(QCOSTARICA) Reactivating tourism so that it generates jobs throughout the country is the objective of a bill presented by PLN legislator and the former mayor of Alajuela, Roberto Thompson of National Liberation.
The idea is that all the remaining holidays of 2020 and all of 2021 are moved to Fridays, with the aim that Costa Ricans have long weekends and in this way, increase the local tourism.
“We need to strengthen and reactivate the economic activity of the national tourism sector severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which affects not only Costa Rica but the world economies,” said Thompson.
Tourism is one of the main engines of the economy and development of Costa Rica, it employs more than 211,000 people directly.
In 2019, tourism generated more than US$4 billion in foreign exchange, which represents 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“One way to generate this reactivation is to make it easier for nationals to do tourism in our country, transferring the enjoyment of the holidays that are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to the previous or subsequent Fridays immediately after, which means that tourists can vacation at least three consecutive days and stay two nights at different hotels and purchases from tourism service providers,” said Thompson.
To promote national tourism, the Vamos a Turistear (Let’s Go Touring) government-funded marketing pitch involves sponsoring discounts and contests to win vacation packages to promote nationals to explore new experiences touring the country.
Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday (June 2) changed the outlook on Costa Rica’s ratings to negative from stable. Concurrently, Moody’s has affirmed Costa Rica’s B2 long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings.
The negative outlook reflects Costa Rica’s increased funding risks due to higher borrowing requirements resulting from pandemic-related economic and fiscal shocks.
The affirmation of Costa Rica’s B2 rating takes into account the country’s higher-than-peer’s wealth levels and its dynamic economy. Costa Rica also benefits from comparatively strong institutional governance indicators.
Costa Rica’s foreign currency bond ceiling remains unchanged at Ba3; the foreign currency deposit ceiling remains unchanged at B3; and the local currency bond and deposit ceilings remain unchanged at Ba1. The short-term foreign currency bond ceiling and the short-term foreign currency deposit ceiling remain unchanged at Not Prime (NP).
Rationale for negative outlook
Moody’s decision to change the outlook to negative reflects the expected impact on Costa Rica’s budget deficits, and the related increased risk of funding pressures, resulting from the coronavirus shock. Moody’s considers this shock as a social risk under its ESG framework.
The pandemic has led to a sharp recession and higher fiscal deficits which will require increased borrowing from the government both this year and next. For 2020 the government will rely heavily on funding from official sources but next year’s borrowing will require tapping international markets, where spreads today remain prohibitively high.
Moody’s expects the economy will fall 4% in 2020, with most of the drop in growth felt in the first half of 2020, and that Costa Rica won’t return to positive year-on-year growth until the first quarter of 2021. Real GDP is expected to recover in 2021, advancing by about 3%, but will be insufficient to make up for the lost economic output this year.
The recession, only the third in over half a century, will lead to higher fiscal deficits due to rising interest costs and pandemic related-spending. Moody’s now expects the 2020 fiscal deficit to reach 9.7% of GDP and further expects the deficit to fall only moderately in 2021 to 8.4% of GDP. This will contribute to a rise in public sector indebtedness that is higher than what was anticipated when the rating agency lowered the country’s sovereign rating to B2 early this year and add to the medium term challenges of containing further erosion of the government’s balance sheet and the burden of interest payments on its relatively small revenue base.
Higher fiscal deficits will push government borrowing requirements to close to 15% of GDP in both 2020 and 2021, a historically high number. For 2020 the government plans to rely heavily on multilateral funding as it expects no access to international capital markets but 2021 will require a return to international private funding.
The rating agency estimates this year’s funding needs at 14.7% of GDP, four percentage points of GDP higher than pre-pandemic forecasts. Multilateral official lending will be a key source of funding in 2020, representing 36% of all government borrowing compared to only 13% in 2019. On April 29 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved $504 million in emergency assistance, adding to loans from the Inter-American Development Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
Moody’s expects 2021 funding needs to remain similar to this year’s level but with a greater reliance on international capital markets. The government expects to issue about $1.5 billion, or 2.7% of GDP, in international capital markets next year. Sovereign spreads on external funding stand at close to 800 bps, compared to pre-crisis levels of 400-500 bps. If interest rates do not return to prior lows the government will likely need to increase its domestic funding to over 10% of GDP, testing the ability of the local financial system to meet increased government borrowing requirements and raising the risk of levels of funding stress not consistent with a B2 rating. In 2018 lack of access to domestic and international funding led the government to request an emergency loan from the central bank.
Rationale for affirming the B2 rating
Despite the current coronavirus-related recession Costa Rica’s economy is characterized by sustained and stable growth, averaging 3.6% annually from 2010 to 2019. The country’s long term economic outlook remains strong. Costa Rica has one of the most stable economies in Latin America and this year’s downturn will be only the third recession in the last 60 years.
In that time period, Costa Rica’s economy has transitioned from simple agricultural exports to tourism, light maquilas, and more recently business outsourcing and medical technology exports. Costa Rica’s GDP per capita (PPP) at $18,702 in 2019 is more than double the B-rated median of $7,702 and its $62 billion economy is larger than the $26 billion B-median.
Costa Rica further benefits from economic and market diversity. Historically dependent on agriculture, farming is now one of the smaller sectors in the economy. Over the past decades, the country has made significant strides in diversifying its productive base by nurturing high-tech and service-based sectors such as consumer electronics, finance and tourism. Currently, Costa Rica’s largest sectors are healthcare and education, professional services, which spans scientific and technology sectors, and manufacturing, together accounting for about 40% of economic output.
Exports in Costa Rica are generally more diversified than in most other Latin American countries. Using data from the MIT’s Observatory of Economic Complexity, which looks at the diversity of products and export markets, Costa Rica ranked 49 out of 125 countries and third overall in Latin America in terms of economic complexity in 2017, the latest available data.
Costa Rica also compares favorably to other sovereigns in the region on measures such as government effectiveness, rule of law and control of corruption. Costa Rica’s democracy is the oldest in the region. These features of the country’s institutional makeup are supportive of the country’s credit risk profile because they speak to institutional continuity and political stability, elements that tend to be correlated with policy predictability.
What could change the rating up
Given the negative outlook, a rating upgrade is unlikely. The outlook could return to stable if the government effectively implements structural budgetary adjustments that ease funding risks and reduce fiscal deficits to limit the worsening in government debt indicators and improve market confidence leading to more sustainable cost of funding.
What could change the rating down
Prospects of continued fiscal deterioration that result in higher government debt metrics than what Moody’s currently projects, as well as continued market access challenges and higher funding costs, could lead to a rating downgrade. Evidence of stress in the banking system, or a significant increase in the level of financial dollarization could also place downward pressure on the rating.
Costa Rica by the numbers
GDP per capita (PPP basis, US$): 17,566 (2018 Actual) (also known as Per Capita Income)
Real GDP growth (% change): 2.7% (2018 Actual) (also known as GDP Growth)
Women talk outside a closed outfit store during a quarantine imposed by the state government to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, June 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
(AP) — South American countries on Monday began easing COVID-19 restrictions even as the region hurtles toward its viral peak, disregarding the example set by European nations that were battered earlier by the virus.
Pedestrians and commuters wearing face masks amid the new coronavirus pandemic crowd a sidewalk near a bus stop in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 1, 2020. After two and a half months of COVID-19 related quarantine, some industries are allowed to reactivate under a scheme of five days’ work and 10 days rest. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Some of Brazil’s hardest hit cities, including the jungle metropolis Manaus and coastal Rio de Janeiro, are starting to allow more activity. Bolivia’s government authorized reopening most of the country and the government of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro unwound restrictions. Ecuador’s airports were resuming flights and shoppers returning to some of Colombia’s malls.
Rolling back measures runs counter to Europe’s approach of waiting for the worst to pass before resuming activity, and South America trails much further behind on its viral curve. Even European nations that lifted restrictions earliest in their respective outbreaks – the U.K. and Russia – did so only after clearing their initial peaks.
Commuters wearing face masks due to the new coronavirus pandemic ride buses in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 1, 2020. After two and a half months of COVID-19 related quarantine, some industries are allowed to reactivate under a scheme of five days’ work and 10 days rest. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
The executive director of the World Health Organization’s emergencies program, Mike Ryan, expressed concern over South America’s climbing contagion, telling reporters Monday that the region had become an “intense zone of transmission for this virus,” which had not yet reached its peak.
“Clearly the situation in many South American countries is far from stable. There is a rapid increase in cases and those systems are coming under increasing pressure,” he said.
Data from the WHO’s Pan American Health Organization shows the region’s seven-day rolling average of new cases continues rising, due in large part to Brazil, which accounts for more than half the total.
Workers of the Corabastos market, one of Latin America’s largest food distribution centers, takes the temperature of drivers due to the presence of the new coronavirus, in the Kennedy area of Bogota, Colombia, Monday, June 1, 2020. Bogota’s Mayor Claudia Lopez said Saturday that starting June 1, this working-class area will be under strict quarantine while COVID-19 cases continue to rise. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Manaus, the Amazon rainforest’s largest city, was the first Brazilian metropolis whose health care system collapsed. For weeks, overwhelmed intensive-care units were unable to admit patients, deaths at home surged and a city cemetery buried bodies in mass graves.
Such burials continue, yet the capital of Amazonas state on Monday began loosening its clamp on non-essential businesses. Amazonas registered 818 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total number of cases above 40,000. There are more than 500,000 confirmed cases in Brazil, the second most in the world, and experts believe the true toll to be much higher due to insufficient testing.
A worker at the Corabastos market, one of Latin America’s largest food distribution centers, takes the temperature of a man amid COVID-19 restrictions in the Kennedy area of Bogota, Colombia, Monday, June 1, 2020. Bogota’s Mayor Claudia Lopez said Saturday that starting June 1, this working-class area will be under strict quarantine while COVID-19 cases continue to rise there. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian city with the second-most cases after Sao Paulo, on Monday announced it would begin gradually relaxing restrictions the following day. Already a city in its metropolitan region, Sao Joao de Meriti, started allowing salons, auto mechanics, and hotels to operate on Monday.
