(QCOSTARICA) The General Directorate of Civil Aviation confirmed that six airlines have applied for permits for flights from the United States to Costa Rica, after the re-opening of the airports on August 1.
These are new requests for arrivals at both the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in San José and the Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR), in Liberia, Guanacaste, after the initial exclusion.
Álvaro Salas, director of Civil Aviation, confirmed that all processes are under review but subject to the central government allowing commercial flights from the United States to enter.
As of August 1, international passenger flights are authorized to arrive at Costa Rica’s international airports from the European Union (Schengen zone), the United Kingdon and Canada.
The authorization limits commercial flights to five per week: three from Madrid, Spain on flights operated by Iberia on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and two flights from Frankfurt, Germany operated by Lufthansa, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
As of September 8, Air Canada will resume flights to the Daniel Oduber with a weekly flight on Tuesdays, and, as of September 12, Saturdays from Toronto to the Juan Santamaría.
For now, it remains in doubt when air travel to and from the United States will be authorized since. Last Thursday, the United States Department of State itself published a global travel alert by which it advises against U.S. citizens to travel to 20 nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Costa Rica.
However, Gustavo Segura, Minister of Tourism, declared on August 5 at a press conference that “the United States is the closest market in terms of purchasing power and that, traditionally, with most visits to Costa Rica.”
Segura said that there is a constant analysis of the optimal time to resume, but he did acknowledge that this examination includes possibly allowing flights from some specific U.S. cities.
The U.S. airlines had already submitted their plans for flights to Costa Rica coming from cities such as Miami, Houston, Newark, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale.
American Airlines
American Airlines, for example, would have flights the Liberia airport from Miami on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
For the San Jose airport, American proposes to resume daily repatriation flights as of August 20 to Houston (Texas) and to operate regularly starting on September 9 to Miami, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
United Airlines
As of September 1, United proposes to fly every day to and from the Daniel Oduber and Houston, and, as of September 5, Saturdays to and from Newark (New Jersey).
In the case of the Juan Santamaría, it proposes daily flights to and from Houston starting on September 2 and leaving on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to and from Newark
Alaska Airlines
This airline announced that it will resume operations when indicated by the Costa Rican authorities with flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays to and from the Daniel Oduber and Angeles (California). In the case of the Juan Santamaría, it would be a flight on Saturdays.
Southwest Airlines
The low-cost airline plans to return to Costa Rica as of November 1 with a daily flight only from Daniel Oduber airport.
Spirit Airlines
This other low-cost airline proposes, starting on October 7, daily flights between San Jose and Orlando, Florida.
Volaris Airlines
The low-cost carrier foresees flights from September 1 to “different destinations in the United States and Mexico via Central America,” as proposed to Civil Aviation. The airline has yet to define the frequency.
British Airways
This British airline already has the authorization to fly to Costa Rica, but, won’t be until October 27, with two weekly flights between San Jose and London, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Requirements to enter Costa Rica
The requirements to enter Costa Rica are as follows:
Having taken the PCR diagnostic test and obtained a negative result within 48 hours of travel to Costa Rica.
Have mandatory travel insurance, covering lodging in the event of being quarantined and medical expenses due to acute illness. As of August 6, 2020, the insurance requirement in order for foreign tourists to enter Costa Rica can be met through international health insurance policies, as well as the two local options offered by the INS.
Fill out the epidemiological digital form (Health Pass).
Passengers who do not comply with these requirements will not be allowed to board the flight.
Upon landing in Costa Rican territory, travelers must wear face protection and comply with the strict protocols of the air terminal with regard to physical distancing, disinfection of carpets, and taking temperature readings, and must follow any other sanitary instructions.
Who can enter Costa Rica?
Costa Rica’s air borders are opened solely to travelers coming from Canada, the EU (Schengen zone), and through the Juan Santamaria or Daniel Oduber airports, until August 31st, 2020.
Travelers of nationalities other than the authorized travel from countries must have been in these countries for at least 14 days prior to travel.
For example, while commercial flights from the United States are not authorized, there is no ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Costa Rica, if they have flown to say Canada or Britain and have spent there 14 days prior to travel to Costa Rica.
It is not valid that the passenger only transits through the authorized countries to reach Costa Rica.
Until August 31, entry to Costa Rica from unauthorized countries, say coming on a private flight say from Mexico or repatriation flight from the United States, only Costa Ricans or legal residents (who did not leave Costa Rica after March 24) can enter; who will not be required to have travel insurance or the PCR test.
The information received thus far from authorities is extremely confusing and contradicting.
(QCOSTARICA) The only suspect in the murder of Mexican tourist María Trinidad Mathus Tenorio in Cóbano, a man named Sancho Rodríguez was acquitted for doubt.
María Trinidad Matus Tenorio, 25, traveled to Costa Rica at the end of July 2018 to enjoy nature. She was murdered on August 8, 2018, in Playa El Carmen, in Santa Teresa de Cóbano.
That was the conclusion of the Puntarenas Criminal Court this Tuesday morning, determining that the evidence was insufficient to prove Rodriguez committed the murder.
The man was ordered to be released.
According to the accusation filed by the Public Ministry, on August 5, 2018, Mathus and a friend were walking along the Pacific coast of Santa Teresa beach between 2:30 am and 4 am when they were intercepted by two men, who tried to rob them.
Mathus’ friend, an English tourist, escaped the attack.
The prosecutor alleged that Rodriguez dragged Mathus into the sea, in the attack stripped of her clothing and submerged her in the water, drowning the woman, then fled the scene with her cell phone.
In the attack of the Mathus’ friend, the suspect identified by his last name Esquivel, accepted an abbreviated process and sentenced to 15 years in prison
(QCOSTARICA) The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) expects in two weeks to start human testing of the equine serum developed as a possible treatment against COVID-19.
The Clodomiro Picado Institute generated two types of formulations from equine plasma. The serum will be tested in 26 patients as soon as the clinical trial protocol is approved. Photo: Laura Rodríguez / UCR
According to a statement from the UCR, CCSS officials visited the facilities of the Clodomiro Picado Institute, in Coronado, to collect the first 80 vials of the serum that will be used in the clinical trial that will seek to test the efficacy of this product as a treatment against the new coronavirus.
Once the protocol is approved, the idea is to apply it to the first 26 participants, selected voluntarily from among the patients of the Specialized Center for Patient Care with covid-19 (Ceaco), the Hospital México, the Hospital San Juan de Dios and the Hospital Calderón Guardia.
The CCSS press office confirmed on Monday that the protocol is already subject to analysis by the institution’s Scientific Ethics Committee (CEC).
This would not be a treatment for all people. If the clinical trial proves safe and effective, the serum would be given to hospitalized patients with severe symptoms.
It would not be used in people with milder symptoms who may have home-based disease management.
Tests carried out at George Mason University in the United States, confirmed the serum in the laboratory, now the most important part is missing: to prove that it works in humans.
Scientists at the Clodomiro Picado Institute used six horses to develop a serum that is intended to be used to treat severe COVID-19 patients. Photo: Laura Rodríguez / UCR
“The results clearly demonstrate that the horses produced a large amount of antibodies that block the entry of the virus into human cells.
“This tells us that the drug can be very efficient and that the amount that will be required to treat patients would be relatively low,” said Alberto Alape, a researcher at ICP-UCR when presenting the results in the laboratory phase.
“Based on what we see in antivenom, the adverse effects are either very mild or nonexistent. The most commonly observed effect is itchy skin or allergy, which is handled very well in hospitals,” explained Alape.
The Costa Rican Institute for Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (Inciensa) would later enter the investigation in order to analyze the capacity of the treatment to help patients eliminate the virus from the tissues, through a quantitative test.
In addition, the UCR Faculty of Microbiology will analyze the response of substances released by the immune system called cytokines.
(QCOSTARICA) The United States Department of Justice accused a Costa Rican pharmacist and merchant of allegedly shipping restricted-use narcotics such as morphine, alprazolam and oxycontin, among others, hidden in souvenirs.
The seven-count indictment by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia, charged David Brian Pate, 44, a U.S. and Costa Rican citizen, and Jose Luis Fung Hou, 38, a Costa Rican citizen, with counts of conspiring with persons to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, conspiring with persons to import controlled substances, conspiring to launder money, and laundering of monetary instruments.
“As alleged in the indictment, the defendants helped fuel our deadly opioid drug epidemic by hiding behind the darknet and cryptocurrency to profit from the sale of illicit opioids into the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Fortunately, by working with our law enforcement partners across the United States and overseas, we were able to uncover this darknet opioid market and bring to justice those responsible,” added Rabbitt.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia said “These charges are a warning to drug traffickers worldwide that neither the shroud of the darknet or of virtual currency can hide their illegal activities from the vigilance of U.S. law enforcement. We are firmly committed to combatting the problem of opioid abuse and breaking through sophisticated cyber-enabled barriers employed by criminals to hide their activities.”
How did the Darknet cybercrime drug ring work?
The indictment alleges that Pate illegally purchased narcotics, including OxyContin and morphine pills, primarily from Fung, a pharmacist in Costa Rica. Pate would launder payments to Fung to purchase narcotics.
“Pate used various nicknames online, including the ‘Buyers Club’ in the darknet marketplaces, online forums, and bitcoin exchanges.”
Pate then sold these narcotics on numerous darknet markets, including Silk Road and AlphaBay, in exchange for bitcoin. Pate utilized various online monikers including “buyersclub” on darknet markets, online forums, and bitcoin exchanges.
Pate advertised that he was selling the “old formula” of OxyContin, which did not contain tamper-resistant features such as a crush-proof feature that prevented a user from inhaling or injecting the pills after pulverizing them.
“Pate’s Darknet sales involved him sending bulk shipments of narcotics in pill form from Costa Rica, often hidden in tourist souvenirs such as maracas, to forwarding co-conspirators in the United States,” the Department of Justice detailed.
The indictment further alleges that Pate’s darknet sales involved him sending bulk shipments of narcotics in pill form from Costa Rica, often concealed in tourist souvenirs, to co-conspirator re-shippers in the United States.
Pate would then send the re-shippers a list of customer orders, which included customer’s names, the customer’s shipping address, and the quantity of pills they purchased. The re-shippers created smaller packages of pills, which they then mailed to the customer.
Once the shipments were received by the customer, the darknet market would release funds in bitcoin, which were held in escrow until the transaction was completed, into Pate’s account on the darknet market. Customers paid Pate over 23,903 bitcoin (equal to US$275 million dollars on August 11, 2020) for these darknet market sales. The co-conspirators also laundered payments in the form of bitcoin and international wire transfers.
According to the indictment, the criminal acts occurred between February 2012 to May 2020.
Who was selling the opioids?
Fung is a resident of Rohrmoser de Pavas. In the last three years, there are no records of him leaving the country, according to immigration data.
Meanwhile, according to the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), Pate was born in Germany and, in addition to Costa Rican nationality, he is also American. His place of residence is Santa Cruz in Guanacaste.
Case investigated in Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, the Drug Trafficking Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía Adjunta contra el Narcotráfico y Delitos Conexos) conducted an investigation in relation to the issue. However, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) was not able to obtain evidence to present an charges.
On March 11, case file 18-000766-305-PE was sent to the Criminal Court of Alajuela with a request for dismissal. The press office of the Judiciary confirmed that the Criminal Court of Alajuela, on June 16, issued the dismissal.
The U.S. Justice Department said Costa Rican authorities provided assistance to the IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit, DEA, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs investigation.
What is the darknet?
A ‘darknet’, ‘dark net’ or ‘dark web’ is an overlay network within the Internet that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, and often uses a unique customized communication protocol.
The term ‘darknet’ was popularised by major news outlets to associate with Tor Onion services and refers to encrypted online content that is not indexed by conventional search engines.
Specific browsers, such as Tor Browser, a free browser, are required to reach the dark web. Using the dark web often provides considerably more privacy than just using Tor to access the web. Many dark web sites simply provide standard web services with more secrecy. Unfortunately, online marketplaces for drugs, exchanges for stolen data, and other illegal activities get most of the attention.
Deep Web vs Dark Web
The Deep Web is reportedly 4,000 to 5,000 times larger than the Surface Web. Unlike Surface Web pages, Deep Web pages are not indexed by search engines. While the term may seem ominous, you’ve probably used the Deep Web without knowing it. If you’ve logged into an online banking account and viewed your bank statement or accessed a secure online portal for healthcare or academic purposes, you’ve surfed the Deep Web.
The relationship between the Deep Web and the Dark Web is critical in understanding how the online underground works. While the Deep Web refers to any web page that cannot be indexed by search engines, the Dark Web refers to the deepest part of the Deep Web.
We see URLs like .com, .org and .net all over the Surface Web. These URL endings are used to tell us information about where the page was originated. But on the Dark Web, URLs end in .onion to indicate that they are hidden sites and cannot be accessed without a special Web browser like The Onion Router (TOR).
Who created the dark web?
The dark web was actually created by the US government to allow spies to exchange information completely anonymously. US military researchers developed the technology, known as Tor (The Onion Router) in the mid-1990s and released it into the public domain for everyone to use.
(QCOSTARICA) The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) drew the country’s attention in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018 due to the high prices of various products due to the lack of competition.
That, however, was not an obstacle to accepting Costa Rica into the club, and, in its report this year, the body once again indicated that profit margins in certain sectors are higher here than in most member countries of the OECD.
The reason lies in the impediments to competition in economic activities such as banking, power generation, the importation of hydrocarbons, and the production of alcohol, rice, sugar, and milk, as well as in transportation, vehicle technical review, and import of cement. among others.
A panel of experts in the field, made up of Erick Ulate Quesada, president of Consumidores de Costa Rica; Mario Umaña Vargas, leading specialist in trade and competition in the Trade and Investment Division of the IDB; Mariana Castro Sotela, president of the Commission to Promote Competition (Coprocom); Sylvia Saborío Alvarado, member of the National Council for the Supervision of the Financial System (Conassif); and economist Eli Feinzaig, will speak on these topics this Thursday, August 13, at 5:30 pm.
This Thursday’s presentations are titled “Why does competition matter? The value of business rivalry and the dangers of its absence”, “Market power and regulation”, ” The powers of Coprocom”, “Implications of little competition in the market for the lives of consumers” and “Legal changes to join the OECD they were done without touching the monopolistic structures of the markets”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with health workers via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on June 20, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, . - Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 20 hailed "hero" doctors who died during the coronavirus epidemic, comparing them to battlefield medics from past wars. Putin, who spoke ahead of next month's controversial vote that is expected to extend his hold on power until 2036, also promised awards and more bonuses for health personnel. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the approval of a coronavirus vaccine for use on Tuesday, claiming it as a “world first,” amid continued concern and unanswered questions over its safety and effectiveness.
“A vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning,” Putin said on state TV. “I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity.”
New Zealand reported new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, its first confirmed local transmission in 102 days. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that there were four cases in an Auckland household from an unknown source.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealanders had ‘planned and prepared’ for a potential spike in cases
Auckland, the nation’s largest city, will move to alert level three, meaning bars and many other businesses will be closed to prevent the spread of the illness.
Residents in Auckland have been asked to stay home starting Wednesday. The city will undergo lockdown measures for three days.
The rest of the country will be raised to a level two alert, which limits the size of gatherings both inside and outside, and hospitality services must be seated and separated.
“After 102 days, we have our first cases of COVID-19 outside of managed isolation or quarantine facilities … while we have all worked incredibly hard to prevent this scenario, we have also planned and prepared for it,” said Ardern.
Relative success story
The World Health Organization previously said the country was an example for others for having “successfully eliminated community transmission.”
The country has reported just 22 deaths from the virus in a population of slightly under 5 million. Due to limited transmission, New Zealanders have been able to maintain a virtually normal lifestyle with limited social distancing rules in place. Fans were allowed to return to stadiums to watch sports in June.
But Ardern warned that the virus could make a strong comeback.
“I am asking the team of 5 million to stand ready again,” said Ardern, referring to the country’s population.
The director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said “it was inevitable that NZ would get more cases of community transmission. This is a tricky virus.”
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said going back into a lockdown was always a possibility.
“I understand that people are probably feeling a little bit scared, a little angry and a little confused right now,” he said. “None of us wanted to go back into a lockdown, but we always knew this was a very real possibility.”
The number of coronavirus infections in the world has surpassed 20 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The US, India and Brazil together account for nearly two-thirds of all cases.
Health experts believe the actual number of infections is much higher, given as many as 40% of all those who contract COVID-19 have no symptoms and testing capacity is limited.
“Behind these statistics is a great deal of pain and suffering … But I want to be clear: There are green shoots of hope,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“It’s never too late to turn the outbreak around,” he said.
Despite the alarming figure, WHO says “there are green shoots of hope.” In New Zealand, after more than 100 days without transmission, a Christchurch retirement village has gone into lockdown. Catch up on the latest.
The number of coronavirus infections in the world has surpassed 20 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The US, India and Brazil together account for nearly two-thirds of all cases.
Health experts believe the actual number of infections is much higher, given as many as 40% of all those who contract COVID-19 have no symptoms and testing capacity is limited.
“Behind these statistics is a great deal of pain and suffering … But I want to be clear: There are green shoots of hope,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“It’s never too late to turn the outbreak around,” he said.
A woman paddle boards in Freiburg (picture-alliance/dpa/P. von Ditfurth)
Europe swelters under heatwave amid coronavirus pandemic
Germans love the lake
This weekend temperatures have exceeded 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country. With many Germans on summer holiday and some foreign travel restrictions still in place, authorities feared that people heading to lakes would not respect social distancing. However, crowds at Germany’s lakes were somewhat smaller than expected.
Asia
The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, famous among other things for having a happiness index rather than an economic index to guide its government, ordered its first nationwide lockdown on Tuesday. Authorities imposed the measure when a resident returning from Kuwait tested positive for coronavirus after being discharged from quarantine following a negative test there. The 27-year-old woman was said to have come into close contact with other people in the capital, Thimphu. Under the lockdown, all schools, institutions, offices and commercial establishments will remain closed.
Despite being heavily reliant on tourism as a source of income, Bhutan banned tourists in March after a US visitor tested positive. It also ordered everyone returning from abroad to go into quarantine for three weeks. The country so far has had a total of 113 cases of infection, the lowest rate in South Asia, while no one there is recorded to have died of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co Ltd said it received Indian regulatory approval to test its anti-parasitic niclosamide drug to treat COVID-19 patients in an early-stage human trial.
The first trial, approved by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), will involve around 30 healthy participants and begin this month. Daewoong is testing the drug in partnership with New Delhi-based Mankind Pharma Ltd, which will continue the second and third phases of trials in India on mild and severe COVID-19 patients.
Europe
The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Germany increased by 966 to 217,293, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed. The reported death toll rose by four to 9,201.
On Sunday, German Economy Minister Altmaier said the country is seeing an “alarming” rise in infections after Germany registered more than 1,000 cases per day for three days in a row earlier last week.
Read more: Is Germany ready for the second coronavrius wave?
As the school summer holidays come to an end, the number of new COVID-19 infections is on the rise again in Germany, as in many European countries.
Despite the surge, kindergartens, schools and educational institutions are being reopened. Schools in the capital of Berlin and the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia returned full-time on Monday.
