[tz] Ecuador DST in 1992/93

[Brian Inglis]

On 2016-12-15 07:45, Alois Treindl wrote:
> A client born in Ecuador wrote to me:
> "I need a little help with something plus I don't know who else can
> help me besides Astro! When I was born, the President of Ecuador
> changed the time zone (one hour ahead) from Nov/28/1992 to
> Feb/05/1993 because of problems with energy and there were a lot of
> power cuts across the country. "
> I checked the tzdata/southamerica file which holds for Ecuador:
> # Ecuador
> #
> # Milne says the Central and South American Telegraph Company used -5:24:15.
> #
> # From Paul Eggert (2007-03-04):
> # Apparently Ecuador had a failed experiment with DST in 1992.
> # <http://midena.gov.ec/content/view/1261/208/> (2007-02-27) and
> # <http://www.hoy.com.ec/NoticiaNue.asp?row_id=249856> (2006-11-06) both
> # talk about "hora Sixto".  Leave this alone for now, as we have no data.

Linked pages available on Internet Archive: 
https://web.archive.org/web/20080611032935/http://www.midena.gov.ec/content/view/1261/207/
http://web.archive.org/web/20070927020358/http://www.hoy.com.ec/NoticiaNue.asp?row_id=249856
but Google Translate confirms they only reference Sixto hour in 1992.

> #
> # Zone  NAME            GMTOFF  RULES   FORMAT  [UNTIL]
> Zone America/Guayaquil  -5:19:20 -      LMT     1890
>                         -5:14:00 -      QMT     1931 # Quito Mean Time
>                         -5:00   -       ECT     # Ecuador Time
> The two links in the comment to not work. I search the web and came
> up with this link:
> http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/hora-sixto-1993.html
> which says:
> Al inicio de su mandato, el Gobierno Nacional, mediante Decreto
> Presidencial no. 285, obligó que todos los ecuatorianos adelantaran
> una hora en sus relojes para “ aprovechar la luz solar” y disminuir
> el consumo de energía. Fue la llamada ‘hora de Sixto’, que se aplicó
> desde el 28 de noviembre de 1992 hasta el 5 de febrero de 1993.
> Incluso, los estudiantes de todos los niveles educativos estuvieron
> obligados a iniciar clases a las 06:00 y terminar antes del
> mediodía.
> Google translation:
> At the beginning of his term, the National Government, through
> Presidential Decree no. 285, forced all Ecuadorians to advance an
> hour in their watches to "take advantage of sunlight" and reduce
> energy consumption. It was the so-called 'Sixtus hour', which was
> applied from November 28, 1992 until February 5, 1993. Even students
> of all educational levels were forced to start classes at 06:00 and
> finish before midday.
> There should probably be a rule:
> Rule    ECU    1992    only    -       Nov     28      0:00    1:00    S
> Rule    ECU    1993    only    -       Feb      5      0:00    0       -
> and the last lines of the existing entry should refer to this rule.
> Whether the law applied also to Galapagos, I do not know.

Vaguely noted in Wikipedia Time in Ecuador article.
Google: 
Ecuador Decreto Presidencial Nº. 285 de 1992 hora de Sixto
produces some useful links noting the dates above, and including Jaime 
Guevara song "Que hora es?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfN4Fe_A50U
with written notes containing the above dates as well as the lyrics 
- should be added to tz-art; and one archived contemporary reference: 
http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-246470 via GT:
ECUADOR ADVANCES OFFICIAL TIME:
November 24, 1992
The energy emergency that the country is experiencing due to the 
reduction of rainfall in the areas where its main hydroelectric dams 
are located, yesterday forced the government of the president, Sixto 
Durán Ballén, to decree the advance of the official time, starting next 
day 28. The advance, in sixty minutes of official time to reduce energy 
consumption and take advantage of sunlight, is presented for the first 
time in Ecuador's history.

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada