Author: m.tacuri

Ecuadorian immigrants are the 1oth-largest Hispanic population living in the United States. They brought their traditions with them when they immigrate, so that way they stay in touch with home, but the one thing they remain loyal to is their food. Many Ecuadorian restaurants have been opened for years with the typical dishes in their menu. The popular dishes normally consist of, rice, potatoes, seafood, chicken, and meat. Here are some of dishes that make Ecuadorians feel like home.

Maria Velez and her husband opened their Ecuadorian restaurant ten years ago. Velez says that her motivation to open a restaurant was to be able share her passion for cooking with many. “People tell me that I cook like their mothers or grandmothers used to cook,” she says smiling proudly.

 

Morocho dulce a classic Ecuadorian sweet drink. Velez’s take on this drink is that “it’s hard to make a good morocho” because sometimes there aren’t enough ingredients available. “Also, it’s time consuming.” Morocho is a breakfast or as a evening snack drink, usually accompanied with Humitas, which are a savory steamed fresh corn cakes.

Ecuadorian chicken soup or Caldo de Gallina is a typical dish from the Sierra. A bowl of soup and a portion of rice is usually dinner. “I’m full with a bowl of soup. I don’t need more,” says Mario a customers at Milenio restaurant. He says that he eats other kinds of food too, but most of the time Ecuadorian. And when he’s out with his family, his family wouldn’t eat other kind of food.

The lightest dish is probably Ceviche de Camarom. Abel Castro the chef and the owner of Ñaño restaurants shows how to make Ceviche:https:

Castro’s restaurant is located in Manhattan. “We want to be able to share our tradition with others and the best way to do it is with food”

 

“Churrasco is one of the most popular dishes here” says Diana, a waitress who came from Ecuador six months ago.  She says that she misses her family and friends, but not the food.

Sopa Marinera (seafood soup) is probably one of most poplar dishes not only in Ecuador, but in the United States as well “because the ingredients are easy to get,” says Don Juan. Don Juan and his family work in a small family own restaurant in Queens. “People come because my wife makes good food”

Velez is well-known for her Arroz marinero. She says that people have come to treat her like their family. “Some people call me aunt, others mother.” They feel appreciated. Food connects people and that’s how Ecuadorians feel like home even when they are far away from their families.

“There always be Ecuadorian food as long as we live here,” says Velez. If ever want to try Ecuadorian dishes, there are plenty of places in New York. Generally the portions are big.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecuadorians in New York Unite to Support their Country

QUEENS —The warm, -sunny day made a more exciting experience for Ecuadorians who turned up to on Sunday. Thousands of Ecuadorians filled the Union of Students building at Queens College, where about 70 ballot boxes were installed.

The two candidates—Lenin Moreno, the former vice-president, and Guillermo Lasso, a former banker— were facing each other for the second time. Moreno was close to tasting victory in the initial presidential vote on Feb 19. The 39 percent of votes in his favor and the 28 percent to Lasso did not meet the requirements for a clear victory, so a second runoff vote was scheduled.

Should Moreno win, analysts have predicted that Ecuador’s reputation would be cemented “as a bastion of the left in Latin America.” Should Lasso win, Ecuador will take another direction after many years under the leftists.

“I notice there are more people voting today,” said Cesar Quintero as he walked inside the building along with his wife and his son, following the crowd. “It’s an important day and I think everybody needs to participate.”

Since the first election, both candidates have been rigorously campaigning, giving more interviews on TV, appearing more in social media and inviting citizens to follow them for “change” and a “better democracy.”

“I vote for a change,” said Jose Gonzales, 54, who has business in Ecuador and in New York.  He travels there frequently. He said he has experienced the corruption and that Ecuador is not as it used to be ten years ago. “Ecuador is bad now,” he said, adding that if the lift-wing Moreno wins, “Ecuador will be like Venezuela,” referring to the movement that is happening in Caracas.

Newsweek reported that the anti-government demonstration in Venezuela against the president Nicolas Maduro started when people ask the president to resign because of economy downturn that led to high inflation, shortages of basic food, goods and medicine. The government wants to control everything. The largest protest the country has seen got into a riot with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. The protester asked for “No more dictatorship.”

