If you got it? The cover girl has taken to posing in a two piece lately. The movie and TV star looked perfectly toned as she wore an orange bikini when walking out of a swimming pool last month with palm trees behind her
Gina Rodriguez must be doing sit-ups between takes of her new show Diary of a Future President because on Monday the 35-year-old actress flashed some very impressive abs as she modeled a fun bikini.
Gym crazy? The 35-year-old actress flashed some very impressive abs as she modeled a fun bikini while vacationing in Costa Rica. The image got more than 800,000 likes by her 4.4 million followers on Instagram.
The beauty, American actress, rapper and director, known for her leading role as Jane Villanueva in The CW satirical romantic dramedy series Jane the Virgin (2014–2019), for which she received a Golden Globe Award in 2015, is on vacation with her husband, Joe Locicero (m. 2019), in Costa Rica.
If you got it? The cover girl has taken to posing in a two-piece lately. The movie and TV star looked perfectly toned as she wore an orange bikini when walking out of a swimming pool last month with palm trees behind her.
The movie and TV star looked perfectly toned as she wore an orange bikini when walking out of a swimming pool last month with palm trees behind her.
Girl in a hut: And earlier this year she shared this image in a grass hut
With this freedom came a bittersweet understanding that because of her parents, she was one of the lucky ones. (Flickr)
By Michelle Prado – When Mercedes (“Mercy”) Rodriguez arrived in America on a fall day in 1979, the first thing she noticed was how clean and wide the streets were.
The 15-year-old Cuban refugee had just arrived on a plane carrying nearly a dozen political prisoners, including her father and brothers. They had been blacklisted and then detained for opposing Fidel Castro’s rise to power but were now finally being released after years of imprisonment as part of an agreement between America and Communist Cuba.
With this freedom came a bittersweet understanding that because of her parents, she was one of the lucky ones. (Flickr)
The flight from Cuba to Miami was a historical moment captured by several local news sources. But for Mercy it was sad. She was leaving the only home she’d ever known.
In just 30 minutes, Mercy left behind her first life. Her friends, her family photos, and the farm her parents owned for years were just a few things she would never see again, though she did not know this when she nervously boarded the plane with her family. As she arrived at the airport, the knot in her stomach only tightened as officials requested that the pilot stop the plane halfway up the runway so the passengers’ identities could be verified.
It took immigration officials a few hours to confirm every passenger on the flight. Then, with only the clothes on their backs (as Cuban officers did not allow the refugees to take personal items), Mercy and her family were released. Soon they were reunited with her grandparents, who had fled Cuba in 1968.
A Whole New World
Only a few hundred miles separate Miami and Cuba. But to Mercy, America felt like a new world. In Cuba, women were prevented from wearing miniskirts and other “revealing” clothing. If a police officer saw a woman wearing a risque outfit, they marked them with stamps to shame them. Gay people were targeted, beaten, and imprisoned. People were not allowed to listen to American music.
America was different. “It was like going to Disneyland. Everything was so clean and beautiful,” Mercy recalls 40 years later. “I’d never tasted an apple before that day. We didn’t have any in Cuba.”
With this freedom came a bittersweet understanding that because of her parents, she was one of the lucky ones.
It was a torture living in Cuba. When you live in a communist country, you’re afraid of everything—to speak, to go places. You’re always scared, but you don’t realize it until you go to freedom.
Just one year later, 21-year-old Jose Prado, my father, experienced a similar flurry of emotions as he arrived in the US with his parents in 1980 on the Mariel boatlift.
Raised in a religious household in Lawton (the city of Habana, Cuba), Prado and his family were part of a mass exodus of Christians fleeing Castro’s crackdown on religious freedom, which included harassment, delayed food rations, and at times even incarceration. (The crackdown stemmed from the Soviet Union’s influence in Cuba, and its intolerance for religion.) The Prado family understood that if they wanted to stop living in constant survival mode, they would have to make the difficult decision to uproot in search of a life without censors.
The Difference Between La Habana and Miami
I sometimes wonder how many broken hearts lie between La Habana and Miami.
My parents Mercedes (“Mercy”) Rodriguez and Jose Prado struggled to overcome displacement and the biases that come with it and give my brother and me all of the opportunities they were robbed of as kids.
I grew up watching Cubans “siempre inventando” (always inventing) new ways to get ahead by starting their own businesses, encouraging us kids to go to college, and chasing the American dream (all while helping their neighbors along the way).
My people built a city from the ground up and decorated its parks, museums, memorials, and streets as a tribute to the little island in the Caribbean whose loss we mourn with every shot of Cuban coffee we take.
I once heard a very wise professor say, “
is the difference between La Habana and Miami.”
I hope one day that saying will cease to be true.
– – – – –
Michelle Prado is a senior program associate for FEE. As a recent graduate, her main focus is to gain practical experience in the field of political theory/application and rhetoric. She assists the Director of Programs in planning and executing seminars that educate high school students about economics
This article was originally published on Panampost.com. Read the original here.
The far-right government’s positive rating had already declined in Ibope’s four previous polls this year, falling from 35 percent in April. Its negative rating has risen from 27 percent in April.
The approval rating of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s government is dropping steadily and its negative rating is climbing, a CNI/Ibope poll showed on Friday, as his combative political style and a weak recovery weigh on his popularity.
The number of Brazilians that rate his government as great or good has slipped to 29 percent from 31 percent in September, while those that view it as bad or terrible have increased to 38 percent from 34 percent in the previous poll, the new survey said.
Public confidence in Bolsonaro’s governing style has dropped since he took office in January, the poll said. A majority of those polled, or 53 percent, do not approve of the way he is governing Brazil, up from 40 percent in April and 50 percent in September. Those who approve of his governing style has fallen to 40 percent from 51 percent in April and 44 percent in September.
The number of Brazilians who said they trusted Bolsonaro has also dropped off, within the margin of error, to 41 percent from 51 percent in April and 42 percent in September. Those who have no trust in him rose to 56 percent from 45 percent in April and 55 percent in September.
The survey polled 2,000 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point. The poll commissioned by industry lobby CNI was carried out Dec. 5-8.
On Friday, 7th October 2016, we learned that after thirty-four years, a Colombian had won the second Nobel Prize in the country’s history. This time a less exciting and more political one because it is awarded by a committee delegated by the Norwegian Parliament.
Former president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos (Efe)
Juan Manuel Santos, who at that time served as president of Colombia, was on the list of Nobel Peace Prize laureates just days after Colombian society overwhelmingly rejected the Havana agreements between the president and the FARC.
However, the much-talked-about peace never arrived, and despite all the promises, those responsible for crimes against humanity never faced justice. What millions of citizens got instead was rampant impunity for criminals, and Santos got millions of dollars from the construction company, Odebrecht, that allowed him to be president twice.
The corruption in Santos’ 2010 and 2014 presidential campaigns that reached the country’s highest political and business spheres was an open secret. There was already enough evidence for the Colombian justice system to investigate the president of Colombia and his clique. As time went by, more evidence and testimonies emerged.
This was not enough, and the mediocrity of the Colombian justice system was evident in all its splendor. “Peace” had become the centerpiece of the country, and many of us stupidly decided not to pay sufficient attention to an act of corruption of such magnitude. We were so hell-bent on getting the FARC to lay down their arms that we welcomed any sacrifice in the name of “peace.”
The agreements were signed despite societal opposition, and it was impunity, not peace, that began to walk through the corridors of Congress, the Casa de Nariño, the Palace of Justice. Once again, the politicians lied, and once again, we fell for their lies. Worst of all, many are still in that slumber.
They still think that the best thing for the country is that rapists and murderers, who were not supposed to occupy a single seat in the Senate and House, do not pay for their multiple crimes, receive wages from taxpayers’ money, get protection. That we protect their “good name,” which for years, from the jungles of Colombia to blood, coca, and lead, they fought to build.
Today, those who gave the order to murder thousands of Colombians to promote a political ideology, cultivate thousands of hectares of drugs, do illegal open-pit mining, engage in human trafficking and abductions are sitting in Congress, talking about respect for the human rights that they continue to infringe through legal means.
And Santos? An international lecturer who boasts of the peace achieved in his government and the principles that earned him the Nobel Prize. But like every good coward, he is silent about the corruption plot that was woven in his government, and a good part of Colombian society validates that because talking about it could stain the negotiation process between Santos and the FARC.
A process that did not bring peace, but gave credibility to a guerrilla group that only seeks to replicate in Colombia a model that has failed time and again wherever it has been implemented.
So, apparently, Santos is the new Ernesto Samper, who came to the Presidency thanks to the millions of drug traffickers who never faced the law because, according to him, everything happened without his knowledge.
Today, Santos is moving in the same direction. It seems that the country values the much-desired peace over respect for institutions and the constitution. This is the best smokescreen behind which the worst acts of corruption are concealed. But without respect for the institutions, peace is nothing more than a symbolic salute to the flag.
Much of the dollars now circulating in Venezuela allegedly come from money laundering and drug trafficking.
ndrea Rondon: “When the state is the trafficker, the dollar injections are much wider because it doesn’t have the natural obstacles” (Andina)
A study carried out by Ecoanalítica and published by Bloomberg revealed that more than half of the retail transactions in American currency in a country where salaries are set in bolivars and the minimum wage is less than five dollars a month.
The dollarization, which has rebounded in the country, is due to the recent relaxation of price controls. However, prices are so high that those who depend on wages in bolivars cannot afford anything.
Although there is the talk of a kind of “normalization” of the economy in the South American country, what is happening is a “mercantilism of the 21st Century,” according to Andrea Rondon, a university professor and member of CEDICE Libertad’s academic committee.
1. Aclaratoria para los que están afuera y no entienden lo que está ocurriendo en el país en este momento:
Voy a explicar lo que siento, con posibilidad de equivocarme porque vivo aquí y estoy contaminada del día a día.
The expert explained that the economy would not improve unless the laws and controls change. On the contrary, what we have is a “relaxation” that was forced because the state was “strangled” with sanctions.
“In these last two months there is a kind of feeling of improvement because you see inns, premises that are opening and that create the appearance of investment; and I say appearance because they are not necessarily so. Many are probably linked to money laundering,” he explained.
Rondon pointed out that the state injects a lot of those dollars that are circulating today in Venezuela.
“We must remember that one of the biggest problems of drug trafficking is to mobilize cash and launder it, but when it is the state that is trafficking, the injections are much more extensive because it does not have the natural obstacles. That is why it is also assumed that the largest injection of dollars comes from there,” he said.
The specialist explained that for Nicolas Maduro’s regime, the dollars no longer come from oil rent but from illicit transactions: money that arrives in cash and is laundered with “investments” in legal businesses.
For more than two decades, chavismo imposed laws, economic and penal sanctions on those who freely accessed the dollar. Besides, the exchange control killed more than 10,200 companies and devalued the Bolivar to its peak. However, Maduro, who had said that the dollar was a currency “without backing,” is now thanking God for the dollarization of the country.
After drowning in international sanctions, chavismo was forced to give in and allow Venezuelans to trade dollars. It is already common in the South American country to charge in U.S. currency for private medical consultations, insurance, tourist services, electrical appliances, real estate, restaurant bills, private education, and even commercial activities such as shopping in the market and transportation.
Professionals such as dentists, lawyers, surgeons, etc., offer their services in exchange for payment in dollars with no question because it is logical to assume the source of the money.
An economic bubble
Despite the talk of a supposed “normalization,” the truth is that Caracas is immersed in an “economic bubble.” According to Andrea Rondon, this is a “feeling of improvement” that is removed from reality.
“In Caracas, the lack of water and electricity, for example, continues. But there is a supposed feeling of improvement because that is where the establishments, the Russian, Chinese, and Iranian companies that are also injecting dollars into Venezuela, are visible. Caracas is the city that shows this economic bubble,” he added.
“The economy is not improving because the same policies persist. The only difference is that they have had to relax the controls because they themselves have been suffocated. The laws and controls are in force, and as long as they remain in effect, we cannot say that there is an improvement,” he said.
Venezuela has become a kind of “modern Cuba.”
Rondon explained that it is tough to provide unbiased information about what is happening in Venezuela because there are no official data available.
“There is massive economic intervention and no official information. It is impossible to surgically separate what part of the money belongs to the state, what comes from drug trafficking, what comes from private enterprise, etc.,” he added.
“Any explanation is short; the market must be transparent and give you as much information as possible. But the intervening state is the one giving the information. That makes everything uncertain, and there is no transparency,” he said.
For Rondon, Venezuela’s economy today resembles that of Cuba and what is happening in China.
“It is a kind of modern Cuba; for example, they do not have to restrict people’s freedom to leave the country. Instead, they set excessive prices and taxes making it hard to buy passports or airline tickets. We have the same shortcomings as Cuba, but it has been modernized. On the other hand, capital is injected, and that is very similar to China. It is not the capitalism of a liberal regime, but a mercantilism of the 21st century. There is no rule of law, and the state intervenes in economic freedoms,” he concluded.
Venezuela’s pro-government Constituent Assembly on Monday revoked the parliamentary immunity of four opposition lawmakers. The move allows their prosecution at the Supreme Court for alleged crimes against the state, including treason and conspiracy.
The lawmakers, who belong to different parties within the country’s opposition movement, have denied the charges and said the legal process against them represents another attempt by President Nicolas Maduro to dismantle the opposition-controlled national assembly.
Maduro’s Constituent Assembly, a legislative body he created to override the national assembly, voted unanimously to lift the immunity, following a request by the pro-government Supreme Court.
Chief state prosecutor Tarek William Saab accused the lawmakers Jorge Millan, Hernan Aleman, Carlos Lozano and Luis Stefanelli of conspiring to seize military installations in the northeastern state of Sucre, with the aim of “destabilizing this Christmas.”
Juan Guaido, Venezuela’s self-proclaimed president and leader of the National Assembly, denounced the move as another attempt by Maduro to take over the opposition-led institution.
He added that some 30 lawmakers remained detained, in exile, or in refuge at embassies in Caracas, due to government persecution.
Struggling opposition
Despite a high-profile push to oust Maduro, the ruling Socialist Party continues to maintain control of the state and military.
Last month, Guaido struggled to launch a new mass mobilization, drawing a fraction of the crowds he drew earlier this year when he called for protests. This month, he had to fight allegations of corruption in his ranks.
Venezuelan investigative website Armando.info published a report on December 1 claiming that nine pro-Guaido lawmakers attempted to negotiate leniency with Colombia and US authorities for a businessman tied to an allegedly corrupt network, which runs Maduro’s food subsidies for the poor.
Weeks earlier, Humberto Calderon Berti, Guaido’s diplomatic representative in Colombia, accused fellow opposition envoys of improperly using funds meant to help 148 Venezuelan soldiers who had deserted to Colombia in February.
While Guaido dismissed both Berti and the nine opposition lawmakers tied to the food scheme, the scandals have divided the opposition and weakened Guaido’s leadership.
The exiled former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, said Tuesday in Buenos Aires that he would lead his socialist MAS party’s campaign in elections expected in the next few months, although he himself would not run for office.
Morales spoke during a press conference in the Argentinian capital where he has lived under refugee status since December 12. Joined by several members of his former government, Morales is set to influence Bolivia’s politics from the relative proximity of Argentina.
According to Argentinian media, Morales plans to set up a campaign headquarters in the town of San Ramon de la Nueva Oran, located near the Bolivian border.
“I am not a candidate. I will not be a candidate as things are, but I have the right to do politics,” Morales said Tuesday. “I am convinced that we will win the upcoming elections again.”
Morales has found an ally in the newly inaugurated Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who has said his government would not restrict Morales’ “freedom of expression.”
Morales claims a ‘racist’ coup
As Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Morales claimed to have won an unprecedented fourth term in October’s presidential elections.
Pro-Morales demonstrators march in Buenos Aires, Argentina
However, after nationwide protests over allegations of fraud and the Organization of American States (OAS) saying there were vote counting irregularities, Morales resigned on November 10 and left Bolivia for political asylum in Mexico. He maintains he resigned under duress in a military coup.
In an interview published Monday with American journalist Glenn Greenwald, Morales said his removal was led by Bolivia’s right-wing, white, Christian minority.
Senate vice president Jeanine Anez took power as interim president after Morales left. She has pledged to hold fresh elections, but a date has not yet been set.
Morales told Greenwald that Anez proclaimed herself president, and was part of a “fascist and racist” minority government seeking to malign Bolivia’s indigenous population.
