Pro-mining supporters host forum; Confusion reigns about vaccine delivery; Voto 2021; ICU units are full at Azogues hospital; U. of Cuenca rector election

Martes, 91/1/2021

Hola, Todos –
Actividades –

Del cuerpo del periodico –

Ingenieros alistan foro sobre consulta minera (Engineers prepare forum on mining consultation) – The Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles del Azuay (CECA) will hold a virtual forum el viernes a las 19:30 on the questions in the mining referendum. The goal is to inform the citizenry and reflect on the need to care for water sources, the implications if the referendum is passed, and also the need for mining activity in the province and the degree of technological development undertaken. The panel will include the director of the Environmental Management Commission, the manager of Potable Water for ETAPA EP, the director of the Environmental Management Unit of Elecaustro, the director of the School of Mining at UDA, President of the Chamber of MIning, and a representative of the Association of Mining Engineers in Azuay.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Incógnita sobre vacunas (Unknown about vaccines) – There are different versions of when the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in Ecuador. Pres. Moreno announced it would arrive yesterday, but Juan Carlos Zevallos, the ministro de Salud, says it will be mañana o jueves. <Mañana – that magic word that means sometime in the future where the only certainty is “not today.” If you want a vaccination you’d better hope Zevallos’ mañana is more accurate than the mañana your plumber told you last octubre. That plumber that hasn’t shown up yet?> He wasn’t sure which day they’d arrive, but said the doses have left the factory. <And your check is in the mail.>

To administer the vaccine, 2,000 doctors and nurses have been trained in how to manage and mix the doses and about the possible reactions they might encounter in each type of patient. 94 vaccination locations have been prepared nationally, and each will include first responders center.

The top candidates for rector of the University of Cuenca solicit votes. (El Mercurio)

In the last few weeks. there has been a growing pressure on hospitals and an increase in deaths, which are more a reflection of the effect of Christmas than a second wave of infections. In the last 3 months average daily infections was 865 with highs and lows from 3,942 el último sábado to 35 on 22/12.

Elección de decanos, parte de un acuerdo (Election of deans, part of an agreement) – Two of the lists for next rector of the U. of Cuenca have come to an agreement to join forces. The candidate for Fórum, María Augusta Hermida, has allied with the candidate for Unidos por la U, Fernando Pauta. The two picked up 36.55% and 26.58% of the votes respectively. The third candidate, Pablo Vanegas, for Comunidad, got 36.87% of the votes.

Matricula para todos (Matriculation for all) – Starting yesterday and continuing through enero, drivers who did not register their vehicles in 2020 can do so, as can drivers who want to register early for 2021. The regular schedule starts in febrero with license plates ending in 1. The Revisión Técnica Vehicular (RTV – Technical Vehicle Inspection) which is a requirement for registration is also optional for all vehicles this month. You can schedule an appointment on the web page emov.gob.ec at the Turno en Línea option. You can pay the fees at any bank or cooperative so you don’t have to go to EMOV offices.

Sin camas UCI en el hospital de Azogues (No ICU beds in Azogues hospital) – The “Homero Castanier Crespo” Hospital in Azogues has been at capacity in its 6 bed ICU unit for critical Covid patients for 8 days. In increase in cases is due to citizen non-compliance with the restrictions over the holidays.

Voto 2021 –

Juntos Podemos prioriza a sociedad (Juntos Podemos prioritizes society) – List 33, Juntos Podemos, supports the ex-prefecto of Azuay, Paul Carrasco for president. The list is headed by Fernando Ayora who is a social and political director. Other candidates include Janeth Reyes who works for “La Morlaquita” support committee in the Universidad Católica de Cuenca, and for the Student Wellbeing department. She has also worked for the Sindicate do Choferes Profesionales del Azuay, a contract professor at the U. of Cuenca, and has degrees in business administration and accounting. <It feels like a lot of the list heads are backed by these highly accomplished women.> Also on the list is Armado Romero who is an educational consultant, Daniela Peralta and Esteban Guamán Cuesta who are the youth candidates.

List 33’s program is called “Democracia para la Convivencia” (Democracy for Coexistence), and is based on a consensus of ideas through listening to the problems in society from the mouth of each citizen. They have various proposals especially in the areas of economics and taxation. They propose laws to permit modernization of the country, improve income to local governments, and improve confidence in public institutions. It would temporarily increase the coverage for the Bono de Desarrollo, facilitate access to housing, optimize tax collection services to the richest, and give more support to entrepreneurs. It would also pass laws to allow prioritizing local labor to create jobs, support youth entrepreneurs and promote microcredit through the savings and loans cooperatives system. A proposal Juntos Podemos shares with Carrasco, but is not included in their plan de trabajo is the possibility of opening the doors to international banking, attracting capital without asking where it came from, without paying taxes. This would be in exchange for private public investment. <Doesn’t this sound like “Pablo Escobar, wash your money here?”>

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.