Lasso twitted during the Elections “This is a crucial day, this isn’t any election, here there’s a path; there’s a path to Venezuela or a path to democracy and freedom.”

On the other hand, Moreno wrote on his Twitter account, “I’m going to inaugurate the cleanest government in history. We will completely eradicate corruption. I count on you Ecuadorians!”

“I just want to get over with it,” said Juan Delgado, who was not willing to say who he voted for. “Both of them are liars. I don’t trust them,” he added.

Meanwhile, a group of people in a corner joked and laughed. “Let’s go Moreno,” they shouted.

While exiting the building, Victor Tocachi, 32, enthusiastically said he had voted for Moreno. “Ecuador has made a lot of progress,” he said. “We have new hospitals, new roads and more jobs.” Tocachi said that the former president Rafael Correa was “the first good president” Ecuador has had in a long time.

Lasso has promised in his campaign to help people boost their small business and cut taxes, so that way there be more jobs. But at the same time people are skeptical weather to believe him or not, Lasso has a bad reputation of being responsible when the National Bank collapsed as result most of the Ecuadorians lost their money.

“I didn’t vote. But I hope whoever is elected do good things for the country,” said Pablo who works in construction work and owns his small company. “We need to support the winner”

Ecuadorians in New York Make Their Vote Count

 

QUEENS —The warm-sunny day made a more exciting experience for Ecuadorians who attended the Sunday event on Abril 2, 2017.  Thousands of Ecuadorians fill the Union of Students building at Queens College to vote, where they installed about 70 ballot boxes.

The two candidates Lenin Moreno, the former vice-president, and Guillermo Lasso, a former banker faced each other for the second time. Moreno was close to taste victory in the first presidential election on Feb 19, 2017. The 39 percent of votes in his favor and the 28.28 percent to Lasso led them for a second presidential runoff.

“I notice there are more people voting today,” said Cesar Quintero as he walked inside the building along with his wife and his son, following the crowd. “Is an important day and I think everybody needs to participate,” he added.

After the first election, both candidates have been rigorously campaigning, giving more interviews on TV, appearing more in social media and inviting citizens to follow them for a “change” and a “better democracy.”

“I vote for a change,” said Jose Gonzales a 54-year-old who has business in Ecuador and in New York. He said that he has been traveling there all the time, and he has experienced the corruption. “Ecuador is so bad now.” he said. That if the lift-wing Moreno wins “Ecuador will be like Venezuela,” referring to the movement that is happening in Caracas.

Lasso twitted,“This is a crucial day, this isn’t any election, here there’s a path; there’s a path to Venezuela or a path to democracy and freedom.”

On the other hand, Moreno wrote on his tweeter account, “I’m going to inaugurate the cleanest government in history. We will completely eradicate corruption. I count on you Ecuadorians!”

“I just want to get over with it,” Juan Delgado expressed his sentiment about the elections not wanting to tell who he voted for. “Both of them are liars. I don’t trust them” he add.

Meanwhile, there was a group of people in a corner, Lenin Moreno’s supporters. “Let’s go Moreno,” they shouted as they joked and laughed.

Should Moreno win, Ecuador’s reputation will continue for the next years  “as a bastion of the left in Latin America.” Should Lasso wins, Ecuador will take another path after many years under the leftists.

While exiting the building, Victor Tocachi, 32, enthusiastically answer, “I voted for Moreno!” Because “Ecuador has made a lot of progress. We have new hospitals, new roads and more jobs”. Tocachi said that the former president Rafael Correa was “the first good president” Ecuador has had in a long time.

Lasso has promised in his campaign to help people boost their small business and cut taxes, so that way there be more jobs. “We need someone   with that mentality,” said Raul a taxi driver who has business in Ecuador. “Who can help the poor to have their own business,” he said.

After the relentless battle between candidates, only one will be the winner.

 

 

The crowded waiting room was getting hotter as more people came in. Their impatient eyes looked out the tall buildings of Manhattan from the sixth floor where the Ecuadorian Consulate is located.

Hundreds of Ecuadorians visit the Consulate every day after president Donald Trump promised to deport immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants. There are an estimated 687, 000 Ecuadorians in the United States, 61 percent of them are foreign born according to The Pew Research Center.

“I am here to get my son an Ecuadorian passport,” said Andrea in Spanish, who did not want to give her last name. Many parents like Andrea who have U.S. born children are rushing to get their children an Ecuadorian passport so they will not have problems if they are sent back with their undocumented parents.

But most of them were at the Consulate to get a document called a “poder” (power). Poderes are documents that authorize Ecuadorians living in the United States to manage their property in Ecuador. When that document is signed, anybody can sell or buy property on behalf of that individual who signed it.

What does it mean for Ecuador’s Economy? The Economist Intelligence Unit categorized Ecuador as the seventh worse economy in the world. Ecuador has always had a fluctuated economy. In 2008 it suffered greatly when the prices of the oil dropped, but then it slowly improved as the new elected president Rafael Correa made some adjustments. Correa brought back the economy by investing in new roads, hospitals, schools and giving electric access to isolated regions.

However, he did not count with all the funds for public investments. It led him to increase taxes, borrow money from the Central Bank and the prices of oil dropped again.

Ecuador’s economy now has two positive events that could change it from being the seventh worse economy.

First, with so many Ecuadorians living in the United States that are buying property, opening bank accounts and transferring their money from American banks to Ecuadorian banks. These movements will inject value to lift the economy up.

According to Maria Ines Costa Vargas, the vice-consul of Ecuador more people are sending poderes to Ecuador compared to last year. In February 2016, a total of 373 poderes were sent to Ecuador compared to 623 poderes this year in the same month. Last year Vargas said, the poderes were mixed either to buy or just manage property, but this year they are mainly to buying more houses, lands and opening bank accounts.

“People are scared and they want to have a plan B,” said Vargas. “Almost all the poderes are for buying or opening bank accounts in Ecuador.”

Second, the upcoming presidential election has Ecuadorian hopeful that the new president will bring new reforms to help rebuild the fallen economy.

“People stopped spending money because the prices for everything went up,” said Jose Alveres a U.S resident who was in Ecuador six months ago. He said the economy could be better if Colombians and Peruvians who come to work in Ecuador spend in Ecuador rather than sending it to their countries.

The public stopped spending as the prices for everything went up. The idea of increasing prices was to make up for the low cost of oil. Ecuador has an economy highly dependent on oil production and public spending. During the years the price of oil decrease from $ 94 a barrel to $32 a barrel.

Another main factor why Ecuador is in the seventh worse economy is the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that happened in 2016. It affected Ecuador’s economy greatly, leaving over $3 billion in damage and killing 660 people. The already hurt economy began to worsen in every corner as people stopped spending more and companies began laying off employees left and righ.

Former president Rafael Correa borrowed $1.5 billion from China in order to bring the economy back, but in exchange, China asked that a 90 percent of oil shipments go to them for the next few years. Ecuadorians hope their new leader will change that as the country depends on oil and they need to be free from China in order to trade with other countries.

“Basically, now we belong to China if we don’t pay that money back,” said Alvares.

Ecuadorians who live in the United States and the new incoming president will determine the future of Ecuador’s economy.

“More money will be circulating with all of these movements,” said Vargas. “They are going to open their own business and create jobs.”

 

 

There are many broad patterns in the development of societies. Jared Diamond talks about how each society, how each continent and how each region developed the way they did. Of course, some of the places had and still have more advantages than the others.

Diamond says that almost every societies started either as hunt-gathering, working in agriculture, herding or doing metallurgy. But as they learned ways to improve their way of living, they invented new tools and become civilized. However, in some parts of the world the process of civilization took longer simply they were not in favorable place.

One can infer that those countries that are still struggling had a bad beginning. They were people who used stone and wood tools to survive either from hunger or from other tribes who wanted to invade them.

Ecuador is one of those many struggling countries. Even though it is a developed country, it still has indigenous population and groups of tribes who are not civilized. According to Diamond’s point of view on how geography either favors or not, Ecuador was in a place where not favorable. They were hunters, worked in agriculture so the process to civilization and developed as country took more time than others. And when they were invaded by Spaniards, the natives were slaves. So basically the Spaniards were the ones who made Ecuador a civilized place because they brought their ideas on how to mine the gold and the oil and eventually they developed a political system that control people.

