A man from Honduras walks along the top of the border stucture separating Mexico and the United States in Tijuana, Mexico. Migrants in a caravan of Central Americans scrambled to reach the US border, catching rides on buses and trucks for hundreds of kilometres in the last leg of their journey on Wednesday as the first sizable groups began arriving in the border city of Tijuana. November 14, 2018. (John Salangsang/Invision / AP)
ANTIGUA, Guatemala (AP) Leaders at a summit of Ibero-American nations called Friday for development and assistance for the poor to alleviate waves of migrants fleeing poverty, violence, political instability and persecution in the Americas.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left, and Colombia’s Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez raise cups of coffee during an economic forum as part the XXVI Iberoamerican Summit in Antigua, Guatemala, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018. The event is a biennial two-day meeting of heads of state from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. AP Photo / Moises Castillo
More than a dozen presidents and King Felipe VI of Spain met in the colonial Guatemalan city of Antigua as large numbers of people have been migrating from places such as Venezuela and parts of Central America. Thousands of mostly Hondurans traveling in a caravan have been arriving in recent days at the Mexican city of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called on leaders to sign a global pact on migration in Morocco next month.
“It is true that the best way to avoid having people migrate involuntarily is by promoting, among other things, internal development in our nations,” Pena Nieto said.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez blamed emigration from his country on a coffee crisis and climate change, which he says has caused droughts.
Migrants in the caravan have said repeatedly that they left due to poverty, violence and insecurity in Honduras.
Host President Jimmy Morales of Guatemala said the summit aimed to “renew the region’s commitment to sustainable development.”
A Central American migrant looks through the border structure, seen from the Mexican side where the border meets the Pacific Ocean on November 16, 2018. (AP)
Barbed wire, not armed guards
As thousands of migrants in a caravan of Central American asylum-seekers converge on the doorstep of the United States, what they won’t find are armed American soldiers standing guard.
Instead, they will see cranes installing towering panels of metal bars and troops wrapping concertina wire around barriers while military helicopters fly overhead, carrying border patrol agents to and from locations along the US-Mexico border.
That’s because US military troops are prohibited from carrying out law-enforcement duties.
A man from Honduras walks along the top of the border structure separating Mexico and the United States in Tijuana, Mexico. Migrants in a caravan of Central Americans scrambled to reach the US border, catching rides on buses and trucks for hundreds of kilometers in the last leg of their journey on Wednesday as the first sizable groups began arriving in the border city of Tijuana. November 14, 2018. (John Salangsang/Invision / AP)
What’s more, the bulk of the troops are in Texas — hundreds of miles away from the caravan that started arriving this week in Tijuana on Mexico’s border with California after walking and hitching rides for the past month.
Still, for many migrants, the barriers and barbed wire were an imposing show of force.
Tijuana’s beach where a wall of metal bars more than 20 feet high cut across the sand and plunged into the Pacific witnessed crews on the US side placed coils of barbed wire on top.
“It’s too much security to confront humble people who just want to work,” said Ulloa, a 23-year-old electrician from Choloma, Honduras, who joined the caravan to try to make his first trip to the US.
Now, he and his two friends were rethinking their plans. They tried to apply for a job at a Wal-Mart in Tijuana but were told they need a Mexican work permit. So they were considering seeking asylum in Mexico but were unsure of giving up their dream of earning dollars.
Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands trying to reach the US, look through the border fence between Mexico and the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico November 14, 2018. (Reuters)
On Friday, people walking through one of the world’s busiest border crossings into Mexico passed by a pair of Marines on a 20-foot lift installing razor wire above a turnstile.
Nearby Army Sergeant Eric Ziegler stood guard with another soldier. Both were military police officers assigned to protecting the Marines as they work.
The 24-year-old soldier from Pittsburgh spent nine months in Afghanistan. “It’s very different over there, obviously. It’s a lot more dangerous,” Ziegler said.
He said he was surprised when got his deployment orders sending him to the US-Mexico border.
“But I’m happy to go where I’m needed” he added as a man walked by carrying shopping bags headed to Tijuana.
Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado at the Cumbre Iberoamericana de Presidente y Jefes de Estado
The government of Daniel Ortega did not hold anything back to offend President Carlos Alvarado for his criticism of the internal situation in Nicaragua.
Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado at the XXVI Cumbre Iberoamericana de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua issued a statement Friday where it calls Alvarado, among others things, “ill-educated, meddlesome, contemptuous and snoopy” for what he said at the XXVI Summit of Heads of State and Government of Latin America, in Guatemala.
Nicaragua president Daniel Ortega canceled his participation in the summit, without a specific reason.
There, Alvarado said that “we are extremely worried and hurt by what is happening in the sister Republic of Nicaragua,” while urging for a “peaceful” exit to the crisis in Venezuela.
Carlos Alvarado to the left of Spain’s King Felipe (front center) waits for a group photo during the XXVI Ibero-American Summit in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, November 16, 2018. Reuters/Jose Cabezas
Fourteen governors and four vice presidents participated in the conclave, including those of Bolivia, Brazil and Mexico. Also participating was the King of Spain, Felipe VI, and the heads of government of that country and Andorra.
Noticeably absent is Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega and Venezuela’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez
“The President of Costa Rica, who proclaims respect for the sovereignty of States and non-interference in internal affairs, acting as a tool for the interventionist policy of the United States, came to the table of this event with daring dissonance, ridiculous airs of grandeur and a voice of pro-imperialist superiority, incompatible with respect for the rights of others, which is peace,” said the statement from the Nicaragua Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The president of Costa Rica cries out demands for Nicaragua, for Venezuela, as a street lamp, who does not see or want to see the disorder, the darkness, in his own house, where since his arrival in Government, there has been a proliferation of social, economic and institutional conflicts, allegations of abuse and corruption, repression, injuries and murders,” adds the diplomatic note.
“Costa Rica has more than 10 weeks of a strike that has affected its economy and has represented brutality, abuse of authority, deaths and overbearing behavior in the social relationship with the citizen forces that demand changes,” the statement added.
“We emphatically reject the arrogant attitude and lack of intelligence or diplomatic sensitivity, that has exhibited this afternoon, in Antigua, Guatemala, Mr. Alvarado, showing a character of ill-educated, intrusive, contemptuous, and snoop that has characterized his speeches and his performance, in relation to a brotherly neighbor country, which has never harmed him,” said the document.
The statement closes indicating that “the smallness is delirious, attend your situation, Mr. President, that you do have it on fire!”.
“Solicitamos hoy a la comunidad internacional hacer uso de la diplomacia, el multilateralismo y la mediación”, dijo el líder costarricense, frente a las violaciones de derechos humanos que ocurre en #Nicaraguahttps://t.co/ic6H1bezFF
Alvarado asks for diplomacy to pressure Ortega What provoked the strong reaction of Nicaragua was Alvarado’s speech, where he stated that “dialogue (in that country) has remained as an echo that resounds only in the hearts of those who today cry with pain for a just and equal society, to achieve a democracy”.
Alavardo asked the international community to “make use of diplomacy, multilateralism and mediation as valid tools in the face of the serious events that are known” in Nicaragua, the AFP news agency reported.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is accused of harshly repressing his critics since April and charging against mobilizations, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
Alvarado on Venezuela
The Costa Rican president also expressed concern about the situation in Venezuela, for the “disrespect for the rule of law and the institutions themselves, as well as the repeated violations of human rights.”
“We reaffirm our commitment to contribute to overcoming the serious political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis that Venezuela is going through. The solution is a peaceful and negotiated solution, within the framework of international law,” he said.
Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba Foreign Ministers respond
Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, was critical of Alvarado, saying he “has disrespected the sovereignty, independence and self-determination of the Nicaraguan people. He disrespects the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states by transgressing the UN Charter.”
Moncada said he considers Alvarado acting “as a puppet of the United States against the Nicaraguan government and its people.”
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, also responded to Alvarado’s words, lashing at the Costa Rican president, describing his speech as “dissonant” and a “smokescreen to try to hide internal problems,” the AFP news agency added.
“Our worker president, who was a trade unionist, and very well known, is at the order of Costa Rica to achieve a social dialogue, respectful, with the workers of Costa Rica who have more than 68 days on a strike against tax reforms,” he added.
Meanwhile, Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, expressed his full support for Nicaragua and Venezuela, after stating that they are victims of foreign aggression.
“We reiterate our solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Nicaragua in the face of unilateral coercive measures, communication manipulation, threats and external interference,” Rodríguez said during his speech.
Outside Nicaraguans protested
Despite the absence of Ortega at the summit, there were small pockets of protest. A group of Nicaraguans living in Guatemala indicated that Ortega’s presence is rejected. He is accused of stubbornly suppressing his critics and charged with mobilizations with hundreds of deaths.
With most of them with their faces covered, demanded that the Ibero-American governments condemn the repression in Nicaragua.
(Rico’s TICO BULL) Buying online – internet purchases – may be cheaper as retailers do not always offer the same deals in brick-and-mortar stores or as in the case of Costa Rica, the product or a similar is not available at all in retail stores.
Buying online can also be a quick and easy way to shop. No waiting for stores to open, fight the traffic and have to deal with rude sales staff.
Although I prefer to shop in-store personally, especially when it comes to groceries, there are times when there is no other option but to go online and press that ‘buy now’ button.
But, buying online is not for the inexperienced. Especially buying online from Costa Rica for products from China, the US or Canada. There are pitfalls that could negate any advantage unless there is no other option.
Before setting out in my online buying adventure I make absolutely sure that I cannot get the item here in Pura Vida. And if perchance, the item is available, I do a comparison cost that includes government regulations on the import, taxes, shipping and other costs and time. Yes, time.
I will give you a personal example. A new keyboard for my laptop.
This is my second experience in replacing my keyboard. Two years ago was the last, the original keyboard went after less than 12 months in use. First, one key began to stick. Then another and so on.
So, with that experience I knew exactly where to buy and the costs. But wait, my keyboard went on the fritz just about the time I was planning a visit to Toronto (Canada). Amazon here I come.
The experience is quite different north of the much-touted wall by the U.S. president. Before leaving Costa Rica, I made my purchase. Amazon Prime free trial is great. My new keyboard arrived the day after my arrival, as planned.
I had purchased the item with “shipped from Canada”. The US ship would take much longer, even with Prime. It didn’t have the backlit feature, didn’t know I would miss it that much and was a regular and not a ‘chiclet‘ keyboard. When you spend as much time online as I do, these little things, I learned, really matter.
Back to my old faithful, eBay.
Screen shot of my purchase on eBay
The vendor of 2 years ago was no longer. eBay was nice enough to recommend others. I scoured the various offers, settled on one from China, though all were from China.
Since I now had a working keyboard I could wait the time, the estimated between Nov. 14 and Dec. 5 to my Florida forwarding address and then 7 to 10 days to arrive in Costa Rica.
Interesting, Aeropost (formerly Aerocasillas) advised me the package was already in Miami way before the Nov. 14 date. In fact, I had the item in my hands on Saturday, Nov. 10. It has arrived in Costa Rica a couple of days earlier.
Which brings this to the point of the article, the fees and process.
The eBay purchase was for US$13.99 with Free shipping my Miami. One in Miami, Aeropost required an invoice from me before they could ship to Costa Rica. A screenshot of the eBay purchase was good enough.
In Costa Rica, costs were added.
Screenshot of my Aerpost invoice
In this case,US$6.60 for ‘freight’, US$1.25 for ‘fuel’, US$1.50 for ‘warranty/returns programs’ (never asked for it) and US$2.83 for ‘customs service’. An amount of US$2.10 was added for ‘impt sales tax’ and US$2.10 for ‘government fees’, for a total of US$14.28.
My total cost was US$28.27 (US$13.99 US$14.28).
Actually cheaper to the CA$39.95 I paid for the Amazon bought keyboad when taking into account the exchange rate. (The current rate is CS$1.31 Canadian to one US dollar).
Package in Miami before shipping to Costa Rica
The moral here is that there pitfalls for online purchases in Costa Rica for shipments from abroad. Knowing the pitfalls is the key.
My tips (based on my experiences) for online shopping in Costa Rica (for items coming from abroad):
Be Secure. When shopping online, plastic is the preferred method of payment. However, you must remember that your credit card number is static. It doesn’t change unless you close and reopen an account, and once your credit card information is online, it can be compromised if it falls into the wrong hands. I use my Paypal account wherever I can. Never send your account numbers or any other personal information via e-mail, which isn’t secure.
Beware the Return Fee. Once you have the item in Costa Rica, it is not like up north, on sites like Amazon, where you just send it back at minimal cost. You may find that sending the item back from Costa Rica could be more expensive than the original cost of the item. I once sent back a handful of defective electronic cigarette heaters to China (for another business venture). DHL charged me US$75. To send the entire batch back to China it was in the hundreds, more than the original purchase cost. In the case of my Amazon “Canada” bought keyboard, Amazon is allowing my CA$12 if I choose to return it. I will probably end up keeping it as a spare.
Bargain Hunting. Online shopping can mean great deals. Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals can seem attractive. But before you click on the ‘buy’ button, get all the costs in line. Ensure that the item you are contemplating purchasing can be imported and know the costs of import taxes. To that add the other costs, including the 13% sales tax, as laid out earlier. Some items, like cosmetics and medications, require a Health permit. As far as I know, computers don’t have an import tax, yet accessories, software and parts do. If you buy a computer get all the accessories shipped as part of the computer purchase.
Plan your purchase. Don’t just click on ‘buy’ and hope for the best. The best can become really expensive.
Record purchase details. After making a purchase, always record the details of the time, date, receipt number, and order confirmation. If you cannot print one off, take a screenshot as proof of purchase.
Avoid making purchases in public. Do not buy anything on public computers, including those available at hotel lobbies. If you do, your private information will be saved where others can access it. You should even be careful about making a purchase with your own laptop in a public place. Someone might see you input your data or be able to get information from a shared Wi-Fi connection.
Buy from established companies. Ebay, Amazon and big box retailers with an online presence will mean you are working with a real website. Some scams will pretend to be big box stores, so check the domain names carefully to ensure that it is the correct website. Fake websites will also replace a “.com” with a “.net”. Verify that there are no misspellings. Only make purchases on secure websites. Secure websites start with “https:”. The ‘s” and the little lock on the address bar are key.
Read and understand clearly the terms and conditions of purchase. Be clear on the price and the shipping costs.
Happy and safe shopping!
Edit: I have been an Aeropost customer for like forever, like when they were the only game in town. There are other services now but they have treated me well over the years, earned my loyalty.
The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce of Costa Rica (MEIC), the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer), among others, are calling on citizens to be very well informed before making online purchases for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and end-of-year gifts.
Online purchases and imports can be overwhelming for first time online buyers
In December especially, many have more money due to the ‘Aguinaldo’ – the year-end bonus equal to the average of one month’s salary paid to all public and private sector salaried employees – and with facility now can purchase online items like beauty products, technology, and even medicines.
Authorities in Costa Rica ask the population to be extremely careful before hitting the ‘buy now’ button, knowing well the rules and regulations of import and tax obligations.
Among other concerns is the quality of the product, return policy and costs if the item is not to your liking, defective or damage.
Is it really a deal really deal if the product is not what you expected or never gets to your hands?
For example, there are the requirements of law that could mean your purchase is seized by the customs authorities or there is an onorous import tax.
For example, in general, beauty products may require a health certificate. Then there is the freight to get the product to Costa Rica. Amazon, for example, may offer free shipping on your purchase in the US and Canada, but to get it to Costa Rica your local provider like Aeropost or Jetbox will add I went to my freight, fuel and warranty charges.
Then there is the import (customs) tax and 13% sales tax applicable to many purchases.
In the end, the deal may not end up being a deal after all.
Costa Rican customs procedures are complex and bureaucratic. Recent improvements, such as electronic “one-stop” import and export windows known as “Ventanilla Única de Comercio Exterior (VUCE)” – Foreign Trade Single Window – have significantly reduced the time required for customs processing.
The Uber executive director, Dara Khosrowshahi, this Wednesday November 14 at the headquarters of that company in San Francisco (California) / Uber for LN
In September, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, served one year behind the company’s steering wheel. Since then, he has tried to raise the image of a company involved in a variety of controversies.
Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, this Wednesday November 14, 2018 at the headquarters of that company in San Francisco (California) / Uber for LN
The turn remains far from complete.
The list of scandals when he arrived at Uber included accusations of sexual discrimination by employees, complaints of drivers for falling profits and even a controversial software that sought to avoid regulatory authorities.
Costa Rica is not the exception in the controversy.
Many cities now understand that Uber is a force for good; a social force in terms of making the movement of people available and also an economic force
In our country, there are angry (official) taxi drivers who accuse Uber of unfair competition for not paying the same economic charges (taxes, and licensing fees as an example); Uber drivers with exhausting shifts of up to 16 hours to earn an acceptable income, and a government pressured to regulate the service due to user demand.
In the first interview with a Latin American media outlet, Khosrowshahi spoke to La Nacion on Wednesday, during a meeting at the Uber headquarters in San Francisco, California.
Asked how he sees the future of transportation, say in 20 years, Khosrowshahi, an Iranian-American businessman and former CEO of Expedia Group, said, “One of our missions is to replace the possession of cars using vehicular mobility as a service. There are more than a trillion cars in the world and 95% of the time they remain unused. We believe that cars are a huge waste of resources.
Costa Rica is not an idea for us, it’s a place where we already have 22,000 members (drivers) who make a living on our platform and 700 employees
“Often parked cars consume 20% to 25% of the space in the cities, that space could be used to build places to live or parks. For us, sharing a car for transportation and having several people in the same vehicle makes the most sense. In terms of efficiency and benefits for society, the city and people, we believe that it is a better way to use space and assets.
“We visualize a world where mobility will be available as a service for each person in a city, whether they live in the center or the periphery of it, and whether that person has the resources to own a car or not. a better world and there we go.”
LN: Are self drive vehicles a stage in that roadmap or is it the future of transportation?
Khosrowshahi, also a member of the board of directors of BET.com, Hotels.com, and The New York Times Company, believes autonomous vehicles, fundamentally will be the cheapest and best way to move people.
“Every year there are around one million deaths in the world due to vehicular accidents. In 94% of cases, it was due to some type of driver error. The most wonderful thing about autonomous transport is that, once past the hard work of training our robot drivers, they will be better, better and better. I speak of a driver who will always improve every day. The key to these vehicles is safety but, in addition, they are economically accessible so that mobility is also available to anyone regardless of where they live.”
LN: So, how far would you say this (autonomous) process will go … airplanes, trains, ships? What can be the risks and advantages in your opinion?
DK: We believe that the challenge for autonomous transport is easier for trains and planes, and even buses with fixed routes, with respect to passenger vehicles. As always there will be regulatory issues and traditional resistance. We are in the car business and we invest aggressively in our core, but these are technologies that can be extended to other parts of society.
LN: One of the main criticisms against Uber comes from taxi drivers for whom they say the company is unfair competition because it does not have the same economic burdens as them. Taxes, for example. What would be “doing the right thing” from Uber’s point of view before the claim?
DK: We think that competition improves the market, it improves us as a company and, in the end, it forces the taxis to be better too. We believe in a level playing field for all players.
In the long run, we want to extend our platform to make our demand available not only for us but also for taxis and other modes of transport, and we welcome a fair regulation that we believe should also be a modern regulation that extends mobility to a larger segment of the population instead of limiting it.
Today we are an established legal organization in Costa Rica. We are a great employer there and we also welcome dialogue with regulators, especially now that a new leader has settled in Costa Rica.”
I think that what is different about Uber is that we are not just a digital service such as Google or Facebook. We fundamentally touch the way people live physically in each of the cities where we operate.
LN: Why is Costa Rica useful for Uber? It is true that in Latin America we have one of the highest Uber user rates but it is a small market full of angry regulators and taxi drivers?
DK: I think that what is different about Uber, such as business and service, is that we are not just a digital service such as Google or Facebook. We fundamentally touch the way people live physically in each of the cities where we operate.
So, Costa Rica is not an idea for us, it’s a place where we already have 22,000 members (drivers) who make a living on our platform and 700 employees at our center of excellence in the country, a nation where we have a substantial investment. The company has a saying and a norm that also says: ‘we build globally but we live locally’.
What is different is that if a local business in Costa Rica advertises itself on Google, and someone clicks on that ad, that money for advertising leaves Costa Rica. With us, the vast majority of the money goes directly to the driver and stays in the country. We are a local business. We do not think of Costa Rica as an idea because our people are in the field. It is a prosperous culture and we are very hopeful of the country’s development in Latin America and we want to be a part of that.
LN: How much have you invested in Costa Rica?
DK: At least US$30 million dollars in the last three years. We consider ourselves a local player in the country and we want to continue to be a positive economic force.”
LN: In Costa Rica, we have individuals who own several vehicles and rent them out to people with no work for a fee of about $200 per week. This means work shifts from 14 to 16 hours a day to achieve the weekly quota and earn some profit. That is a form of exploitation. We want to know your opinion on this since Uber establishes prices, charges directly to customers, can disconnect drivers from its platform and also defines how the service is provided?
DK: We are not a direct employer. Any managing partner can enter or leave the platform at any time they wish. The design of the platform is one in which we base this open ecosystem and when you have an open ecosystem, one area where we take things very seriously is safety, with which we want to ensure that our drivers are up to date with their licenses, background and other controls are reviewed.
So, if we have active drivers working 14 to 16 hours, it is not only a potential form of exploitation but also potentially unsafe. We have recently introduced a series of security factors in the application to make sure that you cannot drive too many hours in a row, that background checks are made, that the identity is established and so on, but if this type of exploitation is taking place, it is something which we want to know and if we can do something to improve things on the platform, we will assume it.
Shifting the interview to Uber’s problems around the world, on the problems Uber has dozens of countries, where neither governments nor taxi drivers plan to surrender, Khosrowshahi said he believes the solution is in dialogue.
“I think many cities now understand that Uber is a force for good; a social force in terms of making the movement of people available and also an economic force by providing a life for many driving partners and, as I mentioned, in Costa Rica we are a great employer,” said Khosrowshahi.
Asked about Greyball, the software tool used by Uber to identify and deny service to certain riders, including riders whom Uber suspects of violating its terms of service, to evade local government authorities such as in the United States, Australia, South Korea, and China, Khosrowshahi said the company must take responsibility for the mistakes of the past and now would never undertake a similar initiative.
“Today we have an important value that is doing the right thing, period. It seems to me that when something happens in the past of a company, it must be honest about it and face the consequences,” said Khosrowshahi.
In the days following the publication of the New York Times story in March 2017, Uber admitted that it had used Greyball to thwart government regulators, and it promised to stop using the tool for that purpose.
“The consequences are the following: now I am the executive director, we have a new legal director, Tony West, who comes from the (U.S.) Department of Justice and we also have another director of finance. I believe that the company has felt the consequences and has turned towards another type of leadership today determined to take the company in a new direction. This means not growing at any cost but growing with dialogue and benefits for the cities and countries where we operate,” Khosrowshahi said.
LN: How flexible do you think labor standards should be in countries where Uber is with respect to labor rights?
DK: Well, it seems to us that our basic concept is that we will be an open and available platform for those who like to join it, as long as they are safe collaborators, have an appropriate background, know how to drive and their record is safe driving. Within this framework of an open platform, we welcome dialogue with local regulators about the nature of work.
LN: A criticism of Uber is that it establishes itself in the countries and, when faced with regulation or protest from the taxi drivers, tries to win the favor of the users and use that support to pressure the authorities. In just four years, today Latin America is Uber’s most profitable market. Did this happen due to the lack of preparation of the authorities or updated transport legislation?
DK: We consider that public transport has not been as developed in some of the Latin American markets. We believe that people need to move and we provide a wonderful and easy service for users and we also provide a source of income and work for hundreds of thousands of drivers in Latin America.
LN: And now Uber is extending to other forms of mobility that open the door to new regulatory challenges and more technological complexity. Is sharing the data generated by Uber the way to get to the heart of the authorities and keep moving forward?
DK: Sharing Uber’s data is a reflection of our openness and our desire to partner with cities to create a more effective and better transportation network. In the end, where we want to go is to be a company of shared trips to one of mobility services; to be a strong employer and a partner for cities solving their transportation challenges in the future.
Do you feel stressed right now? You’ll be pleased to know it’s perfectly natural. In the modern world, stress is brought on by several different factors, and it can be a negative force that can lead to headaches, stomachaches, fatigue, and muscle tension.
Before stress starts impacting on your life, there are some things you can do to de-stress. Being able to relax and unwind at the end of the day will also help you to sleep better.
Handling your stress effectively will help you become more productive, which will see you perform better at work, and enjoy time with friends and loved ones with fewer worries.
Take a Walk
It doesn’t have to be an epic hike across town. A 10-minute walk will help to clear your head and boost endorphins. You might not realize it, but such an activity can put your body into a state of meditation.
In medical circles, it’s called involuntary attention and refers to the act of doing something that holds your attention, but still allows for reflection. While taking a walk, you can also try out another relaxation technique. Deep breathing exercises help to reduce tension and relieve stress.
Play a Few Slots Online
Playing games at online casinos has become a very popular way for people to spend their free time. Many people do it because they want to win some money, however, just as many do it to relax. There are many online casinos, such as those available on Unibet, that have a wide range of games you can play for free. Any winnings you make can be used to keep playing. Remember to play this sensibly and in moderation, as it can be a fun way to challenge yourself.
Get Up Earlier
Rising early is not a handy tip for everyone, as some people are just not early morning people. However, if you are, get up even earlier than normal, and you’ll be amazed how much you get done. While everyone else is enjoying their last hour of sleep, sit and enjoy a book, get in a workout, read your emails, or get down to work. If you cross some tasks off your daily to-do list, you’ll have more free time and be able to do something you enjoy.
Enjoy a Healthy Diet
Did you realize that your mood is directly affected by what you eat? If you eat healthily, you will improve your energy levels, be more productive, and your physical and mental health will benefit. If you’re feeling down in the dumps, the temptation is to reach for the comfort food. It might make you feel a little better in the short term, but over time it’s not going to make you feel better. Try to avoid junk food and eat more fruit, vegetables, and food rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
This is just a small selection of the ways you can de-stress. The important thing is to try to do something about your stress levels as often as possible. Not only will it benefit your health, but it can also help you sleep better at night.
The national insurer (INS) caved in, withdrew its lawsuit against the insurance superintendent, the Superintendencia General de Seguros (Sugese), for the mandatory insurance (SOSA) rate for vehicles, and decided to request an increase.
The Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) had made the business decision to keep the 2018 rates for the 2019 Marchamo – annual circulation permit – that is traditionally due starting on November 1.
However, the Sugese did not agree with the decision of the State insurance company, forcing the INS to take the matter to court and thus delay the start of the Marchamo collection which was to have started on November 1.
The INS, on October 30, announced the rate for the SOA would be the same as 2018: for private vehicles ¢21,380, motorcycles ¢70,415 and taxis ¢61,900.
However, the Sugese did not agree with the decision of the INS to not modify the insurance rate because it affirmed that the state insurer could not technically justify the financial sustainability of the policy, with this decision.
Villegas defended the decision of the INS to not raise rates and to take the matter to court, because “it was for the benefit of the people.”
The INS has the obligation, given their years of experience and once being the only provider of vehicle insurance in the country, to collect the Marchamo that, in addition to the SOA, (representing 20% of the cost) includes the vehicle ownership tax (70% of the total cost), and the remaining 10% distributed among other state institutions. Any outstanding traffic fines are also collected in the Marchamo.
Now with more than 15 days delay, the executive president of the INS, Elian Villegas, confirmed the decision to stop the court action and increase the SOA.
“It is necessary to go out to collect the Marchamo (…) it is impossible for us to delay the issue further and that is why we decided to request a new rate from the Sugese,” explained Villegas.
The INS chief did not want to detail how much the adjusted adjustment of the SOA requested for the more than 1.5 million vehicles that must pay the Marchamo.
“On the adjustment or the new rate, we will not make a reference until Sugese finally approves it,” Villegas stressed.
The Sugese confirmed the receipt of the new rate request by the INS; but also did not detail the requested adjustment.
Tomás Soley, head of the Sugese, indicated that it has 15 working days for a formal review and 30 working days for the background review.
“For the welfare of the country, the greatest possible internal effort will be made to reduce these deadlines, given that the normative date for the commencement of the commercialization of the SOA was November 1,” said the official.
Villegas stressed that the INS is prepared to start collecting the Marchamo 24 hours after the new rate has been authorized by the Sugese.
The SOA is a policy that covers third parties in case of traffic accidents. It does not require a plea of guilty from the parties so that the injured party can obtain coverage, or failing that, so that the next of kin of the death victims can receive the corresponding compensation.
Besides all the bs, the question by many is when will the Marchamo collection start?
The Marchamo is due for payment by December 31 each year, after which drivers behind the vehicles without the current Marchamo are subjected to a traffic fine.
In the past, given that the INS operated the only points of sale for the Marchamo and the long lines, especially the last week in December, the Policia de Transito (Traffic Pollice) usually gave a grace period of up to 15 days. Given that the Marchamo can be paid, in addition to the INS, at any bank, there is no grace period.
Also, starting on January 1, in accordance with the law, irrespective of what the INS and Sugese do or not do, the unpaid Marchamo incurs late fees and interest.
The ultra-low-cost airline Volaris informed that it will convert Costa Rica into its Central American hub and that from here it will open direct flights to South America, starting in 2019.
The announcement was made by the new business manager of the airline for Central America, Manuel Jaquez, who has extensive experience in this type of airline, who also set as one of the objectives to return to Costa Ricans an airline with local identity.
Jaquez announced that by 2019 the company will add two or three additional aircraft based in Costa Rica. The airline already has four in the country. The central idea, he said, is for direct flights to South America from the Juan Santamaría International, the San Jose (SJO) airport.
Currently, Volaris offers flights from Costa Rica to Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as to Cancun and Mexico City. It also transports passengers from Costa Rica to Los Angeles, New York, and Washington.
“One of the objectives is to fill a space that, I believe, what Costa Rican miss is to have a flag carrier,” said the new executive of Volaris Costa Rica. He recalled that the emptiness has been felt since the disappearance of Líneas Aéreas Costarricenses S. A. (LACSA)*.
Jaquez announced that by 2019 Volaris Costa Rica will launch an “aggressive campaign” to invite Costa Ricans to travel at low or “accessible prices”.
“Volaris will always be the lowest cost, but special campaigns will be launched with more promotions appropriate to the local market, such as ‘Baratico’ or the special rate ‘Prontica’, with even better prices,” he said.
Although focused on the company’s interest in allowing Costa Ricans to travel at lower cost and to other destinations, Jaquez argued that air travel is two-way, when questioned about the size of the market.
In that sense, he assured that they also have as one of the strong points, bringing of tourists to Costa Rica from new origins. For this reason, he explained, everything related to the new routes is being coordinated with the Minister of Tourism, María Amalia Revelo.
Apart from the two or three aircraft that will enter the Volaris Costa Rica fleet, the airline plans to develop a program to allow the exchange of aircraft with the parent company in Mexico, which has more than 70 aircraft.
Volaris Costa Rica will employ Costa Ricans for the flights originated here, as well for operations at the Juan Santamaría airport.
In addition, Jaquez emphasized that Volaris does not intend to compete with “traditional airlines” offering food and other onboard services.
*The Costa Rican airline (Lacsa) previously used the TACA/LACSA moniker when it was a subsidiary of Grupo TACA. Since May 2013, following Avianca’s purchase of Grupo TACA, Avianca Costa Rica became one of seven nationally branded airlines (Avianca Ecuador, Avianca Honduras, etc.) operated by Avianca Holdings group of Latin American airlines.
BUENOS AIRES—In the first quarter of 2018, the value of exports from Latin America and the Caribbean grew at a year-on-year rate of 9.7 percent in comparison with the same period in 2017, according to a new report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
However, this growth has come amid signs that the region is becoming less competitive amid rising economic risks and global trade tensions.
The growth in exports was driven by increases in the prices of commodities such as oil and copper. In contrast, the volume of exports slowed to 3.1 percent during the same period, which speaks to the region’s loss of market share due to declining competitiveness and the lack of high-quality exports from many countries in the region.
The Quality Leap: Export Sophistication As a Driver for Growth , a new report in the IDB’s Trade and Integration Monitor series, maps the sophistication of the region’s export supply and the main challenges it faces in securing a firmer position in the more profitable sectors of global trade.
Independently of factors such as the economic difficulties experienced by several countries and dampened external demand, the competitive lag determined by low productivity and high trade costs affected the export performance of the region.
To estimate the loss of competitiveness, the study measures the variation in market share between 2011 and 2016, with an emphasis on intraregional exports. The region’s competitiveness dropped by 7.4 percentage points during the period, which accounts for 22 percent of the decrease in exports. The analysis does not seek to present an exhaustive discussion of the determinants of productivity and competitiveness, which lie in a set of phenomena not exclusively related to the ability to compete in world markets.
“In a global context of growing uncertainty and low regional competitiveness, Latin America and the Caribbean urgently need to prioritize a policy agenda that will enable a leap in the quality of their exports,” said Paolo Giordano, principal economist at the IDB’s Integration and Trade Sector, who coordinated the report. “More sophisticated exports will help support the current trade recovery and lay the foundations for greater growth in the future.”
The Quality Gap
The gap between Latin America and the Caribbean and its global competitors is wide and has gone unchanged for decades. Although there have been success stories and clear opportunities for improvements to quality, a sizeable share of the region’s exports are of no more than medium quality.
The report identifies the product lines where there is most room for quality increases, such as food (coffee, cocoa, sugar, cereals, or fish) and raw materials (wood, hides, or skins), among others. For example, countries can export higher-quality coffee or cocoa beans, or more processed leathers.
An analysis of the differences between intraregional and extraregional trade reveals that the intraregional export basket is of a higher quality than the extraregional basket. It is also more diversified, contains a larger share of manufactured products, and has higher technology content. However, since the financial crisis the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have lost some of their regional market share due to a decline in competitiveness. They have also been unable to leverage the potential for regional integration to develop complex value chains based on trade in intermediate products and production inputs.
The report calls for an ambitious multisectoral policy agenda. At the national level, it recommends the construction of comprehensive, efficient, high-quality infrastructure systems that are clearly oriented toward internationalization. At the regional level, it argues in favor of initiatives that aim to complete and rationalize the architecture of trade, along with investments in infrastructure that facilitate greater productive integration.
Strengthening higher-quality trade flows and regional value chains would not only benefit the export diversification and sophistication of exports, it would also help improve the competitiveness of the region’s economies in the global market.
The Trade and Integration Monitor 2018 was launched at an event in Buenos Aires organized by the IDB’s Integration and Trade Sector and the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL).
About the IDB
The IDB’s mission is to improve lives. Founded in 1959, the IDB is one of the leading sources of financing for economic, social, and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also undertakes cutting-edge research projects and provides consultancy services on policies, technical assistance, and training to public and private clients throughout the region.
The report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) describes the historical evolution of migration to Costa Rica, focusing mainly on the Nicaragua-Costa Rica flow that represents the majority of the migratory flow to the region.
The main results obtained are:
i) complementarity in the labor market of Nicaraguan migrants for a certain level of education, while for others there is a certain degree of substitution (construction),
ii) differences in fertility rates can have an impact on the long term,
iii) public policies have been oriented towards the inclusion of migrants but certain access and protection challenges still exist.
This report is based on quantitative analysis as well as the realization of focus groups with relevant actors in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
Click here to view the report (in PDF format). Available in Spanish only.
Vicki Chandler arrived at La Iguana, a cacao farm in Costa Rica, in 2011.
(CNN Business) After graduating with a degree in architecture in the United Kingdom, Vicki Chandler was ready to do something “hands on.”
Vicki Chandler arrived at La Iguana, a cacao farm in Costa Rica, in 2011.
So when a friend asked her to help design a house in Costa Rica, she jumped at the chance. It was there that she stumbled upon La Iguana, a family-run cacao farm in the village of Mastatal.
A stint in 2011 as a volunteer chocolate maker on the farm turned into a longer stay. The following year, she and the family began to expand the business, La Iguana Chocolate, which sells products sourced and made on the farm.
“I found a job … that is challenging [and] draws on many of the problem-solving skills I learned in architecture,” said Chandler, who is now 33.
‘I fell in love’
A twist of fate led the native of the eastern English county of Suffolk to her new career.
After she arrived in Costa Rica in 2011, her friend’s house-building plan was put on hold.
Chandler decided to stay in the country for a while and started volunteering at local projects, including La Iguana, which the Salazar Garcia family has owned for three generations.
“I fell in love with the family, the community, the stunning nature and the warm weather,” Chandler said. She also began a relationship with Jorge Salazar Garcia, the son of the couple who own the farm.
Cacao fruit from the farm.
The family made products using the cacao seeds they harvested — but the results were “coarse and rustic” and business was small scale, according to Chandler. Initially, “no one in the family considered themselves chocolate makers,” she said.
The farm welcomed volunteers to live, eat and work there for $9 per day. At the time, chocolate making “probably brought in less income” than the volunteers, Chandler said.
In 2012, the family decided to expand by refining the chocolate-making process, and Chandler came up with a business strategy.
She and Jorge Salazar Garcia visited chocolate makers in the United Kingdom in 2013 on a quest to learn more about the craft. They spent time developing recipes and designing the packaging for the launch of new products from the farm.
Jorge Salazar Garcia making chocolate.
‘Farmers and makers’
Today, La Iguana sells a wide range of products made from its five hectares of cacao trees. As well as the obvious things like chocolate bars, cocoa powder and brownies, the farm also uses cacao to make butter, tea, soap and lip balms.
From roasting to packaging, the chocolate is made in the farm’s kitchen, with cacao beans from 4,500 trees. The farm sold around 5,000 chocolate bars in the year ended in September. A 30-gram bar costs $3.
La Iguana’s products.
The farm, which employs six people part time, also runs educational tours and courses, attracting about 1,500 visitors last year.
Chandler co-owns the La Iguana business with the Salazar Garcia family, and married Jorge, who’s 30, this year.
“We feel very strongly that one of the things that makes us unique is that we are the farmers and the makers,” Chandler said.
Article by Andrea Lo originally appeared at CNN.com. Read the original here.