“Brazil tends to look at Europe, and the problem is that there they did one or two months of strict quarantine and are now reopening,” said Renato Mendes Coutinho, a specialist in mathematical biology at COVID-19 BR Observatory, an independent group of more than 50 Brazilian researchers. “The difference is that the lockdown they implemented and the restriction measures were much more efficient and thorough.”
Wearing masks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the Sanchez sisters Silvana, left, Maria, second left back, Luisa, second right front, and Brittany stand in from of their home in Puente Piedra shantytown on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, Monday, June 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Ecuador was one of the first South American nations slammed, with grim scenes of people leaving corpses outside their doorsteps in Guayaquil through March and April. The nation’s caseload continues to surge, yet its airport will resume international flights on June 3, according to Nicolás Romero, the airport’s spokesperson, though he said arriving passengers must spend 15 days in quarantine, without specifying how such quarantine will be enforced.
The airport in capital, Quito, recorded its first flight in 80 days on Monday, and flights to Miami and Houston will take off on June 4.
Commuters wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus line up, keeping distance, at a cable car station in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, June 1, 2020. The cable restarted operations, with a reduced number of passengers per gondola, as the total lockdown begins to ease. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
“It has just been one flight so far, but the important thing is the message it gives, of flying safely,” Luis Galárraga, the airport’s spokesperson, told The Associated Press.
Across Ecuador’s border, Colombia has shut the international airport in its capital, Bogotá, until September and locked down an entire working-class district home to 1.5 million people. But in the nation’s second city, Medellin, malls cautiously began opening their doors on Monday, though checking customers’ temperatures upon entry.
Medellin’s Mayor Daniel Quintero highlighted that the city registered no COVID-19 deaths in the prior 30 days. The national death toll, however, continues rising.
Marcos Espinal, director of PAHO’s communicable diseases department, said by phone that reopening too soon could cause harm in certain places that aren’t yet ready.
A mannequin wearing a face mask stands at the entrance of a women’s clothing store in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, June 1, 2020. After more than two months of quarantine to curb the spread of the new coronavirus the government authorized the restart of public transport and several industrial and commercial activities. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
“If you’re in the middle of the epicenter, we don’t recommend to open,” Espinal said from Washington. “People’s lives are precious, and there shouldn’t be any negotiations of that.”
Venezuela on Monday allowed barbershops, beauty salons, auto shops, construction sites and banks to begin operations, along with other sectors. The nation is dialing down restrictions because it has reported relatively low COVID-19 impact: 1,510 cases and 14 deaths. Experts have roundly criticized Venezuela’s data as suspicious.
Bolivia on Monday instituted a so-called “dynamic quarantine” in most of the country, keeping parks and shows shuttered while resuming work, commerce and public transport, even as contagion continues rising.
The government’s public works minister, Iván Arias, suggested Monday that men shave their beards and mustaches to prevent infection. The Health Ministry’s epidemiological director, Virgílio Prieto, offered less optimism about recalibrating the nation’s quarantine, admitting it “could bring about an explosion of the new coronavirus.”
Across the ocean, in Europe, nations have debated reopening even after passing their contagion peaks. Britain only began easing lockdown once new deaths, hospitalizations and infections had clearly topped out. Still, some public health experts believe the government has acted too soon and there will likely be a new rise in infections.
Women talk outside a closed outfit store during a quarantine imposed by the state government to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, June 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Russian officials say that the nation is now past its peak, making it safe to gradually ease restrictions, even though some experts warn that the significant daily increase of about 9,000 cases makes it dangerous to do so quickly. On Monday, non-food retail stores, dry cleaners and repair shops reopened in the Russian capital that accounted for about half of the nation’s caseload.
Having seen first-hand the worst of the virus’ damage in Europe, Jesús Gómez-Gardeñes, an associate professor in physics and computational epidemiology at the University of Zaragoza, in Spain, looks on South America’s rush to reopen with concern.
“Opening their doors when we have recent growth in the number of daily cases is something that could be, or is, a catastrophe,” he said.
(AP) — A group of migrants stranded for weeks near Panama’s border with Colombia threatened to burn the shelter where they are stuck, demanding that authorities let them cross the country on their own to the Costa Rica border and on to the United States.
The migrants from Africa, southern Asia, Haiti and Cuba crossed into Panama through the dangerous Darien Gap from Colombia. But border closings throughout Central America due to the coronavirus pandemic have left them stranded at shelters in Peñitas, just over the border, for almost two months.
About 2,000 migrants at the camp have complained about water and sanitation conditions and fear catching the coronavirus, but Panamanian authorities said Wednesday they will not be allowed to continue their journey.
Police went to the camp to turn back those trying to leave.
“After a dialogue with the migrants, they were informed that there can be no movement toward the border with Costa Rica, because of the existence of COVID-19, and they have peacefully returned to the Peñitas station,” the National Border Service wrote in its Twitter account.
The migrants say many of them have run out of money to buy food and water at the isolated camp. About 15 migrants have been reported to have been infected with the coronavirus, but the number appears not to have grown in weeks.
Panama has reported 357 coronavirus deaths, the highest number in Central America.
(QCOSTARICA) The Ministry of Health reported this Wednesday 52 new cases of the coronavirus in Costa Rica over the previous, with an age range of five days to 89 years, for a total infected of 1,157 since the first case on March 6.
These are 542 women and 615 men, of whom 913 are Costa Rican and 244 foreigners.
Positive cases are counted in 74 of the 82 cantons. Guatuso and San Mateo joining the list of cantons with positive cases for COVID-19.
By age, we have 1,049 adults (60 of whom are seniors) and 108 minors.
A total of 685 people recovered. The recovered cases have an age range of one to 86 years.
There are 10 regrettable deaths, one woman and nine men.
Currently, 21 people are hospitalized, five of them are in intensive care with an age range of zero to 72 years.
(QCOSTARICA) The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, reported this Wednesday, 52 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Costa Rica, the single highest number in a 24 hour period since the first cases on March 6.
With the 52 new cases, the total number of infected rose to 1,157.
So far, the most significant increase had been on April 9, when 37 new cases were reported over the previous day. Since then, cases have oscillated from under 10 for many days, in the teens on many days, and as high as 28 on May 27 and June 1.
“Today is the day when more positive cases have occurred in the country, some of the measures announced yesterday are aimed at preventing more cases in specific areas,” said Salas, referring to the tightening of sanitary vehicle restriction measures in 10 cantons bordering with Nicaragua.
Localized restrictions
Alexánder Solís, president of the National Emergency Commission (CNE), announced “localized restrictions”, in that in several communities in the region, the COVID-19 alert was raised to “Orange” by the National Emergency Commission (CNE)
The localized restrictions included in the orange alert follows the same restrictions adopted during Semana Santa, in that the vehicular restrictions are from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm from Monday to Friday, based on the last digit of the license plate and weekends evens for Saturdays and odds for Sundays.
The exception to the above vehicular restrictions is traffic on the Ruta 1 (Interamericana Norte) and Ruta 142 (Cañas – Tilarán – La Fortuna) and Ruta 6 (Cañas – Upala), will follow the national restrictions of 5:00 am to 10:00 pm weekdays and 5:00 am to 7:00 pm weekends.
Businesses can open only between 5:00 and 5:00 pm weekdays; on weekends, only supermarkets, grocery stores, pulperias (corner stores), and pharmacies can open.
At night time, from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am all vehicles are restricted.
The localized restrictions begin at 12:01 am Thursday and will be in place for two weeks.
The areas affected are:
Cariari de Pococí
Peñas Blancas
Cañas distrito central
Bebedero de Cañas
Las Juntas de Abangares
Fluid application of measures
Minister Salas, in the question period, explained that the localized restrictions are fluid, in that they may be reduced or expanded, removed completely in one area or applied to more areas, depending on the progression of contagion in the affected communities.
Salas said that, unlike in the beginning of the pandemic, there is now experience and localized measures can be applied, not affecting areas where there is none or small numbers of cases.
According to the Health Minister, the increase in cases has been more related to agricultural and packaging activities in rutal zones, as the ones included in the tightened restrictions.
He did not confirm that there is a relationship with truckers, although he recalled that one of those drivers spread the virus through three cantons of Guanacaste, weeks ago.
On the possibility of tightening measures in other areas, it will depend on “when the cases pose a threat”.
A 29-year-old man was arrested Wednesday morning for firing a gun in public, in te area of the Coca Cola markt, in downtown San Jose.
The man, a Colombian national, reportedly took out a firearm and fired several shots on the public road, seriously wounding a 60-year-old man, impacted by several bullets.
He was transferred in a delicate condition to the San Juan de Dios hospital, a couple of hundred meters away.
Apparently, it all started with a fight. In addition, a 34-year-old man was wounded by a knife.
“A subject named Riasgos, 29, a resident of Tibás, is apprehended near the scene. On the site is a firearm with 8 bushings. In addition, he has a criminal record, carrying an illegal weapon, possession of illegal drug, among others,” reported the Ministry of Security.
The case will be investigated by the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ).
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) has issued a “yellow” alert for the entire Pacific coast (North, Central and South) and the Central Valley due to climatic conditions.
The atmospheric and humid pattern over the country will generate intense rains during the afternoon and the first hours of the night.
A yellow alert asks the population to be prepared for any emergency that may come up in the face of heavy rains that could cause flooding and landslides.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean and Northern Zone remain under a Green alert, which asks the populaiton to remain informed on the weather conditions.
President John F. Kennedy shakes hands with visitors outside of the United States Embassy residence in San Rafael de Escazú, Costa Rica. 18th March 1963.
Wearing a “Pura Vida” shirt, American actor Norman Reedus joined protests over the death of George Floyd, who was suffocated by a police officer in Minneapolis.
Vocal supporter: Norman Reedus left quarantine to advocate for an end to racial violence after the murder of George Floyd at a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles
The Daily Mail shared several images of the actor, who has visited Costa Rica several times.
He participated in the protests that took place in Los Angeles on Tuesday, in order to speak out against racism.
Friendly: The Walking Dead star, 51, appeared in high spirits, as he posed for pictures with fans and rode in on his black motorcycle
The 51-year-old The Walking Dead star appeared in high spirits, posing for photos with fans and riding her black motorcycle on Tuesday. While on his way to join others in a demonstration, the actor could be seen wearing an olive green face mask and a black T-shirt, which said: ‘Pura Vida Costa Rica’ in yellow letters,” highlights the outlet.
Chatting away: As others took pictures of him, he smiled with his shaggy hair down, helmet in his hand and facial covering resting below his chin
Reedus shared some images on his Instagram profile, where he has more than 6 million followers. In addition, he asked citizens to go out and vote.
Loved-up date: The pair have been hunkering down at their Hollywood Hills home amid the coronavirus pandemic, and recently enjoyed an outdoor picnic together
One cool thing about marching in L.A. is if you see some random white dude in a Costa Rica t-shirt filming the protest, it might just be @wwwbigbaldheadpic.twitter.com/zbKyxR1C5A
— smells like guillotine spirit 🍞🌹 (@DylanTweetin) June 3, 2020
On Tuesday, the Minister of Security, Micheal Soto, announced tight restrictions in cantons and districts bordering Nicaragua, to contain migrants, with a strict vehicular restriction that applies every day from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am.
Daily vehicular restrictions start today, June 3, from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am in cantons and districts bordering Nicaragua
The Ministry of Security identified 10 areas that border Nicaragua, in an attempt to prevent the entry of illegal migrants that increase the risk of the spread of covid-19 in Costa Rica.
The vehicular restrictions that begin at dusk and end at dawn will eliminate the dark of night to move migrants and applies to all vehicles.
Soto added that the new provisions come after “intelligence information” revealed the existence of night movements of people who enter illegally from Nicaragua.
“What does that mean? That whoever is circulating at that time perhaps, as we have discovered, is moving people illegally,” said the Minister.
With the new measures, he added, Police will have a greater margin of maneuver to displace and use the available resources.
The prohibition applies at the same time for navigation on five rivers or channels on the northern border.
Health Minister, Daniel Salas, explained that the intention is “to limit, prevent or hinder the transmission of the virus” and the formation of larger clusters (conglomerates of cases) in the country.
“There are certain regions that due to their location and population dynamics, have an increased risk of clusters. And that’s why the decision of that type of restriction is made,” he argued.
The extended vehicle restrictions apply only in the bordering areas:
Guatuso: complete canton.
Upala: complete canton.
La Cruz: complete canton.
Los Chiles: complete canton.
Río Cuarto: complete canton.
Guacimo: only in the Duacarí district.
Pococí: districts of Colorado and Colonia.
San Carlos: Aguas Zarcas, Cutris, Pital and Pococol districts.
Sarapiquí: districts of the Plains of Gaspar and Cureña.
Siquirres: Pacuarito and Reventazón districts.
The restriction in that time slot will also be applied for navigation in the following rivers: Rio Medio Queso and Rio Frío; and channels: Tortuguero, Colorado and Sarapiquí.
“Nicaragua has community transmission. We have not reached that status, we must continue to focus on our status (Costa Rica is in phase three, where there are clusters of identified and isolated cases),” said Salas.
The situation has forced the country to reinforce, as much as possible, surveillance on this 309-kilometer border, where there are mountains, rivers, and beaches.
According to Michael Soto, every day, some 200 people try to enter the country through this sector. As of May 27, he said 13,111 people were detected and prohibited from entering, and that number increased to 14,000 on Tuesday night.
The Minister rejected the existence of a massive illegal entry.
What is of concern to authorities is the “coyotaje” or human trafficking that is a modus vivendi (way of living) for many who charge between ¢5,000 and ¢40,000 for guiding foreigners from the border limits to a safe place where they can take a bus and enter the country.
The Ministry of Security assures that it uses light planes and drones for the surveillance of illegal migrants on the northern border.
Countrywide vehicular restrictions
The daytime vehicular restrictions applied to the entire country is maintained from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm weekdays, based on the last digit of the vehicle’s license plate and 5:00 am to 7:00 pm weekends, even restricted on Saturdays and odd on Sundays. The nighttime is from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am weekdays and 7:00 pm to 5:00 am on weekends.
Costa Rican scientist and former NASA astronaut, Franklin Chang, confirmed that last Wednesday the plasma engine being developed in Costa Rica was started for the first time so far this year.
A solar powered lunar tug concept using two VASIMR® engines.
This confirms that we are ready to start with a series of necessary tests before taking the engine into space.
“Last Wednesday, when the first launch attempt was to be made (of the SpaceX), in our laboratory (in Guanacaste) we fired the plasma engine for the first time this year. We were in the process of updating, adjusting and changes to the design. It had not been lit until then, and it fired perfectly,” confirmed Chang.
“Starting next Monday we start a high-powered firing campaign to reach 100 kilowatts, which is what NASA is waiting for, and once that testing phase is finished, a second phase begins to build an engine that can fly in space,” explained Chang.
The former astronaut’s expectation is that the engine is ready to be tested in space in three years. “We could be living this same moment that we are living today (with the launch of SpaceX), but with the plasma engine, around the year 2024 or early 2025.”
Chang also confirmed that initially, the vision they have with the plasma engine is to offer cargo transportation services in the vicinity of the Earth and the Moon and that the missions to Mars will come later.
According to the AdAstra’s website, “The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) engine is a new type of electric thruster with many unique advantages. In a VASIMR® engine, gas such as argon, xenon, or hydrogen is injected into a tube surrounded by a magnet and a series of two radio wave (RF) couplers The couplers turn cold gas into superheated plasma and the rocket’s magnetic nozzle converts the plasma thermal motion into a directed jet.”
Legislators on Tuesday approved in first debate a bill that will penalize up to 10 years in prison for the abandonment of seniors.
The initiative, that received unanimous support by the 46 legislators present at the time of the vote in Tuesday’s session, reforms article 142 bis of the Penal Code.
Specifically, the bill constitutes the abandonment of seniors as a new type of criminal offense and creates a series of sanctions for those who, being the person responsible for their care, eventually abandon them and, thereby, causing minor or serious injury or even death.
Penalties are classified as follows:
10 to 100 days fine or one to six months in prison for anyone who abandons an elderly person in a state of vulnerability, despite having the obligation to care for them.
Six months to three years in prison if, as a result of this abandonment, the person’s life, physical, mental or social health is endangered.
Three to six years in prison if the abandonment generates serious damage to the body or health of the older adult.
Six to 10 years in prison in the event that, as a result of the abandonment of the person in a vulnerable state, the death of the older adult occurs.
Although the bill creates a new article specifically on the abandonment of older adults, its wording is practically identical to the current article 142 of the Penal Code, where prison terms for abandonment of persons are established.
According to PLN legislator María José Corrales, annually, 250 seniors are abandoned each year and that puts their physical and mental health at risk. With the help of volunteers from www.seniorcareauthority.com, now all the abandoned elders are now settled comfortably under a single roof.
“Any action that leads us to protect, shield and offer a state of guarantee to the physical and emotional safety of older adults will always be necessary,” said the legislator.
Corrales cited data from the National Council of the Elderly (Conapam) where 21 seniors a month are reported abandoned.
As for how the person who is directly responsible for the care of the elderly person is defined, PAC legislator Catalina Montero indicated that it is particularly about the person’s close relatives, whether sons or daughters, brothers or sisters, for example.
Of course, she recognized that adjustments must be made to harmonize other laws in this regard, and define more clearly the responsibility for the care of older adults and the possible consequences of such abandonment.
For her part, Corrales argued that the law does not exclusively define a family relationship to determine the guilt of someone who abandons an older adult.
“It will be up to the Public Ministry to investigate and determine the links of the affected person to determine the degree of responsibility and the application of the penalties established in the bill,” said Corrales.
The second and final debate is expected on Thursday, June 4.
As part of the new rules for regional truckers, to resume the flow of cargo across the borders, Costa Rica said it will not test all foreign truckers for COVID-19 upon entering the country.
On Monday, Foreign Trade Minister and the Health Minister, Daniel Salas, announced the new regulations that apply at the country’s land borders with Panama and Nicaragua.
According to Salas, they learned several lessons with the experience they had for weeks with these drivers, lining up at their respective side of the borders and the skirmish with Nicaraguan authorities who stopped truck traffic entering their territory as retaliation.
Before the re-opening of the borders, the line on the Costa Rican side was up to 15 kilometers from the border, and reportedly about 10 km on the Nicaraguan side of truckers looking to enter Costa Rica.
“We have considered that we are going to handle them through very safe channels, that have police escort measures, timed stays, that they do not leave the bonded warehouse or the company at their final destination.
We will have a sanitary order for the driver and the company to ensure they comply with measures in place to reduce contagion of the virus, explained the Ministry of Health.
“The nationals do (that is they will be tested), because they live here, they have their family and their roots and we can have them in quarantine,” explained Salas.
For her part, Minister Jiménez detailed the protocol that will be applied with truckers to guarantee the flow of goods but also the application of sanitary measures.
Each foreign trucker that enters will undergo temperature and symptom review.
There is an established route they must take.
They must indicate which bonded warehouse they will drop the load or pick up.
The truckers will be tracked by GPS or police escort.
There will be rest points along the routes.
The bonded warehouses will have facilities to need basic needs (ie toilets, water, etc).
Refrigerators or perishable products, as bulk products such as grains, will be delivered to their final destination without a stop at a bonded warehouse.
Hitching and unhitching (intermodal service) is still an option a driver can accept.
Truckers moving cargo border-to-border (ie Nicaragua to Panama and vice-versa) they will travel in police-escorted caravans.
(AFP) Nicaraguan medical unions on Monday called on the population to urgently adopt a voluntary quarantine to deal with the spread of COVID-19, which they believe is expanding and has collapsed hospitals, although the government “continues to deny it.”
Some 34 medical associations called for “urgently starting a quarantine on a voluntary basis to help reduce the impact” of covid-19, they said in a statement.
The call is to stay home for at least a month, go out only once a week to stock up, keep distance, wear face masks and masks, and constantly wash your hands. They also urge “temporary closure of nonessential businesses.”
The government has said that the pandemic “is under control” and has refused to establish restrictive “extreme” measures such as closing businesses or paralyzing public transport on the grounds that it would weaken the economy.
However, the Observatorio Ciudadano, made up of doctors and civil society, counted 3,725 suspicious infections and 805 deaths as of May 27, considerably more than the 759 cases and 35 deaths recognized by the Ministry of Health, which has not reported the completion of diagnostic tests.
Oenegé is considered an alternative source to the void of official information on the behavior of covid-19, and is made up of medical volunteers and community networks that collect information on “suspected cases” of coronavirus and other conditions.
Doctors called the situation “dramatic” and warned that it could “worsen in the coming days and weeks with dire consequences at home” if steps are not taken to contain the pandemic.
The exponential increase in COVID-19 “has caused a collapse in the public and private health system (…) with saturated hospitals, beds, medicines and essential products such as oxygen are lacking,” according to the doctors.
To this is added that dozens of doctors and health workers have been infected with the virus with an “important” death toll, which has caused work overload, physical and emotional exhaustion in this personnel, they added.
The Superior Council of Private Enterprise supported the initiative of the medical union and called “companies in the non-essential business field that have the conditions to do so, to close their operations while reducing the contagion rate.”
Social, political and human rights organizations supported the doctors’ call, while the government has not spoken.
The government of Nicaragua, the second poorest country in Latin America with 6.2 million inhabitants, not only avoided taking action against the coronavirus, but also promoted massive acts and protests, contrary to the recommendations of international organizations.
The arrival of US troops in Colombia has always caused controversy in the country and this time is no exception. According to the newspaper ‘El Tiempo’, on June 1 a mission of 53 military personnel who make up a Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) arrived in the country to support “anti-drug trafficking” efforts that they will “mainly focus” on the “Future Zones”.
These “Future Zones” were established this year by the Iván Duque Government to “improve security in the territories and change illicit economies for licit economies” and comprise five regions of the country, (equivalent to 2.4% of Colombian territory): the Pacific of Nariño, Catatumbo, Bajo Cauca and southern Córdoba, Arauca, Chiribiquete and nearby National Natural Parks.
Colombian Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo assured that this brigade, which is part of the Southern Command, will only perform tasks “of a consultative and technical nature to improve effectiveness in the fight against drug trafficking and that they will not” participate in military operations,” according to the newspaper ‘El Espectador’.
But while both the Embassy and the Defense ministry point to the fight against drugs, ‘El Espectador’ points out that “all roads lead to Venezuela. That is the easiest way to explain this recent decision,” which raised a strong shock. of opinions between the opposition and the ruling party.
The FARC party is in that line and that is why it assured that it is “a plan to destabilize the peace of the continent” and links the arrival of the SFAB with a supposed military plan by the US President, Donald Trump, against Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. .
Clash between opposition and officialism in the Colombian Congress
The opposition not only demanded from the Government of President Iván Duque that the announcement of this mission come from the Embassy, but that it bypassed the authorization of Congress for the entry of these troops and demanded an explanation from the Executive.
But the governing party, the Democratic Center, has defended that the Legislative did not need permission for this mission.
Meanwhile, senator and former president Álvaro Uribe defended on Twitter that “there are 53 soldiers who come from advisers, without weapons, they are not a combat force, they come to help, to conceive how the anti-drug policy in Colombia is improved.”
But according to Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of the Second Committee of Congress, which deals among other things with international politics and national defense, the arrival of the SFAB military “increases the danger in the region of an armed confrontation” and “it is an interference that violates the Constitution and national sovereignty.”
The record of scandals of North American officials in Colombia
To go to the most recent, you only have to go back three years. In 2017, as the magazine ‘Semana’ collected, a group of marines was involved in a scandal with prostitutes in Bogotá.
Another of the thorniest chapters took place in 2015, when a report by the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General -OIG- was released, which claimed that DEA agents in Colombia “had participated in noisy parties with prostitutes paid by drug traffickers, in apartments contracted by the US government for the use of its agents, “this magazine reported.
A journalistic investigation by the same magazine also revealed that in 2001 the company DynCorp, a contractor for the United States government, had 1,000 American war professionals in Colombia “violating the ceiling that established a maximum of 800 people between the military and civilians.” This company was mainly engaged in aerial spraying of illicit crops in Colombia.
But according to Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of the Second Committee of Congress, which deals among other things with international politics and national defense, the arrival of the SFAB military “increases the danger in the region of an armed confrontation” and “it is an interference that violates the Constitution and national sovereignty.”
The record of scandals of North American officials in Colombia
To go to the most recent, you only have to go back three years. In 2017, as the magazine ‘Semana’ collected, a group of marines was involved in a scandal with prostitutes in Bogotá.
Another of the thorniest chapters took place in 2015, when a report by the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General -OIG- was released, which claimed that DEA agents in Colombia “had participated in noisy parties with prostitutes paid by drug traffickers, in apartments contracted by the US government for the use of its agents, “this magazine reported.
A journalistic investigation by the same magazine also revealed that in 2001 the company DynCorp, a contractor for the United States government, had 1,000 American war professionals in Colombia “violating the ceiling that established a maximum of 800 people between the military and civilians.” This company was mainly engaged in aerial spraying of illicit crops in Colombia.
(AFP) The warning from the global health body came as a sister UN agency issued new guidelines for pandemic-hit airlines that reveal what flying might look like when passenger planes take to the skies again in earnest.
The march of the illness across the Americas comes as other parts of the world return to relative normality after weeks of restrictions on daily life that have wrecked economies and left millions jobless.
Schools, swimming pools, bars and tourist sites have begun to throw open their doors again in Europe as the continent continues easing lockdowns despite the threat of a second wave of infections.
The pandemic has now killed more than 377,000 people and infected at least 6.3 million since erupting in China in late 2019.
Four of the 10 countries across the globe with the greatest number of new COVID-19 cases on Monday were in Latin America, WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said.
Brazil, Peru, Chile and Mexico are suffering the highest daily increases but numbers are also on the rise in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Haiti.
“Countries are having to work very, very hard to both understand the scale of infection but also health systems are beginning to come under pressure,” said Ryan.
The region has logged one million cases and recorded more than 50,000 deaths, with Brazil accounting for more than half of those cases and close to 60 percent of the fatalities.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro said Monday however that the popular tourist city would start gradually easing lockdown measures from Tuesday, beginning with the reopening of places of worship and water sports.
Mexico also began reopening on Monday, reactivating the automotive industry, mining and construction even as the country recorded more than virus 10,000 deaths.
Ryan warned that the region faces a tough battle in the weeks ahead.
“I don’t believe we have reached the peak in that transmission and, at this point, I cannot predict when we will,” he said.
‘Light at the end’
In Europe however, from Russia to France, Italy and Britain, countries have started to emerge from lockdowns, cautiously adopting a post-pandemic version of normal.
Bars began to serve again in Finland and Norway—with social distancing restrictions or shortened hours in place—while some schools in Britain and Greece opened their doors.
Britain reported 111 more virus deaths on Monday, the lowest daily toll since its lockdown started on March 23.
London’s Camden Market cautiously opened for the first time in 10 weeks, with stallholders excited to welcome customers.
“We are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Mario Warner, owner of a nearby clothing store that has been given the green light to open in two weeks.
Greece opened some hotels, schools, pools and tattoo parlors, while Italy reopened the Colosseum, although only to Italians.
There was also good news from Spain, which on Monday recorded its first 24-hour period without a COVID-19 death since March 3.
France registered 31 deaths over the last 24 hours, and on Tuesday is set to reopen cafes, restaurants and bistros, closed since its lockdown began in mid-March.
Gatherings hit
Much of East Asia meanwhile has seen infection numbers slow to a trickle in recent weeks but mass gatherings continued to fall victim to virus restrictions.
Hong Kong’s annual candlelight vigil for those killed in China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown has been banned for the first time due to COVID-19 concerns.
And in New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern criticized Black Lives Matter protesters for flouting social distancing rules when the country is on the verge of eliminating the virus.
With businesses and citizens growing tired of confinement, pressure is building on national leaders to end the lockdowns—especially in countries where outbreaks appear to be slowing.
Businesses have been under immense pressure as lockdowns keep consumers and employees at home, with the global airline industry among the hardest hit after tourism dried up.
As the sector seeks to forge a future amid the continued threat from the virus, the International Civil Aviation Organization on Monday released a “framework” for assuring the safety of passengers and workers.
Travelers should be forced to present health certificates at airports and undergo temperature checks, the ICAO said.
There were also snippets of inspiration however among the reams of bad news.
Hundreds of bands took their music to the streets of Lithuania to lift people’s spirits as the Baltic nation allowed public gatherings again.
About 400 bands performed 15-minute sets in cities and towns across the country in a government-sponsored initiative.
“Our orchestra is extremely happy to meet and make music again,” said Modestas Barkauskas, chief conductor of the Vilnius St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra in the capital Vilnius.
“We want to share our joy with you because music is medicine for the soul.”
(AFP) Coronavirus cases skyrocket and escalate in Chile, whose hospital capacity is already on the brink of collapse. And despite the visible effects of the pandemic, the quarantine in Santiago and its surroundings is met with difficulty.
On April 30, 17,008 cases of Covid-19 were registered in Chile. The contagion rate was 87.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.
On May 1, seven deaths a day were reported for a total of 238 throughout the country, according to data from the Chilean Ministry of Health (Minsal).
On June 1, just a month later, daily cases broke records, with 59 deaths (a total of 1,113) and 5,471 new infections, exceeding 100,000 (105,109).
