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Costa Rica and Honduras shield borders to stop entry of Nicaraguans

By
Rico
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0

(AFP & QCOSTARICA) Two policemen and a military officer escort two young men off the horses on the Honduran shore of the bordering Guasaule River, in their mission to block the entry of Nicaraguans trying to enter Honduras, in the face of their country’s apparent indifference to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two young men enter Honduras from Nicaragua on horseback through a crossing point in Guasaule, on May 13, 2020. AFP / ORLANDO SIERRA

The riders turn out to be Hondurans crossing from Nicaragua through a blind spot on the border, carrying blocks of cheese to sell in their communities.

“We are all hungry,” justifies a Honduran police officer who lets the two young men through, without penalty, involved in the so-called “petty smuggling.”

The mission of Honduran officials deployed at the border is “to avoid contagions, of Nicaraguans entering with the virus,” Lt. Carlos Wilfredo Cruz, armed with an M-16 rifle, told AFP while accompanying the policemen in the operation.

People walk through the dry riverbed of the Guasaule River, the natural border between Nicaragua and Honduras, on May 13, 2020. AFP / ORLANDO SIERRA

Both Honduras and Costa Rica have tightened border surveillance in recent weeks to protect themselves against what both governments consider an inadequate response by the government of Daniel Ortega to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While everyone adopts restrictive measures, including forced quarantines and border closures to contain the coronavirus, in Nicaragua no limitations have been decreed and on the contrary, the Ortega government has called for mass marches and celebrations.

Ongoing concerns

In Honduras, the police and military deployment extends from customs to a dozen blind spots across the river, turned into a bed of rocks by the severe drought. Also in the middle of the undergrowth, where illegal trade flows in both ways, such as cheese.

A doctor at the Guasaule border post, in Honduras, on May 13, 2020. AFP / ORLANDO SIERRA

While Honduran police and military prevent Nicaraguans from entering through blind spots, customs, health and immigration authorities have also reinforced epidemiological surveillance at the customs office.

“We are concerned that the sister republic of Nicaragua is not taking any protection measures” against the pandemic, said border customs administrator Rosana Ventura.

“The concern is latent because we are at a border post with a country that is not taking protection measures,” he stressed.

He said that about 900 trucks that transport goods cross every 24 hours through that customs office.

Honduran agents search vehicles from Nicaragua at the Guasaule border crossing, on May 13, 2020. AFP / ORLANDO SIERRA

The doctor who examines the truckers, José Alfredo Sánchez, says that the truckers inform him that in Nicaragua there are no protection measures like in the rest of Central America.

“We do not know what number of those infected are in Nicaragua, because Nicaragua is not doing any tests, so that does not guarantee that the number they are giving is real,” the doctor warned.

Testing and drones in Costa Rica

Nicaragua officially reports 25 confirmed cases and eight deaths of coronavirus, a number that has not changed for days, although civil organizations have reported more than a thousand infections and nearly 200 deaths.

Sánchez is in charge of approving the entry of truckers into Honduran territory after taking their temperature, asking them if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and alerting them to the risk that they are running from the disease.

Photo: Ministerio de Seguridad Publica (MSP)

After passing the consultation with Sánchez, Guatemalan trucker Edy Roberto Taltique, 50, who carries a shipment of reels of paper from Costa Rica to Guatemala, stressed that the Costa Rican authorities are taking the best measures against contagion from the disease.

“In Costa Rica, at the border, at the entrance, the mandatory testing before entering the territory and from there (the sample) goes to the laboratory, they give the results and you can enter,” the country, he said.

Costa Rica began testing, both at the southern border with Panama, but with particular and reinforced attention to the northern border with Nicaragua, all truck drivers who want to enter the country with cargo.

Those with symptoms such as nasal congestion or cough or test positive for the covid-19 are not allowed to enter, according to Costa Rica’s Health Minister Daniel Salas.

In the 8 days of testing, 23 drivers coming from the Nicaragua side of the border tested positive.

Additionally, Costa Rica, not having an army, mobilized its six police forces, including the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), to strengthen border surveillance and contain the entry of Nicaraguans.

Photo; Ministerio de Segurida Publica (MSP)

Costa Rica has an estimated 500,000 Nicaraguans living in and working in the country, among many with legal residency refugees, illegals, and migrants, who regularly move between the two countries.

Although not aimed specifically at the Nicaraguan residents in Costa Rica, it prohibits the re-entry of any resident who left the country after March 23. In addition, any resident who is found having entered the country illegally will lose their migratory status.

In addition, to stop many of the permanent residents from leaving and returning, Costa Rica prohibits any resident who left the country after March 23 from entering.

Additionally, it uses drones to monitor the border from the air and installed an airbase in the border area to carry out air patrols, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Photo; Ministerio de Segurida Publica (MSP)

Moving truckers by convoy

The testing of drivers resulted in a backlog, trucks lining up for kilometers in Nicaragua. To reduce the losses to the drivers, including spoiled merchandise, on Friday (May 15), Costa Rica, in lieu of testing that takes from 2 to 3 days for the results, will escort truckers moving from north to south and south to north, that is not remaining in Costa Rica, in a police convoy.

Photo; Ministerio de Segurida Publica (MSP)

The drivers will move convoys of 50 trucks, escorted by the Fuerza Publica (National Police), making only one supervised stop along the route.

All other truckers whose destination is within Costa Rica will continue to be tested.

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“New normality”, electricity rates surge awaits in July

By
Rico
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0

(QCOSTARICA) Just as we expect to resume activities under the so-called “new normal” due to the COVID-19 pandemic and when the country’s productive and industrial sectors beg for a stimulus to recover from the crisis, a new announcement of an increase in electricity rates looms.

The increases will be between 1.10% and 2.57%, and will be in effect between July and next September, just in the months when people’s lives are expected to resume a path of greater stability in their finances.

The increases correspond to the compensation that the subscribers of the electric service must make to the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) for using fuels to generate electricity during the summer, as well as for resorting to energy imports during that period. It is called Variable Generation Cost, or CVG factor (Costo Variable de Generación in Spanish).

This was a cost that users had to pay for the second quarter, but due to the emergency it was decided to postpone its validity for the third quarter, at the request of  ICE and the Ministry of Environment as the governing body of the sector.

Just at time when other payments kick back in, for example, the moratorium on VAT and income tax will have expired, and utilities will have ended the benefit of not applying service cuts due to the crisis.

The management of delaying the increase until the third quarter is the only one carried out so far and at the moment there are no new intentions to establish a new postponement of the new rates.

 

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Despite the restrictions, every day almost 200 drivers are fined for violating

By
Rico
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0

(QCOSTARICA) By now you would think that every driver in Costa Rica is aware of the nationwide vehicular restrictions, the times and the day or days they can or cannot drive their vehicle.

But that is not the case. Every day almost 200 drivers end up getting ticketed, with points and their license and having their license and/or vehicle confiscated.

Every day.

For example, the 24 hours of 5:00 am to 7:00 pm Thursday and 7:00 pm Thursday to 5:00 am Friday, when 58 drivers were caught violating the daytime restrictions and 111 the night, for a total of 169, reported the Policia de Transito.

The number was a reduction from the 205 for the previous 24 hour period.

The majority were motorcyclists.

Starting Saturday, May 16 to May 31, new vehicular restrictions go into effect. The major change is during the weekdays, while weekends stay the same.

From May 16 to May 31 weekdays:

  • The daytime restrictions will be from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm, based on the last digit of the license plate: 1 & 2 Mondays, 3 & 4 Tuesdays. 5 & 6 Wednesdays, 7 & 8 Thursdays and 9 & 0 Fridays.
  • The nighttime restrictions for all vehicles (save for those on the exempt list above) is from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am.

From May 16 to May 31 weekends:

  • The daytime restrictions are from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, even-numbered plates (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) on Saturdays and odd-numbered (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) on Sundays.
  • The nighttime restrictions for all vehicles (save for those on the exempt list above) is from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am.

 

 

 

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3-month-old baby tested positive for COVID-19

By
Q Costa Rica
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(QCOSTARICA) A 3-month-old became the youngest positive with COVID-19 in Costa Rica.

On Friday, Health Minister Daniel Salas released the new case report, which added 13 more cases and a total of 843 since the first occurred on March 6.

Salas announced that one of these new infections is the 3-month-old baby. No further details were given, as the authorities do not provide information on the patients.

Up to Friday, the younger case had been that of a one-year-old, who has already recovered.

In the more than 2 months in which Costa Rica has been affected by the respiratory virus, 49 minors have been affected by the disease.

Costa Rica so far registers 843 cases with an age range of 0 to 87 years, of which there are 293 active as of Friday, May 15.

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Half of covid-19 hospitalized patients in Costa Rica are smokers

By
Q Costa Rica
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Nine of the 18 people hospitalized by COVID-19 are smokers, according to a report by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS).

Román Macaya, executive president, indicated that 5 of the interned are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 13 in wards of state medical centers.

The main risk factor for hospitalization when having a coronavirus is hypertension (the most frequent) followed by smoking, explained Dr. Macaya.

According to the doctor, five of the hospitalized for covid-19 are obese, 4 are diabetic, and 2 have dyslipidemia (cholesterol). At the moment, none of the hospitalized are asthmatic.

The CCSS data reveals that 10.5 days is the average hospitalization, while for patients in ICUs it is 23 days.

“People who enter the hospital have a 20% chance of ending up in an ICU,” added Macaya.

According to data revealed this Friday by the Ministry of Health, as of May 15, 843 positive cases are registered (13 more than on Thursday), with 8 deceased (two more deaths occurred in the day, for a total of 10) and 542 people recovered.

A 3-month-old infant became the youngest Costa Rican to have the coronavirus.

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Couple smuggled and housed foreigners into the country

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Q Costa Rica
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A couple in Bijagua de Upala were arrested Friday morning

A couple was arrested this Friday, May 15, accused of smuggling migrants into the country, through the Upala area.

A couple in Bijagua de Upala were arrested Friday morning

Officials from the Immigration Police raided a home in Bijagua de Upala, in which two Costa Ricans, were arrested for transferring and accommodating five Cuban nationals, including two minors.

The foreigners entered the country through mountainous and difficult-to-access places, and hiding them in a house located in the same town of Upala, for at least 21 days.

According to the confidential information received, the migrants were under the prohibition of maintaining contact with people in the area, and they also had to pay the traffickers the sum of US$1,700.

According to the immigration police, since March 19, when the “secure borders” operation began, there have been 14 cases of migrant smuggling, where 17 people have been arrested.

 

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Two deaths in a single day from coronavirus in Hospital México

By
Rico
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(QCOSTARICA) This Friday, something unusual happened in the middle of the pandemic: two people died in a single day from coronavirus and the two at Hospital México, in San José.

First, in the afternoon, a 58-year-old from Alajuela. And at 8 pm, according to the Ministry of Health, a 73-year-old man.

Also another exceptional fact: in a matter of six days there have been four deaths.

Both people who died this Friday had risk factors and there is another coincidence: they had been in the Intensive Care Unit since April 25.

The 58-year-old from Alajuela had lymphoma and high blood pressure. She was diagnosed with covid-19 on April 23 and hospitalized from that date in the Hospital Mexico and transferred to intensive care on April 25.

The 73-year-old man also had high blood pressure and had aortic valve heart disease. He was diagnosed on April 25.

These deaths total 10 in Costa Rica in two months: nine men and one woman, with an age range of 45 to 87.

Last Wednesday, a 75-year-old patient died at the San Juan de Dios Hospital and on Sunday, at the Enrique Baltodano Hospital in Liberia, another 80-year-old man.

Four other deaths occurred in April and two in March.

Media advances death prematurely

In a press release, the Ministry of Health said on Friday night that “the media reported a few hours ago about the apparent death of the now deceased (73-year-old man), who, at that time, according to a medical report, was in critical condition.

“Health authorities reiterate prudence in the communication of sensitive information such as deaths, in an effort to respect the pain of the affected family.”

The statement referred to the information aired shortly after 6:30 pm by television news, Noticias Repretel, the death of a “72-year-old patient who suffered from high blood pressure and cardiac disease at the Hospital Mexico.”

The Ministery of Health confirmed the death was at 8:00 pm.

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Coronavirus in Costa Rica: 843 confirmed cases, 3 month old among the infected

By
Rico
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0

It’s been 70 days since the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in Costa Rica, today, Friday, May 15, the number of infections reached 843, adding 13 more than the previous day, according to the report of the Ministry of Health.

The new infections include that of a child under three months of age, who, Salas said, is in good condition.

In this way, the age range of the population infected since March 6 and to date extends from 3 months to 87 years.

At 1:00 pm, the Dr. Salas reported that 542 have recovered, the active cases dropping to 301, with 18 people hospitalized, five of which are in the intensive care, and 8 deaths.

The number of fatalities was updated later in this afternoon with the death of a 58-year-old woman, the first woman and the 9th person to die in the country.

Truckers to move in convoy

Given the urgency of not stopping the movement of goods, starting this Friday evening, truckers will move from the northern border to the southern and back by way of a convoy, and under police escort.

The first group, about 50 trucks, will leave Peñas Blancas at 10:00 pm headed for Paso Canoas. Truckers will have one supervised stop.

“To guarantee less exposure of carriers and more agile handling, as of today a measure will be taken, which is that those who are in transit from north to south or from south to north will have a mobilization in convoys, that is, groups of vans in an operation coordinated with the Public Force, the idea is that they go directly with an escort,” said Salas.

The new measure eliminates the requirement of truckers who will not be staying in Costa Rica – only moving through the country headed for Panama to the south or Nicaragua to the north – of submitting to a covid-19 test and waiting for a negative result.

The testing has caused long lines of trucks, losses for the truckers who have had to spend days to complete border crossings, in poor sanitary conditions and spoiled merchandise in the case of perishables.

 

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Truckers in transit will move in police convoys

By
Q Costa Rica
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Archive photo

As of today, Friday, truckers in transit from north to south of the country, will move in convoys, escorted by the Fuerza Publica (National Police)

Archive photo

A negative test for the coronavirus will not be required of them, the decision coming after complaints by carriers of spending days stuck at the borders to enter the country, affecting their income and spoiled loads.

In addition, the truckers will have a supervised stop.

“Starting today, a new measure will be taken. The carriers who are in transit from North to South or from South to North will have a mobilization in convoys; that is, in groups of different vans or trucks, in an operation coordinated with the Fuerza Publica that will try to minimize their exposure. The idea is that they travel with that escort that they are going to be provided and that greatly facilitates the operation in the border area, in addition to minimizing the risk of possible exposures in Costa Rican territory”, explained Health Minister Daniel Salas.

“Trade cannot stop. Today 50 transport units will be accompanied by an escort, so that there is no greater impact on the health of our population,” said Dyalá Jiménez, Minister of Foreign Trade.

Jiménez stated that the convoy program will begin tonight, Friday, at 10:00 pm, with fifty trucks. “They will be accompanied by an escort and will leave Peñas Blancas, on the northern border, to Paso Canoas, on the southern border. Tomorrow we will start the test in the opposite direction,” explained the minister, who also stressed that the idea is to have “the greatest traceability and avoid a greater impact on the health of our people.”

The announcement was made by Ministers Salas and Jiménez at the press conference on the state of the situation of the Covid-19 this Friday. In it, the health authorities announced the diagnosis of 13 new cases of the virus, for a total of 843 people in the country. Of that total, 18 people are hospitalized (five in intensive care) and eight people have died.

Many of these carriers have already had previous tests, taking into account that they were waiting to enter the country.

Last week, the Ministry of Health instituted a policy that all truckers were required to submit to covid-19 testing and would be allowed entry only they tested negative; 31 truckers tested positive, the majority at the northern border with Nicaragua.

The testing caused a tremendous backlog of trucks. On the Nicaragua side, the Nicaragua Truckers Association said the line on Thursday was about 13 kilometers.

 

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First woman dies in Costa Rica from covid-19; 9th Fatality

By
Rico
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0

A resident of Alajuela, 58, is the ninth fatality since March 6, when the first case was detected in the country and the first woman to die as a result of covid-19.

The confirmation was made by the Ministry of Health.

The woman, was diagnosed with covid-19 on April 23 and was admitted on April 25 to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Hospital Mexico, in San Jose, had other risky conditions, suffered from a type of cancer known as lymphoma, as well as high blood pressure.

Until now, the eight victims of the covid-19 had been all men, between 45 and 87. Only the youngest of them had no risk factors.

This is the third death in less than a week; Four deaths occurred in April, and two in March.

 

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Nicaraguan Army takes measures to face the Covid-19 pandemic

By
Q24N
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(TODAY NICARAGUA) While the Daniel Ortega regime urges its supporters (fanatics) to normality amid the pandemic of the new SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Nicaraguan Army prepares and calls its members and the population to abide by the preventive measures made by the national and international health organizations to prevent the spread of the virus.

Through a video that was broadcast on its YouTube channel, Ejercito TV, the military institution calls on the importance of constant handwashing with soap and water for more than 20 seconds, social distancing, the use of masks, the protocol when sneezing or coughing and surface cleaning.

“Avoid close contact with people, especially in public places and confined spaces. If possible, keep a distance of 1.5 meters between yourself and others,” the video explains.

This measure has not been promoted by the Ortega regime, despite being one of the key actions to prevent the spread of the virus and the disease, which has already left, according to the Ministry of Health (Minsa) count, 25 cases of Covid -19 and eight deceased.

Instead, the Ortega regime has promoted mass political and recreational activities, allowing sporting events and agglomeration among its supporters.

Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was reported, the Ortega regime has not implemented concrete measures to prevent outbreaks in the country, which are already being registered according to complaints made by relatives of patients and specialists in the subject. Including unofficial reports of medical health personnel who have been infected by the lack of protective equipment.

La Prensa, the last remaining independent print newspapers in Nicaragua, reports that it has learned that the Nicaraguan Army for weeks has been preparing its Military Medical Corps, the Civil Defense, the Humanitarian Rescue Unit, although there is no official confirmation from the institution, to respond to the Covid-19 threat.

A video of the facilities of the military field hospital (hospital militar de campaña), the “Dr. Oscar Danilo Rosales Argüello” and other similar facilities are being prepared in the country, in total six, circulates on social networks.

Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.

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“We are the first Central American country to join the OECD! “, Announces Carlos Alvarado

By
Rico
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Secretario General de la OCDE, Ángel Gurría,

(QCOSTARICA) The 37 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries approved the entry of Costa Rica, confirmed this morning President Carlos Alvarado.

“The OECD Secretary General, José Ángel Gurría, gave me great news: Costa Rica has been invited to be member 38. The 4th Latin country to join!” said the president.

OECD secretay-general Ángel Gurría (left) with Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado in this file photo.

The other 3 Latin American member countries are: Chile (2010), Colombia (the OECD’s 37th Member country in 2020) and  Mexico (1994).

“We completed an arduous path of an extraordinary country effort. I applaud the great work of the government team of former President Luis Guillermo Solís and former President Laura Chinchila who also did their best. We are the first Central American country to join the OECD!”, de added.

The president also thanked the work done by the ministries of Foreign Trade, Economy, Planning and the Legislative Assembly.

The incorporation process took five years. Costa Rica underwent examinations by 22 committees of that international organization.

Alvarado explained that now what remains are some procedures to formalize the entry.

According to the Casa Presidencial, “the incorporation will allow the country to participate in more than 300 committees and groups to decide on equal terms in the development of innovative solutions for common challenges, such as the emergency in the face of the covid-19, issues associated with climate change and the fourth industrial revolution, among others”.

The OECD is an international organization founded in 1961 whose purpose is to promote policies for social and economic well-being.

This “club” of partner countries moves 60% of world trade, 80% of the planet’s gross domestic product and manages 75% of world foreign direct investment.

Joining the OECD is a rigorous process not only having to pass the 22 tests but because the unanimous vote of all the members is required to accept a new member.

Costa Rica’s path to the “club”

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)  – Spanish: Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE) –  is an intergovernmental economic organization with 37 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.

As of 2017, the OECD member countries collectively comprised 62.2% of global nominal GDP (US$49.6 trillion) and 42.8% of global GDP (US$54.2 trillion) at purchasing power parity. The OECD is an official United Nations observer.

In 1948, the OECD originated as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC). In 1961, the OEEC was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development by the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and membership was extended to non-European states.

The OECD’s headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris, France. The OECD is funded by contributions from member countries at varying rates and had a total budget of €386 million euros in 2019.

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Coronavirus in Costa Rica: 15 new cases confirmed, for a total of 830

By
Q Costa Rica
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0

With an increase of 15 new confirmed cases, the number of infections in the country since March 6 reached 830 this Thursday, May 14.

Of these, 295 remain active, while 535 have recovered.

The information was provided by the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, by video on Thursday, explained the high number of new cases (the number had been under 10 mostly for the last few weeks) were due to four people testing positive arriving on the Madrid flight Tuesday night, nine new cases confirmed in the immigration holding center in Heredia, and one linked to a cluster in Liberia, and whose trace link is under investigation.

In addition, Likewise, Salas said, there were four truckers from Nicaragua who tested positive at the border, who were denied entry to the country.

So far, 23 truckers from the northern neighbor have tested positive, more than the 15 official confirmed cases reported by Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health.

Mario Ruiz, medical manager of the CCSS, explained that so far, since March 6, 140 Caja hospital officials have been infected with the covid-19; one of them passed away. This is the case of the doctor Reinaldo Albernas, 54, whose death occurred after more than a month of being in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Hospital México.

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Costa Rican police detained by the Nicaraguan army.

By
Q Costa Rica
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Two officers from the National Police Academy who were serving on the northern border in the face of the emergency by COVID-19 were detained by the Nicaraguan army for several hours.

The event occurred this Thursday afternoon in La Cruz de Guanacaste.

According to Jaime Sibaja, head of the press office of the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), it was due to an error by Costa Rican officials who did not notice that they crossed the border line by few meters on a motorcycle and were detained by the Nicaraguan army.

“All afternoon talks were held through the diplomatic channel until they were returned to Costa Rican soil and they are in excellent health,” said Daniel Calderón, director-general of the Fuerza Publica (national police).

 

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20 Ticos now dead by covid-19 in the United States

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Rico
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The number of Costa Ricans who have died from covid-19 in the United States increased to 20 this Thursday, the Costa Rican ambassador to that country, Fernando Llorca Castro, confirmed.

“We have already reached 20 deceased. The last two added is a 3-year-old man New Jersey, the other case is an 88-year-old woman who lived in Massachusetts,” he said.

The ambassador specified that the deceased are 13 men and seven women, range in age between 24 and 88.

Ten of the Costa Ricans died in New Jersey, four in New York, two in Florida, two in Pennsylvania, one in Utah, and one in Massachusetts.

It should be noted that New Jersey is the state where the most Costa Ricans live. In 2018, the then consul, José Antonio Arroyo González, specified that there were 18,270 Ticos living in that State at the time.

Llorca explained that, in the United States, the reports of the deaths of Costa Ricans are voluntary acts of the families of the deceased, so all the conditions or risk factors that led to the death of the victims are unknown.

“(…) unlike in Costa Rica, here it is a voluntary act of the relatives to report the death to the consulates, so they are not obliged to report the associated risk factors, sometimes they do and sometimes they do not,” the ambassador commented.

He added that, due to the context of the emergency, the United States ordered in most of its States to incinerate or bury the bodies of the dead by covid-19 as quickly as possible, an aspect that makes it impossible to repatriate the deceased.

“Here in the context of the emergency, no repatriations can be made. Maybe what could be repatriated are the ashes of the deceased,” he said.

The diplomat stated that Costa Ricans who work and have insurance in the United States have received medical attention. However, he pointed out that those who work informally and lack private insurance, are expected to have problems accessing health services.

Llorca added this Thursday that one out of every six Hispanics who work in the United States, only one can work from home, for their type of occupations, such as garbage collectors or gardeners, for example.

“There is some evidence that this covid-19 pandemic has affected the Hispanic population and the Afro-descendant population much more. Not because there is any particular genetic condition, but because they are highly exposed populations due to their type of work,” he stressed.

The number of Ticos killed by covid-19 in the U.S. is more than double the number of deaths in Costa Rica, that as of Thursday, May 14, only  8 deaths have been recorded.

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Update: Travel & Immigration Information due to Covid-19

By
Rico
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0

(QCOSTARICA) A quick update from Costa Rica’s immigration service for tourists (non-resident) now in Costa Rica, who remained in the country to ride out the coronavirus pandemic here or were unable to return to their own country.

The Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería Costa Rica (DGME) announced Thursday that is offices will continue closed until July 18, 2020, and that tourists (non-Residents) who entered the country after December 17, 2019, may legally remain in Costa Rica until August 18, 2020. The extension is automatic.

PERMANENCIA LEGAL AUTORIZADA BAJO SUBCATGEGORÍA TURISMO: El plazo de permanencia legal autorizado a las personas extranjeras bajo la subcategoría migratoria de Turismo que ingresaran al país después del 17 de diciembre, se prorroga hasta el día 18 de Agosto 2020.​ La prórroga se realiza de forma automática, no requiere presentarse a solicitarla.

With respect to tourists being able to continue to drive legally, the Ministry of Transport (MOPT) has yet to announce, as it did with the previous immigration extension, to extend driving to August 18, 2020. This is expected as it was with the previous extension.

OJO:

  • On social networks, there is confusion about the notice. A tourist can leave the country at any time. Careful must be the foreigner resident who, if they leave during the emergency, will most likely not be permitted re-entry and may even temporarily lose their status.
  • Costa Ricans and residents entering the country will be ordered to a 14-day quarantine.
  • By air, entry is only by the Juan Santamaria International aiport in San Jose (SJO).
  • Borders – land, sea and air – remain restricted. Tourists have prohibited entry into Costa Rica until June 15, 2020.
  • Currently, only Costa Ricans and residents (if they did not leave after March 24) can enter the country. In addition, people with Special Categories, Estancias, people with a residency application filed and in progress, parents of minor Costa Rican nationals, spouses of Costa Rican nationals and Costa Rican nationals may enter the country as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
  • The immigration service reminds that that no administrative or police officer is empowered to receive money on behalf of the institution, in order to carry out immigration procedures or regularize a migratory situation of a foreign person; All the economic amounts that must be paid for migratory procedures must be made to the corresponding bank accounts of the state bank.
  • Foreigners interested in obtaining residency note that immigration will not receive Residency applications until July 18, 2020. This includes all categories. Documents issued abroad that were valid by March 17, 2020, will be deemed valid (meaning their validity will be automatically extended) until September 18, 2020.

See the Immigration circular issued Thursday, May 14, 2020, here. Or the immigration service website here.

A reminder, if traveling on public transport, the Ministry of Health recommends using a mark.

 

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A day in Costa Rica in 2040

By
Q Costa Rica
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The clock strikes 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 1, 2040. The streets dawn desolate as a result of the celebrations of the night of the Old Year. Around 10 am some people who ride the Metro go to their jobs, while a large majority are resting, following the old custom of when the first of January was an obligatory holiday.

More than 10 years ago, they repealed all the legal holidays, leaving it up to the employers to give their workers the holidays they request, without double or extra pay. Labor-employer relations are much more flexible than they were in previous decades, as a result of the unsustainability represented by employer-worker models in terms of financial costs.

Unemployment and underemployment rates have led to startups growing exponentially and more than 30% of the economically active population receives their income from their own business activities.

The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) operation is varied and now it manages jointly with the 3 existing pension operators (3 others were absorbed in previous years) a unique regime of individual capitalizations for the pension funds that from 2030 began to be enjoyed from the age of 70 for new contributors. And for medical services, the institution adopted a mixed model (public and semi-private) according to the possibilities and the emergency situation of each user.

As today is the last holiday at the end and beginning of the year, many people from the Greater Metropolitan Area of San Jose (GAM) go to the different fairgrounds of each canton to spend a day with their families, just as they did it years ago when they had the Zapote Fiestas, but for reasons of security and vehicular congestion, in addition to the need to stimulate the economy and entrepreneurship in each canton, each of the municipalities has a Commission for Popular Celebrations at the end of the year that is responsible for organizing these events in each canton.

On the National Radio and Television Network, the current President of the Republic, aging and always diplomatic Dr. Román Macaya, gives his message, wishing the best to all Costa Ricans in the new year 2040.

The message reaches only a third of the population since the majority of people watch TV and listen to music through the Internet on their different devices. Open television and radio are not part of the preference of the 6.2 million inhabitants (a figure that reached that level, largely due to the migrant population, since Costa Rican families have chosen not to have children).

In politics, we are a few days away from the 30th birthday of President-elect Fabiana Alvarado who will become the youngest President in the history of the country next May. Daughter of the ex-legislator and current Defensora de los Habitantes (Ombudswoman) Laura Moscoa and the 2 times legislator, 2 times presidential candidate and former minister of the presidency 2022-2026, Fabricio Alvarado.

The birthday of the president-elect is of great joy for her and her supporters since one of the main questions that she had in her convulsed campaign was her young age, which was not yet the minimum (35 years of age) for the exercise of the presidency and her consequent lack of experience.

Ms. Alvarado would assume this role after several governments of different parties and characterized by the almost absence of political partisanship since citizens are not faithful to parties or ideological positions, but to specific ideas and figures. The last campaigns had as main thematic axes minority rights, the migratory and economic crisis, the role of the C.C.S.S. the insecurity and the free bearing of arms of the citizens.

The last 4 governments that preceded the young political scientist and singer were those of Juan Diego Castro (2022-2026), Franggi Nicolás (2026-2030); Subsequently, due to a bill presented in 2027, the period of government was modified from 4 to 5 years and 2 more governments continued in which the first five-year period was by the experienced José María Villalta (2030-2035) after his third candidacy, this time under the figure of a national union that would bear the name of “Homeland Confederation” that would bring together ex-militants of all the dying and, in some cases, extinct political parties.

The following five-year period 2035-2040 was occupied by Dr. Román Macaya under the same group “Confederación Patria” in his first presidential attempt and despite having had a National Union government with people from all political parties, for the following period the country would opt for a radical change and would choose Fabiana Alvarado for the period 2040-2045 as a result of a factor that played in her favor, which was having as one of the axes of her campaign, the demand for the figure of women. and her ability to govern since she would be the third woman to govern the country after the discredited PLN administrations of Laura Chinchilla (2006-2010) and Franggi Nicolas (2026-2030).

However, the young Alvarado went on to win the 2040 elections due to several factors such as her popularity among young people by winning the Grammy award twice in the category of Best Evangelical Christian Music, becoming one of the great international exponents in said musical genre.

In the campaign, she had the collaboration of several important figures in national politics from different parties, and mostly of the female gender, among those that stand out are former presidential candidates and twice legislators each, Ivonne Acuña from her own party and Natalia Diaz (also former Minister of Foreign Trade 2026-2030) of the United We Can Party, who would shape its presidential formula.

In soccer, next Wednesday, January 4, the 40th edition of the competition will play 90 minutes for life. The game will serve for the premiere of the San José Olympic Stadium located in Santa Ana and which has been under construction for 4 years and will have a capacity of 69,000 spectators (with a view to being one of the 2 venues in Costa Rica for the Central American Soccer World Cup 2042).

In this 90 minutes for life edition, the teams squaring off are Saprissa (now 49 times national champion), Alajuelense (42 times national champion), Herediano (34 times national champion) and the current national champion Club Sport Cartaginés, which after being bought by a group of Costa Rican businessmen and former players who injected a lot of capital into the team, has managed to win 5 national championships, a Concacaf championship and classified once for the FIFA Club World Cup.

All soccer games are played at night due to global warming and the strong sun during the day that has exponentially increased cases of skin cancer. This pattern of nightlife is also manifested in most productive and recreational activities.

As for the national soccer team, the country is still experiencing the ’embriaguez’ (drunkenness) of the great participation in the 2038 World Cup after many years of drought. The team did not qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup and their participation in the United States-Mexico-Canada 2026 World Cup and the Argentina-Paraguay-Uruguay 2030 World Cup.

The tricolor also failed to qualify for the China 2034 World Cup, but in the India 2038 World Cup Costa Rica qualified for the semifinals, reaching third place in the tournament in a great match winning 3 goals for 1 against powerful Germany. This, together with the excellent participation of the Guatemalan teams in their first World Cup and Panama that qualified for the quarterfinals, managed to boost Central America footballically and that FIFA finally gave the venue for the World Cup to Central America for 2042.

The world champions have not changed much and are still 8, with France winning the 2022 world championship, England winning in 2026, Brazil in 2030 and 2038 and Spain in 2034.

Dusk is coming and people get ready for their last meal of the day and watch the bullfights. People now try to have 2  main meals a day since, in the now dollarized economy, buying food has a very high cost.

The day ends, people prepare to rest and everything runs normally, for on summer nights, even 9 years later, the aftershocks still continue and the fear of many that the terrible episode of the 2031 December night of the devastating 7.8 earthquake that shook the Osa Peninsula causing the saddest Christmas in the history of the country, will be repeated.

What will this new year 2040 bring us? Only God knows…

The article is translated from the original in Spanish by Generif Traña Vargas published on January 3, 2019, at Elmundo.cr.

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New regulation would reduce obstacles to generate electricity with solar energy in houses and companies

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Q Costa Rica
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(QCOSTARICA) Data from the Costa Rican Chamber of Distributed Generation (Cámara Costarricense de Generación Distribuida) reveal that in the country there are 2,000 roofs with solar panels for electricity generation, while another 1,000 are about to be installed in the coming months.

However, the number of people interested in taking advantage of solar energy to lower their electric bill could increase in the coming years if the new proposal for a Regulation for Distributed Generation for Self-consumption with Renewable Sources is approved and implemented.

At this time, the document that would eliminate some of the red tape that has impeded the growth of that activity was put into consultation by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae), explains William Villalobos, legal adviser to the Chamber.

One of the main changes, according to Villalobos, is that the new regulation introduces two new generation models, which would open up a range of options and lower costs for those interested in installing solar panels on their roofs.

The expectation is that within five years, the generation of energy through the sun will reach 5% of the national electrical matrix. According to information from the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), it is currently 0.9%, although in 2015 it was only 0.1%.

Currently, if a person wants to install solar panels to produce their own solar energy, the current regulation allows them to operate in two ways.

  • Isla (Island): An individual places panels to satisfy their electrical demand because the electrical distribution network is not available on their farm, house or business. It consumes what it produces and if there are surpluses they are not used unless battery storage is installed.
  • Medición Neta Sencilla (Simple Net Measurement): The panel system of the house or company is interconnected with the electrical network, so the surpluses it produces goes to the electricity distribution company and if the user requires it back, the network can inject energy.

In the second modality, the user faces two problems: the existing regulation establishes a cap of 15% of solar panel systems for each electrical circuit, if the location where they live has already reached that limit, it will be a problem.

Furthermore, based on the 2015 regulation, when an owner generates more energy than they consume, the surplus goes to the electricity distribution network, but the regulation only allows to obtain only 49% of it back.

Villalobos explained that the new regulation would enable the installation of panels without injecting the surplus into the network, which would diminish the importance of the cap system. In those cases, the owner can install storage batteries for later use.

Also, it eliminates the 49% rule for new contracts and forces electricity distribution companies to publish the percentage of caps for each circuit.

Another variation is that a person or company could generate energy in one location, but consume it in another.

For example, if an apartment tower in San José does not have enough roof area to produce electricity from the sun, the owner can decide to use a property in their name in Puntarenas to install the solar panels and transfer it to the San Jose property for use.

“More and more, human beings want to be the producer of their own electricity (…) very important projects such as electric trains are coming and the country is going to require greater and better conditions of electrical demand, there are more electric cars and recently the use of electric buses has been announced, even the Aresep (Public Services Regulatory Authority) has already approved a rate for this type of service,” said Villalobos.

For the Minae, the intention of the new regulation is to promote the generation of solar energy, as well as to strengthen and diversify electricity production from renewable sources, according to Rolando Castro, vice minister of Energy.

“We seek to learn from the lessons given by current regulations, take advantage of technological advances and clarify, even more, the relationship between subscribers and distribution companies so that there is more transparency. We also seek to promote this type of generation, keeping a balance to guarantee the security of the national electricity grid,” Castro declared.

In this relationship, the National Center for Energy Control (Cence) would play a fundamental role in resolving possible differences based on technical criteria.

The Chamber calculates that the cost of installing solar panels in a house where four people live ranges from US$8,000 to US$12,000, which would result in savings on the electricity bill of up to 60%.

The interested parties must process the viability before the distribution company to specify if in their locality such systems can be connected to the electrical circuits, in addition to signing an interconnection contract with the distribution company. However, that process may take a few months.

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“This is just the beginning”: Anonymous begins attack on Nicaragua institutions

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Q24N
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The message on Twitter

Anonymous announced it has started the massive cyberattack against the Daniel Ortega regime, “taking” the sites of the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF) as well as those of the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (Intur) and Enel.

The message on Twitter

The Nicaraguan hackers, since March 22, activated #OPNicaragua, a cyberattack objective of 60 targets, including banks, state ministries, government media and even the opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy.

Lorian Synaro, who on Twitter identifies himself as a member of the community of Nicaraguan hackers united against the Ortega regime, announced this morning that the massive attack had begun, killing the first five sites.

The massive attack also contemplates affecting the media at the service of the regime. Television channels 2, 4, 6, 8 and 13, as well as the El19Digital portal.

Anonymous announced this Thursday that this new attack is in response to the negligent policy of the Ortega regime in handling the coronavirus pandemic and that it puts the lives of the population at risk.

“We will continue to attack corrupt and terrorist governments, we will not let any government kill the people,” the community of hackers posted on Twitter.

Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.

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Health Alert; U.S. Embassy Managua, Nicaragua (May 14, 2020)

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Q24N
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As of May 14, the Government of Nicaragua has reported 25 cases of COVID-19, including cases transmitted through community spread. Independent health monitors report the actual number of cases is likely much higher.

United States Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua

Independent reporting also suggests the spread of COVID may be impacting the ability of the medical system in areas outside of Managua to effectively respond.

While the Nicaraguan government has not officially announced border restrictions, the land borders with Costa Rica and Honduras are closed. All commercial air service between Nicaragua and the United States remains suspended until at least early June.

Additional suspensions, closures, or other restrictions on movement could occur with no advance warning.

The Embassy advises U.S. citizens still in Nicaragua to prepare now to shelter in place.

U.S. citizens remaining in Nicaragua must ensure they have an adequate supply of food, water, and medicine to shelter for at least two weeks.

Visit Ready.gov for additional tips to prepare yourselves and your families to shelter in place.

Actions to Take:

Assistance:

  • S. Embassy Managua, Nicaragua
    Km 5 ½ Carretera Sur
    Managua, Nicaragua
    +505-2252-7104
    +505-2252-7171 (after hours)
    ACSManagua@state.gov

Source: https://ni.usembassy.gov/

Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.

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Nicaragua releases 2,800 prisoners to house arrest to contain virus

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Q24N
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Managua (AFP) Nicaragua released more than 2,800 prisoners to house arrest on Wednesday to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, but advocates said there were no political prisoners among them.

Nicaragua has reported only 25 coronavirus cases and 8 deaths, but civil society groups claim the number is much higher INTI OCON AFP/File

Authorities have jailed at least 86 opposition figures and supporters of rights groups under the government of Daniel Ortega — a former rebel hero who has been in power since 2007 and is now accused of running a repressive dictatorship.

Many of those prisoners were arrested during 2018 protests against Ortega that rights groups said left 300 people dead.

But none of them were among the 2,815 prisoners the interior ministry said had been released from Nicaragua’s prisons, defense lawyer Yonarki Martinez told AFP.

“It’s obvious that there’s no respect for human rights and the health of those denied their freedom,” Martinez said.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for the “immediate liberation” of the country’s political prisoners.

Martinez said some of those opposition figures were had symptoms of COVID-19, including fever and breathing difficulties, but had not received medical attention.

Last week, Amnesty International complained that 12 opposition detainees were showing symptoms but were not receiving medical attention.

Authorities have told the International Red Cross that they have not confirmed any COVID-19 cases in prisons.

According to official data, Nicaragua has recorded only 16 coronavirus cases and five deaths.

But civil society groups say there have been at least 780 suspected cases that have been treated or recorded as pneumonia. The government denies the claims.

Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.

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Catholic Church Cancels Romería!

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Rico
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(QCOSTARICA) This year, as 11 years ago, the Catholic Church has been forced to make the decision to cancel the traditional pilgrimage – romería – to the Basilica of Los Angeles to commemorate “La Negrita”, patron saint of Costa Rica.

The decision is due to the national emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the risk of contagion that pilgrimage entails.

“The Episcopal Conference had been reflecting on this decision, both within, and also at the diocesan level, in the concrete action of the National Shrine and with government entities, especially with the Ministry of Health, seeking greater awareness to accept the regulations health as a good for all in defense of life,” says the statement from the Catholic Church.

Nor can other public acts be held in honor of the La Virgen de los Ángeles, “because they put the health of Costa Ricans at risk,” says the document sent by the Diocese of Cartago.

The Catholic Church asks the faithful to keep their faith and they anticipate that they will soon announce other ways to develop this national holiday, including a virtual pilgrimage.

This will be the second time in the history of the romería, that goes way back to 1635, to be canceled. The first was in 2009 when the Church had to cancel the activity due to the H1N1 flu outbreak.

Every year, over a million people, complete the romería or pilgrimage to Cartago, Costa Rica from all over the country, even from other Central American countries, that takes place every August 2.

Their destination is the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles, the home to Costa Rica’s patron saint. Although some people travel to the Basilica by train, bus or car, the majority walk at least part of the way. Some walk from places like Perez Zeledon or even Guanacaste.

In the days before August 2, “romeros” – pilgrims- can be seen on the shoulders the major highways and roads leading to Cartago, where the last few kilometers vehicular traffic is completely blocked off or restricted for the safety of the faithful.

The last few meters from the entrance of the Catedral to the alter is on their knees.

 

 

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Fitch Downgrades Costa Rica to ‘B’; Outlook Negative

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Q Costa Rica
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Fitch Ratings has downgraded Costa Rica’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘B’ from ‘B+’. The Outlook is Negative.

The downgrade of Costa Rica’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LT FC) IDR to ‘B’ reflects increased risks of near-term financing stress due to widening fiscal deficits, a steep amortization schedule and borrowing constraints, against a background of economic contraction caused by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The ongoing health crisis comes at a time when Costa Rica’s fiscal space is limited and rapidly narrowing, raising risks to post-crisis debt sustainability. The interest bill is climbing rapidly, and the debt burden is on a relatively steep upward trajectory.

Fitch gave Costa Rica’s ratings a negative outlook due to “uncertain prospects” for economic growth and borrowing costs after the outbreak, it said in the report.

This year, Costa Rica will rely on loans from multilateral agencies to finance the budget. Looking ahead, however, the government could face higher funding costs in the international and domestic capital markets, Fitch said.

The rating agency expects GDP in Costa Rica to fall 4% in 2020 as containment measures against the coronavirus outbreak lead to lower demand and higher unemployment.

Domestic demand was already on the decline, thanks to high unemployment and weak private credit growth, but external demand is expected to fall as tourism comes to a halt and exports decrease.

But the economy will likely rebound and grow 2.6% in 2021, although a prolonged downturn in tourism could impact a recovery, Fitch said.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, Costa Rica issued US$1.5 billion in 11-year bonds in November last year to ease financing pressures for the first quarter this year.

Now the country plans to borrow up to US$3.18 billion from multilateral lenders in 2020, equal to 5.2% of GDP. Other than a US$500 million loan from the South American development bank, the government needs legislative approval to take out loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the IMF, according to Fitch.

“Failure to secure these external loans would lead to a fiscal financing gap, given prohibitive external market borrowing costs and limited domestic market size,” Fitch said.

 

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President asks citizens to maintain discipline

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Rico
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Coronavirus pandemic: Is Brazil the new epicenter?