Oceania
A retirement village in New Zealand has gone into lockdown after residents showed symptoms of respiratory illness, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The Village Palms retirement home in the South Island city of Christchurch informed of the lockdown in a letter to relatives, the newspaper said.
The news comes as New Zealand recently announced it had gone more than 100 days without community transmission of the coronavirus.
In Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister James Marape said that the two-week lockdown in the capital of Port Moresby would be lifted from Wednesday, despite reported cases of the coronavirus doubling over the past week.
“Whilst the spread is there, we have to adapt to living with COVID-19 this year, instead of taking on drastic measures,” Marape told a news conference.
Papua New Guinea had a total of 214 cases and three deaths as of Sunday, the WHO reported, adding that it was likely the real infection numbers were much higher given testing “remains critically low.”
Twenty months into the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil is on the brink of a democratic disaster.
More than 100,000 Brazilians have died of COVID-19, a pandemic the far-right president largely dismissed as a conspiracy. The economy is approaching a free-fall. And Bolsonaro’s authoritarian attempts to seize control of the world’s fourth-largest democracy have pushed Brazil into a political crisis.
(Eurasiareview) Despite its failings at home, the United States intervenes in countries across multiple continents seeking to control their governments and resources.
This week, we look at the US’ latest efforts in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Bolivia to undermine their independence and force them to serve the interests of the US government and transnational corporations.
In all three countries, the US has displayed a lack of understanding of the people and their support for their revolutionary processes, and as a result, is failing. As US empire fades, so might the Monroe Doctrine come to an end.
Nicaragua: USAID Multi-Year Destabilization Plan Exposed
A US Agency for International Development (USAID) document revealed by reporter William Grigsby describes covert plans to overthrow the democratically-elected Nicaraguan government in the next two years. USAID seeks to hire mercenaries “to take charge of the plan . . . to disrupt public order and carry out other [violent] actions before, during, and/or after the 2021 elections.”
USAID is creating Responsive Assistance In Nicaragua (RAIN), allotting $540,000 in grants to remove the Sandinista government in what it calls “Nicaragua’s transition to democracy.” Daniel Ortega won the 2016 election with 72 percent of the vote in what election observers from the Organization of American States (OAS), a US tool, described as taking “place in a calm, smooth and pacific manner, with no large incidents.”
Brian Willson, who has opposed US efforts to dominate Nicaragua since the 1980s Contra war, concludes the US realizes Ortega will win the 2021 election. In fact, this week, a poll showed support for Ortega’s party, FSLN, at 50% and for the opposition at 10%. One of USAID plans, as they tried in Venezuela in 2018, is for the opposition to boycott the election since they know they will lose, then call it illegitimate and create a political and economic crisis.
The real goal is not a democracy but domination so US transnational corporations can profit from the second poorest country in the hemisphere by putting in place a neoliberal economy to privatize public services, cut social services, and purge all traces of the Sandinistas. USAID also plans to “reestablish” the police and military to enforce their rule. Another goal is to stop Nicaragua from being the “threat of a good example” for its economic growth, reduction of inequality, poverty, illiteracy and crime.
Ben Norton points out in the Grayzone that “the 14-page USAID document employed the word ‘transition’ 102 times” making clear the intent is regime change. A “sudden transition without elections,” a euphemism for a coup, is one of three possible regime change scenarios.
John Perry writes about “US interference in Nicaragua, going back at least as far as William Walker’s assault on its capital and usurpation of the presidency in 1856.” Since the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, the US has sought to take back control of Nicaragua.
USAID and its National Endowment for Democracy (NED) have been funding the opposition. NED financed 54 projects from 2014-17 to lay the groundwork for a 2018 coup attempt, which also involved USAID. Wiston Lopez writes the US has provided “more than 31 million dollars between the end of 2017 and May 1, 2020.” When the attempted coup in 2018 failed, the US also put in place illegal unilateral coercive measures, known as economic sanctions, supported by both Democrats and Republicans, to try to weaken the country.
The USAID’s RAIN program outlines the usual regime change steps, e.g. remake the police and military as enforcers of the new neoliberal order, move “quickly to dismantle parallel institutions,” i.e. the Sandinista Front, the Sandinista Youth, and other grassroots institutions, and implement “transitional justice measures,” i.e., the prosecution of current government officials and movement leaders.
A new area of attack is a disinformation campaign against Nicaragua’s handling of COVID-19. The opposition misrepresents the government’s response and puts forward false death statistics in an attempt to create chaos. As Wiston López points out, “Since March the US-directed opposition has focused 95% of their actions on attempting to discredit Nicaragua’s prevention, contention, and Covid treatment. However, this only had some success in the international media and is now backfiring since Nicaragua is the country with one of the lowest mortality rates in the continent.”
The US media fails to report on the success of Nicaragua in combating the virus using a community-based health system. Nicaragua has been building its health system for the last 12 years and took rapid action to prepare for the virus. Nicaragua did not impose a lock down because it is a poor country where 80 percent of people are in the informal economy and 40 percent live in rural areas. People must work in order to eat.
Stephen Sefton puts the failure of the United States so far in context. At its root, the US does not understand the people of Nicaragua, their history of fighting US domination, and their ability to overcome right-wing puppets. It also misunderstands what the Sandinista government is doing to better the lives of the people in every sector of the economy. Sefton concludes, “The US government has failed notoriously to meet the needs of its own people during the current pandemic but can still find money to try and destroy a small country whose success makes US social, economic and environmental policy look arbitrary, negligent and criminal.”
Venezuela: Bipartisan Failed Regime Change
Ever since the 1998 election of Hugo Chavez, successive US administrations have tried and failed to dominate Venezuela. The bipartisan nature of this policy was on display on August 4, when Elliot Abrams, the notorious coup-monger for multiple presidents, testified in Congress. Not a single Senator criticized the attempt to illegally overthrow a democratically-elected government.
Abrams was criticized by both Democrats and Republicans for his inability to remove President Maduro from power. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) was most open about the coup attempt describing it as “a case study in diplomatic malpractice” and claiming Trump botched a winning play in a comedy of errors that strengthened Maduro. After the hearing, Murphy posted a series of Tweets admitting the coup and how it could have been done better.
A clip from Murphy’s embarrassing comments was shared widely including by the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza. When Vijay Prashad asked Arreaza his reaction, he described the US openly admitting crimes and said the “confessions” of Murphy, Gen. John Kelly, John Bolton, and Elliot Abrams “are priceless evidence for the complaint we raised at the International Criminal Court.”
Elliot Abrams testified that he would continue to work very hard to remove Maduro hopefully by the end of the year. This echoed a statement by President Trump at SouthCom headquarters in Florida. Sen. Murphy’s comments are consistent with those made by Joe Biden who says he would be more effective at removing Maduro than Trump. Biden described Trump as soft on Maduro because he considered talking to him.
Elliot Abrams announced the US will be starting a media war against Venezuela. The reality is the US has been conducting a media war against Venezuela for more than 20 years.
Venezuela is moving ahead with elections for the National Assembly on December 6, 2020. Unlike 2018, more parties are agreeing to participate including the larger Democratic Action and Justice First parties, as well as a new Communist Party alliance and the hard-right Popular Will party, which was US puppet Juan Guaidó’s former party. There will be 105 political parties contesting for 277 National Assembly seats, 110 more than the current term. Venezuela uses a combination of majority winners and proportional representation. Venezuela also requires half the candidates to be female, and they use electronic voting confirmed by paper ballots with a public citizen audit on Election Day.
Juan Guaidó and others allied with the United States said they would boycott the election. Guaidó cannot risk running because he is likely to be defeated. The US is encouraging a boycott and then will claim the election was not legitimate as it did in the last presidential election. After December, Guaidó will not hold any elected office making his fraudulent claim to the presidency even weaker.
These events come after two major embarrassments for the US in Venezuela. Operation Gideon, an attempt by mercenaries to invade Venezuela was foiled on May 4, leading to their arrests and the arrests of their co-conspirators. The State Department abandoned the mercenaries, and this week two former Green Berets were sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting their guilt. It was evident that Guaidó was heavily involved in this failure adding to his failed presidential takeover and tainting him beyond repair.
The second defeat was Iran and Venezuela working together to deliver oil and equipment for Venezuelan refineries. Five Iranian oil tankers passed by the largest US armada in the Caribbean since the invasion of Panama. Southcom has been repeatedly sending warships into Venezuelan waters. The solidarity of Iran and Venezuela overcame the naval blockade, undermined US sanctions, and sent a shudder through the US by showing other nations they can defy the United States.
Venezuela has a strong history of struggle against imperialism but the US’ economic war is costing their economy hundreds of billions of dollars and leading to the premature death of Venezuelans. In addition, the United Kingdom is refusing to release more than a billion dollars of Venezuelan gold held in the Bank of England that was to be used for food and medicine. The UK court ruled against Venezuela but they are appealing the decision.
Bolivia: US Dictator Fears Democratic Vote
On November 12 2019, a US-backed coup in Bolivia removed President Evo Morales who had just won re-election. The self-proclaimed President Jeanine Añez, a right-wing Christian, leads a de facto government involved in massacres, persecution and imprisonment of political leaders. It is destroying the social and economic model and achievements of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS Party) led by Morales.
The OAS played a crucial role in the coup with their false analysis of Morales’ re-election. The western media reported the false OAS analysis without criticism. Now, studies by MIT and the Center for Economic and Policy Analysis have shown that Morales clearly won the election and should have remained in power. For months the Washington Post claimed Morales’ re-election was a fraud, but finally, in March, it acknowledged the election was legitimate. Similarly, the New York Times admitted in July that Morales won the election.
Many have called this a lithium coup because the element is plentiful in Bolivia and critical for batteries. This was made evident when Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, said on Twitter “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.” Tesla would benefit from cheap and plentiful lithium for electric car batteries.