The crowded waiting room was getting hotter as more people came in. They all looked inpatient. Small talks helped them to kill time until it was their turn to see a member of the Ecuadorian Consulate.

Most of them were there to get a document called “poder.” Poder (power) is a document that authorizes and allows Ecuadorian living in the U.S. to manage their property in Ecuador. When the document is signed anybody can sell as well as buy more property in behalf of the person who signed the poder.

According to Maria Ines Costa Vargas, the vice-consul of Ecuador there are more people sending the “poderes” to Ecuador compared to last year. “People are scared and they want to have a plan B,” said Vargas. “Almost all the poderes are for buying and opening bank accounts in Ecuador.’

Ecuador is the seventh worst economy in the world, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. The movement the Ecuadorians are doing buying property, opening bank accounts and transferring money from American banks to Ecuadorian banks could help lift the economy up.

Last year in February a total of 373 poders were sent compared to 623 poders this year in the same month. Vargas said that last year all the poders were mixed either to buy or just manage their property, but this year all of them are either to buy or open a bank account.

Ecuador’s economy went down when the price of the oil collapsed from 94 dollars a barrel to 32 dollars a barrel. And Ecuador has an economy highly pendent on oil production and public spending. “People stopped spending money because the prices for everything went up,” said Jose Alveres. Alvares is a U.S resident who was in Ecuador six months ago. He said that the economy could be better if Colombians and Peruvians who come to work in Ecuador spend in Ecuador rather than sending it to their countries.

The earthquake that happened in 2016 affected Ecuador’s economy greatly. Leaving over 3 million in damage and killing 660 people. The already hurt economy began to show in every corner as people stopped spending more and companies were laying off employees left to right.

The former president Rafael Correa borrowed 1.5 billion from China in order to bring the economy back, but in exchange China asked that a 90% of oil shipments should go for them for the next few years. “Basically, now we belong to China if we don’t pay that money back,” said Alvares.

However, the election for the new president keep Ecuadorian in a hope that the economy will improve. Also, the many Ecuadorian who live in the U.S are contributing to the Economy by sending their money, buying houses, buying property and building. “More money will be circulating with all of these movements,” said Vargas. “They are going to open their own business and create jobs.”

February 19, 2017 was a big day for Ecuadorians. More than 105, 238 Ecuadorians living in the United States went out to vote and support their country. Yet, the two leading president candidates did not get the 40 percent needed votes to win election.

What does this election mean for the well-being of Ecuadorians and the Ecuador’s economy?  Refael Correa, the former president who ran the country from 2007 to January 15, 2017 led Ecuador to recession and high unemployment rate. The results of the elections shows that Ecuadorians want to continue the “Correism” meaning the majority voted for Lenin Moreno, who promised to continue Correa’s political view. Whereas, Guillermo Lasso wants to do more with less, cut taxes, create million jobs during his term and elevate Ecuador’s economy.

According to Correa the earthquake that happened in Abril, 2016 led Ecuador to damage its economy. Maybe that is partly true, but the economy was already bad way before that. For instance, the borrowing of 1.5 billion dollars from China brought more problems to Ecuador.

This feature on the Ecuador’s economy will be relevant to the world, especially to South and Central America countries because they have similar leaders who don’t care about their citizens.

 

 

 

Mexico is a country rich in culture, tradition and history. Mexico constitutes of 31 states and one federal district. Its current population is 122. 3 million, making it the largest Spanish peaking country in the world. Also, Mexico is the third largest county in Latin America along with Brazil and Argentina. The main boarders are the United States on the north, on the south and west the Pacific Ocean, by the southeast Guatemala and the Caribbean Sea.

Early history of Mexico began some way back around 900 B.C. The first Mexico known society were called The Olmecs, they settled in Gulf Coast close to what is now Veracruz. They are remembered for carving native stones and making sculptures with huge heads.