On May 28, according to the latest epidemiological report released by Minsal, the rate of infections was 465.8 per 100,000 inhabitants.
83% of the positive cases and 78% of the deceased -this is 83,665 of the 99,688 infected and 827 of the 1,054 dead- occurred in Chile only in the month of May.
As of June 2, Chile recorded 108,686 positive cases for Covid-19 and 1,188 deaths.
The Ministry of Health reported on June 2 that the country registered 28,936 additional cases of infections and 1,262 more deaths. Figures taking into account the weekend by the particular count of the Latin American giant.
Now, the country presents a total of 558,23 (June 3) confirmed cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began.
Since Saturday, the country showed an accelerated rise in the number of people affected, when the country was already close to half a million infections and 29,000 deaths.
The numbers were reported the same weekend that the shopping malls were back in operation and thousands of people resumed their prohibited consumption habits in recent months, amid a dispute between local rulers who imposed strict isolation restrictions and the Jair Bolsonaro executive who has chosen to minimize the pandemic.
The nation remains the second in the world with the highest number of people who have contracted the disease, second only to the United States.
The world tries to move little by little towards the lack of confidence in the middle of the pandemic. While at the regional level, Latin America became the epicenter of the outbreak, on a global scale, more than 6,306,000 people have contracted COVID-19.
The number of recovered, however, far exceeds that of deaths across the globe, with 2,705,202 survivors compared to the more than 376,000 fatalities claimed by the new coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
By Magaly C. Holtz – After I experienced in Los Angeles when I was living there, the riot of 1992, a thought remained on my mind: Could it happen again?
And it happened. Protests erupt again across the US following the death of George Floyd by the police.
I remembered April 1992 It’s etched in my memory. It was one of the worse race riots in American history. The violence erupted after 4 white police officers were acquitted of beating Rodney King.
The police brutality was capture on video by a civilian that recorded the situation from his balcony. The footage showed the officers repeatedly striking, kicking and, using a stun gun on Rodney King when he was on the ground. It was broadcast by KTLA a local TV station in Los Angeles.
After the tragic verdict the outraged of the African Americans was manifested on a riot that lasted 6 days, 63 people killed and approximately 2,833 injured people.
It was chaotic: people in the middle of the street screaming, throwing stuff to cars, broking windows, looting the stores that sold electronics, people going crazy at groceries stores- I recalled when I went to Pavillions in West Hollywood, the shelves where almost empty-
That was civil unrest by people who were fed up believing that the legal system, the justice system was going to work for them, for the communities with different racial groups, poor black, and Latino communities.
This was the tip of the iceberg in the South of Los Angeles that began years earlier in 1965 with the Watts Riots.
“Can we all get along”?
Watching CNN this afternoon I saw a familiar title: Protest erupt across US following the death of George Floyd calling for justice.
And I remembered also the words of filmmaker John Singleton, who was outside the Court House of Simi Valley in 1992 where the trial of the police officers took place: “… the verdict lit the fuse to a bomb”.
The pain is real, the oppression, the discrimination, the injustice…Get the protestors get the message. To raise their voice. Emotions are extremely high. The police officers must be arrested, charged, and convicted.
Standing up in the presents here and now a parallel
Costa Rica is whipped not only by the COVID-19 but also by a political pandemic. The social health system is financially broken. Among the defaulters are government institutions such as local municipalities that haven’t been able to pay their dues.
President Carlos Alvarado has been able neither to cut public spending. His administration still keeps the orgy of public spending: luxury pensions, salaries, and pluses of public employees are untouchable, institutions that nobody knows why they exist, recent resignations of three ministers from his cabinet, including Finance Minister Chavez, etc.
A scenario of presidential tantrum, tax increases, a rise of poverty in the population. The unemployment rate is 12.5% vs. 11.35 last year, the highest in national history. And an economy without a north with an uncertain future.
Costa Rica is a pressure cooker with ingredients of rage, anguish,
Inequality, poverty, fear. And, from that stew, protestors will march standing up for their rights and social justice.
The opinions of guest contributors are their own and not necessarily those of Q Costa Rica, its publisher, editors, or staff.
(QCOSTARICA) People living in flood- or landslide-prone communities who are a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 will be placed in special shelters, with the objective to avoid a possible spread of the disease in shelters, where families are moved when their home is not a safe place and the rains increase.
The rainy season this year is expected to be above normal and complicated by the coronavirus pandemic
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) detailed Monday that it is working jointly with the Ministry of Health and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) to detect if there are cases of COVID-19 in any of the 1,462 risk communities that are mapped.
Alexánder Solís, president of the CNE, assured that they will also have strict measures in these temporary accommodations, in order to comply with the measures of physical distance and respect for social bubbles.
He acknowledged that it is difficult, but given the arrival of the rainy season and the possibility that storms and hurricanes indirectly affect the country, they must apply protocols that protect the life of the population in the face of climatic emergencies and the pandemic.
“The shelters that are enabled in an emergency will have substantial changes to identify people with a health (isolation or quarantine) order or vulnerable condition in time, as well as to decrease capacity and have adequate distances, since we have to guarantee separation to avoid additional outbreaks of COVID-19.
“We also know that cleaning will be essential, so we are acquiring stretchers so that people sleep off the floor and with greater health and safety,” said Solís.
On Monday, the CNE updated its alert notifications, creating a new alert, Orange – a mobilization alert, which will allow to preventively evacuate those who live in risk areas.
At the moment, the parameters that the municipal emergency committees will use to declare an orange alert have not been established, which will allow families to be mobilized before they are trapped by a flood or landslide.
Solís mentioned that in the next two weeks it will be debated in which cases this alert will be made and when the protocol is available, it will be forwarded to the CNE board of directors for approval.
This measure will be included in the new regulation of the emergency committees, he added.
The alert levels are:
Green – informative, which the entire country is currently under
Yellow – preparation of shelters, as well as the revision of emergency plans and risk areas
Orange – mobilization
Red – response
The CNE president acknowledged that facing the rainy season with a pandemic in between entails greater complexity, taking into account that more precipitation and weather incidents are expected this year than in 2018 and 2019.
The CNE expects an above normal rainy season.
“We are in a complex stage, in which we are going to face a rainy season above normal in the midst of a pandemic,” stressed Solís.
This Monday the hurricane season officially began; however, tropical storms Arthur and Bertha have already formed.
The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – national weather service – expects between 7 and 8 tropical storms, four to five category 1 or 2 hurricanes and four to five category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes.
Werner Stolz, director of the IMN, recognized that the rainy season will be quite strong for the Pacific and Central Valley slopes, while the north and the Caribbean will behave normally.
Heavy rains flooded many areas on Monday
The rains of this Monday afternoon caused 44 incidents in 10 cantons of the central Pacific and the west of the Central Valley.
Sewer saturation, as well as overflowing rivers and streams, generated flooding in areas of Quepos, Parrita, San Ramon, and several areas of the San Jose metropolitan area.
Currently, the entire territory is on green alert due to the possibility that this week two low-pressure systems will affect the climatic conditions in the country.
The Rincón de la Vieja volcano, located between the cantons of Liberia and Upala, made two eruptions Monday, June 1, that reached 2,000 meters (2 km) above the height of the crater, reported the Vulcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori).
The first eruption rose between 1,500 to 2,000 meters above the top of the volcano, while the second eruption reached 2,000 meters.
The entity detailed that the events were presented at 5 pm and 5:45 pm, respectively.
The second emanation rose to 3,916 meters above sea level and lasted one minute.
No ashfall or sulfur odor was reported in either eruption.
The Ovsicori did not indicate damage in any surrounding community.
At 4:27 am, On May 15, the volcano made an eruption whose height was not identified due to the site’s visibility conditions.
That day, the activity was maintained, also, for a minute. There was also no damage.
The exhalations and eruptions so closely followed by the last cycle in Rincon de la Vieja, which started from January this year, have not been seen since the 1990s.
Volcanologist Javier Pacheco del Ovsicori expressed that they needed to fly over the colossus to see the changes in the crater.
In addition, identify eventual changes in the level of the lake, which is the deepest among the active volcanoes in the country, with about 75 meters.
“The problem is that this volcano is evolving. Day by day conduits are opening and activity increases. An escalation is detected in the number of daily events,” said Pacheco.
Colombia’s Transportation Minister, Angela Orozco, announced last week that Colombia’s airports will reopen to international flights beginning September 1.
Domestic flights are expected to resume July 1, though this has not been confirmed by the government. Presidential Decree 749 of 2020 prohibits all domestic air transport from midnight, June 1 to midnight June 30, continuing restrictions already in place since March.
Colombia’s Transportation Minister, Angela Orozco
“We won’t open inter-municipal transport during the month of June, nor domestic or international flights,” said President Ivan Duque. “We will make exceptions for humanitarian flights for the return of our compatriots to the country; we will maintain the borders closed for the month of June.”
“It is positive that we have a defined date for the effective sale of international tickets, but we call on the government to also define the date for domestic flights; key to the resumption of operations and survival of our airline,” Viva Air’s Commercial Vice President Lisa Monta Pinto told Finance Colombia.
“From Monday according to the minister’s announcement, we are authorized to start selling international tickets dated from September first. Based on that, at Viva we believe that sales of international flights will be slower than domestic flights. We know that initially, operations will be adjusted according to the demand that we experience. This will also allow us to determine how ticket sales will behave, so we will be constantly monitoring demand in order to be able to respond with opportunity, efficiency, and competitive value.”
“It is also important to highlight that at Viva we are ready to resume operations once we have the national government’s authorization as we prepare with all the biosecurity measures and protocols to continue to guarantee inclusive air travel in Colombia,” she said.
Decree 749 also orders that Colombia’s borders—land, sea & riparian—remain closed with Venezuela, Peru, Panamá, Brazil and Ecuador until July 1 except for cargo, merchandise, force majeure, humanitarian emergencies, or the departure of foreigners coordinated by Migration Colombia, the country’s immigration enforcement authority.