Fitch Ratings has given Costa Rica 90 days to resolve its public finances before lowering its risk rating. Through a statement, the rating agency issued a negative notice about the country’s outlook – which was already negative – and which places the rating at “BB”.
As explained by Carlos Morales, Costa Rica’s primary analyst for Fitch in New York, in January this year the rating agency had announced that the change in outlook from stable to negative for the long term, implying that, in a period of one to two years, they could lower the rating.
This change in outlook indicates that it will issue a rejection of the rating within three months or less.
Although he did not explain exactly the risk perspective that Fitch sees in the country, he admitted that in the next ninety days the rating could fall even by more than one step, which could imply a “B+”, “B-” or “B” rating.
“We are monitoring more specific events that may arise in the coming weeks and what we see at the moment are greater pressures. We are assessing how the (tax) reform is progressing, how the government is going to refinance and how the debt between the Treasury and the Central Bank will be repaid (referring to treasury bills), based on that, we will make a decision,” Morales said.
All of the above are issues that should be resolved during December, since it is the period in which the payment of the treasury bills is due and, in addition, when the Treasury has to obtain funds for the debt.
“Based on the different scenarios, the reduction could be more than one step if the situation continues to deteriorate,” Morales said.
In the statement, the rating agency explained that Costa Rica reflects serious financing limitations, which put at risk the ability to meet its budgetary obligations and debt maturities for this year.
In addition, it is admitted that there is uncertainty regarding the capacity of legislators to approve effective legislation that contains the deficit.
According to Antonio Pérez, general manager of Mercado de Valores, the Fitch announcement is not a surprise.
“The rating agencies have been patient with the fiscal deficit situation. We are waiting for the Sala IV indication that will determine the course of the country for the next few months,” Pérez admitted.
Fitch Ratings Inc. is one of the “Big Three credit rating agencies”, the other two being Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
Cuestamoras had planned to open the doors of its mega project Oxígeno, in Heredia, on November 12. However, the company postponed the opening to the end of the month.
From Cuestamoras website
The company assured EF that the works are 98% complete, but did not disclose the reasons that prompted the delayed opening.
Initially, the developer will carry out what it calls a “silent opening” with a small group of customers, in which business partners, suppliers and the project operations department carry out tests of its products and services.
The official opening ceremony will follow in the week of December 3 to 7 (they are waiting for the presidential office to select the date that best fits the agenda of President Carlos Alvarado).
Oxígeno, located in San Francisco of Heredia, Costa Rica, comprises 130,000 square meters (m2) – 1.4 million square feet – of construction area and more than 15,000 m2 (161,000 sq ft) of green public areas for public enjoyment.
From Cuestamoras website
The development is composed of buildings of two or three floors each, which are named: Vivir, Respirar, Sentir and Ser (Living, Breathing, Feeling and Being), and a rooftop with open access for the community, with views of the Barva and Poás volcanoes and of the Escazú mountains.
The Cuestamoras website describes the project, “Oxígeno integrates itself into the community with a one-of-a-kind architecture that offers recreational green areas and is complemented by a dynamic operation designed to permanently surprise you.”
To date, more than 80 brands have confirmed their presence in the project that includes restaurants, shoe stores, sporting goods stores, jewelers, services, boutiques and varied shops.
“One of the great examples will be the Uno Sport store, with a swimming pool operated by Crol Swimming next to it and with visibility from the store. Lego will open its first store certified by Lego International, with activities for children,” said Javier del Campo, vice president of Human Playground Cuestamoras Urbanismo, last September.
Other brands that will open in the Heredia complex are: Kidzania, Cinemark, Ekono, Crol, Samsara, Pitza by Me, PLX, PLS, Icon, Pops, Mango Surf, PF Chang’s, Vision Optics, Laboratories Labin, Energym, Fischel Pharmacy, Aldo Nero, Gollo, Aeropostale, Libreria Internacional, Naans & Curries, Telecable, SJ Leathers, Subway, City Phone, Vertigo, Toys, McDonald’s, Timberland, Rostipollos, Laser Tag, Flexi, Cajun Grill, and Fusion, among others.
Google announced the availability in Costa Rica of its ‘Mi Negocio‘ (My Business) application, a tool for small and medium enterprises to keep their information updated.
Image Google
People use digital tools to navigate the world. Within the shopping experience, we know that consumers use the Internet to consult the commercial establishments that are of interest to them.
According to a study conducted by Google, 8 out of 10 consumers do this. 65% of consumers go to Google to look for alternatives.
For small and medium enterprises, this represents the opportunity to interact with their audiences through the search engine.
The ‘Mi Negocio’ mobile application integrates functionalities to help companies connect with their customers from their mobile phones.
For example, it will allow businesses to have their company followed in real time, to know the total number of views, searches and actions generated.
It will also allow you to interact with customers. The merchants will be able to build and monitor their audience, giving them the possibility to dialogue, within the same application, with them.
My Business makes it easy to keep your business profile fresh with new posts and photos, bringing in customers by sharing helpful information, give people an incentive to drop by—share your latest news, specials, or offers so they know what’s happening and when.
Google says that businesses that use My Business to stand out on the Internet can stand out to consumers. The first step is that the content is useful to drive sales.
Google also states that the new application collects the best that exists in business tools to integrate it with new practical and simple functions that contribute to the growth of companies.
In Central America, 95% of smartphone users always or almost always search the Internet when they want to know about a topic.
For this reason, SMEs (small and mediium enterprises) – Pymes (Pequeña y mediana empresas in Spanish) – must keep their information updated to attract more and more consumers.
The rabies virus is typically transmitted through the bite of an infected host.
The 43-year-old biologist infected with the rabies virus died Wednesday, confirmed the Ministry of Health.
The rabies virus is typically transmitted through the bite of an infected host such as bats. Photo Samuel Betkowski / Moment / Getty Images
His death was due to cardiorespiratory failure, according to Daniel Salas Peraza, director of Health Surveillance, in that ministry.
The patient remained in the Intensive Care Unit of San Juan de Dios Hospital, in San José, since October 21, with the help of life support.
His admission to the medical center occurred two months after the biologist entered a cave, during a family outing on August 15, in Copey de Dota and had contact with bats.
The man, whose identity has not been made public, began to manifest symptoms on October 11, when he finally decided to obtain medical help.
The biologist had suffered a bite in one of his arms and developed numbness and paralysis of movements, difficulties swallowing and behavioral disorders.
The Risk of Rabies
The rabies virus is typically transmitted through the bite of an infected host. The bite transmits infected saliva, passing the virus to a previously uninfected animal. In humans, rabies is fatal unless treated before severe symptoms occur. If untreated, the virus spreads through the central nervous system, reaching the brain and ultimately leading to death.
Risk for travelers
All travelers should exercise caution when in close proximity to animals, including wild animals and strays. Street dogs are common in Costa Rica. Adventure travelers, particularly cavers who may find themselves in close proximity to infected bats and long-term travelers, including expats, who may be spending extended periods of time in high-risk areas, vaccination may be recommended.
If traveling with children, tell them not to pet wild or domestic animals (especially when unsupervised). Children may not report scratches or bites, making them particularly vulnerable.
Treatment of Rabies
If bitten by a potentially rabid animal, you should first wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water. You should then seek medical attention immediately.
Rabies Symptoms
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “The first symptoms of rabies may be very similar to those of the flu including general weakness or discomfort, fever, or a headache.” These symptoms can last for days, often accompanied by an itching sensation at the site of the bite. As the disease progresses, symptoms such as agitation, hallucinations, and delirium start to appear. See also: Rabies – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic
The 18-month countdown that the Constitutional Court gave legislators to regulate same-sex marriages begins this month, with the delivery on Wednesday of the judgment issued in August and its imminent publication in the Judicial Bulletin.
Photo Carla Orozco Odio
The Press Office of the Poder Judicial (Judiciary) informed that the judgment will be sent as soon as possible to the National Press for publication.
With the publication, lawmakers have until May 2020 to approve the bill in that regard.
Otherwise, item 6 of article 14 of the Codigo de Familia (Family Code), which expressly prohibits same-sex marriage, will automatically cease to have effect.
With the August decision, the Sala Constitucional or Sala IV magistrates, by a majority (six to one), declared unconstitutional actions filed against the item, and in this way, to comply with the Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that ordered the country to recognize same-sex marriage.
Acting President of the Sala IV, Fernando Castillo, explained that the decision to leave the regulation in the hands of the Legislative Assembly was made in favor of “social peace”.
“The judgments of a constitutional court, eventually, can generate serious alterations of the social peace. Then, Article 91 of the Law of the (Constitutional) Jurisdiction establishes that to avoid these serious alterations of the social peace, what happens is that the power is given to the court to measure the effects of the sentence in time and in space,” explained Castillo.
The Advisory Opinion transcended in January and responded to a request made by the government of Luis Guillermo Solís.
Besides opening the door to equal marriage (matrimonio igualitario in Spanish) it allowed people to change their name in official state registers, according to “self-perceived gender identity”.
Born and raised in Costa Rica, Melissa Guzman has always had a passion for great food. Originally from a small, traditional farming town in the mountains of Cartago, she grew up with many traditional recipes that were shared together with friends and family.
From Recipesfromcostarica.com
After getting married and moving to the beach, she discovered the other part of the Pura Vida lifestyle. An active lifestyle, along with a healthier and lighter diet which lead her to the recipes and secrets she is wanting to share today.
Working in the tourism business in Jaco Beach, Melissa would often have requests from foreigners asking her about local foods and some of her recipes. One day a traveler told her, “you should make a cookbook.” Two years later here she is.
Living Longer, Healthier & Happier – Recipes from Costa Rica is a collection of traditional and modern Costa Rican recipes. The book features large and professional photos of each recipe. “I really don’t like cookbooks that feature recipes without photos so wanted to make sure that my book highlighted each recipe with a great photo.” said Melissa. But beyond the recipes, the narrative focuses on much more.
The book and its recipes is really about the Costa Rican lifestyle, what Ticos refer to is the “Pura Vida”, which focuses on a healthier and happier lifestyle all of which is centered around the food and culture of Costa Rica. While the recipes are one step to a better well being, the book features a number of tips to living longer, healthier and happier.
The book was just recently published and made available for sale a few months ago. We sat down with Melissa to talk more about the book and Costa Rica cuisine.
Q: Congrats on the book, looks great, so where are you selling the book currently?
MELISSA: Thanks, yes I’m very happy on how it came out, we have really received a lot of compliments, people really seem to love the photos. We currently have it in all the Britt stores, including the airports and some local places in Jaco, but people can also buy online at recipesfromcostarica.com, we ship both to the US and within Costa Rica.
From Recipesfromcostarica.com
Q: Great. I know Costa Rica cuisine isn’t well known internationally, why do you think that is?
MELISSA: I think Costa Rica cuisine is still evolving. There are many different regions throughout the country that have their own traditional dishes that are amazing but sometimes just aren’t presented or shared well with tourists. I think we also just have not seen enough of more upscale presentations of our cuisine, most of the time our food is only found at sodas, but I think that is beginning to change. More restaurants are opening up in which they are nicer settings and maybe adding some modern fusion to our traditional recipes which should help get much more exposure.
Q: Are your recipes all traditional?
MELISSA: In my book, I feature a mix of traditional recipes that I grew up on, but have also included some modern twists. For example, I have a Gallo Pinto recipe, that is as traditional as it comes in Costa Rica, but have an option to use quinoa instead of rice. Taste amazing and it is even healthier.
Melissa (right) in the kitchen. Photo from her website.
Q: Yes it seems like the healthy living is a big focus for you?
MELISSA: It is. The book is about embracing the principals of the Blue Zone and a big part of that is a healthy diet, but we also stress the importance of a healthier and slower lifestyle that is all about living the Pura Vida we know so well in Costa Rica.
Q: I know you self-published the book, what was that process like?
MELISSA: Oh it was a process. The vision and idea was all my husband and I and we really did it all from scratch. He shot all the food photos and our designer helped with the lifestyle pics. We went through some trial and errors but hooked up with local designers that were big part of our success, they did a great job with laying it all out for us, including the design of our cover. From there it was figuring out how to get it printed. We ended up printing in South Korea , teamed up with a company that was able to help us with the entire process. We were fortunate and thankful to find some great people in making this book possible.
Q: That’s great to hear. Well after looking at this book I have to admit I’m pretty hungry.
Thanks again to Melissa and we look forward to sharing some of her recipes in the future.
Aeromexico, the Mexican airline, inaugurated its Liberia, Guanacaste flights to Mexico City, Mexico this Saturday, November 10.
The airline says the route will be operating during the high season, with the last flight on April 21, 2019.
This first flight departed from the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia (LIR) to Mexico City (MEX).
This new route is operated with Embraer 190 equipment with capacity for 99 passengers, 11 of them in Premier Class.
The flight (AM 2657) will depart Mexico City at 8:15 am on Saturdays and Sundays, arriving Liberia at 11:06 am; then turns around (AM 2656) at 12:06 pm and arrives back at the Mexican capital at 3:10 pm.
“After the United States, Mexico is the second nation in the Americas that most invests in Costa Rica. There are more than 35 companies with Mexican capital operating in this country. We are confident that the creation of this flight will benefit both nations, in addition to increasing its tourist and cultural exchange,” said Paul Verhagen, Aeromexico’s International Sales Director.
Hermes Navarro, chief of investment attractions of the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) said that with the arrival of this new flight from Mexico will increase the air connectivity not only with one of the main emitting markets such as Mexico, but with all the connections that Aeromexico has to the United States, Asia, and Europe, thus contributing to the tourist development of Guanacaste and nearby areas.
César Jaramillo, manager of Coriport, the manager of the Liberia airport, said that having this route opens the door to one of the largest airports in Latin America.
In the last decade, visits from Mexico increased considerably. At the end of 2017, more than 100,000 Mexicans visited our country. As of August of this year, 69,000 Mexican visits were recorded, a figure that will possibly increase with the opening of the Liberia connection.
Aeromexico has been operating daily flights to the Juan Santamaria Airport (SJO) in San Jose for the last eight years.
Taxi drivers have asked Rodolfo Méndez, the Minister of Transportation (MOPT), to increase the antiquity of their vehicles, from the current 15 years to 20.
Taxi drivers are waiting for the decision of the Concessions Council
If the request is approved, official taxis (red taxis) in the country could operate with vehicles as old as 1998 models.
According to Gilberth Ureña, leader of the taxi drivers union, the request was also made to the head and to the board of directors of the Public Transportation Council (CTP), a division of the MOPT, from where the decision is made that could come as early as next week.
Another issue raised by the taxi association with Méndez was about Uber. The ‘fuerza roja’ (red force as the official taxis are often referred to) are against the Uber platform.
Ureña said the minister was reminded of the effect of Uber on the taxi drivers and highlighted the work of the traffic police in terms of operations against Uber drivers, however, lamented the lack of personnel, which limits their capacity to enforce the law.
Consumers in Costa Rica are increasingly attached to a short list of purchases, which has caused the ‘impulse buying index’ to decrease. This is one of the results of the study “Hábitos de Consumo 2018” (Consumption Habits 2018), recently conducted by Asociación GS Uno Costa Rica.
Image Twitter
This analysis, which was conducted for the thirteenth time in the country, confirmed that in 2017, 64.1% of consumers claimed to make an impulse purchase, while this it is 51.8%.
This, according to GS Uno, is due to a possible perception that it is not a good time to spend, given the current economic situation of the country.
The promotions were the reason for those who did impulse spend, 37.3% saying they let themselves be carried away by an offer to buy a product that was off their list, while the previous year this indicator reached 58.2%.
This cautious behavior of Costa Rican consumers was also reflected in the payment method when making purchases. In 2017, 35.7% claimed to use a credit card in supermarkets, while for this year only 18.3%.
On the other hand, the payment in cash was 48.6%, six percentage points more than the previous year and the use of debit cards increased 12 percentage points, compared to 2017.
Image Twitter
“This confirms that we Costa Ricans are being more cautious in the use of credit,” said Guillermo Varela, executive director of GS Uno.
The survey analyzed the behavior of consumers:
For this year, the tendency to buy biweekly (quincena in Spanish) was maintained and the monthly shopping increased by 10 percentage points, mainly by people over 50.
Although the Costa Rican consumers have been splitting their purchases over time, that is, they buy in at least two establishments; This practice shows a decrease with respect to the previous years and to the generations: the older, the less the fraction.
The price or promotion is the most important factor for fractioning purchases (affirmed by 51.2% of respondents), but the quality of products is becoming more important. In 2017, only 4% took this into account and for this year the result was 19.6%.
In terms of product brands, men stand out as more faithful: 47.6% compared to 40% of women. That is, in case they do not find the brand they are looking for, more men prefer to visit another supermarket to purchase the item.
Half of the consumers choose the supermarket closest to their home to make purchases, a trend that increased by 15.9% compared to the previous year; while the number of people selecting the establishment based on prices and promotions, doubled compared to the same period, reaching 14.7%.
An important finding for this year, little by little, the pulperías (corner stores) recovered their ground as the point of sale to purchase last minute items. The previous year registered a 14.2% share and by 2018 almost 30%.
On the experience in supermarkets, 74% of the respondents rated the speed at check out very good to excellent. This is attributed to the implementation of contactless payment technology and the elimination of the voucher signature (for under ¢15,000 colones).
“In the face of greater consumer mobility and brand loyalty, the points of sale reinforce the importance of offering attractive prices and promotions, in order to maintain the loyalty of their buyers,” added Varela.
Image for illustrative purposes
This year, the survey took in the response of 672 consumers who were buying at four of the main supermarket chains in the country, in its four formats: hypermarket, supermarket, warehouses and discount.
The data coincides with the data provided by the latest Consumer Confidence Survey, prepared by the Statistics School of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), which reveals less willingness of the consumers in Costa Rica to spend.
It also echoed the figures published by the Central Bank on household consumption, which reflect a slowdown compared to 2017.
The Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) is the first bank in Costa Rica to make available to its customers the first “wearable” or wearable device linked to a banking service in the country for purchases.
The contactless wristband contains the same security of a traditional chip card and faster transactions
The wristband uses contactless technology for purchases under ¢15,000, as provided in the Regulation of the Central Bank Payment System (Reglamento del Sistema de Pagos del Banco Central) that does not require user identification or signature when making purchases with contactless payment systems, ie chips cards, smartphones and wearables, such as wristbands, watches and rings, among others.
“Regarding means of payment, the BCR is taking a transcendental step, since it is migrating from the technology of magnetic stripe to chip technology, which is much safer. We are taking advantage of this technology to offer customers not only greater security but also greater convenience, ease and speed with the wristband,” said Allan Guillen, head of payment media at BCR.
The BCR wristband contains the same security of a traditional chip card. However, it is important that, unlike a card that is carried in a wallet or purse, the customer never loses possession or sight and control of his or her wristband because it is worn, therefore is not exposed to data theft. And the transactions are faster.
As an additional security element, in addition to the ¢15,000 per transaction limit, the wristband has a maximum daily use limit of ¢100,000 and 10 transactions.
In its promo for the wristband, the BCR says, “With Beep, enjoy the freedom of walking without a wallet while enjoying your favorite sports such as swimming, cycling, athletics or going to the gym. With the new BCR shopping bracelet, work, go out with your friends or go on vacation (to the beach or the mountain), it will be more comfortable.”
