Strike keeps supplies from getting to communities; Assembly wants to revoke emergency declaration; Check out Cuenca’s ‘wood-fired’ bread route

Lunes, 20/6/2022

Hola, Todos –

Titular –

Las protestas entran en una “semana decisiva” (Protests enter a “decisive week”) – See the 2 articles below in the Informe section.

Informe –

Expectativa por el rumbo que tomarán las protestas (Expectations about the future course of the protests) – Even though the protests diminished during the Fathers Day Weekend, there are expectations about what will happen this week in Azuay, especially on the roads to and from the province. Sunday, there was no problem leaving or entering the canton of Cuenca for Guayaquil via Molleturo or to Cañar province via the autopista. Closures were outside of Cuenca at km 34 & k49 of the vía Cumbe-La Jarata-Oña; in Santa Marianita, Girón; at the Y de Ramal de Santa Isabel; and at the Y on the vía Girón-San Fernando which goes to the tourist area of El Chorro.

Julia Liduvina Luzuriaga is one of the last six bakeries in the Santa Ana community. (El Mercurio)

Repercussions from the continued roadblocks were larger for the economic and strategic sectors and could be seen in the reduction in foods in supermarkets, especially in cantons such as Girón, where the vendors from other cities could not get in. Ayer, citizens of Girón reported that vendors from Cuenca could not get in so they weren’t completely supplied. They also reported higher prices for some items. Supply of domestic gas has fallen <Notice how quiet it’s been without “por eso me quiere Cuenca” blasting away at 7am? I saw some gas trucks this afternoon, so if you’re out, try calling your supplier.> Xavier Trujillo, administrator of the collection center for Duragas, said the trailers aren’t making their normal circuits when they leave in the morning and return the next morning. They have been delayed by at least a day. He said there were plans for the delivery of 9,000 gas tanks.

Besides the shortage of domestic gas was the closure of the vía El Valle-Santa Ana which blocked the route garbage trucks use to get to the landfill. It was closed from la tarde del viernes to sábado, and garbage trucks were parked along av. 24 de Mayo in the IESS hospital sector until they could get to the landfill on domingo. <How would you like to be hospitalized and the view from your room was smelly garbage trucks?> The Ministerio de Educación arranged for 95 schools in Azuay to maintain the suspension of in person classes. Universities will also be virtual. The U. of Cuenca announced that both in person and virtual classes will be suspended hoy y mañana. It added that it respected and supported the peaceful protests by the members of the university community.

El paro mide fuerzas hoy (The strike measures forces today) – The full Asamblea Nacional met hoy a las 17:15 to decide if it would revoke the state of emergency declared by Pres. Lasso established by his Decreto 455. The assembly has the right to revoke presidential decrees with an absolute majority vote which would be 70 votes. If this motion passes, the assembly president, Virgilio Saquicela would order the result to be published in the Registro Oficial. According to Observatorio Legislativo, the revocation already has 70 votes with 49 from the Correistas (Correa supporters) and 22 from Pachakutik plus from dissidents in the Izquierda Democrática party.

The proposal to revoke the decree is supported by the Correistas who want to to analyze other solutions to the crisis confronting the country based mainly on attending to the most disposed classes in the country. Even if the revocation passes, Pres. Lasso can just issue a new state of emergency by decree. Constitutionalist Ismael Quintana, said that the Asamblea and President could enter into a farcical cycle of state of emergency decree followed by a revocation and a new decree and a new revocation, etc. He said that the main problem, aside from the uncertainty on the part of citizens, is that this doesn’t let the Corte Constitucional make their analysis of constitutionality – that the state of emergency comes into effect without verifying whether the Constitution is being violated. [See the update on this story.] <No matter where you live, politics is a joke on its citizens.>

Cuenca –

De paseo por la “Ruta del Pan en Horno de Leña” (A walk along the “Wood-Fired Bread Route”) – The Santa Ana Parish in the NE of Cuenca is surprising for its paradisiacal views just 20 minutes from the city center. As you approach the parish center you smell the aroma of bread cooked in a wood fired oven. The “Ruta del Pan en Horno de Leña” starts at the house of Julia Liduvina Luzuriaga, 75 years old and one of the last 6 bakers who maintains this tradition in the parish. She starts baking at 1:00 every miércoles y sábado and produces 1,000 breads a day which are brought to Cuenca, Guayaquil, and as far as the US. Small breads (buns) cost $.20, and the empanadas cost $.50. The residents of Santa Ana are kind and sociable and welcoming to tourists. They have even created the hashtag “YoVisiteLaRutaElPanEnSantaAna.” In the La Raya barrio there is a monument to the “Horno de Leña” with photos of bread bakers who have died and those who are still maintaining the tradition – all of them seniors. You can also see art objects such as lamps made by the residents and the restored cross placed in the sector by Jesuits in 1902.

Sucesos –

Grupo delictivo sometió a conductor y robó vehiculo (Criminal group subdued driver and stole vehicle) – A group of criminals assaulted a citizen who was sitting in his Hyundai Tucson at calles César Dávila y Alfonso Morena Mora on the madrugada del domingo, 19/6. The incident was captured on security cameras. The criminals opened the unlocked car, took his belongings, yanked him out of the car, and then took the car. The car was found dismantled and dented on the side of the road by moradores (residents – your word for the day) in the Cruce del Carmen in Sinincay. <And my friends think I’m paranoid because I always lock the doors when I’m in the car – even in good neighborhoods.>

Region –

Nuevo circuito vial en Azuay (New road circuit in Azuay) – The cantons of Gualaceo, Sígsig and Cuenca are benefitting from the placement of a double bituminous surface treatment in the last 20 km. stretch of the vía Uzhar-San Juan-San Bartolomé. The segment of road runs from the parish seat in San Juan to the intersection with the “Ruta de las Guitarras” in San Bartolomé, uniting to two oldest rural parishes in Azuay which were created 448 years ago.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne