners agreed that the solution would be to change the water main and add drainage.

María Verónic Polo, manager of ETAPA, said that from 11/2022, the damage, which dates back 7 years, has worsened. She said that there is a portion of the population which is reluctant to make changes. <Is this an example of Ecuadorian NIMBYism?> ETAPA will visit the area to get an agreement, and once there is positive response from the community, the work would start el 3/6 and the problem will be solved in 3 weeks. The 47 affected sectors will be served by 3 tankers to bring water where there are shortages. Affected sectors include San Miguel, Baguanchi, Campiña, Guncay, Rayoloma, Cruce de Monay, Colinas de Monay, the Amaru Zoo, Santa Teresita, the Santa Ana cementery, Peñasol, and La Dolorosa.

UPS engresa al ranking mundial de QS World (UPS enters QS World rankings) – The Universidad Politécnica Salesiana entered the list of ‘QS World University Rankings 2024: Top global universities’ for the first time. The program evaluated 1,500 institutions of higher education. The UPS was one of 83 new entries in 2024, placed at #8 nationally, and at #1401 in the overall ranking worldwide.

Empresarial –

Graiman y Kohler con un renovado ‘Graiman Store’ (Graiman and Kohler with a renovated ‘Graiman Store’) – Graiman, a leader in finishes for construction, and Kohler, a world leader in bath and kitchen products <plumbing fixtures>, opened a ‘Graiman Store’ in Cuenca. This is the 3d store in the country with the others in Quito and Guayaquil. <This is for those of you who just moved here and are finding your bathrooms and kitchens inadequate for your needs and/or tastes and want to remodel. Hope you have a champagne budget to go with your tastes.>

Nacional –

Vacuna bivalente contra COVID-19 llega al país (Bivalent vaccine against COVID-19 arrives in the country) – The Ministerio de Salud announced that 262,000 doses of the Pfizer bivalent vaccine had arrived in Ecuador. Priority for this booster will be health personnel working with respiratory illnesses, seniors, and patients with serious conditions and prioritized illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, HIV, and cancer. <And if you don’t agree with vaccines, just shut up, and don’t get one. You don’t need to preach to someone with cancer how bad the vaccine is for their health. They’ve already got enough to cope with without your input.>

Special sections –

The GAD Municipal del Cantón Cuenca published 3 extra sections listing people who owe money to the city for total assets, rental of city property, concessions, special taxes on improvements, vehicle taxes, unspecified income, fines, patents, rural and urban property taxes, technical services, and vehicle transfers. The sections have the names starting with Darwin Abad and ending with María Burhuan. <I’m guessing that more sections will be included in the coming issues until they get to the Z’s. I’ll post the names in the sections as they are published so you can check if you’re on the list.>

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.