Teachers plan Wednesday protest; Fashion show and 4k race for old folks; Update on highway projects; Some candidates rejected; Organic market opens

Lunes, 26/9/2022

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

From el Mercurio del sábado, 24/9:
Experiencia y sabiduría a la pasarela (Experience and wisdom on the catwalk) – The Centro de Atención de Adulto Mayor (CAAM), part of the IESS in Azuay, is presenting a fashion parade, “Fashion Gold Age.” The show is being staged to commemorate the Día Internacional del Adulto Mayor which is on 1/10. The models are participants in the workshops at CAAM including passive gymnastics, crafts, painting, dance, memory <now there’s an important one>, music, and yoga. They will wear clothing from different decades from 1920 to 2020, accompanied by music of that period. The show will be el jueves, 29/9 a las 14:30 in the Salón de la Ciudad (Mariscal Sucre y Benigno Malo). Use of masks is required at this free show.

The applications of candidates for the February 2023 election in Azuay Province continue to be reivewed by officials.

The 3d Circuito CAAM 4k race (walk, <hobble?>) will be on domingo, 2/10 a las 9:00. One of the participants will be Rogerio Elicieo Arízaga who turned 101 el 19/9. <And he doesn’t look a day over 80. How embarrassing would it be for a fit 65 year old to come in behind a 101 year old?>

Titular –

Revisado 89% de candidatos inscritos: CNE (89% of registered candidates have been reviewed: CNE) – In Azuay, there were 562 people registered by political organizations as candidates for mayors, the prefect of Azuay, cantonal councils, and parish juntas. As of Sun. afternoon, 501 had been reviewed. Of those, there were 180 who had observations, and 27 with objections. In the case of observations, the Junta Electoral del Azuay (Electoral Board of Azuay) found errors related to the documents submitted.

Examples were with the photos including one candidate who was photographed wearing his BVD’s. <This is probably a person who opened his Facebook account with lots of pictures taken at drunken frat parties to potential employers.> Many of the objections had to do with debts on penciones alimenticias (alimony payments). There were candidates who owed $5,000, 12,000 and up to $13,000. The political groups need to change these candidates since people who owe alimony can’t be candidates. <I wonder how that rule would affect the number of polititians serving in elected offices in the US. Would a large percentage of them have to quit?>

Region –

From El Mercurio, sábado, 24/9:
“El Sigsal”, rincón orgánico (“El Sigsal”, organic corner) – The agricultural producers of the Asociación de Desarrollo Social “Pamar Chacrín” in the San Bartolomé parish of Sígsig opened their first food court in the south part of Cuenca on av. Isabel La Católica y Francisco de Orellana in the Parque Iberia sector close to the Centro de Salud del Parque Iberia. It opened this past miércoles with 10 stands serving cuy, sancocho, fritada, chancho – both roasted and a la barbosa. There will also be soups, secos including lamb, tortillas, and other foods made from products grown in their gardens. Hours will be from 8-21:00 depending on each business. There is also an area where the members can sell their crops with martes y viernes for ancestral medicine. The 16 year old association also has locations on av. González Suérez (gas station de Milchichig) and in the Camposanto Santa Ana sector.

Nacional –

From El Mercurio, sábado, 24/9:
Confirmados 93 casos de la viruela del mono (93 cases of monkeypox confirmed) – There have been 93 confirmed cases of monkey pox in the country with 25 having been discharged after recovering from the disease. Currently there are 189 people under epidemiological surveillance after contact with active cases. The provinces with the most cases are Guayas with 37, Pichincha with 25, and Azuay wih 16. Ecuador is the 11th country in the Américas for number of cases.

“Se concesionará el 40% de vías” (“40% of roads to be concessioned”) – Darío Herrera, Minister of Transporte y Obras Públicas (MTOP) was interviewed about roads in Azuay and road concessions in the country. <He didn’t seem to answer the journalist’s questions directly, but gave other information. More politician than civil engineer?> The by-pass at km 49 in the Cajas is temporary until the slope can be worked on. The whole mountain needs to be lowered in order to widen the road, and that can’t be done while there is traffic on it. A large part of the investment announced for roads in 2023 is for the Austro (South). As far as concessions, 17% of the 10,256 km. of national roads are already under concessions and MTOP wants to increase this to 40% by mayo, 2025. Of the 17 planned concessions, 8 have been prioritized including the vía Loja-Catamayo, Manta-Quevedo, Montecristi-La Cadena, Guayaquil-Cuenca, and Guayaquil-Qujito. When asked about new air connections to Cuenca he said that there should be a connection between Cuenca and Manta to join these two development poles – Manta which has the ocean, fishing and industrial activity, and Cuenca which has vast experience in the industrial and manufacturing sectors.

Movilización de UNE será el miércoles (UNE mobilization will be on Wednesday) – The Unión Nacional de Educatores has called its membership to attend a new protest against the Reglamento de la Ley Orgánica de Educación Intercultural (LOEI – Regulation of the Organic Law of Intercultural Education) and to demand a larger budget for education. According to Isabel Vargas, president of the UNE, the opposition to the new regulation is because it was not publicized with teacher, students and the education community, nor was their input taken. In the area of infrastructure, Vargas said only 27% of the annual budget has been invested.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne