Souvenir Photo Studio is now
re-opened. Book your
session now.
© All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not
be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.
Welcome….. Please note that you may SUBSCRIBE
below to this Blog.
NOTE that you may click on any photo for
an ENLARGED VIEW.
Friday
January 15, 2016
Last night, even though we had had a pretty steady rain earlier in the evening, I went to join Los Herederos de Cuenca (the biker gang) for the weekly ride. As expected, only 3 bikes showed up at 8pm so they called off the ride. I didn't mind, because wet streets are dangerous for bikes.
This morning I hurried to attend a Coopera meeting at 9am at a new location, the lawyers' college next to the Registro Civil at Parque Luis Cordero. At first I was unclear what was happening but it quickly became apparent that this was a gathering of several groups upset at the Government. There were even workers on one of the new southern Chinese hydroelectric plants whose signs said that they had not been paid in 10 months. There were other liquidated credit unions and some disaffected politicians, a former mayor of somewhere, and a former President of the country, Lucio Gutierrez. Lucio Edwin Gutierrez Borbua, a former army colonel, was President from Jan 15, 2003 - April 20, 2005. I don't suppose that it hurts to have powerful friends.
Our buddy, Marco Encalada, agreed to represent the Expat community in the new coalition of the disaffected.
We listened to many very passionate speeches by many familiar and many new faces.
Today is the apparent deadline for the Government accepting bids (with only a couple of weeks notice) on 3 buildings that they hope to get $1 million for. It was thought that Government agencies would buy the buildings but, since they don't have any money, this is now very doubtful. The scuttlebutt is that there should be another payout to Coopera investors in mid-February of around $4,500.... Who knows where these numbers come from....
One of the gentlemen urged us to join them on Tuesday at 8am for some sort of demonstration in Tarqui, south of the city. I will probably go on Toxic to lend them a hand.
Apparently there will be another meeting of this new coalition on Friday Feb 19, probably at this same location.
My afternoon got interrupted by Cristina rescuing a large baby bird from below the tree outside.. She consults with her sister in Colombia and works out a way to feed the hungry critter. Then she announces that she wants to go to a veterinarian so I stop everything to take her, thinking that it was for information on caring for the bird... Wrong... She wanted to get a quote for spaying the dogs (over $300,.. each..) and we ended up buying dog collars, dog tags, then we went to get the tags engraved. Silly me.
I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's
excitement, Cheers,
Al
 |
| I assume that this is the new umbrella organization for the disaffected |
 |
| Two familiar faces in the center |
 |
| The crowd continued to grow to almost capacity |
 |
| Graciela gave an impassioned speech |
 |
| Dr. Quito is an impressive speaker |
 |
| Finally some press showed up |
 |
| Former President Gutierrez |
 |
| He was an impressive addition |
 |
| No, this is not Sacheen Littlefeather |
 |
| Workers complain for not being paid for 10 months |
 |
| A former mayor of somewhere |
 |
| Radio personality was MC |
 |
| Another new poster for the cause |
 |
| Another speaker |
 |
| Rob, former President Gutierrez, and a tourist |
 |
| A new addition to our family? |
