The National Anticorruption Commission says that in IESS there were surcharges on medical supplies that were acquired in the period from April to December 2018. Five cases of acquisition of medicines and medical supplies with surcharge were presented yesterday to the president of the Board of IESS, Paúl Granda. The Commission investigated the period from April […]

Last Friday, June 21st, rescue institutions were alerted about a possible bomb in a building located near the intersection of Calle Larga and Borrero streets. After firefighters searched the building, Cuenca Fire Chief Cuenca, Jorge Patricio Lucero, confirmed that it ws a false call. The incident occurred around 09:00, after an anonymous call about a supposed […]

A study starts this week to assess the pertinence of interparroquial and intercantonal bus stops in and around the city. This was announced by Guilherme Chalhoub, municipal director of Mobility Management, after a complaint from the Chamber of Transportation of Cuenca for the placement of an interparroquial bus stop next to the urban buses. “This generates […]

The provincial government of Azuay is planning work on 47 roads between now and the end of the year that includes ballast maintenance and asphalt improvement. In total, they will be 624 kilometers of road work completed. The road plan was presented Monday by the prefect Yaku Pérez and the provincial government road director, Gonzalo Clavijo. […]

The process of buying products by bulk (weighted) is not new in Cuenca. However, it is becoming more and more common for customers to bring their own reusable containers. Sometimes, stores will also provide their own reusable bags or containers, hoping that the customer will come again with it in order to make his or […]

In the province of Chimborazo, in the Pallaguchi Huanca town, a man died while walking with a group of friends through the mountainous region. One of his friends stated that they were crossing the mountains to get to the ‘toros bravos’ (bull fights), an event that was being held nearby. The death occurred at around […]

The Galapagos reserve has now been broadened to 14.6 million hectares, making it one of the biggest marine-life preservation areas in the world. The Biosphere Reservation created in 1984 originally included an area of about 772 ,000 hectares of land. The International Council for Coordination of the “Man and the Biosphere Program,“ approved this enlargement. […]

Negotiations have begun in Quito for 15 Chilean representatives and Ecuadorian government authorities and other experts, in order to bring together a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two nations. Chile and Ecuador are already big commercial partners. In fact, there is already a trade agreement between the two countries called Economic Complementation Agreement (ACE). […]

There have been heavy rains in the Tungurahua, Cotopaxi and Pastaza provinces which have caused rockslides and landslides over roads, as well as damages to houses and other infrastructure. For now, the Directorate of Tourism of Baños de Agua Santa (in Tungurahua) and the Emergency Operations Committee decided on June 21st to suspend recreational activities. […]

A strong social complaint over various conflicting intersections around the city has brought the attention of Guilherme Chalhoub, head of the Chief Office of Mobility Management. Many of these intersections require the presence of transit officers to handle the traffic during rush hours. “Generally, there are at least two accidents a month,” comments Marco Gonzales, […]

Santiago Cuesta, member of the Delegated Management Committee was interviewed over the decisions made by this board over the companies to be given in concession, those to be sold and those that will remain in the hands of the state. The committee required all government companies to create reports over their balances in order to […]

According to ETAPA EP (Telecommunications, Water Service and Sewage Municipal Company), it’s been over thirty years since the last recording of such low temperatures have occurred around Cuenca. This past week’s nighttime temperatures were well below 45° F. Paul Vintimilla, the climate analyst from ETAPA EP assures the cold wave will continue for at least […]

Asoprotexvi is one of the nine associations in the Austro region that will receive the “Somos EPS” brand. It’s a new strategy promoted by the Institute of Solidary and Popular Economy (IEPS), in order to create a better market for the textile sector. The “Somos EPS” brand does not replace the local association’s brand, but […]

Sadly, the Municipal Child and Youth Choir and Orchestra that was founded in 2012—and as of a few weeks ago benefitted 150 children and teenagers—is finding itself suspended. They were in the process of signing another contract with the municipality, but after the change of administration this year, the new contract never came. “It’s not […]

Lately, I’ve been overwhelmed with good wishes coming from people who have been reading my column and seeing how Codie and I are moving on with our lives after selling the restaurant and newspaper. So many people have come up to me and wished us well, that it is a little bit sad, or as […]