Anez has expressed concern that Morales will use Argentina as a launching pad for a potential return to Bolivia.
Although Morales could face prosecution on sedition and terrorism charges if he crosses the Andes to return home, the former leader said he is “not afraid of arrest.”
An uphill battle
Morales enjoys widespread support among indigenous Bolivians, however, his left-wing Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party faces challenges to returning to power.
According to Moira Zuazo, a Latin America expert at Berlin’s Free University, the MAS party is split along ideological lines.
“Modern forces in the party cooperate with the interim government, and are interested in the pacification of the country. The other wing of the party stands with Morales, behaves more radically, and is less ready for dialogue,” Zuazo told DW.
Without the support of moderate MAS members, a resolution for Bolivia’s political crisis with new elections would be impossible, the expert continued.
Nevertheless, without Morales, the future of the MAS as a force in Bolivian politics is uncertain.
“For 14 years, this party was totally geared towards Morales. There were different directions within the party, but there hasn’t been a leader like Morales.”
Costa Rica’s president, Carlos Alvarado, earlier this week requested urgent international aid for refugees, due to the tens of thousands of Nicaraguans after a political crisis triggered months of violent protests in the neighboring country.
Costa Rica has received 77,000 refugee applications and expects arrivals to keep coming
The demonstrations in Nicaragua erupted in April 2018, when President Daniel Ortega tried to cut welfare benefits, and gradually spread into a broader protest movement against him.
Some 325 people lost their lives, killed at the hands of police or armed government-affiliated groups, according to official government sources. The number is presumed higher by humanitarian agencies monitoring the situation.
Nicaraguans have made up the “vast majority” of refugee applications in Costa Rica over the past year and a half, President Alvarado said at the Global Refugee Forum held by the UN Refugee Agency in Geneva.
He added that Nicaraguan refugees were expected to keep arriving.
“We came to request cooperation to guarantee that the refugee population can access their rights,” Alvarado said.
Since April 2018, Costa Rica has received 77,000 refugee applications of Nicaraguans, according to Costa Rica’s immigration service. Since September of this year alone, Costa Rica has received 10,000 requests.
The Organization of American States (OAS) said last month that Nicaragua was experiencing a “critical human rights situation” and recommended a special session of its general assembly be convened to review affairs in the country.
Last week, the United States government imposed sanctions on Ortega’s son, accusing him of money laundering and corruption.
The government of Honduras has recently declared a state of emergency in its prisons due to violence between rival gangs. The military and police are set to take control from often corrupt civilian officials.
At least 18 people were killed and 16 injured after a brawl between rival gangs inside a prison in Honduras, authorities said late on Friday.
The government of Honduras has recently declared a state of emergency in its prisons due to violence between rival gangs. The military and police are set to take control from often corrupt civilian officials.
The riot, once of the worst outbreaks of prison violence in the country, came just two days after the government had to declare a state of emergency in the prison system over the heavy increased infighting.
The state of emergency means that civilian employees and security has been suspended for at least six months, transferring their duties to the country’s security services. However, a military official told the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, that transfer of power had yet to take place at the prison in the northern port city of Tela.
Honduran authorities hope that police and military control of the prisons will not only clamp down on violence but help root out the rampant corruption known to flourish amongst civilian prison wardens and guards.
Gang violence rampant
Gang violence is a major problem in Honduras. Many young men belong to the two major rival gangs, Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha. Members of the community who live in a gang’s territory are expected to pay “war taxes” for “protection,” and any perceived act of disobedience or disloyalty to the gang is often punished by murder.
Although homicide rates have dropped slightly since 2012, when Honduras had the highest murder rate in the world amongst countries not technically at war, there is still a sense amongst the gangs that they can kill with impunity as only 4% of murders in the country end in conviction.
The plague of violence is why many Hondurans risk the dangerous trek to try and immigrate to the United States.
By the end of this year, there will be some 7.75 billion people living on planet earth, according to Germany’s Foundation for World Population (DSW).
The German foundation that monitors populations. also suggests the 8 billion mark will be reached in the year 2023.
The estimate gauges that the world’s population will have increased by 83 million since January 1 2019.
The globe’s population is increasing at the rate of 156 every minute and DSW predicts the 8 billion mark will be surpassed within four years.
The foundation also predicts that Africa’s population will double over the next 20 years. An African mother bears 4.4 children on average compared to the global average of 2.4.
The UN’s “World Population Prospects” report released in June this year predicted that the world’s population would grow to 9.7 billion by 2050.
The same report also predicted that by the same year, more than half the world’s population would be concentrated in India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States.
In addition, India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country by 2027.
Colombia on Friday ordered Uber to cease its ride-hailing operations in the Andean country, effective immediately, after a judge ruled the company violated competition rules.
Uber’s logo is pictured at its office in Bogota, Colombia, December 12, 2019
Following a lawsuit filed against Uber by COTECH SA, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) said the U.S. company had breached market rules.
Uber has more than 2.3 million active users in Colombia and around 88,000 driver-partners.
The app, however, has existed in a regulatory no-man’s land in Colombia. The Technology Ministry deems ride-hailing apps legal while transport authorities say they are against the law.
In a statement, the SIC said Uber generated “a significant advantage in the market” by rendering transport services for individuals via its application.
The SIC said that following analysis, it ordered Uber’s ride-hailing services “through the use of the Uber application to cease immediately.” The order applies to Uber, Uber X and Uber VAN.
Uber said in a statement that it rejects the ruling and immediately appealed it.
“This decision reflects an act of censorship and infringes on the Inter American Convention on Human Rights, which has already condemned attempts to block Uber for violating the neutrality of the web, liberty of expression and freedom of the internet,” Uber said in a statement.
Andres Barreto, head of the SIC, confirmed that other Uber services, such as food-delivery service Uber Eats, were not prohibited by the ruling.
In August, Uber was sanctioned with a fine of more than US$629,000 for obstructing an administrative visit and failing to comply with SIC orders.
The glass frog’s translucent skin reveals organs in action, including the heart pumping blood.
Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki, Naturepl.com
Costa Rica, which received a 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the United Nations’ highest environmental honor, for its role in protecting nature and combating climate change— hosts plenty of ecotours that offer zip-lining, mountain biking, kayaking, and birding.
The glass frog’s translucent skin reveals organs in action, including the heart pumping blood. Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki, Naturepl.com
But the nation is now discovering the value of a much smaller—and more threatened—natural asset. Lodges are building frog-friendly ponds; parks are leading frog-finding tours. Even the busy urban San José airport has a new frog-patterned carpet.
As the world gets hotter and drier, frogs’ future is in peril. Amphibians have survived the past four great extinctions, from ice ages to a meteor collision. But something is happening today that is causing amphibians to disappear at alarming rates, reports the National Geographic.
You know that summer or “dry season” is here when the Ruta 27 (San Jose – Caldera) begins its “reversibilidad” (reversibility) program.
Every Sunday starting December 29, 2019, and running to February 2, 2020, the Ruta 27 is one-way to San Jose from Pozón (Orotina) to Cuidad Colon.
The “reversibilidad” is from 2 pm to 6 pm, which means traffic officials (transitos) will close all the westbound (Pacific coast bound) entry of the Ruta 27 starting at 1 pm and re-open at 7 pm.
The holiday season means a spike at the Peñas Blancas border crossing with Nicaragua, as thousands of Nicaraguans visit family and friends in their homeland, and visitors in Costa Rica taking advantage of tourism in the country to the north.
The increased border traffic is having its toll on truckers, as the line to cross extends to more than 10 kilometers and that means days of waiting.
Some say they have been waiting for up to 4 days.
According to Costa Rica’s border officials, the main problem is the increase in imports and exports at this time of year. In addition to the large number of Nicaraguans and tourists passing through customs.
For the transport sector, the situation is worrisome. They complain that the drivers must spend days in the area, some without water and food, lack of security or bathroom facilities.
The truckers union points out the deficiency of personnel in general, customs and immigration agents, and drug control police among others.
Francisco Quirós of the Cámara de Transportistas says officials on the Costa Rican side of the border blame their counterparts in Nicaragua.
“While this is normal for the end of the year, we ask the authorities to watch over the carrier and not leave them abandoned,” Quirós said.
The union leader expressed concerned for the truckers, many have problem sleeping and getting meals.
Buying basic foods such as rice, beans, tuna, cooking oil, coffee and more on installment payments is now possible in Costa Rica, although it is a risky terrain for consumers who decide on this option.
Six out of ten households in Costa Rica have at least one type of debt in Costa Rica, according to data from the Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares (ENIGH 2018) – National Survey of Household Income and Expenses. Image from social networks
A series of advertisements published by the Gollo store chain, in their social media accounts, opened the debate on the sale of food from the basic basket on credit.
This payment option is not like checking out at the supermarket using a credit card, rather, it is similar to installment payments when buying an appliance or a television, for example.
Among the advertising of this company, for example, a seven kilogram (kg) bag of rice with a cash price of ¢6,260 that is sold financed with a down payment of ¢1,255 and three installments of ¢1,785, which means the final price of the product is ¢6,610.
The same ad offers a 900 gram (g) bean bag whose cash price is ¢5,815, but on credit requires an upfront payment of ¢1,165 (just over 20% of the total price) and financed at three installments of ¢1,660. The consumer would pay ¢6,145 in total.
The publication indicated the effective interest rate for these products is 40%.
Eduardo Córdoba, Gollo’s marketing manager, explained that the company entered the new market option five months ago after studies on consumer habits. “The general products of the basic basket came out as part of the result,” Córdoba said.
The spokesperson said the consumer has the choice of payment, their financing option is to offer consumers an option that meets their financial needs.
Córdoba defended that the financing is “transparent” and pointed out that they also have a promotion that includes the possibility of buying food on three months without interest, or at a 40% discount if the consumer acquires an appliance product.
“Our clients are varied, we have people who do not have access to credit or financing with banks and we are an inclusive option for them,” the spokesperson added.
Image from social networks
Gollo defends the practice in saying there is a consumer who demands it.
However, the mechanism raises criticism from the Government and demonstrates, at the same time, the high indebtedness of Costa Ricans.
Victoria Hernández, Minister of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC), said that the Government criticizes such behaviors that seek to charge high-interest rates for the purchase of food included the Basic Food Basket.
“An effective rate of 40% is completely objectionable. It is outrageous that perishable goods are sold under these conditions. The Government makes a vote of moral censorship in this regard,” said the minister.
According to Hernández, if businesses really want to help people, they should use three-month interest-free payment mechanisms like that of some credit cards.
“We are going to do market checks to know in depth this and other cases about which we also receive information and that are based on the sale of basic basket products on credit. After that we will evaluate the measures to be taken,” said the Minister.
The underlying problem behind this type of sale is that there are people in economic and financial conditions so adverse that they need these options to buy food.
Danilo Montero, director of the Office of the Financial Consumer (OCF) said these types of sales formats are a reflection of a different economy, with high levels of indebtedness of people and households.
“Ideally, the person should first consider the possibility of not opting for financing. It can be with a combination of readjusting expenses and savings to have money to buy priority goods,” Montero said.
Erick Ulate, president of the Consumers Association of Costa Rica, sees with concern the high dependence of the consumer on credit with the false expectation that this will generate more immediate liquidity.
“Costa Ricans love credit and almost dislikes cash payment,” said Ulate. “That is a culture that by necessity began to revert since we have almost 800,000 cases in judicial collection and high levels of indebtedness in the population.”
What’s the difference between paying with a credit card or on installments?
Basically, the purchase made with a credit card allows the consumer up to 45 days to pay without interest, meanwhile, installment plans are financed from the first day, meaning a higher price.
Cinthya Zapata, director of the Directorate of Consumer Support, explained, “Remember that a credit card is a means of payment that well used may not generate any interest, but in this case, we are facing a purchase in which, according to the publicity, interest charges will be charged associated with financing.”
Among the comments on social networks, “only this was missing”, “It fille me with indignation and sadness in thinking that we have compatriots who need now to finance even their food for lack of work, a worthy salary and opportunities”, “With this foolishness, it is urgent to legislate against usury!”, “How sad to profit from the most basic needs of the population”, “What a twisted mind to think about financing rice and beans”.
Costa Rica’s Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), in its 2019 performance results report said its work directly contributed to the country’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as set by the United Nations.
The Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, highlighted the results: “Once again Costa Rica has had a great performance in a truly challenging international environment. Companies continue to recognize the country’s path as an attractive FDI destination in key industries, thanks to different conditions such as our outstanding human talent.
“These figures reflect the country’s hard work. Today, there are many Costa Ricans who enjoy the benefits of FDI occupying quality and well-paid jobs that contribute to development and well-being, in accordance with the SDGs. The Government will not lower its guard.
“We will continue working with redoubled efforts to continue creating the right conditions for FDI, which is undoubtedly a key component in the national economy.”
Multinational companies supported by CINDE created a gross of 16,718 new jobs and 10,141 net jobs in 2019, a record number for the institution even though 2018 foreign direct investment (FDI) global inflows continued to decrease and are expected to maintain that downward trend this year.
CINDE client base of over 300 multinational companies now represents an aggregate of 118,245 direct jobs and 58,980 indirect jobs at the end of 2019. This dynamic performance is the result of a 9.9% yearly net employment growth since 2015.
Also this year, 547 new jobs were created outside of the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), which has had an average 10.1% annual growth rate for the past four years.
“In an international context where FDI inflows continue to drop and there are more competing countries, it is truly remarkable to share these positive results and they encourage us to continue contributing to our country’s development,” said Jorge Sequeira, Managing Director of CINDE.
He added: “We are committed to excelling in our position as the world’s top investment promotion agency, with a client-centric vision that provides a smooth landing in the country, and where CINDE becomes a true ally for the company´s strategic business development.”
CINDE also celebrates the job growth that multinationals have had in regions outside the GMA, which reflect the agency´s assistance to more than 20 municipalities. These positive results are possible thanks to active engagement with the community, local governments, and the schools in each region. CINDE continues to work together with multiple regions to improve talent skills and promote more investment opportunities.
The constant employment growth by multinational companies demonstrates their strong footprint and trust in Costa Rica as a strategic operation with 60% of them increasing the number of jobs in 2019, and 6% maintain their employability levels.
Amazon Costa Rica is particularly highlighted given its growth and innovative approach. Amazon employs over 9500 people in the country. Its virtual services center comprises 1050 positions all under a full work-from-home framework. This scheme allows for 53% of the jobs to be held by people in regions outside the GMA. Also, 50% of the positions are held by women.
GENDER EQUALITY
Multinational companies attracted and supported by CINDE actively promote women’s participation in the labor force. In 2019, 50% of the net new jobs created by these companies were held by women, compared to the country’s average of 39%.
INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION
By attracting and strengthening FDI, Costa Rica improves the diversification of its economy while taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the fourth industrial revolution so that the country can successfully become an active part of the knowledge economy.
QUALITY EDUCATION
CINDE continues to nurture key educational projects where 3,888 people were positively impacted throughout the year. The initiatives are part of the organization’s strategic programs to drive talent development and boost skills for the jobs of the future.
Examples of Investment Projects Announced in 2019
Roche opened a shared services center. The company will give financial support from Costa Rica to the Roche Pharma and Diagnosis divisions in the Americas. The operation will generate approximately 400 direct and 50 indirect jobs by the end of 2020.
Cloudera established a technical support center in Costa Rica. The company, which provides software solutions for Big Data in the cloud and business data centers, announced the establishment of a technical support center in Costa Rica for its customers in the United States and Latin America.
Akamai inaugurated new offices in Costa Rica. The company in the digital technology sector, Akamai, inaugurated its new center in Costa Rica, where it will concentrate all the country’s operations. It established in Costa Rica in 2012 and to date has 300 employees.
WeWork arrived in Costa Rica. WeWork, located in over 101 cities worldwide, announced that by the end of 2019 it will start operating in San José, Costa Rica, aiming to transform the local business ecosystem and becoming a gateway for companies to Central America.
IBM expanded its Cybersecurity Center. The expansion tripled its operating capacity with US$ 21 million investment, confirming the success achieved and a higher demand for the services provided worldwide by cybersecurity professionals in Costa Rica.
Thermo Fisher Scientific opened a new distribution center. With an area of 15,000 square feet, the company increased its installed capacity by 52%. The additional space will be used to store and distribute laboratory supplies, as well as protection equipment for clean rooms.
MCM inaugurated new offices near the Technological City. Midland Credit Management (MCM), a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, opened its new offices in San José. To date, it has 330 employees and plans to hire more than 100 people due to the company’s growth.
Sachs Chemical chose Costa Rica as the center of operations for Central America. The distribution center of 1,900 square meters located in The Green Park Free Zone, in Alajuela. The investment was over US$ 2,7 million.
NTT Data Services enabled Salesforce Center of Excellence. The company has about 12 key accounts in SalesForce and has hired 30 people. It expects to reach 100 positions by the end of 2019.
Paradise Ingredients inaugurated modern aseptic juice processing plant. The equipment installed in the plant is made in Italy, 100% automated. The expansion of the company was implemented in an area of 5,500 m² and has a productive capacity of 20 million liters per year.
Wind River opened operation for software supply. The company is a world leader in software supply for the intelligent line. It currently employs 40 professionals in customer support, engineering, finance, and technical support.
Bayer Shared Services Center doubled its operations. Its expansion will make the company reach 500 employees. The center gives administrative support to Bayer’s operations to the Americas, except Brazil.
Amazon enabled 2,000 jobs in Costa Rica. The jobs are located in its operations centers and include specialized areas such as customer service, technology and cloud services, analysts, finance and accounting.
Boston Scientific hired 600 people. The new jobs will become part of 4,200 employees currently working in the company, placing it as the largest medical device employer within the sector in the country.
Mexifrutas invested US$20 million in a modern plant for fruit pulp processing. This investment will generate more than 130 jobs for people living outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GMA) in the first stage. The company has 20 hectares of land in Siquirres, to establish a banana and pineapple pulp processing plant.
Sykes enables 1,000 new jobs. The new hires were between the months of August and December. In addition, within the framework of an agreement signed with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) and as part of the Alliance for Bilingualism (ABI), the company enabled 1,950 positions for the SYKES English Academy.
Kimberly-Clark invests $42 million in its production plant and distribution center. The investment supports the increase in production in its different lines of business. To date, they employ 1,500 people in Costa Rica.
Medtronic opened a medical device plant. The company has had a commercial presence in Costa Rica since 2015. Between 2017 to date, it grew from 140 employees to more than 500. The plant manufactures components for medical devices used for spine surgeries and sent worldwide.
Edwards Lifesciences invested US$100 million in expansion. It expanded its presence in Costa Rica with this investment and 500 new jobs by the end of 2020.
Refinitv opened offices in Costa Rica. The company plans to expand its operations in the short term, with 50 additional positions. The company assists from Costa Rica in the Operations and Finance and Accounting departments.
CRx Life Sciences established engineering services for companies in the medical sector. The engineering services consulting firm, CRx Life Sciences, announced its arrival in Costa Rica planning to provide specialized services to multinational companies in the life sciences sector. The company made an initial investment of US$250,000 and could triple in the upcoming years.
Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, who participated in the inaugural event,
Stryker, a medical technology company, opened a new financial services center located in the province of Heredia, from where it will support all its financial activities in the Americas.
Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, who participated in the inaugural event. Photo from CINDE
The operation is in San Antonio Business Park, in Heredia, where the company opened its offices since last April, according to official information.
In a statement, Costa Rica’s Investment Promotion Agency – CINDE – said:
Stryker, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, today (December 18) inaugurated a new Financial Services Center that will support all of its financial activities in the Americas from Costa Rica. The operation is located in San Antonio Business Park in Heredia, where the company opened its offices last April.
As a result of the rapid expansion of its operations, the company already has 135 employees in our country, and at the beginning of 2020 will hire at least 52 more, whose charges will support the areas of general accounting and accounts receivable and payable. Stryker is expanding its office space to accommodate growth and new talent.
The Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, participated in the inaugural event and noted that “our country is becoming a preferred destination for companies in the medical sector to set up shop. One example is Stryker, a company focused on medical technologies, which has announced the expansion of a financial services center, from which it will serve the Americas. It will employ around 180 employees next year, which we certainly celebrate. We thank the company for this vote of confidence and we are committed to continuing working to adapt to the needs of the international market,” said the Minister of Foreign Trade.
The medical technology industry is extremely dynamic in the Costa Rican economy. Based on CINDE data, as of last year the life sciences sector consisted of more than 70 companies generating close to 27,000 direct jobs in the country.
In comparison with 2000, employment grew by 18 times and the number of companies increased by nine times. Exports of medical devices totaled – also in 2018 – some US$3.3 billion, making Costa Rica the second largest exporter in this category in Latin America.
According to CINDE, the country attracted 64 new companies from the Life Sciences sector, between 2000 and 2018.
This has also meant an industry diversification that also attracts shared services centers to provide support, from Costa Rica, to their operations and financial, technology and other activities in other parts of the world.
The government of Costa Rica decreed (Decreto Ejecutivo N°42.112-MEIC-MAG-COMEX) that starting January 1, 2020, banana exporters will pay local producers a minimum price of US$8.36 per 18.14 kg box.
The authorized increase will be US$0.67 per box of 18.14 kilos, up from US$7.69 for each package sold abroad, reported the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC).
From the MEIC statement:
December 18th, 2019. The Government of the Republic decreed an increase in the minimum price of the box of bananas for export that will be in force from January 1st, 2020. The increase will be of USD$0.67 per box of 18.14 kilos, leaving the price at USD$8.36 per box exported.
Executive Decree No. 42,112-MEIC-MAG-COMEX was signed by President Carlos Alvarado and the Ministers of Agriculture and Livestock, Renato Alvarado; Economy, Industry and Trade, Victoria Hernandez; and Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez.
Victoria Hernández Mora, Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade said that “the measure taken by the Executive Branch is adjusted to technical parameters that meet the needs and peculiarities of the sector in terms of costs and production and therefore maintain the country’s competitiveness in the top quality fruit exported by the country.”
LACSA (Líneas Aéreas Costarricenses s.a.) was the flag airline of Costa Rica. It was created on October 17, 1945, by Pan American World Airways, the Costa Rican government and Costa Rican private interests, with flights to Central America and Miami.
It started operations on 1 June 1946 and was designated the national carrier in 1949. Its domestic network was transferred to its wholly owned subsidiary Sansa in September 1959.
The airline operated piston airplanes such as the DC-6B, Curtis C-46, and Douglas DC-3, but world aviation progressed by leaps and bounds and developed countries began to change their propeller planes for jet airplanes and Costa Rica was not the exception.
The BAC-111 was the choice of Lacsa, designed by the Hunting Aircraft company and manufactured in series by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) following the merger of Hunting into the BAC company alongside other British manufacturers in the 1960s.
The One-Eleven was designed to replace the Vickers Viscount on short-haul routes.
It had two Rolls-Royce RB.163 Spey Mk 512DW engines of 11,000 pounds of thrust with a capacity of 89 passengers, 2 pilots, and 3 cabin crew. It was extremely noisy at takeoff with a stylized and beautiful aeronautical design.
It is said that it was a plane ahead of its time and even today it is still remembered with respect for its contribution to the development of the country, besides being a very safe airplane.
In 1971 the Bac-111/400 were replaced by the Bac- 111/500 series with more passenger capacity: 99 in total.
In the early 80s, the Bac-111 was replaced by the Boeing 727-200 and thus ended a glorious era where the king of the skies of Costa Rica was the Bac-111.
LACSA is now Avianca Costa Rica.
Ever wonder what aircraft registrations letters mean? Every civilian aircraft in the world has a registration, essentially the license plate assigned to an aircraft by national civil aviation bodies. It’s a unique identifier; no two airplanes in the world at any given moment have the same. (They can be recycled, though.)
It is clearly a UFO because no one has managed to achieve what the device is. Photo: screenshot.
An Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) – Objeto Volador No Identificado (OVNI), in Spanish – captured on video on Tuesday afternoon near the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) or San Jose airport, has caused a stir in social networks.
It is clearly a UFO because no one has managed to determine what the device is.Photo: screenshot.
So far there have been all kinds of theories about what was flying near the airport.
Some followers of UFOs (ufologists) believe that it could be a ship or a kind of “canepla”(cameras directed remotely by spacecraft), but Aviación Civil (Civil Aviation) confirmed it was NOT a UFO.
Civil Aviation insists it was a drone flying in the area of the airport, without the respective permits.
