Yanuncay is most popular area to live; Presidential debates set; Cuenca designer products marketed; Another prison riot; The climate clock is ticking

Lunes, 24/7/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

De El Mercurio del domingo, 23/7 (1 article):
Braulio Coronel, Especializado en fuego y asados brinda talleres prácticos (Braulio Coronel, specialist in fire and barbecues, offers practical workshops) – Professional chef Braulio Coronel studied in the Instituto San Isidro de Cuenca and specialized in asados with Argentine chef Francis Mallmann in Mendoza, Argentina. He grew up in his family’s restaurant, Los Maderos, which was a pioneer in preparing chancho a la barbosa. He is teaching workhops on techniques of asado (roasting or barbeque <although to me, BBQ is slow cooking in a closed pit and not on an open fire>) from starting the fire, to the recipes which include meats and side dishes, and the cooking. The workshops are for small groups since they have both theory and practice. Each course lasts 6 hours and attendees have the option of participating or just watching and then eating the results. To go to a workshop, call 099 112 0590. <So all of you self certified BBQ meisters can see how to make the local BBQ.>

The Yanuncay parish, south of the Rio Yanuncay, is the most popular residential area in Cuenca.

Titular –

Conmoción por el asesinato del alcalde de Manta (Shock at the murder of Manta’s mayor) – See today’s (lunes) article in CHL for story. <It seems as if too many Ecuadorian politicians have the unpleasant choice of being tied to a drug gang or being dead. Easier to be an honest politician in the US where the choice is between being bought by special interests or living on what you officially earn.>

Cuenca –

Yanuncay, zona más buscada para vivir (Yanuncay, the most sought after area to live in) – Yanuncay is the sector generating the most interest in Cuenca, and is the most sought after for housing. The parish is located in the south of Cuenca and has become one of the most attractive zones for living in acording to a study by the real estate portal Properati. It has access to parks, banks, supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants, educational institutions, and public transportation as well as good access to the Centro Histórico via av. Loja and av. De las Américas.

The sector has different types of housing: popular, developments, and high-rises. The area mainly has houses with 3-4 bedrooms as well as apartments and land. The average per meter price is $1010 depending on the type of unit and location. Av. 1° de Mayo is the más cotizada (most quoted/popular/valuable) jfor real estate located across the street from the linear park. Prices can reach $1,500/sq. m. Romel Zhindón, ex-VP of the Colegio de Arquitectos del Azuay emphasized that the homes on 1° de Mayo focus on middle to high income people with land being bought for hi-rises. Property on 1° de Mayo is appealing to both Ecuadorians and foreigners who want to live in Cuenca which is one of the cities that attracts, above all, US retirees who want to acquire properties.

More than 10,000 foreigners live in Cuenca, and of those, 95% come from the US and Canada, with 5% from other countries. 25% of that community has bought a house or condo in the city. <I think he’s underestimating the number of Colombians and Venezuelans who are also living here in Cuenca. Or maybe he really means “ex-pats” and other Latin Americans can’t be expats.> The foreigners receive a high average monthly pension which translates to supporting the local economy by $360 million annually. <Are you now all patting yourselves on your backs because the economy would collapse if you moved out of Cuenca?>

Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial (PDOT – Land Management Plan) – The PDOT allows a height of up to 9 or 10 stories in the Yanuncay parish. Along 1° de Mayo, it is 4 stories, but the building must be staggered so that it can be built up to the maximum height. According to Arq. Zhindón, the staggered buildings don’t present a solid front facade which deteriorates the urban landscape.

