Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Today, information, knowledge and means of communication are increasingly available and growing at an accelerated rate. But exclusion from the media, information and specialized knowledge limits the participation of the population. The New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) are presented as a tool that facilitates interconnection through mechanisms according to time and space, allowing the improvement of social, political and public relations between subjects. NICTs allow the population to be involved in the processes, promoting the commitment of citizens in decision-making and therefore favor representative democracy, consolidating the so-called Cyber-Democracy. Web technology has proven to be a very useful tool for giving public access to information and relevant data that until now were only available to certain privileged sectors of the population. As a new tool, the implementation of GIS products on the Internet is proposed, such as the Geographic Information Systems of Public Participation (PP GIS), which provide an efficient and low-cost means for the collection, creation and distribution of cartographic products to users and strengthen citizen participation processes. In Cuenca-Ecuador, NICTs are scarcely used within the processes of citizen participation in territorial planning, so it is necessary to test their use as an alternative that improves the creation, updating and distribution of cartography. This work investigates the incorporation of a SIG PP in the territorial planning of the cantonal GAD of Cuenca indicating its advantages and disadvantages.

The El Oro Metamorphic Complex, located in southwestern Ecuador, consists of different low- and high-grade metamorphic rocks. The evidence of retrograde metamorphism is studied through the bibliographic review, especially, of the results obtained in the El Oro Metamorphic Complex (1990-1993) as part of the Cordillera Real Project (1986-1993) and other recent papers. Evidence of retrograde metamorphism has been mentioned in the Quebrada Plata Unit from amphibolite to green schists facies and in the Raspas ophiolitic complex from eclogite to blue schists. In addition, petrographic evidence of retrograde metamorphism has been obtained in an eclogite block from La Chilca Unit. Also, retrograde metamorphism is described regarding the evolution of the metamorphic complex (Quebrada Plata Unit), the exhumation processes, associated geological structures and mineral reactions.

Based on the USLE method, GIS was used to model erosion rates in the Muchacho River Microbasin (MRM). The simulation results show an average soil loss of 74.4 t/ha/year, corresponding to the "high erosion" category. The headwaters of the MRM, characterized by scattered soils, sparse vegetation, grazing, steep slopes and frequent rainfall, show medium to very high soil erosion rates (> 25 t/ha/yr). On the other hand, areas with high vegetation density, moderate slopes and low rainfall present low erosion rates (0-25 t/ha/yr) and are mainly located in the central and lower part of the watershed. The simulation results showed a distribution of the data skewed to the right (skew = 1.05), i.e. severe erosion values with higher frequency; and leptokurtic (Kurt = 3.57) with lower frequency of extreme values.

The medicinal mineral waters in Ecuador and Venezuela have been used for centuries as medicines by the population of these countries. However, bacterial biodiversity is poorly understood. Therefore, the objective of the work was to know the bacterial biodiversity in the medicinal mineral water’s spas in Ecuador and Venezuela. Water samples were taken at various points in each spa. The microbiological studies were carried out following the schemes proposed by MacFaddin, complemented with the biochemical tests of the API and Microgen gallery. In the waters of the spas of Ecuador, 284 colonies of the genera Acidovorax, Acinetobacter, Actinomyces, Aeromonas, Alcaligenes, Bacillus, Brevibacterium, Brevundimonas, Budvicia, Burkholderia, Citrobacter, Corynebacterium, Edwardsiella, Ewingella, Flavobacterium, Kurthia, Micrococcus, Moraxella were identified. , Proteus, Pseudomonas, Psychrobacter, Ralstonia, Staphylococcus, Vibrio, Yersinia, Yokonella and Xenorhabdus. In the waters of the Venezuelan spas, it was possible to identify 158 colonies of the genera Aeromonas, Alcaligenes, Bacillus, Brevundimonas, Burkolderia, Chromobacterium, Citrobacter, Comamonas, Edwardsiella, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Kluyvera, Moraxella, Plesiomonas, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Ralstonia , Shewanella, Staphylococcus, Weeksella and Vibrio. A clear predominance of Gram-negative bacteria of the Gamma proteobacteria class was observed.

The present investigation was carried out in the Latacunga canton, José Guango Bajo Parish, Barrio Centro, with the objective of carrying out an analysis of the food waste that occurs in the area to design the implementation proposal of the UTC Food Bank. The methodology of the kobotoolbox tool was used, which allowed the results of the survey to be collected. Strategic random sampling was applied for the application of 2,481 surveys distributed as follows; it was applied to 700 agricultural producers, 860 to consumers and 921 to marketers. This study focuses on the context of waste. The results detail the lack of regulations and inconveniences derived from the composition of the system, in the same way the surveys report that the majority of people waste food, 30% in homes, 25% commercialization, 25% storage while in the distribution of food 20%. 80% of those surveyed affirm that the proposal of the UTC Food Bank for the city of Latacunga would be a good initiative, which would benefit vulnerable people in the sector.

