Spain extradites gangster Pipo; Film festival continues; Landslides close Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje hwy; Cuenca’s traffic congestion; Police bust surveillance centers

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del jueves, 13/8) 7 jornadas gratuitas de cine ecuatoriano (7 days of free Ecuadorian films) – The Día de Cine Ecuatoriano will be observed with 7 days of free films between el 12 & 21/8. The films include fiction, documentaries and short films done by Ecuadorians. The day itself, el 7/8, is the date that El tesoro de Atahualpa (The treasure of Atahualpa) premiered in 1924. It is considered to be the first Ecuadorian fiction film. The remaining days of films are el 15/8 when Un cuarto de equipaje and Sansón will be shown a las 15.00 in the Iglesia San José in the El Vecino barrio.

Heavy equipment is on-site at two locations on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje highway following rockslides. As of early Saturday, the highway was closed. (Radio Tomebamba)

On el 17/8 a las 15:00, the films will be Un cuarto de equipaje and Neisi, la fuerza de un suéno in the parish center of Sayausí. On el 20/8 a las 15:00, the films will be Un cuarto de equipaje and Sumergible in the Antigua Escuela Central. The program ends on el 21/8 a las 19:00 with Chimborazo and Ciudad a la espalda in the Casa Patrimonial Municipal de Las Posadas. <I’m not translating the names of the films because if you can’t translate those for yourselves, what hope have you got of understanding a whole movie?>

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 13/8) Planetario analiza vida extraterrestre en charla (Discussion of extraterrestrial life in a talk at the Planetarium) – The Planetarium will be the site of a free talk on el 20/8 a las 19:00 about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and its representation in films, series, video games and popular culture. The talk is part of the 2nd season of the Club de Divulgación Científica CC2 and will address extraterrestrials from astronomy, physics, and astrobiology. <ETl, call home?> The session is in a participatory form with time for questions. Free.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 13/8) En El Valle y Sinincay se alista festival de cometas (Getting ready for the Kite Festival in El Valle and Sinincay) – As part of summer vacations, the rural parishes of El Valle and Sinincay are preparing traditional kite festivals. The 21st Festival de Cometas El Valle 2026 will be el domingo, 23/8 from 10:00 in the Ecoparque El Valle in the Cochapamba sector. There will be bicycles as prizes for the largest, most innovative, and highest flying kites. The first 100 people who arrive will get a free kite, courtesy of the Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito San José. Participants will also get a snack. In Sinincay, the Festival de Cometas Sinincay 2026 will be on el domingo, 30/8 starting in the morning in the estadio El Salado. There will be prizes for the biggest, smallest, and most original kites. If you want to register, call WhatsApp 098 327 2472 and 098 600 3821.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 14/8) Tres obras del Azuay, al Festival de Artes Vivas (Three productions from Azuay to be featured at the Festival of Living Arts) – 3 productions from Azuay were selected to be in the national program for the XI Festival Internacional de Artes Vivas de Loja (FIAVL) which will be in Loja from the 12 to 22/11. Other participants include groups from Italy, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Spain, Colombia, Perú, France, Argentina, and Chile. German participants will be the guests of honor.

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del Miércoles, 12/8) Dos centros clandestinos de ‘vigilancia’ en Cuenca (Two clandestine “surveillance” centers in Cuenca) – Police in Cuenca found 2 clandestine surveillance centers in less than 2 years, presumably used by criminal organizations to monitor strategic sectors and police. The recent case was on el 10/9 during a raid on Tomás Ordóñez and Muñoz Vernaza, 3 blocks from the Police Command. In the property, there were cameras, at least 6 of which made up a surveillance system to watch police movements. There were also drugs and articles whose origin could not be determined. A preliminary report said that the organization was tied to robberies and drug sales. Hours before the raid, an intelligence agent was stripped of his service gun and cell phone. The previous raid was at a house in the Cayambe barrio in the tolerance zone <where brothels operate>. There, the police found a giant screen that allowed observation of various points in the sector. There were 14 cameras that monitored who came in and out of the zone. 14 people were arrested.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 12/8) Cerrado el kilómetro 90 (Kilometer 90 closed) – The MInisterio de Infraestructura y Tecnología (MIT) announced that the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje will remain closed to traffic at km. 90. Also km. 50 is closed to heavy transport vehicles. Traffic at km. 90 is suspended as a precautionary measure due to recurring landslides. Work is ongoing to remove the material and restore passage. At km. 50, MIT is building a 3rd stabilization wall, and working to recuperate the paving to restore traffic. <A forwarded WhatsApp message I received privately on Thursday, announced that the road has been closed due to the loss of the roadway in both lanes.>

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 12/8) Ir a Machala cuesta más y demora más (More costs and delays to go to Machala) – One laborer who found agricultural work in Pasaje and takes the bus on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje route normally leaves the Terminal Terrestre 4 hours before he has to be at work. Now he is leaving 6 or 7 hours early and goes to work via Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme, gets to Machala, and then doubles back to Pasaje. <6 hours there, an 8-hour day, 6 hours back <poor guy must really need that job.> This affects the bus companies whose costs for fuel could increase by $50 or $60. Some have raised fares although these fare increases have not been authorized by the Agencia Nacional de Tránsito (ANT). Eloy Guzmán, a conductor for the cooperative Azuay that covers the Cuenca-Machala route, said the fare is normally about $8.75, but he’s added a couple of dollars to compensate for the additional costs for this longer route. Besides costs, there are difficulties in certain sectors due to heavy traffic and security concerns. The problems with the road extend to the farms and businesses along the way, making it difficult for them to get their products to the markets in the region, mainly Cuenca and Machala.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 14/8) Radiografía de la Movilidad en Cuenca: Desafíos y Seguridad (An Overview of Mobility in Cuenca: Challenges and Safety) – With 1.5 million daily trips, the growth of vehicles has exceeded population growth, impacting commuter times. In 2000 the average trip took 22 minutes, and now it takes 34 minutes. The number of vehicles increased about 4% a year with the population only growing 2.4% Each person makes about 3.7 trips per day. In terms of safety, from 2018 to 2025, there were 34,386 accidents of which 5,100 were classified as serious. In Cuenca, 33% of traffic deaths were pedestrians as opposed to 20% nationally. 3 out of 4 bus passengers from rural areas had the Parque Industrial, Zona Central, and El Arenal as their destinations with up to 4 transfers to accomplish a single commute.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 14/8) España acepta extraditar a Ecuador de alias ‘Pipo’ (Spain agrees to extradite “Pipo” to Ecuador) – The Audiencia Nacional de España approved the extradition of Wilmer Chavaria, aka “Pipo,” head of Los Lobos, to Ecuador. Previously in julio, 2026, the Spanish court rejected his extradition to the US. He will return to Ecuador to complete a sentence of 16 years for murder which was interrupted in 2021 when he fled the country. On his return he will also face charges for murder as the mastermind of the assassination of ex-presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 14/8) 23 incendios forestales se encuentran activos (There are 12 active wildfires) – The Secretaria Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos (National Secretariat for Risk Management) announced that the forest fire situation in Ecuador is critical. As of 16:00 on el jueves, it identified 12 active and 2 controlled fires in Pichincha, Imbabura, Loja, Azuay, and Carchi that are affecting over 1,900 hectares. The worst damage is in Imbabura with 3 fires in the Páramos del Parque Nacional Cotacachi Cayapas involving 700 hectares. There are about 400 people responding plus coordination for air mobilization. <Still, not as bad as what’s burning in the US and Canada.>
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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.