Elecciónes –

Starting today, the elections page will feature the 11 candidates heading the lists for the Asamblea Nacional or Azuay. Today’s candidate is Ana María Hernández who is heading the ‘Claro que se Puede’ alliance which is composed of the Unidad Popular movement (Lista 2), Partido Socialista Ecuatoriano (Lista 17), and the Democracia Sí movement (Lista 20). <You’re on your own for reading their positions. If you’re voting you should have enough Spanish to do your own research.>

Cuenca –

De El Mercurio del sábado, 22/7 (1 article):
Khuyay, innovación en calzado, textil y cerámica (Khuyay, innovation in footwear, textiles and ceramics) – Khuyay is a brand that started on-line during the pandemic with textiles and then expanded to footwear and ceramics. Jocelyn López, the director of the business, said that Khuyay Textil works directly with qualified craftspeople and designers. The clothing which includes ponchos (a luxury item distributed only on-line), sweats, hoodies and overalls are made with alpaca wool from Otavalo. The garments fuse the indigenous cosmovision with current fashion to highlight Ecuador’s biodiversity. Their line of shoes is Khuyay Cuero which is shown in the Khuyay Galería on Pres. Borrero y Rafael María Arízaga. The shoes are for children, women and men and include sports, casual, formal and bootie styles. These are made by shoemaker Luis Lojano and his 12 employees in Baños under the “Damian’s” label. There is the option of making the styles and sizes to order with 46 as the largest size. <So you gringos with big feet, although not the biggest, now have a place to buy shoes here.> The Khuyay Galería also shows ceramics by craftsman Laudel López who models in various themes including religious and sacred, traditional characters of Cuenca, from movies, busts of people, and portraits.

Nacional –

Cinco fallecidos en la Penitenciaría del Litoral (Five deaths at the Litoral Penitentiary) – Neighborhoods near the Centro de Privación de Libertad (CPL) Guayas in Guayaquil heard explosions and shots from inside the prison starting early yesterday morning. The Servicio Nacional de Atención Integral a Personas Adultas Privadas de la Libertad y a Adolescentes Infractores (SNAI) confirmed the deaths of 5 prisoners and 11 injuries. SNAI also confirmed that there were confrontations between gangs from Saturday afternoon to ayer. Members of the Cuerpo de Seguridad y Vigilancia Penitenciaría and elite units of the Policía Nacional conducted sweeps to control the jail. The Guayaquil Transit Agency shut down vehicular traffic.

At 17:00 ayer, SNAI announced that security agents were being held by armed gangs in the prisons in Cotopaxi, Azuay, Cañar and El Oro. The agents are in good condition and the Crisis Committee has been activated to try free the agents and restore order in the rest of the prisons in the country. <Out of control doesn’t begin to describe the state of the prisons.>

De El Mercurio del sábado, 22/7 (1 article):
Tres horas durará debate entre los presidenciables (The debate between the presidential candidates will last three hours) – The CNE has approved the Manual Ecuador Debate 2023 which will be held el domingo, 13/8 a las 19:00, one week before the voting with the participation of the 8 candidates. If there is a run-off, the 2nd debate will be el domingo, 1/10 a las 20:00 with the finalists. The 1st debate will be 3 hours, and the 2nd will be 1.5 hours. The debates will be televised nationally, and will start with a biographic video of each candidate. The order will be determined in a public drawing. The objective of the debate is not for the candidates to repeat their public promises but to interact with their adversaries. The moderators have the authority to interrupt candidates who deviate from the answer. <Too bad the moderator couldn’t just say “Sit down and shut the f*** up” to the boorish candidates in the US debates. And then turn off their mikes.>

Mundo –

El Cristo Redentor de Río proyecta el Reloj Climático (Rio’s Christ the Redeemer projects the Climatic Clock) – The Climatic Clock is being projected on the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue in Río de Janeiro. It started on the weekend and went from 6 years, 0 days, and 0 hours to 5 years, 364 days, and 12:59:59 hours at a time when extreme heat is being measured around the world. This is the time left for humanity to stay safe from catastrophic climate scenarios and to avoid exceeding the threshold of 1.5° Celsius for world heating. <Are we sure that clock’s right? Look at the temperatures in Phoenix – over 110 for days on end. That’s not catastrophic enough?>

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.