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Q24N
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The deceased are being buried in a mass gravesite, such as this one in Manaus

Since Monday, only half of the automobiles registered in Sao Paulo — Brazil’s largest city — have been allowed to drive on its streets. Car owners with license plates ending in an even number are allowed to drive on even-numbered calendar days, and vice versa for those ending in odd numbers.

At this market in Belem, on the northeast coast of Brazil, business continued as usual in late April

Administrators hope limiting the number of people traveling on city streets will help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Just two months ago, Sao Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas called for citizens to do just the opposite, lifting weekday limits on traffic — which bar one-fifth of all cars from driving on a given day — in an attempt to relieve the city’s public transport system.

Sao Paulo’s back-and-forth is emblematic of Brazil’s overall approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, says Domingos Alves, a lecturer at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in the city of Ribeirao Preto. “Brazil has no plan at all. Everyone just acts,” Alves says.

Read more: Waiting to get back to Costa Rica; Anxious in Brazil

Too few tests, too much undercounting

According to official statistics, as of this morning, May 14, 192,081 people in Brazil had been infected with the coronavirus and 13,276 people have died of its resulting disease, COVID-19. However, Alves and his 40-member team of researchers have used scientific models that suggest the true number of infections could be at least 16 times higher.

According to Alves’ models, that would mean that some 2.1 million Brazilians would have been infected by May 9, more than in the US.

Before he was forced from his post in mid-April, outgoing Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta admitted that the real number of infections in the country was far higher than what was reflected in official statistics.

Brazil is among the world’s least-tested countries when it comes to COVID-19, and according to the online news site The Intercept, Brazil also uses substandard imported testing kits, which in turn reduce their value in terms of information gleaned. “Official data essentially only tracks hospitalized patients,” says Alves, who adds: “There are no serious statistics when it comes to this epidemic.”

The deceased are being buried in a mass gravesite, such as this one in Manaus

The poor once again bear the brunt

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro likely feels that is the right approach to the current pandemic. He has continually brushed off expert advice about the seriousness of the illness, calling it nothing more than “a little flu.” Still, numbers — even official statistics — paint a dramatically different picture: Last weekend, the country saw a 10% spike in deaths.

In the northwestern metropolis Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, Mayor Arthur Virgilio Neto announced last week that four or five times as many burials were taking place in the city than normal. Like many other cities, Manaus, too, set up makeshift field hospitals to care for the ill. Still, many sick people did not dare come to the overcrowded facilities for help. The number of Brazilians dying at home has jumped by 20% since March. In the state of Amazonas that number is more than two and a half times higher than average.

One reason for that spike in numbers is the fact that so many Brazilians simply live too far away from hospitals to get to them. That is true of indigenous peoples, but not only. Millions of Brazilians live in isolated rural areas. Findings by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a top public health research institute located in Rio, show infections skyrocketing in communities with 20,000 residents or less — lending an even greater sense of urgency to that trend.

While Bolsonaro has recently started donning a face mask, he continues to play down the risk of the virus

Politicians causing alarm

Although Bolsonaro has taken to wearing a face mask in public now and again, he has still never tired of telling people that the damage caused by the economic shutdown will be far greater than that caused by the virus itself. But many parliamentarians and even members of his own government are beginning to see things differently. Mayors and governors in particular have been begging people not to pay attention to President Bolsonaro and adhere to health guidelines and stay home instead.

Scientist Domingos Alves says the back and forth has led to uncertainty among Brazilians: “We have been under lockdown for two months. People are starting to have their doubts. Meanwhile, less than half of all Brazilians are obeying lockdown orders.”

One of Bolsonaro’s most visible opponents has been Joao Doria, the governor of Sao Paulo state. Although he supported Bolsonaro in the last election, he recently told BBC: “It is amazing when you have two viruses to combat: The coronavirus and [the] Bolsonaro virus. This is not the moment for politics, it is the moment to protect people.”

As the leader of Brazil’s most populous and economically powerful state, Doria would seem destined to challenge Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election, a fact of which Guilherme Casaroes of the respected private university and think tank Fundacao Getulio Vargas, says Doria is certainly cognizant. Casaroes says Doria has taken an entirely different approach to dealing with the virus than has the president: “Doria has introduced strict social-distancing measures, pointing to international practices and scientific advice. He is doing so to distinguish himself from other governors and position himself against Bolsonaro.”

A ‘bogus dilemma’

Yet, despite Doria’s approach, strict social-distancing rules and curfews have yet to actually be imposed in Sao Paulo. So far, only a few cities, including Fortaleza in the northeastern state of Ceara, or the port city of Recife in Pernambuco on the Atlantic coast, have begun implementing such rules. On Monday, parts of Rio de Janeiro and neighboring Niteroi followed suit.

But since Brazil’s lockdown began, local markets have remained almost as full as ever. Some think Bolsonaro may well be right to say more people would die of starvation than of COVID-19 in Brazil if a strict lockdown were to be put in place, as most people there earn their living as day laborers.

But researcher Alves says that is just an excuse, calling it a “bogus dilemma.” Speaking of cost effectiveness, he points to an existing program to deliver food and medicine to tuberculosis patients. He says the cost of assisting 10 people for a month in the program is the same as one day of intensive care for one patient. For Alves it is a clear proposition: “Give people money so they can stay at home.”

Source: DW.com

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“Costa Rica Rediscovered…”

By
Randy Berg
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0

My name is Randy Berg and the past few months I have had a few postings here… until recently. And we all know what “until recently” really means. Yeah, “the virus.”

And I asked my wife this morning… “how long has it been since we first realized how bad things really were?”

Exactly… just a little over a week.

We were planning on returning to Minnesota and decided to extend our stay by a few days just to ensure that there would be no snags or problems.

We had to make one last border run to Nicaragua (yeah, the same day they closed the borders)… and we were concerned about a few other things that we had forgotten.

We purchased tickets for a week later… meantime the world changed… our lives changed… and they will never be the same.

And the borders were closed.

We couldn’t leave.

And then, almost everyone from back in Minnesota was telling us how lucky we were… and how crazy it was “back home.”

And honestly… it still seems like a bad dream … or that we are characters in a science fiction story about a pandemic or the end of the world.

And yes, it does seem unreal.

I remember my father telling me stories about World War ll. How scared everyone was… and how no one really knew what the future held…
He told us how his ship was bombed and how he and mom… my mother… got married during the war during a furlough… because they never knew if they would really be able to be together in the future.

And all of my Dad’s brothers enlisted… all six of them.

One didn’t come back.

And my sister and I heard about how everyone followed almost every step of the war through the radio and newspapers and word of mouth.
And everyone pulled together… every single community across the country.
And they were threatened then… just like we are now.

But it is different now, isn’t it?

…Because we don’t know what to believe any longer. We don’t know what is true and what isn’t.

The last years we have become a nation and a world that has no confidence in our own future… we don’t believe what we hear and what we read… and we don’t trust any longer. And the “older generations” still remember what it “used to be like”… but the new generations?

Yeah, they are a lot different than we were.

We can blame politics… we can blame the press or “big business”… or the government… for our problems…

And almost everyone does.

And no, things are NOT the same as they were 50 or 75 years ago. And in many ways, that makes me sad. Because my children and grandchildren are alive in a world that simply is not the same.

And now I am here in Costa Rica and my wife and I cannot get back to visit our children and grandchildren.

But I also want to tell you about WHY we are here in Costa Rica…

You see, my wife and I moved here shortly after 9/11… we sold everything we owned and moved to Costa Rica to “retire.”

And we loved it here.

We traveled … we made friends … both Costa Rican and “gringo”. ( North Americans )… and eventually we ended up selling real estate and building homes for others.

We accomplished a lot and … for the most part… we loved it.

And then the bureaucracies struck… and I was too damn stubborn to cut my losses…

And we lost it all.

And we moved back to Minnesota.

And it was not until five years after that that we moved back to Costa Rica… because even in spite of the hard time and the loss of almost everything… we still loved the country and its people.

And six months ago we returned. But we saw that it was not the same… as when we left. At least I didn’t think it was.

I saw the same things that I saw back in Minnesota… a lack of trust, name calling, and zero confidence or belief that there was almost nothing good left in Costa Rica.

It was disheartening… and I was gradually accepting the belief that Costa Rica was simply not the place or had the people that we had fallen in love with 15 years before.

But then … little by little… things happened that made me believe that much of what we had grown to love was not gone… Maybe there was less of it… but slowly, I began to rediscover what both of us had grown to love almost two decades before.

And it was more than just little things… like being charged only $2 to fix a flat tire… or having someone actually pump gas for you and check your oil ( when is the last time someone did that for YOU “back home”? )… or seeing families together on their front porches for Sunday dinner?… or watching a mother and daughter walk down the street with their arms around each other?

Then something else happened to me… I was out looking at a property with a Costa Rican friend and we had just returned from touring a jungle property near a beach and near a small town… and I was talking to the owner and he was telling me about his land and how it had been in the family for four generations.