The people of Bolivia are struggling to restore democracy. The fraudulent report by the OAS led to a three-week conflict between right-wing Bolivians protesting alleged fraud and pro-government, mostly indigenous, demonstrators defending Morales. The military and police sided with the right-wing coup. The coup government threatened legislators and their families while repressing the people. There were racist attacks against the majority Indigenous population and the Wiphala, the indigenous flag, was burned in the streets. When she took power, Áñez, surrounded by right-wing legislators, held up a large leather bible and declared, “The Bible has returned to the palace.”
The US recognized the coup government, similar to its recognition of the failed coup leader, Juan Guaidó in Venezuela. Añez claimed she’d be transitory until the next election, but at the direction of the US, she is putting in place deep roots and has delayed elections.
The repression has galvanized the MAS party, as well as peasant unions and grassroots organizations who continue their struggle to restore Bolivian democracy. The pressure led to elections being scheduled. Initially, Áñez said she would not run but reversed herself and is now a candidate while she is trying to outlaw the MAS party and its candidates.
Elections were scheduled for May 3, but have been postponed twice allegedly due to the pandemic, but really because this is an ongoing coup.
It is true that the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting Bolivia hard with horror stories about people unable to get medical treatment. Immediately after the coup, the Añez government expelled the Cuban doctors. The coup-government is unable to manage the health system. Corruption is rampant in the purchase of medical equipment. The health ministry has had three ministers during the crisis. The situation is dire with overcrowded hospitals, lack of basic supplies, and corpses in the streets and in their homes with nowhere to be buried.
The coup-government is using the virus to try to delay elections because polls show the MAS candidate, Luis Arce, is far ahead and likely to win in the first round of elections with Áñez coming in a distant third. Áñez has sought to prosecute Arce to keep him from running, so far unsuccessfully. On July 6, the Attorney General of Bolivia charged Evo Morales with terrorism and financing of terrorism from exile and is seeking preventive detention.
Since mid-July, thousands of Bolivians have been protesting the postponement of elections. They are holding sustained protests throughout the country and blocking many roads. Indigenous and peasant groups, agricultural groups, along with women and unions are joining together calling for elections. Morales, Arce, and the MAS Party have denounced the delay.
Domination Will Not Reverse Decline
Evo Morales said in a recent interview “The United States is trying to make Latin America its backyard forever. We know about the hard resistance of the peoples of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua. The struggle of our peoples is very important. The United States wants to divide us in order to plunder our natural resources. The peoples no longer accept domination and plunder. The United States is in decline, and yet it lashes out.”
The US is weakening as a global power and its failures in Latin America are both a symptom of this and are causing further decline. The US’ violations of international law are obvious and are being challenged. But the US is an empire and it will not give up the Monroe Doctrine easily.
As citizens of Empire, we have a particular responsibility to demand the US stop its sanctions and illegal interference in Latin America and elsewhere around the world. In this time of multiple global crises, we must demand the US become a cooperative member of the world community and work peacefully to address the pandemic, recession and climate crisis.
Structures to do this exist to help with this such as the global ceasefire and the Paris Climate agreement. And on the anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, we must add the Nuclear Ban Treaty as another effort the US must join.
El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele speaks during a press conference at Rosales Hospital in San Salvador on May 26, 2020. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)
(Q24N) President Nayib Bukele on Monday announced that El Salvador will give immunity passports to people who have recovered from COVID-19.
Bukele added that they would allow them to be employed by the government and give them social privileges not enjoyed by the rest of the population.
“The government will employ such people to distribute medical kits and food aid to households affected by the pandemic,’’ Bukele announced on television on Sunday.
The president who called on Salvadorans to continue observing quarantine, however, said those who did not do so should only have meetings with one group of up to 10 people.
“Those with the immunity passport, however, could meet with several such groups.
“All those who have recovered with a negative test result, or who have donated blood plasma, will receive the passport and can meet with people of any group,’’ Bukele said.
The World Health Organisation, however, has warned that there is “currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”
About 9,720 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus in the Central American country, while 563 have died.
El Salvador has confirmed a total of 21,269 cases and 570 deaths (August 11).
El Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America.,
It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador’s capital and largest city is San Salvador.
(QCOSTARICA) American Airlines applied to Costa Rica’s Civil Aviation to resume commercial and repatriation flights between Costa Rica and the United States.
The U.S. airline proposed to resume repatriation flights from Thursday, August 20, and to operate regular scheduled flights as of Wednesday, September 9.
This was confirmed by the Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC), which also clarified that for now, JetBlue has not applied for flight permits, this in reference to the Aeris website, the San Jose airport operator, noting that JetBlue would begin operations as of September 1 to New York, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
“Currently, JetBlue has not requested a restart of operations in September. What is displayed on the Aeris website is an issue pending to be updated, due to the fact that they have recently entered notes from the company rejecting the start of operations,” clarified Álvaro Salas, director of Civil Aviation.
The director stressed that the American proposal is currently under review, “But everything is subject to the decisions of other government authorities on an eventual opening to receive flights from the United States”.
American Airlines’ forecast comes ten days after the Costa Rican government decided to open the door to commercial flights from Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom, but not from the United States.
Since August 1, the only four flights authorized per week to the country are two from Madrid, Spain (Iberia) and two from Frankfurt, Germany (Lufthansa).
Last Thursday, August 7, the United States Department of State published a global travel alert in which it advises U.S. citizens against travel to 20 nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Costa Rica.
“Travelers to Costa Rica may experience border closures, airport closures, travel bans, stay-at-home requests, business closures, and other emergency conditions within Costa Rica due to COVID-19,” warns the US government
At the moment, the entry of visitors to the country is regulated by rigorous protocols. In fact, the Juan Santamaría airport (SJO) must comply with the following rules:
Use of masks or face shields during the entire stay at the airport and its terminals.
Placement of disinfectant carpets at the entrance to the terminal.
Enabling stations for handwashing on international departures.
Placement of sanitizing stations in all common areas of the airport.
Increase in the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting high traffic areas (service counters, door handles, armrests, handrails, water fountains, elevators, etc.).
A special protocol for cleaning and disinfection of areas for the care of suspected cases of COVID-19.
Constant cleaning and disinfection of luggage trays and trolleys in the terminals, payment stations in parking lots, internal buses, self-check-in kiosks, bathrooms, and baby changing tables.
For their part, visitors must also meet a series of requirements to enter the airport:
Have a PCR test and a negative result 48 hours before the trip.
Purchase travel insurance that covers accommodation in case of quarantine and medical expenses for acute illness. Travel insurance from a foreign insurer are now permitted. Travelers have the option to purchase in Costa Rica a policy from the State insurer, INS.
Airlines must inform passengers, with their final destination in Costa Rica and prior to arrival in the country, that they must complete the online form known as the Health Pass, as well as the mandatory use of masks during their passage through the terminal.
Body temperature measurements will be performed on all passengers and they will have to go through disinfectant mats.
Once the immigration process is finished, signage is available to distance travel bubbles around the baggage carousels until continuing with the Customs and State Phytosanitary Service processes.
Finally, when leaving the country, visitors must also comply with a series of measures to pass through the Juan Santamaría airport:
Airlines should facilitate online checking to streamline processes.
Arrival time at the airport at least 3 hours before departure or 4 hours for long-duration flights.
Disposition of sinks for hand washing before entering the terminal.
Only passengers will be able to enter the terminal.
The use of masks is mandatory.
Temperature measurements, with thermal cameras, will be carried out on the access bridges to the lobby.
Upon entering the international terminal, sanitizing stations and disinfectant mats will be available.
Once the passenger enters the departures hall, they will go through the airline check-in process at self-check-in kiosks or at the passenger service counters. If the passenger completed their process online (and does not have checked luggage), they will go directly to the Migration process.
Preventive signage will be present on the passenger’s route to immigration and the security filters.
In boarding gates the use of seats will be limited; in case of travel bubbles, they will be able to use all of the seats.
The airline will establish procedures to organize the boarding process in small groups (10 passengers), beginning with the passengers in the back of the plane. Passengers waiting to board must do so seated in the boarding lounge.
Measures in shops and restaurants within the airport
Product tastings or delivery of courtesy samples in establishments will not be allowed.
The row areas will be demarcated with distances of 1.8 m between each person.
The use of contactless cards will be promoted to make the corresponding payments.
Common areas must be at 50% of their capacity, respecting the distance.
(QCOSTARICA) In the coming days, the criminal courts in Costa Rica will be able to impose fines and prison sentences for street sexual harassment – “acoso sexual callejero” in Spanish – in public places and in means of transport.
This Monday morning, the law that establishes the sanctions passed its last filter, receiving the signature of President Carlos Alvarado. Now it only needs publication in the official government newsletter, La Gaceta, expected before the end of this week.
The law defines street sexual harassment as “all conduct or conduct with sexual connotation and with a unidirectional nature, without the consent or acceptance of the person or persons to whom it is directed, with the potential to cause annoyance, discomfort, intimidation, humiliation, insecurity, fear and offense, which generally comes from a person unknown to the person receiving it and which takes place in public spaces or with public access”.
In addition, it establishes the prevention and punishment measures for this expression of sexual violence and discrimination.
“With this signature, we begin to pay off the historical debt of the State and society with the vast majority of women who have suffered this form of violence in public spaces since we were girls. Today I applaud and acknowledge the work of civil society organizations, councils, legislative advisers and the National Institute of Women in the work carried out to achieve this new legislation ” said Patricia Mora, Minister of Women and Executive President of Inamu.
Ley 9877 also typifies exhibitionism and masturbation in public spaces as the most severe forms of street sexual harassment. These behaviors were reclassified as a crime in the Penal Code.
The law also imposes fines on those who emitting hisses, gasps and moans with a sexual connotation – “piropos” in Spanish – without the consent of the victim.
For men IT IS A call to exercise a new masculinity that respects the integrity of women
Sanctions
Engaging in sexual harassment conduct on public roads and means of public transport, ie a bus or taxi, comes with the following sanctions.
Imprisonment:
From ten months to a year and a half: those who photograph or record with sexual connotations, and without the consent of the victim, people in places of public access and in paid transportation services. The penalty could go up to two years in prison if the material is shown or transmitted to another person.
From six months to a year: whoever masturbates or exhibits their genitals with sexual intent in public.
From eight months to a year: whoever chases or corners a person for sexual purposes.
The penalties would be increased by one third if the offender is a repeat offender, if the offenses are committed by more than one person or if the victim is a minor, a senior, or has a disability.
Fines:
From 15 to 30 days salary: whoever, in a public space, public access or in a means of paid transportation of people, utters, directs or executes, with sexual connotations, words, noises, whistles, gasps, moans, gestures or gestures towards another person, without their consent.
From 25 to 35 days salary: if these behaviors are committed by two or more people, or through the use of electronic means.
Obligations of police
Police forces will have the duty to intervene ex-officio and without delay in situations of street sexual harassment, and will have the function of guaranteeing the integrity of the victims and their right to access to justice, as well as that of their companions and witnesses if any.
The officers shall assist the victims in the identification of the alleged harassing person(s) and the managers or administrators of private premises of public access or of transportation companies shall offer full collaboration to the police forces in the identification of their clientele and the personnel under office.
The police must also arrest the alleged harasser and bring them before a judge; must provide the corresponding police report, seize weapons, objects and appear to give testimony before the judicial authority when required.
Costa Rica president Carlos Alvarado signing the Law Against Street Sexual Harassment, at Casa Presidencia, Monday, August 10, 2020
In addition to President Carlos Alvarado, the Minister of Justice, Fiorella Salazar; the Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto; and Patricia Mora, signed the bill into law.
“Let’s hope it is a change not only in the legal, but also in the cultural, and that men begin to incorporate these new masculinities in which this type of behavior is not normalized, which is not appropriate,” said the president.
(QCOSTARICA) Work on the Sixaola binational bridge, that will connect Costa Rica with Panama over the Sixaola River, is advancing with the completion of the main structural component.
The project has had to overcome delays in Panamanian territory, repercussions from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Alejandro Rossi, director of the United Nations Agency for Project Services (Unops), which is in charge of managing the project, made the announcement on August 7.
According to Rossi, progress was achieved through compliance with rigorous health protocols and following the recommendations issued by the health authorities of both countries.
The construction is in charge of the Sixaola Binational Consortium, made up of Meco S.A. from Costa Rica, Cal & Mayor y Asociados and Mexpresa, both Mexican.
The US$25 million dollar construction project was to be ready in the first quarter of 2020. It is now expected to concluded before the end of the year.
(QCOSTARIC) Alvin Stanford Díaz Hawkings was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday for killing the Spanish tourist, Arancha Gutiérrez López, on August 4, 2018.
Pococí criminal court
The sentence was announced this Monday afternoon by the Pococí Criminal Court. The trial was presided by judges Cristian Corrales Lugo, Alexánder Gómez Moreno and Nazira Merayo.
In addition, the judges determined that the man must pay ¢125 million colones (US$215,000 dollars) in damages.
Meanwhile, the judges dismissed the civil action against the Laguna Lodge hotel and the V.C.M. Costa Rica Groups tourist company.
According to the Prosecutor’s opening statement at the beginning of the trial, on the day of the murder, the Arancha Gutiérrez López went running through Tortuguero and, apparently, was intercepted by Díaz Hawkings, killing her.
Gutiérrez López, 31, was found dead at 7:30 am on a road near the hotel where he was staying, with signs of strangulation.
Díaz Hawkings, the sole suspect, was charged in the murder, DNA matched the saliva found in the woman’s breasts. In addition, traces of skin appeared on the nails of the victim’s hands that correspond to the samples taken from the Díaz Hawkings, a Nicaraguan national working as a handyman in Costa Rica.
The judges dismissed the civil action against the hotel were the tourist was staying and the tour operator, given that Díaz Hawkings did not work for either and the crime was not committed on hotel property.
(QCOSTARICA) The total number of deaths from COVID-19 reached 244 on August 10, with nine deaths in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health reported Monday, August 10.
The deceased are seven men and two women, between 36 and 96 years old, said Health Minister Daniel Salas at the noon press conference.
The cumulative cases of the novel coronavirus in Costa Rica since March is now 23,872. In the last 24 hours, 586 new cases were added: 19 are epidemiological nexus and 567 were positive by tests.
There are 388 hospitalized people in hospitals, 84 of them in Intensive Care Units (ICU), aged between 28 and 88 years old.
A total of 7,823 people have recovered.
The canton of Dota in the southern zone continues to be only one (of 82) that does not register a single infection.
Legislators are pressing for a reduction in the 2021 Marchamo (circulation permit) due to the vehicular restrictions in place since the start of the national emergency and most likely to continue to the end of the year.
(QCOSTARICA) The Judicial Police (OIJ) confirmed that in two days six people drowned in the Pacific Ocean. The first in Quepos, and the remaining four in Golfito.
Two of the people drowned at Playa Saavegre in Quepos on Saturday afternoon. They were identified as Betzi Jiménez Sing, 39, and Amiri Arash, 79, a U.S. citizen.
In Puerto Jimenez, Puntarenas de Golfito, Yessenia Naranjo Delgado (41), Ligia Miranda Castro (46), Roy Elizondo Picado (51) and Franco Montero Brenes (34), had come to escape the “maddening crowds”. They rented a cabin and a boat to go fishing early Saturday morning.
When the Coast Guard received the call Sunday morning, all they could do is a search to retrieve the bodies after finding the life jackets tied to the semi-sunken boat.
(QCOSTARICA) This Sunday morning, the message “Aborto Legal Ya” (Legal Abortion Now) expressed in front of the Casa Presidencial on Saturday by a group of protesters in favor of abortion, was erased by pro-lifers.
The message was painted by the Aborto Legal Costa Rica movement as part of Saturday’s demonstration under the slogan “Nuestra salud SÍ es prioridad” (Our health IS a priority).
According to the UN Population Fund, the pandemic could impact the lives of women by generating 7 million unwanted pregnancies in the coming months worldwide. In addition, if the interruption of the right to access to contraceptives continued for a year, it could reach up to 15 million unwanted pregnancies.
“In Costa Rica, five girls under the age of 14 are mothers every week, 21 adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age become mothers every day. This situation is exacerbated as a result of the pandemic, when living conditions, particularly women, are more precarious, so it becomes more urgent to organize and fight for legal abortion,” said Heidy Valencia, spokeswoman for the movement.
For all of the above, the Costa Rica Legal Abortion movement demonstrations was to demand the right to free and safe legal abortion.
They also demanded the immediate release of the teenager recently sentenced to 15 years in prison in Heredia.
According to the Survey published by INEC, in Costa Rica during the second quarter of 2020, while total unemployment overall reached 24%, women face unemployment of 30%.
Abortion in Costa Rica is highly restricted.Currently, abortions are only allowed for the purpose of preserving the physical health or life of the mother.
Abortions are illegal in cases of rape or incest, when the fetus suffers from medical problems or birth defects, for social reasons, and for economic reasons.Abortions are not available on demand, for no reason given.
In the event of danger to the life or health of the mother, there is currently a protocol as a technical standard for the therapeutic interruption of pregnancy signed by President Carlos Alvarado last December and contemplates the application of the provisions of article 121 of the Penal Code since 1970, which reads:
“Abortion is not punishable if it has been done in order to avoid danger to the life or health of the mother and it has not been possible to prevent it by other means.”
Currently, abortions in Costa Rica are the most commonly performed in secret, either in private clinics or by other means, where statistics on maternal deaths are difficult to obtain. In 2007, data revealed that the number of illegal abortions is on the rise.
(QCOSTARICA) Karine Niño, legislator of the Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN), says the vehicle restriction of the next 12 days, from August 10 to 21), is illogical and a mockery for municipalities and businesses.
Legislator Karine Niño says it is illogical the government’s decision allowing commercial opening, but at the same time keeping people at home.
Niño pointed out: “The irrational logic of the government with the measures announced yesterday (Saturday) is a mockery for the municipal sector which was breached the agreements and with the commercial sector, which in one way or another continues to hold hands despite the« opening.”
“How will economic reactivation or tourism be supported with vehicle restriction measures, if they are practically illogical?”the legislator questioned.
Niño commented that “I understand that the health issue is not minor, and it is the responsibility of each one of us to cope with the new normal, following the hygiene and distancing rules that the Ministry of Health has indicated to us. But we cannot lose the perspective that people need to eat and produce.”
Initially, the ‘closed’ phase of the 12 days of August practically shut down all commerce in orange alert zones (mainly the Greater Metropolitan Area – GAM), while retail stores and other businesses could be open in the yellow alert areas (the rest of the country).
As had been announced at the end of July, the period of August 10 to 21 in orange alert areas would also have a vehicular restriction from 5 am to 5 pm, every day, with only one day a week and one day of the weekend to drive based on the last digit of the vehicle’ license plate.
This upset many business operators wanting to remain open. The mayors of the cantons in the orange alert also banded together to protest the central government’s measures and threatened disobedience in their communities by pulling their police forces from traffic monitoring and allowing businesses within their jurisdiction to open.
A meeting held at Casa Presidencial between President Carlos Alvarado and mayors resulted in an agreement to be flexible. In addition, protests in different areas of the GAM, including in front of Casa Presidencial and vigil in front of the President’s residence, led to changes announced on Saturday.