This footage was filmed on December 17, 2019, and in this video we can see this object just cruising so close to Juan Santamaría International Airport that we see the craft fly over one of the airports’ radar towers with a few stunned onlookers just watching this event in amazement. This footage was upload by Alonso MC and to view the original here.
“It doesn’t remind me of any other UFO I’ve seen in a photo or video, that’s why it’s so strange,” Marco Vinicio Gonzalez, ufologist, told La Teja.
The airport is a restricted airspace.
“To fly a drone near an airport, it is necessary to have a permit that must be authorized by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation that considers the area of operation of the drone and if it will interfere with the altitudes and trajectories of the air traffic control procedures,” says Luis Miranda, head of Unidad de Administración at Civil Aviation.
Miranda added, “If the operation of the drone is authorized, aeronautical information would be issued to restrict, if necessary, the operation of aircraft or the drone itself”.
However, Warren Campos and Geovanny Montero, two drone experts speaking to La Teja, see it differently from Civil Aviation.
Campos said drones are blocked and cannot fly near the airports when they are brand, but if they are homemade they could do it.
Montero completely ruled out that it was a drone, for him, rather, it is a hot air balloon.
“It could never be a drone, it looks like a square balloon. Civil Aviation says it is a drone because they charge about three thousand dollars a license and then everything is a drone. A group of people who have drones analyzed the video and we are sure that it is not one, it is a hot air balloon,” said Montero.
It is clearly a UFO because no one has managed figure out what it is, though it may not be from outer space, aliens checking out the San Jose airport conditions before…
Ufologist Marco Vinicio González said that the size and speed of the device caught his attention and added that he will try to talk with the person who took one of the videos (there are two) to get a better version of the facts.
This image was captured on the Turrialba volcano on September 15, 2018. Photo: Alejandro Saénz
“The more witnesses makes the event more credible. It is a UFO because we have no certainty of what it is. As long as it is not identified, it is a UFO,” he said.
Another ufologist, Óscar Sierra, said that propellers cannot be seen, but from a certain angle you can see metal, ruling out that is a hot air ballon
“I see it strange, I don’t think it’s a balloon, they’re not made of metal or the wind would sustain them,” said Sierra.
In online chats or groups there is talk of the event being a publicity stunt. But no company or organization has made claim to it. Not yet.
Consulting the Ministry of Public Security (Ministerio de Seguridad Pública – MSP), they passed the buck to Civil Aviation. The MSP arm, Servicio de Vigilancia Área de Seguridad – airport Air Surveillance Service, assured they saw nothing, that is, did not detect anything.
One of the tools of every Transito is a screwdriver or remove license platres. Photo Alonso Tenorio
Take care in driving around town and the country in the next couple of days and weeks. Besides the number of bad drivers out and about there are also a lot more traffic officials or transitos keeping an eye on traffic. This is a good thing, but, it can also be a “car-less” holiday if you get stopped for a road infraction or bad parking.
Depending on the situation, a transito may decide to impound your vehicle, though it is more likely they will seize the license plate instead.
In such an event, the law is clear, your vehicle should not be on the road. But, most likely you can drive it home if you close enough, where it then should remain parked.
One of the tools of every Transito is a screwdriver to remove license plates. The Cosevi offices this year will be closed from December 21, 2019 to January 5, 2020.
And at this time of the year, basically anytime starting today, it will be parked well into the new year, given that the Cosevi, the licensing arm of the Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT) shuts down after close of business on Friday, December 20 and does not re-open until Monday, January 6, 2020.
During this period you cannot renew licenses, appeal a ticket, nor retrieve seized license plates or impounded vehicles.
And, before heading out to the licensing office on January 4, call ahead to make sure your plates (or impounded vehicle) is where it should be, at the nearest Cosevi office or impound lot where you were stopped.
That is, if you are in Guanacaste, that is where you will have to go to get your vehicle or plates. My understanding, concerning plates, you may ask to have them sent to a Cosevi office nearest you, but, that can take some time.
Don’t take risks, it’s just not worth it. Drive responsibly.
The way to avoid all of this, during the season and any other time of the time, drive responsibly:
Don’t drink and drive
Don’t be speeding
Don’t be driving crazy (I know it’s hard sometimes, but think of the days ahead and worse, the lines you will have to make at the Cosevi)
Don’t piss off a transito if you do get stopped
Don’t park where you shouldn’t
Always have your driver’s license with you
Make sure the vehicle registration, marchamo and Riteve (vehicle inspection) is current and at hand
In general, take it easy, get to your destination and back home in one piece and in your own car.
And, if you haven’t done so yet (like me), remember the marchamo is due on December 31. Now, unlike in the distant past, there are many options to pay and there is no grace period, on January 1 you will face a fine and may even have your vehicle impounded or license plate seized.
On that note, it is not just about paying the Marchamo by the due date, on January 1 you need to have the sticker and the corresponding paperwork,
During October 2019, a 2.5% year-on-year variation was reported in the IMAE, a rise that is explained by the behavior of manufacturing activity and the service sector.
According to the report of the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) – Central Bank – with the rise reported in the tenth month of the year, the Índice Mensual de Actividad Económica (IMAE) – Monthly Index of Economic Activity – showed signs of recovery for the fifth consecutive month.
The BCCR report explains that “… It should be noted that agriculture continues with the recovery process begun in August, while trade registered positive variations for the first time this year. These industries join the productive activities that drive the recovery of economic activity, including education and health services, as well as business services and the manufacture of special regimes.
For its contribution to production growth, the best performance of education and health services was highlighted, which increased 10.0% with respect to the same month of the previous year. This result is mainly influenced by the base effect of the strike of public sector employees that occurred in the last 4 months of 2018.
Secondly, the growth of manufacturing activity (3.0%3) was highlighted, because of the production of medical implements and food products by companies located under special regimes. This was attenuated by the reduction in the production of the companies of the definitive regime due to the contraction in the manufacture of products linked to the construction industry (iron, steel and cement).”
Costa Rica is one of the most popular tourist hotspots in Central America- there are no two ways about it. After all, it’s replete with beautiful and relaxing beaches, awe-inspiring volcanoes, and massive rainforests.
What’s more, the place has a number of interesting spots that you can visit to have a great time. In this blog, we list the top ones so that you can make the most of your time there.
Tortuguero
Spanning across over 77,000 acres, the “Land of Turtles” which is what Tortuguero stands for, is what can be best described as the Amazon Rainforest of Costa Rica. It takes a good chunk of land on the northern coast and covers a slew of canals and rivers that go through the jungle.
As the name suggests, Tortuguero is home to thousands of turtles which often visit the shoreline to nest with their pals. If timing can be adjusted, then you should try going there in May or April as that’s when you can see other interesting wildlife here as well.
Arenal
Costa Rica has many volcanoes, and Arenal is one of the most popular ones here. It’s located at an altitude of 1,650 m and also erupts from time to time (Check out a 360-degree photo of the place here). So, if you are there at the perfect time, then you may get to see some real lava action!
The region around Arenal offers many interesting activities for you to engage in. For instance, there is the national park where you can go for trekking and the La Fortuna waterfall where you can spend some quality time alone. Just make sure that you pick the best time to visit Costa Rica for your vacation as the timing alone can make a huge difference to your overall experience.
Monteverde
Monteverde is another popular cloud forest where you can find some of the most beautiful quetzal birds in the world. In fact, a large number of people visit the country just to see their rare birds live, although the area which is incredibly green and wet attracts over 250,000 people every year for other things like zip-line adventure as well.
Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa is a hippy backpacker town at the bottom of the Nicoya coast which isn’t much other than a beautiful beach with hotels, yoga centers, restaurants, and surf shops. However, the ambiance and culture of this place are incredible. You will find people getting up early to go surfing or just to enjoy the sunrise which is breath-taking, to say the least. It’s a memorable experience to witness all this.
Go to Costa Rica!
Being one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, Costa Rica can be a little crowded and touristy. However, it has so much to offer- relaxing beaches, exotic wildlife, friendly people, that the place warrants a visit by everyone who wants to just unwind and stop to “smell the roses”.
If you are planning to pay a visit yourself, then be sure to include the places above in your itinerary.
For the first quarter of 2020, 7% of the Costa Rica companies consulted plan to reduce their payrolls, and only 10% plan to increase them, indicates the Encuesta de Expectativas de Empleo (Survey of Employment Expectations) report by ManpowerGroup.
Employers in Costa Rica report a slow growth in their hiring plans for the first quarter of 2020.
Employers report slow growth in their hiring plans for the first quarter of 2020. According to Manpower, 10% of companies are contemplating an increase in their workforce, 7% anticipate a decrease and 82% remain unchanged.
The report explains that “… Employers in three of the six regions expect to increase hiring levels during the next quarter. The strongest hiring pace is forecast in Heredia, where the Net Employment Trend stands at +10%. On the other hand, Trends of +2% and +1% are reported in San José and Cartago, respectively. While employers expect to reduce their workforces in Alajuela and Puntarenas & Limón, with Trends of -3%, and in Guanacaste, where the trend is -9%.
An increase in workforces is anticipated in four of the six sectors over the next three months. The strongest labor market is forecast by the employers of Agriculture, Fishing, Mining & Extraction, who report a Net Employment Trend of +6%. On the other hand, limited hiring plans are expected in Manufacturing and Commerce, with Trends of +3% and +2%, respectively, while the Trend for Services is +1%. However, employers expect to reduce their workforce in Construction, reporting a Trend of -6%, and in Communications & Transportation, where the Trend is at -3%.
Medium-sized companies expect to increase their workforce over the next three months, reporting a Net Employment Trend of +6%, while large companies report a 0% Trend. However, Micro and Small Business employers expect to reduce their workforce, reporting -1% and -3% Trends, respectively.”
The survey was conducted with a representative sample of 620 companies in Costa Rica. All participants were asked the same question, “Do you anticipate labor movements in your organization for the next quarter (January – March), compared to the current quarter (October – December)?”.
As in the case of Panama, Chinese authorities gave their endorsement for the processing plants Porcina Americana and Carnes Zamora to start selling pork products to the Asian giant starting in January 2020.
Costa Rica’s pig farmers predict a strong impact on employment generation in rural sectors where most pig farms are located, reported the National Animal Health Service (Senasa).
Bernardo Jaén, director general of Senasa, explained that “… The People’s Government of China officially opened its market to the import of Costa Rican pork to its country, after the approval was issued by the Bureau of Food Import and Export Security of the General Administration of Customs of China.”
The statement adds that “… This result is the product of a negotiation process that began in 2013 with the signing of the protocol on veterinary and sanitary requirements. In 2016, the authorities of China audited possible exporting establishments after an inter-institutional work between Senasa, the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock and Foreign Trade (Comex) in conjunction with the Promoter of Foreign Trade (Procomer).”
So far this year, the Costa Rica has exported more than 7 million kilos of beef to China and forecasts that in 2020 will be able to sell a thousand tons of pork.
Almost a year after Walmart’s attempt to acquire Grupo Gessa’s supermarket chain in Costa Rica was not approved by government regulators, a new agreement is now announced between Grupo Gessa and Grupo Empresarial de Retail SA, which belongs to the Yan family of Chinese origin.
File photo
In January of this year, it was reported that local authorities ratified their ruling against Walmart’s request to buy supermarket chain Gessa – Perimercados, Súper Compro, Turribásicos and Saretto – arguing that the transaction presented problems of eventual concentration.
Walmart, besides the superstores under the brand, also owns and operates the Masxmenos, MaxiPalí and Palí chain of supermarkets in Costa Rica.
The new attempt by Grupo Empresarial de Supermercados SA (Gessa) requires the approval of the Comisión para Promover la Competencia (Coprocom) – Commission to Promote Competition.
La Nacion reported the agreement of sale was communicated to supermarket suppliers on Wednesday (December 11) evening that it had presented the Coprocomm the approval request that same day.
Thursday (December 12) afternoon, the advisory firm Grant Thornton reported that it served as a consultant in the process of the sale. In a statement, Thornton added that Gessa’s 1,200 employees will keep their jobs, and that current suppliers and providers would be maintained.
Through a press representative, the president of Comeca (owner of Gessa), Víctor Mesalles, indicated that he would not refer to the dale until he received pronouncement from Coprocom.
Nor was it possible to know the amount of the transaction.
Without giving details, Mesalles informed suppliers that “… The Yan family has a business trajectory of more than 50 years in Costa Rica, as it has been dedicated to the export of wood and fruit and the import of products in general.”
Despite a tradition by authorities to provide details of applications, Coprocom confirmed to the Q that there is an open process and it has 15 business days to verify compliance with the formal requirements.
If the sale is approved, Grupo Comeca would manage to part with a business (52 supermarkets) in which it decided to divest approximately four years ago and from which it was close to saying goodbye at the end of last year upon reaching an agreement with Walmart.
Raúl Castro, Nicolás Maduro and Daniel Ortega, the men behind the dictatorships of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua
In Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, above all, no reference will be made. Or if any is done it will sound ironic. Like the one made on the morning of December 10 by Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, regarding a new anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Raúl Castro (left), Nicolás Maduro (middle) and Daniel Ortega (right), the men behind the dictatorships of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Image from Infobae.
“Human rights in Cuba enshrines the full dignity of humankind,” surprises one of Granma’s main headlines. A strange interpretation when the Havana government systematical persecutes its opponents and holds dozens of political prisoners —with opposition activist Jose Daniel Ferrer arrested, tortured and in solitary confinement, heading the list.
The transcendental document was signed on December 10, 1948 —71 years ago today—, in Paris three years after the end of World War II. In that dark period, in the Nazi concentration camps against the Jewish population, the most sinister of the spirit of mankind was synthesized. The horror had been engraved in those who managed to survive and gave testimony of the aberrations suffered. The world leaders tried to put in writing those basic parameters that no enlightened Messianic leader should trespass: justice, equality and dignity.
The day became historical.
Latin America remembers the today with unequal plenitude. Justice is one of the profound and most persistent debts in the region. It is perhaps the weakest institutional base with the resurgence of caudillo strongman leaders that sooner rather than later emerge as saviors.
Institutions are rammed and trampled with the sole and fallacious argument of establishing themselves as the exclusive defenders and interpreters of the popular will. They are installed by votes and from there many violate democratic structures and justify their subsequent excesses. Justice, that should be the retaining dike and the constitutional safeguard, does not act, instead, it is ransacked or dismembered by the imposition of these leaders.
Equality in the region is another structural deficit that no administration —even the most organized, like the Chilean—, manages to balance. When the macroeconomic figures of those efforts that benefit from the jumps in the international value their natural resources flourish, the heads of state are tempted into a fictitious distribution instead of laying down the foundations for achieving permanent development.
Subsidies, embezzlement and corruption on the one hand; constitutional reforms, and friendly courts on the other. That path is the one that makes possible the long-awaited reelections over the bronze of history. The examples abound. Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil. Golden eras of full pockets with no structural and educational development.
Dignity continues to be one of the great pending debts. Especially in those nations whose leaders trample upon the human rights of their people. The dictator Nicolas Maduro’s record causes chills: 7,000 are the victims of his tyranny. The human debt of Caracas is absolute. So much so that the United Nations, the cradle where that Declaration was born, was responsible for enumerating the violations that the regime embodies.
The report was signed by Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN, former President of Chile and whose family suffered in their own flesh the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The authorized voice of the Chilean infuriated Maduro’s Miraflores Palace. It exposed to the entire world the tortures and extrajudicial executions that the Chavista leaders ordered against those who rose against them.
The diaspora is another of the humanitarian dramas that Maduro promoted. In total there are 4,769,498 displaced Venezuelans who had to start a new life, mainly, in the rest of the region. Most of them sought refuge in Colombia (1,630,903), Peru (863,613) and Ecuador (385,042). The data belongs to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Each one of them suffered some type of abuse by members of the regime, went hungry or did not have the necessary resources to survive. It’s the story of a nation that bleeds to death.
The Nicaragua of Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice-president Rosario Murillo is just one step behind Venezuela but does not escape international calls to cease their political persecution against opponents.
“The government must end the persistent repression of dissent and arbitrary detentions, and refrain from criminalizing and attacking human right defenders, political opponents and any other dissenting voice,” points out one of the UN reports on Nicaragua
In November, it was the European Union (EU) that urged the autocrat to put an end to his methods. “The UE calls on the Government of Nicaragua and its security forces to release all people arrested and withdraw charges, lift the siege of the Church and guarantee full respect for the constitutional rights of the entire Nicaraguan population, in particular, freedom of expression, assembly, religion and peaceful protest.”
Ortega ignores it. Since the beginning of the protests in April 2018 (now more than 600 days) over the Social Security reforms, according to the Ortega government around 320 people lost their lives as a result of government repression. The number is most likely much higher.
In Nicaragua, the emigration of its citizens began slowly.
Behind Nicaragua is Cuba.
Havana functions as the ideological bastion and the advisor who orders how to act in each adverse situation. Their leaders are experts in gaining time and avoiding the demands of their population. They have been doing it for more than 60 years.
Their interference in the regimes of Caracas (Venezuela) and Managua (Nicaragua) is absolute. They are the ones who dishonor that Declaration that 71 years ago changed the planet.
This article was first published in Spanish on Infobae and translated by the Q, with files from Confidencial.com.ni.
The economic overview for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019 is occurring in a particularly complex context, reports the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC Executive Secretary, during the presentation of the report. Photo: Carlos Vera/ECLAC
The region is exhibiting an economic deceleration that is widespread and synchronized among countries and sectors, topping off six consecutive years of low growth, the ECLAC reported in its last annual report released at its central headquarters in Santiago, Chile.
In its Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2019, the United Nations regional organization indicates that the deceleration in domestic demand is being accompanied by low external aggregate demand and more fragile international financial markets. This context is compounded by growing social demands and pressure to reduce inequality and increase social inclusion.
In this way, the macroeconomic situation in recent years shows a deceleration trend in economic activity, with a reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, a decline in investment, lower consumption per capita, fewer exports, and a sustained deterioration in the quality of employment.
All of this will lead to the region growing just 0.1% on average in 2019, and growth projections for 2020 will remain low at around 1.3% for the region as a whole. As a result, the 2014-2020 period will mark the lowest growth in the last seven decades for the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Given this scenario, the region cannot withstand adjustment policies and needs policies to stimulate growth and reduce inequality. The current conditions require that fiscal policy be centered on the reactivation of growth and on responding to growing social demands,” stated Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), at the presentation of the document.
The report emphasizes that an active fiscal policy requires in the medium-to-long term a strategy to ensure its sustainability over time. This implies that it must be linked to growth capacity and productivity dynamics, and to strengthening the State’s capacity for revenue collection (improving the progressive nature of the tax structure through an increase in direct taxes; reducing tax evasion, which represents around 6.3% of regional GDP; reevaluating tax expenditures, which represent 3.7% of GDP in the region; and implementing a new generation of taxes related to the digital economy, the environment and public health).
In terms of growth projections, according to the report, 23 of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries (and 18 out of 20 in Latin America) will see their growth decelerate during 2019, while 14 nations will record an expansion of 1% or less by year’s end.
Furthermore, the report verifies that the region’s GDP per capita will have contracted 4.0% between 2014 and 2019.
Meanwhile, national unemployment will rise from 8.0% in 2018 to 8.2% in 2019, which amounts to an increase of one million people, reaching a new maximum of 25.2 million. This situation is compounded by a deterioration in job quality due to growth in self-employment (which exceeded salaried employment) and in labor informality.
The Preliminary Overview forecasts that in 2019 the country with the greatest expansion will be Dominica (9.0%), followed by Antigua and Barbuda (6.2%), the Dominican Republic (4.8%) and Guyana (4.5%). In contrast, Venezuela will experience the greatest setback, with a contraction of -25.5%, followed by Nicaragua (-5.3%), Argentina (-3.0%) and Haiti (-0.7%). Central America will grow 2.4%, the Caribbean 1.4% and South America will contract -0.1%.
For 2020, ECLAC’s projections indicate that Caribbean nations will continue leading regional growth (with a subregional average of 5.6%), led by Guyana (85.6%, due to oil production starting in 2020), Antigua and Barbuda (6.5%), Dominica (4.9%) and the Dominican Republic (4.7%). On the low end of the spectrum, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Argentina will have more moderate economic contraction rates (with -14%, -1.4% and -1.3%, respectively).
Meanwhile, Central America will expand 2.6% and South America 1.2%.
According to the report, despite the difficulties and limitations that policy spaces currently face, in contrast to prior periods, the majority of the region’s countries find themselves today in situations of historically low inflation levels (a 2.6% regional average, without taking into account Venezuela, Argentina and Haiti), relatively high international reserves, the economies generally preserve access to international financial markets, and international interest rates are at low levels. These conditions favor the capacity to implement macroeconomic policies that would tend to reverse the current low-growth scenario.
To that end, it is critical to reactivate economic activity through greater public spending on investment and social policies, ECLAC indicates. In addition, to address social demands, short-term redistributive efforts must be complemented with an increase in the provision and quality of public goods and services, the Commission underscores.
As millions, either in person or at home on tv, watched the miracle of the Festival de la Luz Saturday night, I bet no one took a second to think post-event.
This is Paseo Colón after the Festival de la Luz as posted on Facebook by Ahora Noticias. As always, the lack of culture was present in our country.
The Colombian government agency, Agencia Jurídica de Defensa (Legal Defence Agency) has threatened to sue Walmart over a Christmas sweater that associated the country to cocaine.
The sweater, offered by a third-party seller on Walmart’s Canadian website featured an image of a bug-eyed Santa Claus seated in front of three white lines. The sweater’s tagline: “LET IT SNOW”.
The director of the Legal Defense Agency, Camilo Gómez, told EL TIEMPO reporters that “the Walmart sweater is an offense to the country that generates damage to the legal products of Colombia, to the country’s reputation, regardless of any circumstance. It is a damage that must be attacked, and although Walmart apologized, the damage was done. ”
“It is a historical heritage, rooted internationally, which comes from the 90s and is the fault of drug trafficking. Noxiously Colombia is seen only as a coca producer. It is a stigma that can not be separated from the increase in illegal crops or the violence they generate, ”Álvaro Pretel, a researcher at the Universidad del Valle, told EL TIEMPO.
For those who weren’t quite sure what the sweater might be suggesting, its product description read:
“We all know how snow works. It’s white, powdery and the best snow comes straight from South America. That’s bad news for jolly old St. Nick, who lives far away in the North Pole. That’s why Santa really likes to savor the moment when he gets his hands on some quality, grade A, Colombian snow.”
On Saturday, the retail giant issued an apology about the sweater and removed it from the Canadian website, along with several other pieces of risqué Christmas clothing.
“These sweaters, sold by a third-party seller on Walmart.ca, do not represent Walmart’s values and have no place on our website. We apologize for any unintended offense this may have caused,” Walmart said in a statement.
But some unsatisfied Colombian officials still believe Walmart should pay for the insulting Colombia-cocaine connection.
According to El Tiempo, the Legal Defense Agency is preparing legal filings and if the chain does not comply, it will move forward with the legal process.
In addition to monetary damages, Gomez, who in 2014 ran to be the country’s vice-president, said Colombia will demand that Walmart promotes legal Colombian products and spends 10 times the amount invested in advertising cocaine-related products.
The funds will be donated to foundations that support the families of members of the police and military forces who were killed or wounded fighting drug trafficking, it said.
“Colombia must be respected,” Gomez said, according to El Tiempo.
“What will the family of a person who died in the fight against drug trafficking feel when a firm like Walmart promotes a bag of cocaine from Colombia?”
Agricultural analytics company CropX has partnered with Costa Rican agroforestry equipment vendor FarmAgro to provide satellite-powered precision agriculture tools to farmers in Central America.
The partners will deploy applications such as automated irrigation, soil- and crop-specific management, and Geo-tagging to more than 205 million hectares of banana, coffee, sugarcane, pineapple, melon, and mango plots, reports Satellite Today.
The services will be based on CropX farm management platform, which integrates data from its proprietary soil sensors with above-ground data layers, weather forecasting, satellite imagery, and crop models.
“Climatic variations across Central and Latin America are creating a new set of risks for farmers in the region. We are excited to collaborate with FarmAgro to help manage those risks and improve yields by increasing the penetration of our crop management tools in the entire Latin American market,” CropX President John Vikupitz said in a statement.
“As we focus on our global expansion, CropX aims to become the leader in soil data science by delivering the only farm analytics platform with global deployments that offers integrated and accurate soil data gathered by an advanced, soil sensor network.”
After deployment in Central America reaches critical mass, FarmAgro plans to expand CropX distribution to the entire Latin American region.
