Viernes, 31/2/2017: Attack on Lasso, Man who flipped off prez is arrested, Venezuela coup

Apr 1, 2017 | 0 comments

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Header event –

Book launch – “Vibraciones,” a poetry book by Kichwa-Kayamvi author Sarawi Andrango will be launched at 19:30 today in the Sala de Conciertos at the CCE.

Articles about –

Arte feminino – The show “Mujeres en Arte” at the Quinta Bolívar was reviewed. None of the gringa artists’ works was described. <If any of you is a friend of any of the Spanish surname artists, let me know (via CHL) and I will save the paper for you.>

Book launch – A collection of various literary works was put into book form for the XIII Encuentro de Literatura Alfonso Carrasco Vintimilla.  <Sounds like it met the “publish or perish” requirement for U. of Cuenca faculty.>

Teatro – “Como agua para chocolate” (Like Water for chocolate) was adapted for the stage and will be performed tonight at 19:30 in the teatro Carlos Crespi at the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS).  Free.  <The magic word.>

Concierto – The OSC presented a concert Fri. that combinedclassical and national music.  On the program was music from the opera Tristán e Isolda by Wagner, Concierto para Clarinete y Orquesta by August Neilson, Introducción y Yumbo by Ecuadorian composer David Díaz Loyola, and the opening of Romeo y julieta by Tchaikowsky.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Maduro gobernará sin Parlamento (Maduro will govern without Parliament) – The Supreme Court took over the duties of the National Assembly which is composed mostly of the opposition.  Assembly president Julio Borges said that the action is a “golpe de Estado” (coup) by Maduro.  <What a disfunctional country.  We should probably consider ourselves lucky that we don’t share a border.>  Perú recalled its ambassador to Venezuela.  The Brazilian government considered it a constitutional breach for the Supreme Court to take away the prerogatives of the Assembly, Colombia expressed its deep concern and the importance of respecting separation of powers.

No booze – Campaigning has ended and the dry weekend started at noon.  <You’ll have to do your drinking at home unless you can talk your favorite restauranteur into serving you at the risk of a “clausura,” which I imagine would be the penalty for getting caught.>

Attack – An investigation has been opened into the attack on Guillermo Lasso and his family when they left the Ecuador-Cololmbia match.  Lasso said the attack was by a “pandilla de mercenarios extranjeros” (a foreign mercenary gang).  <I hope that those foreigners didn’t include gringos.>   Those responsible for the attack would be guilty of “intimidación” which carries a sentence of 6 mo. to 3 years.

Satellite – CAN (Comunidad Andina) composed of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú launched its first communications satellite yesterday.  The satellite was acquired from the Dutch firm SES New Skies and launched from Cape Cañaveral.  It will have the ability to cover the whole area of Latin America and will be able to transmit more information faster as well as improve communications with isolated areas that have no telecommunications coverage.

Don’t flip off the President – A driver in Quito was arrested for making a “señal inapropiada” (inappropriate sign) to the presidential cavalcade.  <I’m hoping he gave the President the bird rather than the sign I’ve forgotten the name of, since the forgotten sign needs two hands and he was driving.>

Sacred music festival – The XVI Festival Internacional de Música Sacra de Quito (XVI International Festival of Sacred Music of Quito will be from 3-13/4 in the Fundación Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito.  Performers will include Lipzodes from the US, organist James Jhonstone from England and famous for his Bach recital on a 250 year old organ in the Santa Ana de Velaso Church in Bolivia.

Ethanol – Petroecuador has signed a $95 million contract with 4 firms for “alcohol anhidro” (Ethanol) to quarantee the supply of Ecopaís gas.  The gas is distributed in Guayas, Santa Elena, Los Ríos, El Oro, Manabí, Esmeraldas, Loja y Zamora Chinchipe and about a million gallons a day are shipped.  <Why is it available only in low altitude provinces?  Does it not perform well at altitude?>

Unjust detentions – <here is your civics lesson for the day> Prisión preventiva (Preventive prison) is the “medida de última instancia” (last resort measure) <do you like that for your phrase of the day?> in criminal cases to guarantee that the accused will show up.  The prosecutor has to ask the court, and substantiate there is enough information to show that a crime occurred and the accused is the perpetrator or accomplice.  The prosecutor also has to show that there are no other ways to guarantee the accused’s appearance at the proceedings.