The changes to the original ‘closure’ phase was to allow retailers, restaurants, services and many other businesses to remain open in the orange alert areas and unified the vehicular restrictions from 5 am to 9 pm in both yellow and orange areas.
However, while in yellow alert areas the vehicular restrictions restrict to only two plates during the week and odds and evens alternated on the weekend, while in orange alert areas, only two plates can circulate during the week and odds and evens alternate on weekends.
So, take today, Monday, August 10, while businesses in orange alert areas are open, only vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 CAN circulate or 20% of the vehicular fleet.
Joining Niño in criticizing the government’s action is legislator Pedro Muñoz, of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC).
Both agreed that allowing commercial opening, but at the same time keeping people at home is illogical.
“How will the economic reactivation or tourism occur?” questions the legislators.
Muñoz, for his part, stated that “the vehicle restriction is a joke in bad taste.”
“The President of the Republic has failed to understand that this vehicle restriction breaks social bubbles for long periods of time. How is it possible that you cannot drive your car, but you can ride a bus or taxi?” he said.
The legislator assures that Carlos Alvarado also does not understand that the vehicle “is not a luxury.”
“The vehicle is to go to work, to seek sustenance, the vehicle is the way to go to find our daily bread. Very poor understanding of the reality of the economy (…) The vehicle restriction seriously affects tourism, commerce, collapses public transport, generates crowds (waiting for public transport), does not allow people to use their car s, and now the collection of the Marchamo. Who can possibly believe that this measure can benefit citizens in any way?” he added.
Bus operators have been warned to maintain social distancing at bus stops and users wear masks of face shields
(QCOSTARICA) The Public Transport Council warned bus route concessionaires that due to the intensification of vehicle restriction measures and the opening of more businesses and commercial activities in the cantons under yellow alert, they must maintain at least 40% of operation in the regular routes.
Bus operators have been warned to maintain social distancing at bus stops and users wear masks of face shields at bus stops, and inside the units. The photo above is an example of what bus operators need to avoid
They also should be attentive to the behavior of users to reinforce the service at times of greatest demand and thus avoid crowds at bus stops, mainly during peak hours.
The bus operators must maintain the first and last services to guarantee the workers mobility move to and from their places of work.
It also establishes that if there is a greater demand from users at the stops, they must adapt the services so that the effects of the crowds are minimal.
Standing passengers are not allowed and a mask of faceshield is mandatory withing the buses and at bus stops.
(QCOSTARICA) The Ministry of Health reported this Sunday, August 9, 484 new cases of COVID-19 in Costa Rica, bringing the total number of cases to 23,286.
Of the new cases announced today, 447 correspond to cases confirmed by PCR test and the other 37 correspond to cases confirmed by nexus, that is, people who developed symptoms of COVID-19 and live with people who tested positive in the PCR test for SARS-CoV-2.
Confirmed cases are registered in 81 of 82 cantons of the 7 provinces. Doda, in the southern zone, is the only canton with no cases of the coronavirus.
Of the confirmed cases, 10,670 are women and 12,616 are men (+261). Likewise, 17,135 are Costa Ricans and 6,151 are foreigners, a figure that also includes residents.
There are 7,730 people recovered; the active number of cases (currently infected) is 15,321.
Seven deaths were reported Sunday, six men and one woman, with an age range of 48 to 90 years, for a total of 235, increasing the fatality rate of the virus in Costa Rica to 1.01%.
There are 376 people in hospital, of which 86 are in intensive care, with ages between 28 and 87 years.
Costa Rica closes today the 23rd week of the pandemic, with 4,311 new accumulated cases of COVID-19, a figure higher than the 3,746 cases reported in week 22. This is also the week with the highest number of reported deaths: 64 in total, versus the 47 registered the previous week.
(QCOSTARICA) The Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (Caturgua) is requesting that the Government allow the arrival of tourists from the United States this month of August.
The request for U.S. travelers to enter the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR), in Liberia, Guanacaste, comes after the announcement of the opening of air terminals since last August 1, which left the United States off the list.
The Liberia airport (LIR) in wait of passengers
“It is an urgent need to be able to reduce the unemployment generated by the pandemic and financially support companies that are trying to survive while better times arrive,” Caturgua said in a statement.
In the opening of the air borders, the government has said now to commercial flights from the United States due to the stage of the health crisis facing that country, as a result of COVID-19.
Flights from the U.S. are ‘repatriation flights’ limited to foreign residents (who did not leave Costa Rica after March 24) that could be U.S. citizens or residents and Costa Rican nationals.
For Caturgua, the opening of tourist arrivals from Canada and Europe “is a respite for the tourism industry in Costa Rica, however, we all know that the main market for Guanacaste is the United States of America,” they added.
In fact, the Liberia airport had anticipated the arrival of tourists from the United States in its preparation leading up to the August 1 reopening. Today, the airport is open, but no passengers because during this time year only flights to the U.S. are scheduled; Canadian and European flights typically resume during the high tourist season, November to May.
According to the statistics of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) for 2019, the Guanacaste airport received a total of 599,433 passengers; of which 74% (440,604 people) came from the United States.
It is no secret to anyone that the economic contribution of American tourism is the most significant for the Guanacaste Region.Cámara de Turismo de Guanacaste (Caturgua)
The Chamber indicated that they should be allowed to apply the protocols implemented by the ICT and validated by the health authorities, for the safe entry and stay of American tourists.
“In Guanacaste, hundreds of entrepreneurs have managed to establish companies that have helped a lot to create jobs and opportunities for improvement for the population, but now we are afraid of losing much of the long road that had been traveled,” it concluded.
(QCOSTARICA) More than half of those that become infected with COVID-19 are people who work the fields, construction, domestic workers (maids), gardeners, handymen, guards, and informal vendors.
They typically between 20 and 49 years age, the age group with the most reported positive cases in the country, and the population that also infects others more because they are more mobile due to their socio-economic characteristics.
Among these groups, those who are most infected with the new coronavirus are between 20 and 29 years old; followed by those in their thirties.
This according to the Expediente Digital Único en Salud (EDUS) – Unique Digital Health Record – of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), based on the occupational profiles noted in medical records of those who require medical attention.
“The data is kept by the Health Statistics Area of the CCSS,” explained Guiselle Guzmán Saborío, head of Collective Health.
“A little more than 40% (of the patients) appear in our EDUS as inactive (informal vendors), followed by 11.6%, by those engaged in domestic work, handyman, guards, and agricultural or construction workers.
“They are people with the lowest socioeconomic level, associated with a more occupational profile of services and laborers. They are also present an increase in symptoms of chronic diseases, which is related to a higher level of clinical severity of COVID-19,″ explained Guzmán.
The latter is probably due to barriers in access to health services, such as the lack of some type of medical insurance.
“The most vulnerable population, the poorest, with less work, the one with the most social deprivation is the one with the most decompensated diseases,” the specialist reaffirmed.
The other occupational categories in which the sick are classified include guards, day laborers and artisans (around 6%), basic service workers, such as cooks, policemen, shopkeepers, demonstrators, shop assistants or supermarkets clerks (4.6%), and administrative personnel, such as secretaries and administrators (5% of all patients).
Following are technicians and professionals (5%), and the rest are divided into smaller groups, where there are professional and scientific categories, Guzmán explained.
“Approximately 60% of the patients are working informally or belong to low-income groups with a lower social index. That is part of the inequality.
“An English study in May (Cochrane Iberoamericana), with data from 17 million British patients, found that, among the main factors of death due to COVID, are those that are related to the index of social deprivation, and this it doubles the risk of mortality,” explained Guzmán.
Since June 27, anyone traveling by public transport must wear a mask or face shield. Weeks later, wearing a mask was also mandatory for those waiting for public transport. The population that uses these services is the most exposed to becoming ill and infecting others.
According to the CCSS specialist, this also confirms what is being seen in the Costa Rican profile: people who are requiring hospitalization and register higher mortality, have decompensated chronic diseases and are part of the groups affected by great social inequity.
The second pandemic wave of COVID-19 in the country has been crueler to the most socially and economically vulnerable population, according to experts.
At the beginning of the national emergency, the main victims were foreign or Costa Rican tourists who came for pleasure or work trips abroad, belonging to high-income sectors.
In May, agricultural laborers, Central American transporters, and low-income workers living in rooming houses and precarious conditions in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) have become the victims of this respiratory disease.
Having described an occupational profile, and the location by age and origin, of these patients, has allowed the CCSS to set up a community approach strategy.
“We have been working closely with the Ministry of Health to focus on the communities. The screenings are made with epidemiological criteria based on a vulnerability index.
“Within the indicators of this index is the demographic part; for example, when there is more overcrowding or older adults in a community, and also due to a social risk condition. The CCSS family file has a risk index. This includes access to drinking water, that minors are in the educational system, and even the number of rooms that the house has,” Guzmán explained.
(QCOSTARICA) Bowing to pressure from different sectors of the economy, the Costa Rica government ease commercial restrictions for the cantons on orange alert of the Greater Metropolitan Areas (GAM), for the ‘closed’ phase of the month, from August 10 to 21.
On Saturday it announced that starting Monday, supermarkets, groceries, corner stores, pulperias, etc, will be able to keep all their sections open while maintaining the 50% capacity provisions. In the past lockdowns, they had to close off any non-food or essentials (ie medicines, cleaning suppliers) to customers.
Contrary to the original ‘closed’ regimen, also starting Monday, restaurants, sodas, food courts and retail stores are allowed to open. According to the Ministery of Health, all establishments are required to observe the 50% capacity rule.
Beauty salons and barbershops will also be able to open, but by appointment only, according to the explanation provided by the Minister of Economy, Victoria Hernández.