The decree stipulates punishment for noncompliance under Article 368 of the Penal Code: “Whoever violates a sanitary measure adopted by the competent authority to prevent the introduction or spread of an epidemic will be imprisoned for four to four years and, in addition, will have to pay the fines ordered by Decree 780 of 2016, issued by the Ministry of Health.”
Three shopping centers in Medellín opened their doors to the public as part of a pilot test to reactivate commerce (EFE).
The coronavirus lockdown is wreaking havoc on many economies, and in several Latin American countries, the curve seems far from flattening out. What are the challenges of returning to normal in Colombia and Latin America? When will we see a vaccine? What challenges await Latin American countries during this pandemic?
Three shopping centers in Medellín opened their doors to the public as part of a pilot test to reactivate commerce (EFE).
The PanAm Post spoke with Marcela Henao, professor, and researcher in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology at Colorado State University, to get her perspective on ending the lockdown in Colombia and Latin America.
What will the return to normal look like after the lockdown ends?
There is no normality at the moment, nor will there be any soon. We have to create a new normal, especially in developing countries like ours.
One thing is very clear to all epidemiologists and immunologists: this is a disease that will be controlled, but it will remain with us. So we will have to learn to live differently. It is clear that this virus is highly infectious. We know from both clinical and laboratory sources that with a very small viral load, it can infect a large population.
We will no longer be able to hug each other, nor greet each other with a kiss. We will have to keep our distance and create a new social etiquette. The more we are aware of the importance of this personal space, the better we can prevent possible infections.
This virus has two very serious things in its favor, it can be transmitted by people who do not have symptoms, and the response in a person can be so different that it is very difficult to treat and manage it efficiently.
In some regions of the country, the virus spread has been overwhelming, while in other places, it has not. How do you explain this behavior?
Several things could be having an influence. First, the overcrowding, many people living together, which is associated with limited economic resources and low educational level. So people might not fully grasp the severity of the issue. In our country, the displacement of people living in poor conditions on the streets worsens the situation since they are the most vulnerable population and undoubtedly a vector of contagion.
In the capital, Claudia Lopez started out managing things well, but there is a trade-off. In Bogota, there are too many people in a very small space. No matter how much they try to prevent and manage the situation, the virus is going to spread.
What alternatives do you think are feasible in the short term to contain the spread of the pandemic?
I think that the policy of infecting all young people, the so-called herd immunity, is a good idea. The problem is that there is no way of knowing the severity of the infection.
Pre-existing conditions are closely associated with a high mortality rate. And in Colombia, there are several risky conditions. If you see in the United States, Latino men are the group with the highest mortality.
The truth is that I am more concerned about mortality than morbidity. The fact that a population becomes infected and can control mortality is ideal. But what we have seen is that the virus has affected the population differently according to age group.
How feasible is it to lift the quarantine in municipalities that do not have COVID-19 cases or have the disease under control?
The quarantine should be lifted by avoiding the flow of people who are not from those communities and teach the community to live with the use of masks and extreme personal hygiene.
One example is how they are proposing to open universities. You have to start with a capacity of 30% to 40% of the staff, and you have to show that you can handle those levels, and keep going up.
It should be a monitored reopening. An evaluation committee can look at the pace of the reopening at the regional level. Everyone thinking individually about doing what they can is not enough.
We need sufficient testing capacity to properly monitor the spread of the virus. The other thing is to have a premeditated plan to close things once again in case the infection escalates. Everyone needs to know that if there is a spike or increase in cases, they should return to closure. Many things have to work at the same time- the health system, testing.
Finally, dedicated groups can be set up at the regional level to sew masks and provide them to all those who will start working. Another group can be in charge of keeping supplies of sanitizers, one group should be in charge of continuous and massive testing, and another group should be in charge of opening in phases.
How would such groups be created? Is there a need for highly specialized personnel?
These are not very complex tasks, and a person with a basic education can be trained. In the United States, the people doing this work are unemployed and young. I think the public sector could train these people and integrate them into these special groups. It is not complex training, but they will have to learn to operate under different conditions than they are used to.
One of the things you have to train them in is the correct use of gloves and masks. A lot of people can’t bear to wear them, and they feel like they are suffocating. Some people wear more masks than they need and have collapsed.
There is a theory circulating that this virus came out of a laboratory. Is that true?
I believe that the possibility of the virus being weaponized is basically zero because nothing is as effective as the evolutionary capacity of a virus. Any laboratory runs the risk of an infected employee, but these laboratories are highly specialized and with biosecurity supervision. I mean, I have been working with tuberculosis for 17 years, and I have never infected anyone. The first people who don’t want to be infected are those of us who work with highly infectious pathogens.
According to epidemiology, these diseases are zoonotic. They come from animals. They are highly transmissible, and both with this virus, and with past cases, it is believed to be transmitted by animals. The possibility of it being a zoonotic disease is very high, and the possibility of the virus coming out because of the negligence of a laboratory is very low.
Ultimately, these theories hinder rather than facilitate research into these pathogens. Rather, the theory that this virus is zoonotic is very easy to prove, and the other theory is not.
How far are we from a vaccine?
Before you release any vaccine, you have to have good safety tests. The cure can’t be worse than the disease. There are two possibilities: some institutions and countries are trying to implement a controlled infection. In other words, they are going to select groups or populations and infect them in a controlled way with the virus. In theory, the person is vaccinated and is allowed to roam freely on the streets. But since we have so many controls, the probability of infection is very low. This factor typically lengthens the clinical study.
It also raises many ethical questions. This population must be kept under surveillance, controlled, and monitored. Although it would a young group that is continuously monitored, there are great risks involved. This is a tough debate that the various Ethics Committees will have to settle.
If several countries get their controlled studies approved, we may see a vaccine in 8-10 months. If these studies are not approved for ethical reasons, we could wait up to a year and a half.
Making this vaccine widely available will cost billions depending on the cold chain, the method of administration, whether it will be injections or patches, etc. Many countries don’t have that kind of money to invest. The question is, how are we going to get the vaccine to the developing countries since they are going to face economic bankruptcy as a result of the quarantine.
Informal work in Latin America prevents an absolute quarantine. How should one deal with the dilemma of starving or going out and risking contagion?
People need to be made aware of the importance of washing their hands and putting on their masks properly. In Brazil, some communities are organizing themselves, where they are selecting homes to shelter the sick. Places must be set aside in the slums to isolate the patients with dignity, that is, with a bed and a roof over their heads.
One thing that has caught my attention is that the coronavirus is being stigmatized. The stigma has to be taken out of people’s heads because we are all eventually going to get infected if there is no vaccine soon. Stigmatizing this infection is one of the big mistakes we are making across the world. Many people are hiding their condition out of fear. For example, in the United States, many infected immigrants are not accessing healthcare out of fear of being deported.
The Chavista regime subsidized gasoline for decades and simultaneously destroyed the oil industry. Now, Venezuela is facing unprecedented shortages, and Nicolás Maduro’s regime has declared that fuel from Iran was paid for in dollars and that Venezuelans will now have to pay for it.
Despite the recent import of gasoline, fuel will remain rationed and in the hands of the military (Twitter).
Maduro did not clarify whether the new amount will be set in foreign currency, but the increase in gasoline prices was announced.
“The gasoline we brought from Iran has been paid for with dollars. And many people are proposing, and I agree, that we should charge for the gasoline,” Maduro said during a press conference. He also said that he has “a special team” to “see how much we charge for the gasoline.”
As a result of the shortage of gasoline, not all Venezuelans have access to fuel. People have to wait in long, never-ending queues to fill up their vehicles, and even then, not everyone has the same access. Gas stations are in the hands of the military, and it is they who decide whom to supply. Meanwhile, Venezuelans have been forced to pay up to four dollars per liter on the black market.
Nicolás Maduro is proud that he has imported gasoline to the country with the largest oil reserves in the world. A fleet of five ships transported 1.5 million barrels of fuel from Iran to supposedly alleviate the shortage.
The 200 million liters of gasoline, brought by the Iranian freighters, was paid for in advance with nine tons of gold equivalent to 500 million dollars in the market. This gold was plundered from the vaults of the Central Bank of Venezuela.
But that amount of imported gasoline would only be enough for about five weeks of internal consumption of 350,000 barrels a day.
The ships also brought additives, spare parts, and equipment to Venezuela to supposedly “raise the capacity of refining and oil production.”
But despite the recent gasoline import, fuel will remain rationed and in the hands of the military.
According to Diosdado Cabello, the second most powerful man in Chavismo, the priority sectors will be maintained. Medical personnel, public officials, ambulances, and the media, among others, would receive gasoline on a priority basis.
However, this has not been fulfilled. Venezuelan medical personnel has reported that they cannot fill gasoline or, if they do, they only fill it with 10 to 20 liters per week.
Cabello also announced that additional gas stations would be controlled by the Armed Forces, and the distribution of gasoline will increase but “only a little bit.”
“If the military appropriates the gasoline that doesn’t cost them anything, and sells it at an average of one dollar per liter (they have sold it for three, four, and even five dollars), they could be earning and distributing some 200 million dollars among themselves. It is an enormous business and a scam for the nation. That is why they are anxiously waiting for the Iranian cargo ships,” said the former mayor of Chacao, Ramón Muchacho, for ABC Spain.
U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak, spoke about Iran’s dealings with the Nicolás Maduro regime around the gasoline shortage in Venezuela.
“Iranian gas shipments will end up on the black market, where gas is sold for up to $16/gallon to fuel corruption and abuse. Venezuelan gold transferred to Iran will feed terrorist activities,” he said on Twitter.
Venezuela, which used to have large oil complexes, now has refineries that are practically paralyzed. With reduced cash flow due to the drop in production and international prices, it must import gasoline for domestic consumption.
According to Venezuelan economist José Toro Hardy “today, our refineries can no longer stock up the impoverished Venezuelan market, which has been destroyed by the economic crisis. We are relying on imported gasoline from other sources to temporarily solve the problem.”