And the he started to cry.

And I waited and then he told me that he was about to lose his home because his wife had had heart problems and he had to borrow against his property to pay for her medical bills. And he told me that he almost lost his faith in God because of it.

I didn’t know what to say at first. But then I told him about my problems with alcohol and what it did to me and how I had struggled with any belief at all in God at that time.

And both of us… cried… and then we hugged each other. And that was when I knew that the Costa Rica that I knew from two decades ago was not dead. And even though, neither of us spoke the language of the other, we understood each other perfectly.

I will never forget those moments… because they showed me that Costa Rica and its people are not dead…

They are alive and well.

It just took a little time to see it. Again.

So now… when we go back to Minnesota… God willing… we will look forward to coming back…

Because Costa Rica will be our second home again.

With family and its people again.

Some things change… but the important things will always be here.

Thanks for reading.

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Who does Avianca owe? Will it survice it’s latest financial crisis?

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Rico
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(QCOSTARICA) With debts exceeding US$7 billion dollars, Avianca Holdings filed on Sunday, May 10, for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in a court in New York.

Being in a financial crisis is not a new situation for the airline. Avianca has survived a century of turmoil, including wars, bankruptcy, and economic crises.

The request would protect the airline from its multiple creditors while reorganizing its operations and improving its financial situation, which had already faltered since before the pandemic due to the new coronavirus that froze its commercial operations and planted its 142 planes on the ground.

Since last year, Avianca began in the region an aggressive process of restructuring its operation due to the financial problems that led to layoffs in Costa Rica. At that time, the company stated that it had around 1,000 workers in the country.

Who does Avianca owe?

Avianca’s public file shows it has five main creditors who have collateral on the amounts loaned.

At top of the list is the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, based in the State of Delaware, which is owed US$484.4 million in bonds.

Next is UMB Bank, N.A., based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The airline owes it US$325 million on a long-term credit.

The third is Wells Fargo Bank Northwest N.A., also located in Salt Lake City, and which lent Avianca US$271.1 million with payment guarantees for eight aircraft: six Airbus and two Boeing 787s.

In fourth place is the New York-based ING Capital LLC US, which loaned the airline US$123.5 million, with a guarantee of payment for a Boeing 787-900.

Finally, there is the Banco de Bogotá (New York Agency), based in Bogotá, Colombia, which extended a long-term loan to the company for US$107.2 million.

Unsecured lenders

40 companies are listed in the list of other unsecured creditors. Among the largest in that group are: Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB (US$65M), IAE International Aero Engines AG (US$36M), Banco Davivienda (US$33.4M), General Electric & CFM International (US$33.4M), and Rolls Royce PLC (US$28.3M).

Colombia’sn Finance and Public Credit Minister Alberto Carrasquilla said on Monday, May 11, that the government does not rule out bailing out the airline, although the country does not have the funds and could be limited in the amount it can offer.

This “is not an insolvency proceeding, Avianca’s operations will continue during and after the Chapter 11 process,” said Anko van der Werff, Avianca CEO.

In Peru, however, the company will enter the process of dissolution and liquidation, and will have to compensate all its employees, said Renato Covelo, Avianca’s vice-president. Peru accounted for around 5% of the company’s operations.

While in Colombia – where it dominates more than 50% of the domestic market – Ecuador, El Salvador and other countries where it will continue to operate, Avianca will seek to negotiate flexible tax conditions, credits and other financial measures with governments.

Avianca, a company with a 100-year history, provides services to more than 50% of the Colombian market, travel to South America, North America and the European markets. To this is the cargo operations, currently employs 21,000 people directly in Latin America (14,000 in Colombia) and works with more than 3,000 suppliers.

Financial crisis from before the coronavirus

Being in a financial crisis is not a new situation for the airline. Avianca has survived a century of turmoil, including wars, bankruptcy, and economic crises.

The company recorded a net loss of US$894 million last year versus a US$1.1 million profit in 2018.

The company denied bankruptcy after a video was released last August in which the president of the board of directors, Roberto Kriete, assured that the company was bankrupt.

Avianca Holdings – which carried 30.5 million passengers last year, sold airplanes, reducing its fleet from 108 to 88 aircraft.

Throughout the world, the aviation industry has suffered a severe blow from the coronavirus, being directly affected by the confinement and closure of borders.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Latin American airlines will lose US$15 billion in revenue this year, in the worst crisis in the sector’s history.

Will Avianca survive?

It is not the first time that the airline has turned to Chapter 11 protection. It already went down this path in 2003 when its debts amounted to about US$269 million.

The chapter 11 process starts with the United States Trustee appointing committees that represent the interests of creditors and shareholders, and work with the company to develop a reorganization plan to get out of debt.

This plan must be accepted by creditors, bondholders, and shareholders, and approved by the court.

As shown in Avianca’s bankruptcy filing in New York courts, the company reported assets of US$7.273 billion and a debt of about US$7.269 billion.

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¢900 billion fund to revive the economy

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Rico
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(QCOSTARICA) The Superintendencia de Entidades Financieras (SUGEF) and Consejo Nacional de Supervisión del Sistema Financiero (Conassif) will eliminate requirements and relax conditions to boost the loan fund of ¢900 billion colones that the Government announced last week (May 8), as the main bet for economic revival.

The announcement of these new conditions by the Superintendency of Financial Institutions, the Supervision of the Financial System and state banks are to be made official on Friday, said the Minister of Planning (Mideplan), Pilar Garrido, in an interview on Telenoticias on Wednesday.

“The only way to be able to reopen businesses by people who do not have enough savings or working capital at the moment, is to have someone give you very cheap credit that you pay in a year and a half or two, with symbolic payments (in between), at a preferential rate and dose affect your credit record,” said Garrido.

The minister explained in detail the changes are endorsed by the SUGEF, Conassif and state banks, the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) and the Banco Popular y de Desarrollo Comunal (Popular), although the conditions of the loan fully remain with each financial institution

According to the minister, banks will have the autonomy to make the decision not to participate, “but that is not the world I have had from the managers, they are absolutely willing to assume the whole set of rules and to help in this crisis unprecedented for the country and which requires extraordinary measures to be taken”.

The minister added that she is already in talks with private banks to join the initiative.

Pliar Garrido, inister of Planning (Mideplan

These modifications also include the creation of a fund to serve as a guarantee for banks. It is an injection of ¢200 billion colones from the Banca para el Desarrollo ( Development Bank) with the National Development Fund (FONADE) as a guarantor to the banks.

These are the more important changes to be announced this Friday:

Credit record: the credit evaluation that each bank makes of the applicant will be with the record from last December or the first quarter of this year (whichever is better) so that it does not reflect the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reduction of rates: each bank will be able to reduce its interest rates below floor rates, according to its own evaluation of each case and supported by the support and security that will be endorsed by FONADE.

Credit guarantee: the National Development Fund will provide the guarantees to cover the credit portfolios of the state banking entities, according to the particularities of each sector. Thus, for example, the tourism sector (hotels, restaurants and the rest of the chain) will have its own guarantee fund so that borrowers who do not have guarantors are not excluded from the possibility of a loan.

Moratorium on payments: each company or person that takes out a loan with this special fund will have a grace period of up to two years in the repayment of installments. The only requirement will be to make a “symbolic” payment at least every 180 days.

Another aspect of the loans is the repayment can be in relation to billing, that the repayment is based on billing or income received and not a fixed payment.

“That is why this measure is robust, beneficial and can change the face of the productive sector,” added Garrido.

Where is the money coming from?

The minister assured that the ¢900 billion colones will come entirely from the capital of the state banks and that the government did not inject fresh resources into the coffers of state banks for new loans to the productive sector.

“The state bank has resources to lend, according to the budget of each entity,” assures the minister.

“What the Government did was to make a call, in this case to the state banks, to find out how many resources they had available to lend to the productive sector and that is the amount that was presented to the population at a press conference,” said Garrido.

“They are not fresh resources, it is about the resources that the banks have already budgeted for different economic activities and it depends on the demand for credit, the banks would handle budget transfers from different activities to others,” said Douglas Soto, manager of the BCR.

Soto explained that the bank will shift around loan resources, for example, if the big business sector demand is low, more funds will be made available to the small and micro business sector.

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A mortgaged country

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Q Costa Rica
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Ambitious debt plan will tie finances for a long time.

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Eighth death from COVID-19 registered in Costa Rica

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Rico
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(QCOSTARICA) A 75-year-old man became the eighth fatality of covid-19 in Costa Rica Wednesday afternoon. He was a resident of Alajuela and died at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, in San José.

The deceased suffered from high blood pressure and was anticoagulated – he was receiving drugs to prevent clots – due to cardiac surgery carried out 17 years ago, the Ministry of Health reported.

He was diagnosed with covid-19 on April 8, when he was hospitalized in the special center for patients with that disease, located in the facilities of the National Rehabilitation Center (Cenare) in La Uruca.