However, on the weekend of August 15 and 16 (Mother’s Day), these establishments will be closed, “except for supermarkets in relation to the section for the sale of food, beverages, groceries, cleaning and hygiene supplies, and basic needs, with a fifty percent (50%) occupancy capacity”.
In cantons on yellow alert, the rest of the country, commerce will be able to operate on a regular basis.
The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, explained away the technical reasons – projections of the behavior of the virus, risk factors and other items considered – for this change of course, but did not mention the protests across the GAM during the week, including the protest from the early hours of Saturday morning in front of President Alvarado’s residence or the meeting earlier in the week with a group GAM mayors with demands of their own.
Saturday morning protests outside the residence of President Carlos AlvaradoSaturday morning protests outside the residence of President Carlos Alvarado
Following the mayor’s meeting, the government promised to extend the hours of vehicle restriction and flexibility with commerce during the closing phase.
Vehicular restrictions
Those expecting a major change in the next 12 days were disappointed. The only real change to the vehicular restrictions announced for this month, as it refers to the period of August 10 to 21 is extended operating hours in the GAM, while taking away an hour from the yellow alert areas.
Starting Monday, there will be a unified vehicular restriction across the board, save for the border districts, that maintain vehicular restrictions from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Starting Monday, the daytime vehicular restrictions are from 5:00 am to 9:00 pm on weekdays and from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm on weekends based on the last digit of the license plate.
In orange alert areas (5 am to 9 pm)
Mondays, plates ending in 1 & 2 CAN ONLY circulate
Tuesdays, plates ending in 3 & 4 CAN ONLY circulate
Wednesdays, plates ending in 5 & 6 CAN ONLY circulate
Thursdays, plates ending in 7 & 8 CAN ONLY circulate
Fridays, plates ending in 9 & 0 CAN ONLY circulate
Saturday, August 15 plates ending in 1,3,5,7 & 9 CAN ONLY circulate
Sunday, August 16 plates ending in 0,2,4,6 & 8 CAN ONLY circulate
In yellow alert areas (5 am to 9 pm)
Mondays, plates ending in 1 & 2 CANNOT circulate
Tuesdays, plates ending in 3 & 4 CANNOT circulate
Wednesdays, plates ending in 5 & 6 CANNOT circulate
Thursdays, plates ending in 7 & 8 CANNOT circulate
Fridays, plates ending in 9 & 0 CANNOT circulate
Saturday, August 15 plates ending in 1,3,5,7 & 9 CANNOT circulate
Sunday, August 16 plates ending in 0,2,4,6 & 8 CANNOT circulate
In both orange and yellow alert areas, there is a total vehicular restriction from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am on weekdays and from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am on weekends.
The well-known exemptions apply in all areas.
The detailed official alert information can be found here.
When making the announcement, Salas emphasized that the restrictions aim to avoid movement between the cantons, in particular from orange to yellow, to reduce the spread of contagion from any area to another.
“Ideally, they (people) should not go out, that they consume as much as possible in their canton. That they go to supermarkets, restaurants, shops, as far as possible within their canton. This helps us a lot so that contact networks and transmission chains do not spread,” said Minister Salas.
He added: “I want to mention that we are moving towards a model of joint responsibility. We must all move the country forward and, for that, we need the maximum application of our efforts to implement the sanitary measures that are recommended.”
This Saturday, Salas registered 721 new cases of COVID-19 (135 identified by nexus and 586 by a test).
In total, since the first case was presented in Costa Rica in Mach, the cumulative is 22,802 positive patients. Of that total, there are 7,589 people recovered in 80 cantons.
Dr. Salas reported 360 people are in hospital, 80 of which are intensive care; 10 new deaths were reported on Saturday, for a total of 228.
(QCOSTARICA) As the closure phase approaches for the orange areas of the country, mainly the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), the pressure for more flexible measures increases.
Similarly, infections continue to increase. And so are deaths associated with the COVID-19.
This Friday, August 7, the Ministry of Health reported 1,105 new cases that included 515 people in the first group of people diagnosed with COVID-19 by nexus since August 2. This data will be included in the daily epidemiological briefings.
The new cases include the 496 infections that were reported from people who did undergo tests and had positive results.
In total, the cumulative infections since the first day on March 6, is 22,081.
However, the most dramatic number this Friday was the death. In just 24 hours, 18 people died for reasons associated with the disease.
“Theee are 10 men and 8 women ranging from 27 to 91 years of age, from San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Puntarenas and Limón,” said Daniel Salas, Minister of Heatlh.
The cumulative deaths is now 218.
“Let’s not see deaths as figures, they are stories, they are people who were watching these conferences three or four months ago when this started and who are not here today. It is a very direct, very strong human side, all this hurts, it hurts the country a lot, we know that the mortality situation has not been so severe, but we cannot reduce what is happening either, said Salas.
The Minister warned of the increase in the fatality rate, which is now 1%.
“For every 100 (infected) there is one person that has died, it is low compared to other countries, but it is clear that it has been increasing as more cases are detected,” he said.
Although many of the fatalities had risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, heart or kidney disease, there are also people with a different profile, young and without risk factors.
“The truth is that most have (risk factors) … with so many cases, not everything is caught in the health services in a timely manner”
At this time, according to Salas, the attack rate is around 13 or 14 per 100,000 inhabitants which, he considers compatible with the number of cases being reported.
What is the attack rate? In this case, it means that 13 or 14 out of every 100,000 susceptible people suffer from it.
“The scenario where we have the pandemic right now is the most complicated, cases are occurring where there is more density, where the capacity is in many cases diminished to comply with the measures,” he acknowledged.
On the hospitalization front, the health services are being stretched to the limits, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) is working to maximize its resources, not only of beds, but staff to attend to patients and having sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE).
In hospital on Friday were 373 patients, of which 89 require intensive care. A drop in both numbers and directly related to the highest number of deaths due to COVID in a single day.
(QCOSTARICA) After a week of criticism from many sectors, State insurer, the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), announced this Friday the new rates that will govern travel insurance for international tourists visiting the country.
The rate is calculated on the age of the traveler and length of stay.
Thus, from now on, as an example, a 45-year-old tourist entering the country may purchase an INS policy for US$9.4 dollars a day (US$131 for a two-week stay) that includes coverage for medical expenses, accommodation expenses and without exclusions due to pandemic or epidemic.
Meanwhile, if the traveler is between 71 and 80 years old, this insurance will cost US$18 per day.
In addition, if the policy is contracted for the family group, a 5% discount is offered.
This second insurance option (because, according to the INS, the high costing first is still enabled) includes coverage up to US$20,000 dollars for medical expenses, accommodation, repatriation of mortal remains and accidental death, as well as partial or permanent disability due to accident.
The lower price insurance policy is being offered from this Friday, August 7, and is already duly registered with the insurance regulator, the Superintendencia General de Seguros (Sugese), according to the executive president of the INS, Róger Arias Agüero.
“We are committed to providing a second option to tourists with the sole objective of contributing to the reactivation of tourism and avoiding, as far as possible, the saturation of public health centers, and that is what we are doing. We are very pleased to offer this alternative with more accessible prices that we are sure will allow us to provide protection to hundreds of tourists,”, said Arias.
The first option by the INS, announced only last week, which generated criticism from the tourism sector – operators and chambers and legislators, resulted in a number of trips cancelation and potential tourists who would seek out other destinations, charges visitors from US$275 dollars for minors to US$965 for travelers over 70.
The lower rares are no surprise. Last Saturday, the INS announced it would be offering a lower cost option for travelers. On Wednesday, the Ministries of Health, Public Security and the Casa Presidencial (Government House) promulgated an Executive Decree that allows international tourists who want to travel to Costa Rica to use an international travel insurance policy.
Nurses at the Hospital México work intensively in the care of COVID-19 patients. Photo: Courtesy Hospital México
(QCOSTARICA) This Thursday, August 6, five months since the first case of the novel coronavirus was reported in Costa Rica, the country reports 200 deaths.
Nurses at the Hospital México work intensively in the care of COVID-19 patients. Photo: Courtesy Hospital México
A month ago, on July 6, the total number of fatalities due to COVID-19 was 23; up from 10 a month earlier, on June 6.
In the daily noon epidemiological report, Health Minister, Daniel Salas, reported 9 deaths in the previous 24 hours; They are six men and three women, between 58 and 84 years old,, residents of the provinces of San José, Heredia, and Alajuela.
Of the accumulated death toll, 74 are women and 126 are men, with ages ranging from 23 to 99 years.
This Thursday, of concern to health authorities and should be to everyone in the country is the number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.
On Thursday, Minister Salas reported that 391 people are in hospital, of which 103 are in intensive care. A record number so far.
The Health minister reported for Thursday, 653 new cases, bringing the total of infected to 21,070, of which 7,038 have recovered and 13.832 still active.
For his part, President Carlos Alvarado stated during the press conference that the number of 200 deaths “is a number that shakes us. We share the pain of the 200 families who have suffered these losses”.
The president also referred to the unemployment figure released this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).
“We reached 24% unemployment, that shakes us, it hurts us, it fills us with concern. This pandemic is deeply affecting Costa Rican households.
“What corresponds to us is to redouble our efforts to face this circumstance, both to protect the health and life of people and to try to conserve and regain the jobs that, since COVID-19, have been lost.
“I am in solidarity with both the families of the deceased and the families who have lost their jobs in this context,” said the president.
In this regard, Geaninna Dinarte, Minister of Labor, announced that as part of an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has money to deliver 119,000 new ‘bonos proteger’ (financial aid) to people who have lost their jobs due to the crisis.
(Q TRAVEL) Copa Airlines, the flag carrier of Panama, said on Thursday it has received government approval to restart flights in mid-August to about 10 destinations.