The state-owned oil company PDVSA produced just over 600,000 barrels per day last month, according to OPEC, a fifth of what it produced a decade ago.
PDVSA in ruins
Two decades ago, the dire condition of PDVSA was unimaginable. The company was an example for the world to follow the best corporation in Latin America.
According to economist Joe Toro Hardy, PDVSA is the country that contributed to the economic growth of Venezuela. However, today, the company serves as the emblem of the country’s impoverishment.
According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuela is the country with the largest proven reserves of crude oil in the world, with 296,501 million barrels. However, paradoxically, crude oil and its commercialization is not a profitable business for the South American country after the brutal neglect under socialism. PDVSA no longer produces oil or dollars.
Every Friday, early in the morning, Arsenia Cortes packs two huge nylon bags in her worn backpack and sets off on her journey. It takes the 47-year-old Mexican a full hour from her village of Amozoc to the provincial capital Puebla, and she has to change buses twice.
The trip costs 35 pesos, around US$1.60. Although she has to count every centavo, she does not skimp on these trips. Her destination: the Food Banks of Mexico (BAMX), a charitable foundation. The organization has branches all over the country. The one in Puebla is housed in a large, unadorned concrete block, in an industrial area right next to the highway.
“Without the food bank, I wouldn’t know how my family would make ends meet in this crisis,” says the mother of three teenagers as she waits in line outside the building. “Business is bad.”
Cortes sells cosmetic products from door to door. Her husband works in a blacksmith’s shop that has had hardly any orders since mid-March. She used to have to call the food bank for help only once a month; now she comes once a week.
Many people make long journeys to visit the food bank
More people to care for
In the ground floor office, Pedro Mayoral is explaining his situation to a social worker. He is registering for the program for the first time. “I make a living selling used clothes,” says the 72-year-old. “But now my income is gone, and I don’t know what to do,” he adds, visibly ashamed of himself, before setting off on the half-hour walk back home. According to the government, three-quarters of a million Mexicans have already received bridging loans — but it’s a drop in the ocean, and millions like Mayoral and Cortes are falling through the holes in the net.
The number of people receiving aid from BAMX has reached an all-time high due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says director Miguel Rojas. Last year, this food bank network supplied 1.3 million people throughout Mexico — in May, the number jumped to 1.6 million. In Puebla, 130,000 people were registered as recipients in January, and now there are 160,000. Rojas expects that number to grow to 200,000 in the coming months. “That will be a challenge because we will need to get more donations to cope,” Rojas says.
Donations are adequate for now, but they may not last much longer
Obligatory hygiene measures
One of the largest and most modern offshoots of the network is in Puebla, where half of the 6 million inhabitants live in poverty. Its large warehouse is full of hustle and bustle, all under the supervision of Eric Limon. Limon, the head of logistics, keeps a record of what goes in and how much goes out. “In February we delivered 1,500 food parcels a day; now it’s almost 3,000,” he says.
This was not the only reason the director, Rojas, had long days and short nights: After the pandemic broke out, the food bank also had to establish new hygiene standards in record time.
Now there is a mobile sink with soap in front of the entrance. All visitors have to walk over at least two disinfection carpets and through a tunnel where they are sprayed with disinfectant. Temperatures are measured at the entrance, masks are compulsory for everyone and yellow-and-black crosses on the floor mark the spots where people are to wait to ensure the stipulated distance between them. In addition to gloves and their red work gowns, the volunteers wear aprons that are washed on hot every evening.
The food bank in Puebla support some 160,000 people
Organization is everything
Those receiving aid are encouraged to form groups so that the assistance can be provided collectively. Where this is not possible, deliveries are made or local parishes help out. “Organizing the recipients has always been an important part of our work to strengthen social cohesion,” says Rojas.
This has worked well for Angelina Alvarez and Janeth Melchor. The two women come from Patria Nueva, 26 kilometers (16 miles) southeast of Puebla. Two hundred and thirty-three families in their farming village are registered at the food bank. “We all chip in and rent a van every Friday to pick up the food,” Alvarez says as she lifts packages onto the load platform. “Now, with the crisis, there is more need, but there is just not enough room in the delivery van,” the 58-year-old says.
Donations at risk
The list of donors is long. Supermarkets, wholesale markets and restaurants are at the top of the list. They mainly donate perishable food and food that is close to its expiry date. Donations in kind and money also come from industrial and manufacturing companies, universities or the local football club. But the looming recession is putting a big question mark over the amount of donations in the next few years.
So far, BAMX has mostly focused its attention on the 8% of the people in Puebla who live in extreme poverty. During the pandemic, however, the organization is also trying to stop other families from going the same way, says Rojas. That is because those who live below the poverty line for too long suffer in terms of health and their children fall behind in education. This often turns temporary poverty into a permanent trap.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella said he was "proud" of his country and highlighted the "moral unity" of Italians against the virus, which he called an "invisible enemy."
(QCOSTARICA) The crisis of the new coronavirus in Italy “has not ended,” Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who praised the “unity” of his country in the face of the pandemic, warned on Tuesday, June 2, during the national holiday, Festa della Repubblica (Republic Day).
Italian President Sergio Mattarella said he was “proud” of his country and highlighted the “moral unity” of Italians against the virus, which he called an “invisible enemy.”
“The crisis is not over and both institutions and citizens will have to face its consequences and traumas,” said Mattarella, who said that the Fiesta de la República is celebrated this year amid “feelings of uncertainty and reasons for hope.”
Likewise, the president said he was “proud” of his country and highlighted the “moral unity” of Italians against the virus, which he called an “invisible enemy.”
Still traumatized, but eager to return to normality and relaunch its economy and key tourism sector, Italy has progressively lifted confinement since the beginning of May.
The shops and cafes reopened, as do the vast majority of monuments and historical and tourist sites, such as St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum in Rome, the Tower of Pisa, the cathedrals of Milan and Florence and the Vatican museum.
According to the latest official balance, Italy registers about 33,500 deaths (sixth in the world) in three months of crisis by COVID-19, today apparently controlled.
(QCOSTARICA) The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted changes in guidelines the National Emergency Commission (CNE) response with the arrival of the hurricane season, for the protection the population.
The four levels of alert: GREEN (information), YELLOW (preparation), ORANGE (mobilization), and RED (response)
On Monday, Alexander Solís, president of the National Emergency Commission (CNE) announced that new guidelines were created for the management of temporary shelters, a new modality for declaring alerts, as well as standards security towards institutions.
Now, six lines will be worked to reduce the impact on communities with the greatest vulnerability.
The first line is the activation of the alert mechanisms, through constant technical-scientific coordination with the National Meteorological Institute (IMN). Likewise, it defined a new alert scheme in the pandemic phase: green alerts for information, yellow for preparation, orange alert for mobilization, and red for major emergencies.
The second line of action is the organization and coordination structure with the institutions that work in the prevention and attention of emergencies through the Emergency Operations Center (COE) and the 90 Municipal and Regional Emergency Committees across the country, who articulate their work in thematic tables and through a system the use of new technologies.
The third line is a permanent monitoring and surveillance system through daily monitoring of the weather and the conditions of the rivers and landslides. The information is broadcast by 650 radio stations located at strategic points in the national territory. This surveillance is carried out in the 462 communities in the country identified as vulnerable by floods or landslides.
The fourth line of work corresponds to the management of shelters that present a particularity since social distancing requires the authorization of more facilities and new verification protocols must be followed by the Ministry of Health to guarantee the protection of the victims.
The fifth line is the equipment. The CNE has 54 warehouses and an inventory of facilities arranged as temporary accommodation in each canton, which include local resources such as blankets, foams, chainsaws, etc., the acquisition of items for permanent stock such as boats, and the inventory of local suppliers, among other tasks.
The sixth line is the rescue of people. The rescue work will be with the support of the Bomberos (Fire Department), the Ministry of Public Security and the Red Cross for the preventive transfer of family groups from areas declared under alert to temporary shelters.
Cleaning supplies for personal protection and physical barriers to prevent contagion to first responders will also be provided, and a disinfection approach to rescue units is expected.
The entire country is on GREEN alert with the start of the hurricane season
The foregoing includes the prior verification of COVID-19 positive persons in the evacuation zone in order to provide them with differentiated treatment and thus avoid contagion.
In addition, Solís asked the population in risk areas to maintain caution and alert about any incident.
On Monday, June 1, the CNE decreed a green alert for the entire country.
(QCOSTARICA) The cantons of Parrita and Quepos are two of the most affected after the heavy downpours during the Monday afternoon and evening.
Residents assure that more than 300 houses have been affected, as the tide and rivers came together in these sectors, so the amount of water was much greater and with more intensity.
The National Emergency Commission (Comisión Nacional de Emergencias – CNE) opened three shelters in the area, however, many residents did not agree to move due to fear of getting infected with COVID-19.
According to official information from the CNE, the rains caused 44 floods in ten cantons of the country, including Garbito (Jaco).
In San Ramon, faulty storm drains could not handle the volume of water, flooding streets, homes, and businesses.
Many areas of the Central Valley and the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) were also affected by the downpours.
Once again, as is common at the start of the rainy season, storm sewers filled with debris caused water to back up and flooding.
Alexander Solís, president of the CNE, said that the country is already out of direct influence due to the passage of tropical wave number 2, which affected the country during the weekend.
This Monday, June 1, the hurricane season began and will remain until November 30. In Costa Rica, emergency protocols are activated, since it is expected that the country will be affected, even more than in the last two years.
The CNE is once again making a call for people to move away from areas that are prone to flooding and landslides.
Werner Stolz, director of the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) explained that this year the oceanic and atmospheric conditions will favor a more active season than normal.
Expected are between 15 to 19 named storms, of which 9 may be hurricanes; of these, it is estimated that at least two would form or move over the Caribbean Sea, so Costa Rica could be affected by one of these systems.