To order preventive prison, the judge needs to have “la certeza inequívoca” (unequivocal certainty) that the accused was responsible for the crime while keeping in mind the constitutional principal of innocence.   The law establishes a maximum time to resolve the case.  For crimes where the penalty is less than 5 years, the term of preventive prison is 6 mo.; and for crimes with sentences of more than 5 years, the case has to be resolved within 1 yr.

Someone who has been detained and was later found innocent can take action against the government to repair the damages caused by preventive prison. Recently, 3 people were found innocent of the killing of a teen, and released after 8 months.

Simulation – A simulated accident with 2 cars and a Tranvía car was staged yesterday including injured people, one dead person, and material damage.  <I’m glad they’re practicing because I can easily imagine a car stuck on top of the tracks with a tram coming.  Even if traffic lights are controlled, traffic can’t always comply. El Centro, thy name is Gridlock.>

San Francisco Plaza – The city’s announcement that the vendors would relocate to Padre Aguirre took both neighbors and vendors by surprise.  One business owner on Padre Aguirre and Jaramillo said she wasn’t notified, but felt if the Otavaleños set up along the street it would be fine since they’re part of tourism. She also pointed out that there is insufficient space for all the plaza merchants and “The authorities should take into account that we are in the Historic Center and should organize better.” Another businessperson said it was a bad idea – the space is small and safety and sanitation can’t be guaranteed.  He asked why, when there are more suitable spaces such as Otorongo and El Vado, would you pick the location that creates the most inconvenience.  < The people have spoken and make a lot of sense.>

Antibiotic resistant bacteria – ReAct Latinoamérica-Acción Frente a la Resistencia a los Antibióticos is holding a conference and is asking for people to submit papers on the subjects of bacterial resistance, infectious diseases, and health of ecosystems. Submit your paper until 30/4.  <Yeah, right.  Although I bet if your credentials were good enough, you could submit in English.)

Roads – A landslide on the Panamericana Norte in the Guangarcucho sector caused authorities to close the road and reroute northeast bound traffic to the vía rápida Cuenca-Azogues. Another slide was cleared at km. 43.5 on the vía Zhud-Biblián. Slides in the Molleturo sector have diminished.  < And because of El Niño Costero we’re supposed to have another month of rain?>

Repaving work on the vía Turi-Gullanzhapa-Tarqui is continuing and is about 72% complete.

Hospital Santa Inés – The hospital is building a new medical tower on calle Inés Salcedo.  The new space will focus on the most complicated cases such as transplant surgery, a pediatric intensive care unit, neonatology, physical rehab, respiratory rehab center, and emergency.   Construction will start in abril and last 2 years.   Santa Inés will also open a new hospital in Ambato in a few days.

Intercultural – The article is about Inca territorial organization. The inca progressively assimilated distinct nationalities and integrated them into a system that guaranteed the traditional advantages tied to local control by los kuracas.  As usual, go to www.elmercurio.com.ec to read the article. <This time I think I’m going to take my own advice and not try struggle through the whole thing in Spanish.>

Amenidades –

Movies – as usual, go to www.multicines.com.ec for show times and locations.  The following movies open this week.
3D & 2D – Jefe en pañales – Esp.
2D – Vigilante del futuro – Esp. & Sub.

The following movies are continuing.  All are in 2D and in Español.
La bella y la bestia
Power rangers
Logan
Kong: isla calavera
Fragmentado

Internacional –

Perú – The government declared a 60 day state of emergency in the northern region of Piura where there have been 8 deaths. 20,000 victims and more than 200,000 affected.

Discuentos y compras –

RM – 20% off on clothing – 31/3 to 2/&4 – conditions apply, no discounts on already marked down items.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne

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