Coopera Liquidation Happenings

Written by Mike:

The recent shutdown of the Coopera financial operations by the governmental Office of Economia Popular y Solidaria (SEPS) headed by its director Cristian Cruz, and the arrest of three Coopera employees, has resulted in hundreds of Coopera members and investors wondering about the future of their respective investments and the future of Coopera, in general.

 SEPS has initially ordered the liquidation of Coopera assets and a tentative plan to pay back those who have assets in Coopera investment vehicles.  An emergency, short-notice meeting was called on Thursday, June 14, 2013 to discuss possible alternatives to the liquidation.  About 150 interested parties attended.  Had the notice been sent out earlier, more people may have attended, but earlier notice was not possible.

A law firm, SECLEM, some of whose members have a vested interest in protecting their own investments, have, on a pro-bono basis, sought to form a large group of Coopera members/investors so as to work together in an effort to see if an alternative to liquidation might be available.  The viability of Coopera is the key, and, could hinge on in-depth audits currently being conducted by SEPS.

If Coopera is determined to be financially viable, the goal would be to reinstate it, with obvious management changes, and continue in business. If not viable, the liquidation must continue. The goal of our group is to work with SEPS in an effort to pursue alternatives to liquidation.

Bottom Line:  If you have an interest in these proceedings, contact Ben John at:  benj4seclem@gmail.com, and ask to be put on his email list.  Also, please check with any other members/investors to see if they are aware of this issue.

Our Weather has Changed

It looks like we have changed from summer to winter here in the Andes, which means that we are having more rain and not as much sun.  We were spoiled over the last few months with absolutely beautiful sunny days and warm temperatures.  But now the temperatures have dropped and when the sun's out, you want to run outside to take advantage of it before it goes away.

The temperatures are about 10 degrees cooler than our warmest days in recent memory, but don't let that scare you away.  I enjoy the change in weather and I know that eventually we'll have the warmer, sunnier days come October.  But before October comes around, we'll have a real cold spell in August/September which I don't like.  That's why we have room heaters throughout our apartment.

I recently bought an I-phone, something brand new to me.  The most modern cell phone that I had was one that had a camera, which I never used because I forget my phone was also a camera.  Well now with my smartphone, I have so many apps on it that I am really enjoying playing around with it and figuring out how everything works.

I just took some videos from our balcony of the Yauncay River which is swelling its banks from the recent rains we've had lately.  Hope you enjoy my attempt at taking videos for the first time.

If I can remember to take videos with my smartphone, then I'll post them on a periodic basis.  It's fun to catch Cuenca on video because there's usually something different every day to see.