The effects in the country of this type of tropical cyclones are generally associated with heavy rains on the Pacific and Central Valley slopes. The North Zone and the Caribbean region perceive the effects, but usually to a lesser extent.
The names selected for this year’s season are: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.
Insightcrime.org – US authorities alleged in 2016 that Nidal Waked and other members of his powerful and well-connected family in Panama were among “the world’s most significant drug money launderers and criminal facilitators,” with clients ranging from Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel to Colombia’s FARC rebels.
But within two years of his high-profile arrest, Nidal would secure a plea deal admitting to only the smallest of offenses and walk out of jail after serving just about two years.
Nidal’s case puts a spotlight on the long arm of the United States government and the consequences that can come with accusations and special designations that don’t hold up in court. Did one of the world’s alleged top drug money launderers get off easy, or did the United States massively overstep without having much of a case at all?
The investigation into the Waked family’s alleged criminal enterprise started with an anonymous tip 10 years before Nidal was arrested in May 2016 at the international airport in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. His arrest came on the heels of a US Treasury Department designation that accused him of leading the “Waked Money Laundering Organization” with his uncle, Abdul, and six other associates.
(Graphic c/o US Treasury Dept.)
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) claimed that Nidal and Abdul directed “trade-based money laundering schemes” using “false commercial invoicing, bulk cash smuggling, and other money laundering methods to launder drug proceeds on behalf of multiple international drug traffickers and their organizations.” The laundering network comprised 68 companies, according to the Treasury Department.
The Wakeds’ business empire — which extends from the banking, casino and construction sectors to hospitality, import and export, the media, real estate, retail and pharmaceuticals — was immediately impacted. One business lost more than 5,000 employees alone. La Estrella de Panamá, the 167-year-old newspaper Abdul owned at the time, was on the brink of closing down after having to lay off thousands of employees and losing millions due to the sanctions. Abdul later transferred his shares in the media group that owned the paper to free it from OFAC’s restrictions.
The Wakeds wield tremendous influence in Panama. Abdul was among the founders of the Colón Free Trade Zone, one of the world’s largest and a long established money laundering hub. The Financial Action Task Force, an international money laundering watchdog group, once identified the free trade zone in Colón as a “central point of delivery for bulk cash proceeds of drugs.”
The family allegedly laundered dirty cash for a who’s who of some of the drug world’s most notorious criminal groups for more than two decades starting in the mid-1980s.
In addition to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Revolucionarias de Colombia — FARC), according to a November 2016 court filing where OFAC summarized its record of evidence against the Waked’s supposed laundering network, members of the group were “trusted money launderers” for a number of other drug mafias operating in Colombia, including the Medellín Cartel, the Urabeños, Oficina de Envigado and United Self-Defense Forces (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC).
The Wakeds are “willing and able to launder narcotics and illicit proceeds on behalf of any organization as long as the commission is paid,” the Treasury Department alleged.
The Evidence
At first, it looked as though Nidal was going to be found guilty.
“Nidal Waked has a long history of money laundering on behalf of some of the world’s most ruthless and sophisticated drug trafficking and criminal networks,” the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) then-Deputy Administrator Jack Riley said in a news release at the time of his arrest.
At his bail hearing in January 2017, prosecutors said they had plenty of evidence against him and that he was a flight risk because of his wealth. And in most cases, those accused like Nidal plead guilty. In any given year, according to data from the US Federal Sentencing Commission, anywhere between 95 and 97 percent of those accused of federal crimes plead guilty. But through his lawyer, Nidal pleaded not guilty to the three charges he faced regarding an alleged money laundering conspiracy and bank fraud.
Prosecutor Frank Tamen said that his office had “confidential sources who will testify to knowledge about [Nidal’s] receipt of large sums of currency coming from Mexican traffickers” and “dealings with Venezuelans,” in which he “receives large amounts of money,” according to transcripts of the hearing.
Months later, in an April 2017 court filing, prosecutor Walter Norkin added they had recordings of two telephone intercepts from October 2014. Nidal, he said, is heard “discussing money laundering” with an associate identified only as Ramón. In the first call, Nidal allegedly talked about different options for transferring money to an unnamed entity in Venezuela. In the second, Nidal is apparently heard instructing one of his associates to “alter the amounts written on the transfer documents.”
The March 2015 criminal indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida, however, was much less detailed. Prosecutors accused Nidal of “fraud on a foreign bank” involving the “proceeds of specified unlawful activity.” There was no explicit mention of any links to international drug trafficking organizations or the laundering of criminal proceeds derived from cocaine sales.
In October 2016, a federal judge threw out the indictment against one of Nidal’s co-defendants, businessman Tamas Zafir. The US Attorney’s Office had taken too long to file the charges, the judge said. In the January 2017 bail hearing, Norman Moscowitz, Nidal’s lawyer at the time, argued that the case against Nidal should also be thrown out because of the government’s “failure to exercise due diligence.”
In October 2017, authorities secured a deal with Nidal just a few months after claiming they had incriminating recordings of him discussing money laundering. With time served, Nidal was out less than a year later in April 2018. In total, he spent about two years in jail, avoiding a possible 50-year sentence, the maximum penalty he faced if convicted on all charges.
“Nidal made a pragmatic decision, taking a plea for the smallest of the offenses,” Yasser Williams, Nidal’s current lawyer, told InSight Crime.
In the October 2017 plea agreement, Nidal admitted to making fake transactions using falsified invoices in order to move funds — ranging from about $22,000 to $550,000 — from a bank in Panama and to another in Miami between 2000 and 2009. He fraudulently secured bank credit for one of his companies from two or more of his other companies regarding the purchase of electronic appliances that never existed. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the other money laundering conspiracy and bank fraud charges, as well as the case against his companies, Star Textile Manufacturing and Vida Panama, which were also co-defendants in the case.
Any links to laundering drug money were never made clear, and prosecutors noted in the plea agreement that “no bank incurred any financial losses from these transactions and all the draws from the banks were repaid on time with interest.”
InSight Crime provided a series of questions via email to a representative of the US Treasury Department about the apparent disconnect between the allegations made against Nidal and the Waked family in the OFAC designation and the outcome of Nidal’s case, but he declined to comment. In an email, a press officer for the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida, where Nidal’s case was heard, said prosecutors would not discuss the case or the office’s decision to come to a plea agreement.
The Justice Department and DEA also declined to comment on InSight Crime’s questions regarding the evidence in Nidal’s case and the deal that was eventually brokered with him.
Before taking the case, Williams participated in a year-long forensic audit of Nidal’s companies covering 10 years. “I basically accepted to take the case based on the results of the forensic auditing,” Williams said. “If there was anything grey or dark in the audit, I would have stepped away, and I didn’t.”
Nidal did not provide authorities with any information on his alleged criminal network as part of reaching his plea deal, according to Williams. The cases against the other co-defendants were dropped.
What Went Wrong?
The Justice Department, Treasury Department, OFAC and DEA often coordinate and exchange information and evidence on investigations that involve not only a criminal indictment but also a special OFAC designation, according to Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former chief of international operations who also worked undercover for a number of years in Colombia.
During such high-profile investigations, US agencies also routinely coordinate with their in-country counterparts. In Panama, the DEA has always had a close relationship with local authorities, according to Vigil. However, investigators in Panama don’t always get every detail from the Americans when the US government is leading the investigation and building the case. “[They] aren’t going to be told whether that case is strong or not as a safety net for the investigation,” Vigil told InSight Crime.
Several Panamanian investigators and officials consulted by InSight Crime about the Waked investigation wouldn’t speak on the record, but they all told the same story: US officials said they had the evidence and the Panamanians went along with it.
The outcome of the case against Nidal suggests that the evidence laid out by the Justice Department, DEA and Treasury Department was weak. Based on his many years of experience investigating similar cases, Vigil said that prosecutors would never have cut a deal with a defendant if the case was that strong.
“I think the judge saw through those charges and that’s why he agreed to a plea deal and sentenced [Nidal] to such a short period of prison time,” he added.
One former prosecutor with the US Attorney’s Office, who worked on several high-profile criminal indictments and had direct knowledge of the case, shared Vigil’s assessment.
This doesn’t mean that Nidal and other members of the Waked family weren’t involved in money laundering, but prosecutors seem to have fallen far short of backing up those assertions and instead made a deal to salvage the case, according to the former prosecutor with intimate knowledge of the case.
‘Fighting A Ghost’
Despite Nidal’s win in court, the OFAC designation wreaked havoc on the family, so both Nidal and Abdul have filed petitions to be removed from the OFAC list.
“The issue with OFAC and the designations is that you’re basically fighting a ghost,” Williams, Nidal’s lawyer, told InSight Crime.
Before that, the lawyer representing Nidal in 2017 likened OFAC sanctions to “a black box.”
To be sure, in describing the allegations against the family that warranted the special designation, the judge said in a 2018 opinion on Abdul’s appeal that the accusations were made “as if they were fact, but we have no way of evaluating their veracity — they are wholly untested.”
Still, the judge denied Abdul’s appeal arguing that OFAC had violated his due process by giving “insufficient post-deprivation notice” on the basis that it was a “single, artificially extreme argument” that was “unsupported by precedent.”
Essentially, the judge added, Abdul’s argument for dismissal was too broad, and the judge ruled that he never “substantially challenged” the designation or asked for “more detail regarding the nature of the allegations.”
“You’re put in a very precarious position even though you may not be guilty of money laundering or drug trafficking,” Vigil, who was not involved in this specific case but has decades of experience with similar cases, said about OFAC sanctions.
“Nidal Waked was not one of the world’s top money launderers,” Vigil added, ”not to the extent that the United States built him up to be. They indicated they had all this evidence and testimony and labeled him as the world’s greatest money launderer, but the evidence wasn’t nearly as strong as they put it out to be.”
Yet, while the criminal case has been resolved, Nidal and others with alleged links to the Waked Money Laundering Organization continue to face OFAC sanctions.
*InSight Crime investigator James Bargent contributed reporting to this article. Illustration by Juan José Restrepo, InSight Crime.