Fast forward, The Mayans are “widely considered to be pre-Columbian America’s most brilliant civilization, thrived between approximately 250 and 900 A.D.” They created the writing system and the calendar. They built cities and pyramids. Religious was a big part in Mayas life, they carve in the altar the most important dates.

Another civilization appeared around 10^th century. They were The Toltec civilization that settle in central Mexico. There they built a city called Tula. Its population was as estimated of 30,000 to 40, 000 people. It is said that they are a big influence to Mexico’s cultural history in many aspect, one of them is that they took religious very seriously. They made “human sacrifices to appease the gods.”

The third most known early civilization were the Aztecs. They were the “great native people” that took over from the east to west. But they did it by partnering with Mayas and Toltec, together they become so powerful and conquered small cultures. They were the Aztecs Empire. By 1427 they ruled about 5 million people and the territories from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf Coast was theirs. They had their own army, schools and government.

However, in 1519 was when the Aztecs and the entire Mexico history changed forever with the arrival of Hernan Cortes. Cartes arrived in Veracruz from Spain. The leader of the Aztec empire invited him not knowing what Cortes intentions were. There Cortes influenced a lot of leaders within the Aztec empire. In May 1521 Cortes and his followers attracted the Aztecs and conquered them. Cortes maned the colonized island The New Spain. It said that by the 1574 Spain controlled most of the Aztecs and enslaved most of the indigenous populations. They killed an estimated of 24 million people between 1521 and 1605 both in the battle field and the diseases they brought with them.

As many events happened, the Spaniards colonist who have been born in Mexico and the ones who came from Spain started to have conflicts. They wanted equal power, most of all equally political power. Then, there was a revolution led by Miguel Hidalgo that eventually led Mexico to become independent from Spain in 1821.

Mexico today, the current president is Enrique Peña Nieto. The president is chosen by the people and he or she can only serve one term of six years, there is no reelection for second term.

Mexico’s economy depends mostly on exports. Its currency is the Mexico pesos. Mexico is the 12^th largest exporters in the world. In 1994 they signed an agreement with United States and Canada what is called North America Free Trade Agreement. (NAFTA) The other big trade partners are China, Japan, European Union, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. These trades make makes Mexico’s economy strong.

Furthermore, tourism is the major contributor to Mexico economy. They most popular places for tourist are: Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mazatlán, Cancún and Puerto Escondido.

Mexico has about 132 popular newspapers that circulates around the county. The ten top read by all Mexicans and the ones that cover all the local and the international issues and events are: Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, Las Cruces Sun-News, The Gallup Independent, The Daily Times, Roswell Daily Record, Silver City Daily Press & Independent, Hobbs News-Sun, Alamogordo Daily News and Carlsbad Current-Argus. All of these newspapers have been serving the large Mexican population for years. In addition, because of the internet they can reach to more people not only Mexican but all Spanish speakers’ countries. Also, TV and radio programs play an important role in bringing news to where they are. They can be compared to Fox news, CNN and National Public Radio or the Public Radio International.

Mexicans who live in U.S listen to the radio or watch the news from Mexico from the Mexican channels and the Spanish channel such as El Telemudo, El Primer Impacto.  Howeverl, they can also buy newspapers from Mexico on most newsstands. The most popular are El Conquistador, Mexico Independent Mirror, La Voz Hispana along with Nueva York and El Diario.

The neighborhoods where most Mexican population resides is said to be in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, Crown Heights and Bushwick, Queens’ Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona and Kew Gardens, Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem.

Public Radio International (PRI) is a non-profit media company. Founded in 1983, originally known as American Public Radio, but in 1994 they changed to Public Radio International “to mark its new position as a source for international broadcast news information.” Their mission is to connect with as many people as they can world-wide. They want people to hear stories/news from every corner of the globe. Their focus is on the topic the world is interested in, such as, art, culture, media, business, finances, science, conflict, justice, development, education and global politics.

According to their website, programs produced by PRI are featured on almost 900 radio stations across the U.S. And throughout their various media platform, they reach millions of people around the world.

Examples of international reporting:  http://www.wnyc.org/shows/world

PRI has received awards consecutively every year since 1997. Source here:  https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-09-20/awards-pris-world