After months with its entire fleet grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic, the airline announced offering flights through the Tocumen International Airport (PTY) in Panama serving a limited number of destinations that will include Costa Rica, New York, Miami and Sao Paulo.
Panamanian authorities maintain August 21 as the official date for the international reopening of flights but, through an Executive Decree on July 31, 2020, the Government of Panama authorized a Controlled Operations Center at Tocumen International Airport, which allows the entry and exit of Panamanian passengers or residents of that country, departure of passengers from Panama, the transit of passengers, limiting the number of flights, and the controlled entry of passengers into the national territory, with prior authorization from the health authority.
This “controlled” opening, says the airline, corresponds to less than 2% of the total weekly flights that the airline operated before the pandemic. Likewise, it recommends entering their website or calling the airline’s call center to acquire tickets and reschedule flights, without penalties, as long as passengers are within the exceptions of these flights.
Copa flights and destinations from San Jose, Costa Rica, on August 14, 21, and 28, 2020:
Mexico City (MEX)
Miami, USA (MIA)
New York JFK, USA (JFK)
Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU)
Santiago de Chile (SCL)
On August 1, 2020, Costa Rica reopened its air borders to international tourists arriving from Canada, the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom (UK).
Tourists arriving from the authorized countries must provide a negative result COVID-19 test and proof of insurance to cover medical expenses and additional stay if they develop symptoms or get infected in the country and for accommodations in the event of a travel ban.
While Costa Rican’s and residents (who did not leave the country after March 24) may enter from the country on repatriation flights or commercial flights from the authorized countries, there is no restriction on anyone leaving the country. Passengers are responsible for having the necessary migratory documents and meeting the health requirements to travel to their destination.
(QCOSTARICA) President Carlos Alvarado announced Thursday that his has asked his Ministers and executive presidents of public institutions, to join him in a 15% wage cut, to mitigate public spending amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The measure will apply to the starting August 31.
“The first thing I want to announce is that I have asked the government cabinet, both ministers and executive presidents, to accompany me in the 15% reduction in the remuneration received for their workday,” said the president, emphasizing that the cut in pay will not mean less work hours.
“It does not mean that the ministers will work less days. On the contrary, the cabinet will accompany me in this measure,” he clarified.
Last month, Alvarado announced his cut in pay. On Saturday, July 18, the 15% salary reduction of the President was published in the official newspaper La Gaceta.
Alvarado explained the reduction in salary of his cabinet and agency heads is in line with the bill to cut all salaries of public officials earning more than ¢1.5 million colones monthly, except in the case of employees. directly related to the attention of the pandemic.
Alvarado said that the proposal is alive and the government’s challenge is to convince Legislators to move forward with this initiative.
He added that the Executive has also not opposed plans to temporarily increase taxes on income and wages.
“I would like it to be the moral call, and that is why we want to lead by example, the one that allows us to advance in that direction. I would not want the prolonged reality of a crisis to tell us ‘we cannot pay, just like that”.
The president reminded that in 2018, his first year in office, the sacred and constitutional year-end bonus, the Aguinaldo, had to be delayed due to the country’s financial situation/
“Today we are not in that circumstance happily, but if we do not begin to adopt certain measures in this critical situation, it will be,” said the president.
(QCOSTARICA) The Government committed to orange zone mayors easing vehicle restrictions and allow some businesses to operate during the closure phases (August 10 to 21) of the pandemic.
President Carlos Alvarado met on Thursday with mayors to ease some restrictions in the closing phase (August 10 to 21) of the measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Photo Casa Presidencial
In a meeting with the mayors, President Carlos Alvarado offered to unify the vehicle restriction schedule between orange and yellow alert zones, expand the list of businesses with operating permits during the closings, and allow some of the opening of some communities with less transmission orange zones.
Those were the agreements that, according to San Jose mayor, Johnny Araya, Alvarado promised to fulfill after a three-hour meeting with the mayors of the different communities in the greater metropolitan area.
Earlier this week, the mayors of Santa Ana, Escazu and Mora threatened to withdraw the support of the municipal police for the surveillance of the vehicle restriction, as well as the withdrawal of cars and drivers to carry out tests and distribute medicines from the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), and allow businesses with operating permits under their jurisdiction to stay open.
On August 5, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) demoted canton of Mora from orange to yellow alert, along with several other districts in the cantons of Alajuela, Heredia, Desamparados and San Jose.
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) is the government agency that maintains vigilant of all types of risks in all areas of the country, including the pandemic.
Other mayors have submitted proposals to the Central Government to reduce alertness in some of their districts, such as Tibás, Moravia, Goicoechea, and Coronado.
The mayor of San José and president of the National Union of Local Governments (UNGL), stated after the meeting that they will give a period of truce for the Executive Power to fulfill its commitments.
“This meeting occurs at a time of disagreement, between local governments with the Executive Branch for a series of provisions that have been taken in handling the crisis (…) However, a dialogue has been opened and we have advanced on some important issues.
“I have to admit that there has been an opening. In some way these measures make the situation (for us) more flexible, however, we hope that very soon they will announce how these agreements will materialize by the Government and the National Emergency Commission (CNE),” said Araya.
The mayor of the capital city did not give details on what would be the new vehicle restrictions for the entire country, saying the Presidency will be in charge of informing the population in a timely manner. He also did not specify which businesses would have an operating permit in the middle of the week of closings, or the timing of the period of truce.
In a press release, the government confirmed these agreements.
In addition, it added that the mayors will find out about the measures before the announcements are made in press conferences.
Leonardo Chacón, mayor of Dota – the only canton in the country not to have one single case of coronavirus – and president of the National Association of Mayors and Intendants (ANAI), affirmed that the agreement was positive for all parties.
“We have managed to talk about several important points such as the economic reactivation where a study is going to be done to allow the reopening of some premises. We have also managed to reach a consensus on a permanent dialogue where the mayors will be present,” said Chacón.
On the allowing of commercial activities during Mother’s Day, August 15, President Alvarado did not budge, according to Araya.
The mayor said there was no consensus on the issue on mayor’s request of at some days of opening dealing up to Mother’s Day.
“We received a broad explanation of how the epidemiological variables are managed and the impact that these openings have with respect to hospital beds and intensive care, and in that we did find that there is no provision for this opening,” said Araya.
The meeting between Alvarado and the mayors was also attended by Alexander Solís, president of the National Emergency Commission (CNE), and Marcela Guerrero, president of the Institute for Municipal Development and Advice (IFAM).
The meeting with municipal regime organizations occurs a day after the National Union of Local Governments (UNGL) elected Johnny Araya as its executive president.
Disputes between local governments and the Executive Branch over the closure measures began to emerge in mid-July, when the mayor of Garabito (that includes the popular tourist destination of Playa Jaco), Tobías Murillo, threatened the Presidency with a revolt against the measures if they do not lower the alert status of their canton.
A day later, the National Emergency Commission granted Garabito the yellow alert, allowing the mayor to continue with his economic reopening process.
Rico’s DIGEST – In a few days, on Monday, August 10, most of the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) and the Panama border areas of Puntarenas goes on lockdown for 12 days. It seems easy enough: orange zones closed, yellow zone (the rest of the country) open.
I wish it were that simple. It can be if you are not driving.
Starting at 5:00 am Monday morning, the vehicular restrictions change from not allowing two license plates to allowing only two license plates to circulate.
Orange alert zones
In the yellow zones, vehicular restrictions are total from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm weekdays and 5:00 am to 7:00 pm weekends, on Mondays vehicles with licenses plated ending in 1 & 2 cannot circulate, Tuesdays 3 & 4, Wednesdays 5 & 6, Thursdays, 7 & 8, Fridays 9 & 0, Saturdays (0,2,4,6 & 8), and Sunday (1,3,5,7 & 9)
In orange zones the vehicular restrictions is total from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am every day and from Monday, August 10 to Friday, August 21, only vehicles that can circulate are on Mondays with license plates ending 1 & 2, Tuesdays (3 & 4), Wednesdays (5 & 6), Thursdays (7 & 8), Fridays (9 & 0), Saturday (0,2,4,6 & 8) and Sunday (1,3,5,7 & 9).
It’s all straight forward in theory. But it may be something else in real life.
Using the Ruta 27 (San Jose – Caldera) as a driving point, let’s say it’s Tuesday, you are coming from the beaches, you are motoring away, and unless your license plates end in 3 or 4 you are good to drive when, all of a sudden as you cross the Rio Grande, and you realize you’ve just crossed from the imaginary line from yellow to orange and only vehicles ending in plates 3 and 4 can drive today.
Or, say you live in Cuidad Colon (Mora) and are used to shopping for groceries in Santa Ana, and its Thursday, and like the example before, unless your vehicle plates end in 7 & 8 you are good to drive when as round the curve, heading east, you realize only vehicles 7 & 8 can circulate today beyond this point, as you left the canton of Mora and now in Santa Ana.
No warning, no sign, at least none that I have heard that will be posted, but maybe a team of transitos (traffic cops) waiting on the other side of the invisible boundary with a ticket pad in one hand and a screwdriver in the other?
Following are several posters prepared to help you understand this. The fine for violating the vehicular restrictions is ¢110,000 colones, six points and seizure of license plates (hence the screwdriver) and or vehicle.
Pick the one that works best for you and keep it handy.
This Thursday’s presentations are titled “Why does competition matter? The value of business rivalry and the dangers of its absence”, “Market power and regulation”, ” The powers of Coprocom”, “Implications of little competition in the market for the lives of consumers” and “Legal changes to join the OECD they were done without touching the monopolistic structures of the markets”.
On Saturday it announced that starting Monday, supermarkets, groceries, corner stores, pulperias, etc, will be able to keep all their sections open while maintaining the 50% capacity provisions. In the past lockdowns, they had to close off any non-food or essentials (ie medicines, cleaning suppliers) to customers.
