Martes, 14/2/2017: Av. Ordoñez Lasso opens officially, Talks with JetBlue, Election materials arrive, Immigrants rights protected

Feb 15, 2017 | 0 comments

Hola, Todos –

Sorry folks, but I need to take an extra day off so I will not do any translations from tomorrow through Fri and I’ll be back on Sun. But you all might want to run out and get tomorrow’s paper which will have a special inset listing Carnaval activities.  If you’ve been reading this column for any length of time, you can probably translate the listings on your own.

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events

Sesión solemne (solemn session – I still have no idea what it is although it seems to be religious in nature.  Maybe that’s why I have no idea what it is.) – There was a recital and solemn session to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Conservatorio José María Rodríguez.

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Cine Cubano – The CCE, Cuban Embassy and Ecuador Film Club have organized a Cuban film series for mañana, el jueves y el viernes, all shows at 19:00 and in the Sala de Audiovisuales (Pres. Cordova y Luis Cordero, upper floor).  Free.

Teatro y danza – The Teatro Barojo in honor of Valentine’s Day will present “La Pepita” mañana (15/2 – I always write from the temporal reference of the date in the header.) at 20:00 in “Lirón, Lirón” (Gran Colombia y Benigno Malo).  “Jota Jota,” a contemporary dance show will be el jueves at 20:00 in the sala “Alfonso Carrasco.”

Articles about –

Museo de Educación – The National Education University is working to create a documentary center and National Museum of Ecucation.

Poemario – Yesenia Espinoza presented her new book of erotic and love poetry “Desde las caldinadas llanuras del amor” (From the calcined plains of love) today at 19:00.

Essay – by Lutoro in memory of his mother.

Concert – 3 of the “Cuarteto de Cuerdas Santiago” (Santiago String Quartet) from Guayaquil will perform in Cuenca el jueves at 19:00 in the teatro Pumapungo.  The members of the quartet are brothers.  Their grandmother took them to a private music academy when they were young and their grandfather was a violinist.  (Must be nice for the grands to see the nietos (grandchildren) following in their footsteps.)

Otras cosas – 

Titular – El amor y la amistad se expresan hoy (Love and friendship express themselves today)  (And don’t merchants love to sell you the stuff to demonstrate your love and friendship.  Supermaxi had sleeves of 3 roses at the registers, and the checkers asked if you wanted roses – nudging you into that impulse buy.)

Elections – The election materials have arrived at the CNE in Azuay.  646,455 voters are registered in Azuay and 12,816,698 nationally.

Official opening – Ordóñez Lasso was officially delivered to the Ministerio de Transport y Obras Públicas (MTOP) today.  The project cost $24 million with a length of 6.2 km.  (And it feels like you have to drive at least half of that just to make a left turn.)

Tame – The complaints about delays and cancellations continue.  CORPAC, which runs the airport, revealed that just in the last week from 6-12 de febrero, 9 Tame flights were delayed or cancelled. Delays were 43 min. to almost 3 hours.  Two flights, 155-170 (Q-C-Q) and 151-150 (G-C-G) were cancelled.  (Might want to take this into account when you make your travel plans – especially if you need to make an international connection.)  The flight from Cuenca to Quito with the 3 hour delay also left luggage behind in Cuenca.  The passengers were told the airline left the luggage to reduce the weight on the flight.  (Now that I truly don’t understand.  Do they have pilots that won’t take off when the plane’s too heavy?)

Patricio Miller, president of the Chamber of Tourism of Azuay, has asked for a meeting with (I so wish this comes to pass.) JetBlue.  (Now that truly would make Cuenca the best place to retire.  Maybe I shouldn’t talk so loud.)

Partial Trade Agreement – Ecuador has signed a trade agreement with El Salvador with preferential duties on 207 products of which 50 are agricultural and 157 industrial.  Ecuador is the major provider of fuel stoves and cooktops and the 2nd place provider of sinks, lavatories and roses.  These products can be immediately imported duty free with other products to follow.

Immigrants’ rights – The Ecuadorian consulates in the US are taking action to protect their citizens.  State Dept Secy Guillaume Long implemented a “Plan de Contingencia” to reinforce their consular protection activities and getting information to migrants as to their rights.  There will be 29 “Conozca sus Derechos” (Know your Rights) workshops in febrero y marzo in NY, NJ, Chicago, LA, Connecticut, Miami, Houston y Minneapolis.  (I feel sorry for those Ecuadorians in Mpls.  Except for Chimborazo guides, who in this country regularly experiences snow and cold? Cuencanos complain when it drops below 50 or 55.)  26 mobile consulates will also be activated.

Molleturo – Representatives from Molleturo met with officials in Cuenca to express their concern about mining at Río Blanco. Their complaint is based on the Constitution prohibiting certain activities in the páramo and compromising water sources.  Ruth Caldas, Vice Mayor, said that UNESCO has been notified of Cuenca’s Declaration of a Metal Mining Free Zone since the mine is inside a reserve which is in a UN World Heritage Site.

Workshop – The Mujeres Defensoras de la Pachamama (The Women Defenders of Mother Earth) is holding a workshop on “Impactos de la megaminería en el agua” (Impacts of megamining on the water) este miércoles at 17:00.  There will be simultaneous sessions in Cuenca, Quito and Limón connected by video.  In Cuenca the meeting will be at the organization’s office (Luis Cordero 7-23 y Pres. Córdova – ed. Pumapungo).  Register at defensoraspachamama@gmail.com.

Internacional –

Venezuela – Vice President Tareck El Aissami was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for his significant role in international drug trafficking.

Perú – Pres. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski talked to Pres. Trump about applying immigration law to deport Alejandro Toledo, a former Peruvian president.  The Peruvian authorities have an international warrant out for him, but “el sistema en Estados Unidos funciona de manera diferente a otros países.” (The system in the United States works differently than other countries).  Toledo is accused of taking $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht.

And that´s all for today so Domingo –

Jeanne

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