BCR credit card holders can obtain their wristband here. BCR customers without a credit card or new customers, can obtain the wristband here.
For more information on the BCR wristband click here or watch the video.
The variation of the dollar exchange has triggged an adjustment of tolls on the Ruta 27 (San Jose – Caldera) and went into effect this morning, Tuesday, November 13, 2018.
The traffic congestion on the Ruta 27 – the Carretera San José – Caldera
The road concessionaire, Globalvia, last Friday explained, the recent upward changes in the exchange rate – up 5% with respect to the reference value of September 17, 2018 – the reason for upping the tolls.
For passenger vehicles, the rates increased this morning between ¢10 and ¢40 colones.
The new rates are presented in the following tables:
The Ruta 27 (Carretera San José – Caldera) is a 76.8 km toll road under concession by the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) to the private consortium, Sociedad Concesionaria Autopistas del Sol S.A (Globalvia).
The road came to shorten the travel time between the capital and the Central Pacific.
You can obtain last minute road information on Twitter.
On September 25, Rodolfo Méndez, the Ministro de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), admitted that all sectors would be taken into account in the drafting of the regulations for the public transport of people, but last week changed his mind and left out the Uber company out of the roundtable.
The reversal of decision by Méndez could be linked to the anger displayed by the official taxi drivers on the MOPT’s intention to include Uber in the negotiations.
The inclusion of Uber in the drafting of regulations was made by Méndez during his appearance before the Comisión de Asuntos Económicos.
Former Alajuela mayor and now legislator for the National Liberation Party (PLN), Roberto Thompson, confirmed the statement by the transport minister, who told legislators expressly that “they (Uner) are going to have to be considered”.
However, on Friday, MOPT deputy minister, Eduardo Brenes, confirmed that Uber is not part of the talks because it is an illegal service.
Rubén Vargas, General Secretary of the Unión de Taxistas Costarricenses (Union of Costa Rican Taxi Drivers), confirmed that they are part of that work team that is drafting the final proposal and said that “in order for Uber to be regulated, the taxi drivers union demand that Uber have signage, pay taxes, insurance, a limited number of vehicles and equal rates”.
The draft is expected to reach legislators to begin discussion in early 2019.
Since Uber is a software platform that connects private parties it created a legal vaccum that the public transportation law of Costa Rica did not address. As Uber began to grow in Costa Rica so did the hostility of the taxi services against Uber drivers and the company.
Uber began operations in Costa Rica in August 2015 and reports having more than 22,000 associates (independent drivers) and over 740,000 users, and a source of direct employment for 550 people.
Florida-based Tech Data has announced the launch of a new Customer Lifecycle Management Services location in Costa Rica.
The newly-inaugurated facility in the Escazu canton is designed to provide additional capacity to customers, improve their time to market while increasing revenue and reducing cost and complexity.
The plant is located in the Escazu Business and services offered include customer acquisition, customer success, revenue growth, contract renewals, and software license compliance, said Tech Data.
Sunset at Playa Guiones, Nosara, Costa Rica, December, 2007. Photographer: Peter J. Brennan/Bloomberg News
12/26/2007
(Bloomberg Business) In a part of the world known for guerrillas, drug runners and fleeing emigrees, Costa Rica has long been the exception. It was an oasis of tranquility and stability — the Switzerland of Central America, some took to calling it.
Beach-goers in Playa Guiones, Nosara, Costa Rica. Photographer: Peter J. Brennan/Bloomberg
American retirees flocked to its beach towns, tourists to its rain forests, investors to its bonds, and the economy churned out steady, if not always spectacular, growth rates.
But there was a weakness to that success story: a budget deficit that’s been constantly growing, slowly eroding an economy that’s become largely dependent on U.S. dollars.
Now, after having neglected the problem for years, Costa Ricans suddenly find themselves sinking into a crisis that threatens to shatter this pristine international image. Yields on the government’s benchmark dollar bonds have soared to over 8 percent and the currency, the colon (pronounced col-ON), has been tumbling to record lows, prompting the central bank to boost interest rates last week to try to get investors to keep their money in the country.
The colon slumped 3 percent over a recent three-day period, a huge move in a country where officials have always tightly controlled its fluctuations. (Over the last three years, the average daily price move was just 0.007 percent).
“Costa Rica, after being given the benefit of the doubt, has started to feel the wrath of investors,” said Andrew Stanners, a London-based money manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.
Analysts worry that the losses could intensify quickly unless measures to rein in the deficit are implemented soon. And there’s another problem. The government isn’t the only one that was lured into borrowing in dollars. Over half a million Ticos, as Costa Ricans are called, have taken out dollar-denominated loans and mortgages, tempted by the prospect of paying interest rates that were about half of what they were in colons.
Like the government, these people are now scrambling to cobble together enough colons to buy the dollars they need to meet interest payments. Many are failing to. The percent of dollar-denominated loans in arrears climbed to about 3 percent in September from 1.7 percent a year ago.
Dollar loans
Not only does this financial squeeze leave people with less money to spend on, say, a new pair of sneakers or a night-out at the movies — further crimping an economy that was already starting to slow — but it’s creating a sense of angst and dread in the capital city of San Jose that is palpable.
Pedro Cruz, a 38-year-old psychologist with a mortgage, two car loans and a business loan all in dollars, speaks warily about the idle speculation he hears from his friends. The colon will go into free-fall, they tell him, before throwing around wild numbers — 2,000 colons per dollar, maybe even 3,000.
These may be improbable forecasts but they scare Cruz, nonetheless. At today’s exchange rate, 620 per dollar, he’s already plunking down 60,000 colons more per month to meet his loan payments than he was just six months ago. He’s been shifting his savings into dollars to try to protect his finances. “I heard rumors of a devaluation and I decided to try and get ahead of it,” Cruz says. Unlike the colon, the dollar is always a strong currency, he says, and with it, “at least I can buy rice and beans for my children.”
Tax reform
The crisis deepened last month after a group of opposition lawmakers asked the Constitutional Court to rule on whether the fast-tracking procedure used to approve the fiscal reform violated the constitution. The legislation, which turns the sales tax into a value-added tax, closes loopholes and creates a capital gains tax, would have marked the first tax reform in two decades and reined in a deficit that has doubled in recent years to 7 percent of gross domestic product.
The court is expected to rule on Nov. 26, after which the bill would go back to Congress for a second vote. If the legislation earns final approval, the government plans to seek additional loans from multilateral banks to finance its budget gap. Finance Minister Rocio Aguilar said the government “will be ready” to deal with a possible defeat of the legislation though she gave no details on what measures would be implemented.
Costa Rica has burned through $1.6 billion of its foreign reserves over the last eight months — the result of its defense of the colon in the foreign-exchange market and the Finance Ministry’s need for hard currency to make debt payments. They now stand below $7 billion.
Debt worries
The government’s debt load could reach more than 50 percent of GDP this year, according to Moody’s Investors Service, which put the country’s sovereign rating on review last month for a possible multi-notch downgrade. And the central bank estimates that figure could breach 100 percent within a decade.
About 40 percent of the current debt load is denominated in dollars. The government has stopped selling debt abroad in recent years and been focusing on the local market instead. The problem, though, is that with the deficit swelling and the colon tumbling, investors are balking at buying local debt. At a debt exchange last month, the government only managed to sell 16 percent of the bonds on offer.
For years, the country had the “the luxury of time” to fix its problems, Aguilar said in an interview. “We don’t have that luxury anymore.”
Article by Michael McDonald originally appeared at Bloomberg.com. Read the original here.
Forty years after Nicaragua’s revolution, the country’s revolutionaries and their supporters find themselves divided — between those who support Daniel Ortega’s government and those who oppose it.
Photo: Lois Ross
What is behind the political differences among Sandinistas, members of the political group that led the revolution?
Isn’t Ortega, the iconic revolutionary leader, a Sandinista himself?
The answer, as they say, is complicated.
In the early months of 1985, I travelled to Ullysses Rodriguez, a co-operative farm north of Esteli, a small city north of Managua. At that time I was volunteering with the Canadian Farmers Brigade to Nicaragua, a brigade sponsored by the National Farmers Union (NFU), individual Canadian farmers and Oxfam-Canada, and supported by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Reform (MIDINRA).
We were volunteering in the countryside, trying to help as best as we could, in situations that were difficult. It was the early years following the Sandinista Revolution — years six and seven in the language of revolutions — and the height of the Contra war, funded by the U.S. administration and managed by the now infamous General Oliver North. Brigades came from around the world to lend a hand providing technical assistance, harvesting coffee and cotton, organizing production and consumer co-operatives, and providing medical assistance.
That day, north of Esteli, I can’t remember exactly what I asked a Nicaraguan child, carrying a plastic bowl of milk straight from the cow to her mother, who was making tortillas in a dirt-floored kitchen — but the answer still makes me smile.
“Some say yes, others say no!” replied the child. She was obviously repeating what the adults around her had said at some point. “How could adults be so ambivalent?” I wondered. Children are so prescient. “Algunos dicen que si, otros dicen que no!” The response to my question was tantamount to a Canadian response of: “Well, yes and no!”
I chuckled at the time, but soon realized that this phrase denotes the murkiness of Nicaraguan politics. It has long been so. Before the 1979 revolution, siblings and families were often divided on political issues. And since 1979, there have been several divisions in the political situation — and a few definite right turns — along with some firm and stoic left turns.
Many who once supported Daniel Ortega abandoned his leadership in the 1990s and 2000s, as noted in an article recently published in the New Internationalist. And many, although they identify as Sandinistas, did not support his re-election in 2006, in 2011, and again in 2016. To the contrary, many believe the elections were not democratic and that opposition was repressed.