Gualaceo, June 13, 2019.- Four people were arrested on June 12 in the cantons of Gualaceo, Cuenca and Cañar for laundering of $19 millions. The operation was run by the units of Transparency and Fight against Corruption and Anti-Money Laundering of the State Attorney General’s Office, in coordination with the National Police. In the joint […]

Earlier this month, Juan Cordero, Jennifer Guzmán, Alejandra Ortiz and Francisco Vicuña arrived in Sweden to present “Movimillas,” a project focused on promoting the use of public transport in Cuenca. With Movimillas, the young students of the Universidad del Azuay proposed adding a magnetic field to the Movilízate card to allow patrons to collect points that could then be exchanged for other products. […]

This past week merchants in San Francisco Plaza were told to remove any canvases that they are using to cover their products from sun and rain unless they were specifically installed with permission from the city. If they did not, they were told the municipality would “take measures.” The coordinator of the Municipality, Pablo Figueroa, […]

Nearly 2,000 Venezuelans waited for days at the Binational Border Care Center, CEBAF, in Peru, for an opportunity to continue their trip last week. But, since June 15, those who wish to enter Peru have to obtain a visa or a certificate of refuge—to obtain them has become an barrier that causes the exodus to the […]

The Corporación Financiera Nacional (CFN), is now offering a special loan program to dedicated to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This is the SME Express and the SME Prospera, two products defined as the new “star” credits of the corporation. The loan products are aimed at boosting these two sectors of the industry. The first offers […]

The Azuay prefecture is asking some of its employees to ride bikes to work. The purpose of this initiative in to reduce the number of official vehicles currently being used. This will hopefully reduce the amount of traffic in the city. These bicycles had been acquired by the previous administration, but they were stored in […]

The individual known as ‘Mangajo’ (meaning a despicable person), Juan Andres V., this week received the maximum sentence of 29 years and four months of jail-time after being convicted for sexually abusing a 15-year-old teenager. But she was not the only one to be abused or molested by this individual. Over the past year, three […]

The BPA, which stands for Good Agrarian Practices in Spanish, is a certification being issued by the Plant and Animal Sanitary Control and Regulation Agency (Agrocalidad). This is with the aim of ensuring healthy and harmless produce from the national agriculture. Agrocalidad will aim to certify 1000 farmers per year. Soon, 800 technicians from the […]

This week, the Ministry of the Environment gave its first workshop in the program of “rescue, quarantine and reintroduction” of flora species. The program’s goal to provide training on the management of endangered vegetation. Fernando Juela, a wildlife technician of the Provincial Department of the Environment, said that they worked for two days with park […]

The Municipal Directorate of Markets, in conjunction with the Agency for Regulation and Control of Fito and Zoosanitary (Agrocalidad) carried out a quality control operation in the different meat stalls in the El Arenal market this week. The operation was carried out between 4:00 AM and 8:00 AM on Tuesday as vendors arrived with their […]

In May of this year, the Constitutional Court reviewed a series of cases concerning the penal Code article 202. This article stated that “Any person that carries, guards, sells or stores objects without proof of purchase, or contracts that justify their possession or ownership, would be penalized from 6 months of jail and up to […]

The Corpus Christi festival is of Christian-European origin. It has the meaning of the “Body of Christ,” being symbolized by the sacramental bread. The festival is coming to Cuenca and Azogues; festivities started on June 20th and will continue thru June 30th. For the festival, about 117 candy booths will be installed all around Parque […]

On Tuesday, the national channel TVR HD was launched. This channel was created by Ivan Rodriguez, a journalist with a longstanding career. He gathered a team with a group of colleagues, as well as his brother, Geovanny Rodriguez, to help him fill the television channel with programs. “Our desire is to inform instantly, to entertain […]

Despite Ecuador having cocoa and chocolate products as two of its main exports, the Ecuadorian population does not consume much of either product. It is estimated that the average Ecuadorian consumes about 10 oz. of cocoa or chocolate a year. Meanwhile, some European countries have an average consumption of 2 lbs. per year, per person. […]