However, six days later, on April 14, he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the San Juan Hospital, due to complications. It was there where he died

According to the Ministry of Health, since May 7, the patient had already tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

The deaths in Costa Rica due to covid-19 is of all men, with an age range of 45 to 87. Only one of them, the youngest, had no record of underlying risk factors.

Four have occurred in the San Juan de Dios.

  • The first death occurred on March 18, when an 87-year-old doctor from Alajuela died.
  • On March 19 another 87-year-old man admitted to the Alajuela hospital, with risk factors.
  • On April 8 a 45-year-old man admitted to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, without underlying risk factors.
  • On April 15 an 84-year-old man admitted to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, with risk factors.
  • On April 19 a 69-year-old man admitted to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, with risk factors.
  • April 20 a  54-year-old man admitted to the Hospital Mexicl, with risk factors.
  • On May 10 an 80-year-old man admitted to the Liberian hospital with risk factors.

As of Wednesday, May 13, the country registers 815 confirmed covid-19 case, of whom 527 (64%) are already recovered.

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Coronavirus in Costa Rica: 815 confirmed cases, 8th death recorded

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Rico
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Tablillas en Los Chiles

The number of cases of covid-19 in Costa Rica reached 815 this Wednesday when 11 new infections were registered in the last 24 hours. On Tuesday, there were 804.

Tablillas border post in Los Chiles

The 11 new infections are associated with at least three conglomerates or clusters, and are the result of contact monitoring and the reason why the number of cases detected in the immigration detention center for migrants, located in Los Lagos de Heredia, rose to 18, that started with two patients initially. Due to that, the facilities were isolated, but then 12 more cases were added and, recently, another four.

The number of recovered from the covid-19 is now 527 or 64% of cases.

Of the 288 people currently with the disease, 20 are hospitalized and of these, six are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Wednesday afternoon the 8th death due to covid-19 was reported, a 75-yeard-old man, a resident of Alajuela. He died at the San Juan de Dios hospital, in San Jose. More info here.

Truckers at the northern border

Health Minister Dr. Daniel Salas reported that the operations at the northern border with Nicaragua continue with testing of truckers looking to enter Costa Rica.

In the last 24 hours, five new cases of truckers was reported, bringing the week’s total to 17.

Dr. Salas said they were all turned back, that is not allowed entry, and are not included in the infected cases in Costa Rica.

The number also confirms the lies of the Nicaraguan government who reports officially only 25 cases of the new coronavirus, a number that updated on Monday from the 16 reported unchanged for almost a week.

Virus particles in wastewater

Minister Salas announced that the National Water Laboratory of the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewerage (AyA) is working to identify the footprint of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater, that is, feces and urine.

Of course, the minister clarified that this does not mean that the covid-19 disease can be transmitted through wastewater.

Yamileth Astorga, executive president of AyA, explained the findings:

“We have developed this technique in several sewage intakes, Los Tajos, Pérez Zeledón, Puntarenas treatment plants and we have also managed to get closer to those places where we have the most presence.

“This allowed us to identify the presence of virus particles, which is not active, and what we extract is the SARS-CoV-2 DNA. It is an early warning that allows us to know if there is a presence in that locality, because we have asymptomatic and symptomatic cases.

“In those where we believe that there is no presence (of the virus) and it appears in the sample, it will allow the Ministry of Health to pay more attention,” the official explained.

 

 

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Immunity passport could be a requirement for international travel

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Rico
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(QCOSTARICA) Reactivating international aviation is a major challenge for airlines and organizations involved. As the world moves forward post the COVID-19 pandemic, the health of passengers and minimizing the further spread of the virus have to be considered.

“The safety of passengers and crew is paramount,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “We must arrive at a solution that gives passengers the confidence to fly and keeps the cost of flying affordable. One without the other will have no lasting benefit.”

People may be required to show up four hours prior to departure. Reuters

Through an extensive analysis published this May 13, the IATA warned that the impacts caused by the COVID-19 crisis will continue in the medium term and international long-distance travel would be the most affected.

IATA assured that the quarantine measures imposed by the countries on travelers will affect the confidence of eventual customers. Given this complex context, the organization advocates a series of temporary measures as long as there is no vaccine for the condition.

De Juniac explained that they propose the combination of temporary measures that do not involve quarantine for travelers. These options include immunity passports as temporary biosecurity measures or “almost instantaneous” COVID-19 instant tests.

The immunity passport – placed on the table since the emergency increased – would be an official document issued by the health authorities of the countries to travelers, which will certify – under strict guidelines – that a passenger is free of COVID-19.

Currently, many countries (including Costa Rica) issue mandatory quarantine health orders for those arriving from other nations.

Airplane design might incorporate social-distancing measures in the future. Avio Interiors

“To protect aviation’s ability to be a catalyst for economic recovery, we should not make that forecast worse by making travel impractical with quarantine measures. We need a safe travel solution that addresses two challenges. You must give passengers the confidence to travel safely and without undue hassle. And, it must give governments confidence that they are protected against importing the virus,” said De Juniac.

Other recommendations issued by the IATA include the ban on the travel of symptomatic people through early detection tests and the strengthening of the exchange of information between health authorities and airlines.

Temperature checks could become commonplace. Lynne Sladky/AP

De Juniac added that it is key to agree on actions to reactivate international aviation as soon as possible. At the moment, IATA and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are working on the construction of alternatives.

Complex scenario

If national air markets open – at least – in the third quarter of the year, with a gradual slower opening of national markets, world passenger demand (measured in passengers per kilometer transported, RPK) in 2021 would be 24% lower at 2019 levels. And, 32% lower than the forecast initially made -in 2019- for 2021.

Furthermore, global passenger demand levels would exceed 2019 data until 2023. Even by 2025, global RPK levels would be 10% lower.

Forget long, crowded lines to board flights. Toby Melville/Reuters

The worst-case scenario, from a slower opening of the economies and the relaxation of restrictive measures until the third quarter of this 2020 as a result of a second pandemic wave, would delay the resumption of international air operations.

Thus, the global RPK for 2021 would be 34% lower than the 2019 levels and 41% below the initial forecasts for 2021.

“Rebuilding passenger confidence will take longer. And even then, individual and corporate travelers are likely to carefully manage travel expenses and stay closer to home,” the IATA executive director was quoted as saying.

When recovery begins, in European countries or in the United States, the most desired flights would be internal. According to a survey made by the IATA last April to recent travelers, 58% said that when the operation resumes, their first trip would be domestic.

“The impacts of the crisis on long-distance travel will be much more severe and longer-lasting than expected in national markets. This makes globally agreed and implemented biosecurity standards for the travel process even more critical. We have a small window to avoid the consequences of uncoordinated unilateral measures that marked the period after September 11, 2001. We must act quickly, “concluded De Juniac.

Sanitagging” might become a thing. Valerie Macon/Getty

Tico reality

In Costa Rica, at the end of April, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) was studying different scenarios for when the right moment comes.

“The airports were not closed. The services offered by the State have been maintained and in coordination with the interested managers (Aeris in the case of the Juan Santamaría and Coriport a the Daniel Oduber). Obviously, the return to aeronautical activity is not something that is going to feel very latent overnight. It will be a gradual process that will depend on many factors,” said Luis Miranda Muñoz, deputy director of the DGAC, on April 29.

The new normality for the sector will come from a handful of factors that are under the magnifying glass of the DGAC: the moment in which the country lifts immigration restrictions on the entry of tourists, the behavior of demand on airlines and the facilities with which these companies attract customers to carry out the flights through the most pertinent sanitary measures.

None of these 3 areas allows absolute certainty of what will happen.

“Work is being done on protocols that would apply once the immigration restriction is lifted. Social distancing must be guaranteed as the first health and safety measure for the passenger,” Miranda said.

An Intelligent Sterilization Robot at Hong Kong International Airport. Tyrone Siu/Reuters

New procedures, and potential future policies

Insider.com has made a list of 15 ways of how air travel might be different post Covid-19:

  1. You might be required to take a blood test or nasal swab ahead of a flight, or upon arrival.
  2. Temperature checks might become the norm.
  3. You’ll probably have to cover your face throughout flights.
  4. Forget crowded lines — you could start getting texts telling you it’s time to board.
  5. Flying could get more expensive.
  6. Airplane design could fundamentally change.
  7. A social distance-friendly class may emerge.
  8. Full body disinfection booths could become commonplace, maybe even cleaning robots.
  9. Bags may need to get sanitized separately.
  10. Both terminals and plane cabins could become contactless.
  11. Hot meals may be a thing of the past.
  12. In-flight janitors might become part of cabin crews.
  13. Plexiglass shields might become ubiquitous.
  14. You might need to show ID, as well as some sort of immunity document or health certificate.
  15. You may have to get to the airport even earlier.
A social distance-friendly class may emerge. A private suite in Emirates’ First Class. Emirates Airlines

 

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27 March 2026 - At The Banks - Source: BCCR

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