The growth and development of new technologies contributes to the progress of societies, appearing in this context a tool that has become key today: the "drone". It is a Remotely Piloted Aerial System, to refer to the Drone system, which integrates the device, the communication link and the ground station. They use the term UAS (Unmanned Aerial System). In order to give due professionalism to the operation of drones in Ecuador and contribute to this training, an inter-institutional cooperation framework agreement has been signed between the company AEROPROF of Colombia and the FACULTAD DE INGENIERÍA EN GEOLOGÍA, MINAS, PETRÓLEOS Y AMBIENTAL DE LA UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR, which proposes the inclusion of this topic within the academic curriculum to provide participants with the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge and the necessary certification before the aeronautical authority that will allow them to be at the forefront in the safe operation of drones and their different applications worldwide.

After the negative impacts and the destruction generated by humans and large corporations to the environment, it has been necessary that from a socio-legal perspective the developing of an effective protection of nature, avoiding irreversible damages, and controlling the effects of climate change. Hence, to address these issues under one theory that focuses mainly on recognizing the environment that surrounds the life of the human being, while observing it as subjects of rights, that is, also observing the protection and conservation of nature that surrounds it as a subject of rights is indispensable. Nature is seen as means of habitat and life, therefore the close connection it has with the human being is also observed in terms of effective protection by the States. Such a theory can serve to guarantee and protect both the rights of human beings as well as the protection of the surroundingenvironment according to the acquired obligations related to the satisfaction and protection of the rights, and compliance with international goals and obligations in terms of sustainable development and actions to combat climate change by the States. Likewise, through the global mandates agreed upton from a biocentric approach, what would be generated is greater protection and safeguarding of the environment, recognizing the general need to protect nature as a subject of rights, recognizing it as thefundamental source of human life.

The case of the Kichwa Sarayaku people vs. Ecuador is one of the most iconic and vindicatory of the Inter-American Human Rights System in rela-tion to the recognition of the violation of collective rights, specifically the right to prior, free, and informed consultation with indigenous peoples and communities on activities that put their lives or territories at risk. In this sense, the purpose of this research is to expose the contextual and legal reasons that led to this international dispute, in order to contribute to the legal debate that is unfolding around the incomplete compliance with the judgment issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) recognizing the international responsibility of the Ecuadorian State. For this purpose, a historical-political analysis of the background of the case has been developed in order to approach with a critical perspective the points of the sentence issued by the IACHR, which ten years after its issuance have still not been executed. The political, ideological, and economic preponderance dynamics have left aside elements inherent to the plurinational nature of the Ecuadorian State, such as the indigenous peoples ? worldview or nature as a guarantee for life. The Constitutional Court has the important responsibility of establishing a precedent on the application of internatio-nal standards on the protection of human rights, which fossil fuel compa-nies such as CGC (Compañía General de Combustibles) did not seem to have complied with.

The Ecuadorian prison system has been in crisis, with no definitive solution currently in sight, both structurally and in terms of people’s human rights deprived of liberty. The State punitive power exercise has focused on the use of prison as a privileged mechanism, ignoring alternative practices that could better ensure human rights and rationalize the execution of the sentence, for which the application of a multidisciplinary approach that addresses a multicausal problem such as the crisis in the prison systemthat can be understood as a reflection of social conflict and the struggle between the State and criminal groups. The fundamental aspects related to these ideas are analyzed in this article, based on a documentary and statistical review of the current situation that allows us to foresee a more complex future if appropriate measures are not adopted to guarantee the system’s functionality and the citizens’ rights deprived of liberty.

Confiscation in tax matters in the Ecuadorian Constitution is not strictly prohibited, only which properties suffer from when they are declared of public utility and are expropriated. Faced with this situation, the Constitutional Court recognizes the principle of non-confiscation, in tax matters, indicating that, although it has not been constitutionalized, the tax regime contains it, therefore, authorities are obliged to apply and respect it permanently. In this context, despite the fact that the right to private property is protected by the Constitution, there are numerous cases, mainly at the sectional level, where it is intended to collect excessive taxes that violate the right to property, directly ignoring the pronouncement of the Constitutional Court. The disrespect for taxpayers’ ability to pay, in the same way as their right to have their vital minimum exempt respected, places them on a negative status, since their real ability to contribute is not taken into account. In addition, they are also not given the option of satisfying their basic needs first but are demanded the payment of an excessive tax. Finally, it is necessary to point out that the core of the right to private property has three categories: use, enjoyment, and disposal, as this paper outlines the multilayered nature of this issue.