We hope everyone is in good health and good spirits!
We are well, despite a bout of diverticulitis for Joe which resulted in a couple weeks of inactivity and a return to a more sensible diet. Unfortunately, cheating when you have diverticulitis is not really a smart option.
Lisa just had her Birthday; She claims her 25th but I am suspicious. Lisa is doing well and continuing her Keto diet. When she cheats, her lips breakout and swell. I call that the Julia Roberts look. She doesn’t find it so humorous. Our 32nd Wedding Anniversary is coming up on the 28th of October. Yes, that makes me 128 in married years!
By now, many of you have heard about the protests and rioting in Ecuador. I purposely have not written about it, because I was waiting for a resolution before I commented. First, it is good to understand that according to Ecuador’s constitution, it is a democracy. However, it has been run by Socialists for the last ten years. The previous president “Correa” was completely corrupt. He took loans, sold Ecuador’s resources and then pocketed much of the money. He did in fact improve some infrastructure. From what I understand, the roads that were built went nowhere except to the Chinese gold mines and oil fields.
The current president, “Moreno” was not our first choice, but has been making some good moves in our opinion. He removed the Capital Gains tax and is also doing away with the “Exit tax” on any money leaving the country. Just those two things should improve small business in Ecuador. Many businesses and much of the Ecuadorian money left Ecuador under the previous regime. Despite the good moves by the current President, there were still in place many subsidies which are simply not sustainable and certainly not under this economy. Gasoline is subsidized and was about $1.27 per gallon. LP gas is $3 per bottle for home use and $17 per bottle for restaurants and commercial use.
In my opinion, Ecuador had to make some changes to stop spending or risk becoming like Venezuela in the next ten years. It took less than ten years to go from one of the richest countries in the world to the terrible shape it is in now. We can argue about why that happened, but it happened.
Two weeks ago, President Moreno enacted by Presidential Decree # 883 the removal of subsidies on Gasoline and constructed a deal with the IMF to borrow money to help sustain Ecuador. Part of the loan agreement was that he had to stop these subsidies. This caused the head of transportation to call for a strike of all taxis, buses and any sort of public transportation. This was done secretly and quietly and the blocked roads throughout the country. We were stranded on the other side of Vilcabamba for almost 14 hours. We finally got home around midnight after the Taxis were run off by the local police. The Taxi’s and some buses went back to work by the weekend, but there remained several indigenous groups that started rioting and became violent. ATM machines were burned, and some people killed or injured. Many people missed their flights and the local Hosteria business was hurt considerably.
There are many reasons this happened, some people speculate that the trial of former President Correa was to begin last week and so he orchestrated some of this. Many of the indigenous people are extreme Socialists, and liked Correa because they believed he was great for keeping subsidies in place. I believe that those who contribute the least to society are always the first to demand FREE STUFF!
Finally, President Moreno was able to convince the leaders of these indigenous communities to sit down and talk. He since has repealed Decree # 883 but will still remove subsidies on Gasoline and food items. He agreed not to take the IMF money which probably was a good thing. Many people believe he would have pocketed much of it just like the last President. This will cause gas prices to rise 40-70%.
So, the strikes, riots and roadblocks are now officially a thing of the past. A similar protest happened around 10 years ago, and it went on for 15 days. This one was much shorter. And we are grateful for that. We are grateful that we were never in any danger, and neither was our property. Most of the rioting took place in the large cities, of Guayaquil, Cuenca and Quito which is the capital. We just had roads blocked for a few days. I went to Loja last
Friday and purchased a generator, gas and some agricultural products. The Supermaxi grocery store as about 80% full. The biggest inconvenience is that they were out of Bacon!
The time we spent waiting and could not get home, was at a Hosteria called Madre Tierra. The owners are friends of ours and fed us well. They also gave us a room which we only used for about 2 hours until the roads cleared. We sat and talked and enjoyed the company of others. Such was not the case for working people, they were stranded and could not get home. Many could not go to work for several days. Those who rely on public transportation were hit the hardest. Schools have all been closed but will reopen tomorrow morning. The kids will have to attend school on Saturdays to make up for the missed days. Gringos sat around Vilcabamba and all offered their opinions on the strikes, protests, the Presidents and all that they think should be done. Of course, most of them are terribly misinformed or blinded by their compassion for the indigenous. No one is any more compassionate than we are, but we understand the need to remain logical and understand the need to do what is right for the entire country so that it will succeed for many years to come.
Basically, all is good, and life is good. But, most of all God is good! Buy a plane ticket and come on down to see if what we are saying is true. We dare you not to fall in love with this country!
Until next time,
Dios te Bendiga!
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