What's Goin' on in Ecuador?

As much fun as it is to travel, sometimes it's just interesting to make note of what's happening in my temporary home. It's almost never a dull moment, considering our peaceful existences.

Cuenca is supposed to be the proud home to a light rail system, but general issues like contract disputes, budget shortages etc have delayed the project which was supposed to be completed over three years ago. Recently, a new contract was signed and Tranvia is supposed to be completed by the end of September. The mayor has just updated us and said that even this isn't going to happen and that it likely won't be until 2019. This isn't surprising. The good news is that affected businesses will receive some financial compensation. (I mean, really, where else does that happen?) Once it's completed, the buses running through the city will be reduced and that's a good thing.

Less of this would be good.

We've also had some legal excitement with the existing government. The Vice-President was removed from office for being caught up in a bribery scandal. A South American company (Odebrecht) regularly used bribery to win large  contracts both private and public. Sr. Jorge Glas, was found guilty and is serving 6 years in prison in Quito. The conviction wasn't exactly surprising. The reach of Odebrecht was huge and many countries have been affected. Politicians, CEOs and other people of import have fallen because of their greed. Sr. Glas has been replaced by Maria Alejandra Vicuña. (Yes, the country is going to hell, we have a President in a wheelchair and a woman (gasp!) as second in command. We've come a long way, baby!)

"Damn, I'm caught."

The current President (Lenin Moreno) is on a mission to clear out corruption, even though many Ecuadorians feared that he would only be a puppet of Rafael Correa, the previous leader. This has not been the case and Correa (who seems to share a lot in common with the big sensitive baby from the USA) has gone on the offensive, as Moreno goes about fixing many things that were wrong and addressing the concerns of various groups. Correa would be amusing if he wasn't trying to undermine a very popular and effective President.

Ex-President Correa, likely whining about something

The whole health insurance thing is still up in the air and the new fees for the universal health care are being challenged in court, but I suspect that the requirement for coverage will stand. There is going to be a special meeting with the President and a special auditor to discuss Correa's handling of health care costs during his tenure. I'm pretty sure that there's been a whole pile of mismanagement, false filings by doctors and other little scams that have drained the system and created financial chaos. It's rumoured that Correa told the head of IESS (the medical system) to not bill the government for outstanding costs, as they didn't have the money and that it had happened for several years, basically bankrupting the system.

Like I said, never a dull moment. Who knows what other dirty little secrets will come out during the various investigations. Perhaps we should start a pool to predict when Tranvia will be complete or who will be brought to trial next.