In Nicaragua, “some say yes, and others say no” was a phrase I heard more than once when I was working with the brigades. And again today, Sandinistas appear to be both in government as well as demonstrating in the streets.
Daniel Ortega’s alliances with the right-wing leadership of the Catholic Church, international investors, and foreign financial institutions, and the move to build an interoceanic canal funded by China, have all been contentious issues and speak volumes about how regressive his leadership has become for many. Farm families and the agrarian reform, a key priority of the Sandinista Revolution, has lost much ground, leaving the poorest of Nicaraguans as poor as ever.
Some say that Daniel Ortega has to go because he has turned into a corrupt leader, serving the interests of his family and inner circle, while ignoring pressing issues of social justice and poverty. Others say, no, he needs to stay and this violence is an example of the “soft coups” that have been undertaken across Latin America in recent years, quietly staged by the U.S. And that is indeed the official Ortega government line as well.
The reality is that if something does not change soon, Ortega will be forced from office as his profits and his family’s future disintegrates along with the economy of his country.
Until April, Nicaragua was considered to be one of the most stable countries in Central America. But below the surface is a country still considered to be the second poorest in the Western hemisphere. And that means that close to half of the population struggle to meet basic daily needs.
On September 28, the Ortega government made public demonstrations and street protests illegal. That same day, three Dutch progressive, left-wing parties — the social democrats, greens, and socialists — each with representation in the Dutch Parliament, sent off a letter to the Sandinista National Assembly, addressed to Gustavo Porras, President of the National Assembly and Chief of the Sandinista bloc.
That letter reads in part:
“We hope that you (Sandinista deputies) are aware of the great international interest in your actions. After almost forty years of your revolution, which was a source of inspiration to millions of people in the entire globe, it carries the danger of becoming a great shame… Representatives of the people, please act, take your responsibility seriously and defend the international law as did your colleagues in the eighties and nineties of the twentieth century… We urge you to do everything possible to put an end to the repression and polarization that — according to the news received from friends and colleagues — mainly have their origin in the government’s actions.”
There are Sandinistas against Ortega and some still aligned with him. All of this is in stark contrast to the heady days of the ’80s when the agrarian reform and the promise of eradicating poverty mobilized both Nicaraguans and Internationalists. An article in Briarpatch provides a recent, firsthand view and analysis of the political forces that are currently at work. Another article in the well-respected progressive U.S. publication NACLA provides yet more information and perspective on the past decades of political change in Nicaragua.
Is Ortega not a Sandinista? Well, some say yes, and others say no. Should Ortega resign as many in the country are calling for? Should there be early elections? Some say yes, and others say no.
Recent surveys published by Envio, a Nicaraguan research institute launched in 1981, indicate that Ortega’s support, even among Sandinistas has seriously eroded. Only eight per cent of those surveyed acknowledged they were Ortega supporters — and another 28 per cent identified as Sandinistas.
Is Ortega’s time done? Some say no, but most appear to be saying yes.
This is the third part of a series of columns on Nicaragua. Follow the full series here.
Lois Ross is a communications specialist, writer, and editor, living in Ottawa. Her column “At the farm gate” discusses issues that are key to food production here in Canada as well as internationally.
The ambitious plan by the government of Carlos Alvarado seems to be coming closer and closer to a reality with the announcement on Frida, confirming that the process of “value engineering” has been completed, which must now be complemented with feasibility studies.
The proposed route and stations of the electric train project. Presidencia
The presentation was made by Alvarado, his wife, and first lady Claudia Dobles and the president of the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer), Elizabeth Briceño.
The trio explained that when the electric rain project will run a 73-kilometer route across 15 cantones and have 42 stations.
The Government’s promise includes service frequencies of between three and five minutes.
The Incofer president gave details on the electric train project. In the photo is President Carlos Alvarado, no tie, and his wife and first lady, Claudia Dobles, in white, next to him
President Carlos explained that the feasibility stage will begin next week and will be financed with a US$1 million donation by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) and US$300,000 from the Incofer.
The feasibility report would be ready in August, including the environmental and social impact, report and the technical component and the business model of the concession.
The electric train project is expected to cost US$1.235 billion.
Of the 42 stations planned, 37 will be at ground level and five will be elevated.
Currently, the commuter train routes from Cartago, Alajuela, Pavas and Heredia have 24 stations.
The electric train is expected to replace the current commuter train using the existing right of way, to avoid the expropriation process. In addition, it would have one lane for each direction, which increases the frequency of trips.
The majority of transportation projects are stuck in expropriations. An example is the almost 20 years to complete the north section of the Circunvalacion.
The first lady said, “We consider the train project as the backbone for a transformation of the public transport system of our country. The electric train alone will not solve the problems of congestion that Costa Ricans live, but it will be a very important step forward from which other transportation systems are going to be linked”.
The first lady also stressed that this will be a zero carbon emissions transport, because of the electricity matrix that Costa Rica has, which is almost entirely renewable energy.
The public sector workers unions urge their membership to continue the strike that began on September 10
The Juzgado de Trabajo del Segundo Circuito Judicial de San José (Labor Court) declared legal the strike of the employees of the Poder Judicial – the Judiciary – against the processing of the fiscal reform.
The public sector workers unions urge their membership to continue the strike that began on September 10
The decision of Judge Víctor Manuel Orozco Zárate, made known Friday night, rejected the request of the Government, represented by the Attorney General, Julio Jurado, to declare the strike illegal.
The State attorney had argued that the work of the Poder Judicial is an “essential service”.
However, judge Orozco Zárate did not see it that way, in his decision citing that the State had failed to prove the essential services, refuting the argument presented by Jurado, that “The administration of justice is an essential public service and for that reason its officials do not have the right to strike”.
The judge wrote, “The managing party (Procuraduría) did not show that the suspension of the work of the judicial officials was a result of the essential public service provided by the different labor offices, nor that their public officials exercise authority functions on behalf of the State. This is because there is no evidence in the file that proves the State’s allegation is reliable”.
Also, the judge indicated that the strike movement by Judicial workers was peaceful.
“The strike promoted by the unions: Trade Union of Professionals and Technicians in Accounting, Finance and Allied of the Judicial Branch (Asprotecofi); National Association of Judicial Employees (Anejud); National Association of Investigators in Criminalistics (ANIC); Syndicate of the Judicature (Sindijud); Trade Union of Workers of the Judiciary (Sitrajud), is legal”, says the resolution issued at 3:06 p. m. on November 9.
But the “essential services” was not the only reason cited in the State’s filing. Attorney General Jurado argued that the strike was related to employer-employee conflicts, since it was a strike against a political reform – the tax reform.
Jurado quantified the strike “political”, arguing that the movement was contrary to the rules and principles that govern strikes.
However, the judge ruled that “political strikes” are allowed in the country.
“In Costa Rica, political strikes involving workers from different sectors of the production and service provision activities can take place, against government measures that may affect their social and economic interests, having as a counterpart the governing authorities of the State, or be, against public policies as it is in this case,” says his resolution.
The State has now three (working) days to appeal the decision.
In this Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, photo, Abdoulaye Camara, an immigrant from Mauritania, waits at the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh temple in Salem, Ore. Camara was one of 124 migrants who were detained near the border with Mexico in May 2018, and sent to a federal prison in Oregon, the result of the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
(Associated Press) — The young man traversed Andean mountains, plains and cities in buses, took a harrowing boat ride in which five fellow migrants drowned, walked through thick jungle for days, and finally reached the U.S.-Mexico border.
In this Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, photo, Abdoulaye Camara, an immigrant from Mauritania, waits at the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh temple in Salem, Ore. Camara was one of 124 migrants who were detained near the border with Mexico in May 2018, and sent to a federal prison in Oregon, the result of the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
Then Abdoulaye Camara, from the poor West African country of Mauritania, asked U.S. officials for asylum.
Camara’s arduous journey highlights how immigration to the United States through its southern border is evolving. Instead of being almost exclusively people from Latin America, the stream of migrants crossing the Mexican border these days includes many who come from the other side of the world.
Almost 3,000 citizens of India were apprehended entering the U.S. from Mexico last year. In 2007, only 76 were. The number of Nepalese rose from just four in 2007 to 647 last year. More people from Africa are also seeking to get into the United States, with hundreds having reached Mexican towns across the border from Texas in recent weeks, according to local news reports from both sides of the border.
Camara’s journey began more than a year ago in the small town of Toulel, in southern Mauritania. He left Mauritania, where slavery is illegal but still practiced, “because it’s a country that doesn’t know human rights,” he said.
Camara was one of 124 migrants who ended up in a federal prison in Oregon after being detained in the U.S. near the border with Mexico in May, the result of the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy.
He was released Oct. 3, after he had passed his “credible fear” exam, the first step on obtaining asylum, and members of the community near the prison donated money for his bond. He was assisted by lawyers working pro bono.
“My heart is so gracious, and I am so happy. I really thank my lawyers who got me out of that detention,” Camara said in French as he rode in a car away from the prison.
Camara’s journey was epic, yet more people are making similar treks to reach the United States. It took him from his village on the edge of the Sahara desert to Morocco by plane and then a flight to Brazil. He stayed there 15 months, picking apples in orchards and saving his earnings as best he could. Finally he felt he had enough to make it to the United States.
All that lay between him and the U.S. border was 6,000 miles (9,700 kilometers).
“It was very, very difficult,” said Camara, 30. “I climbed mountains, I crossed rivers. I crossed many rivers, the sea.”
Camara learned Portuguese in Brazil and could understand a lot of Spanish, which is similar, but not speak it very well. He rode buses through Brazil, Peru and Colombia. Then he and others on the migrant trail faced the most serious obstacle: the Darien Gap, a 60-mile (97-kilometer) stretch of roadless jungle straddling the border of Colombia and Panama.
But first, he and other travelers who gathered in the town of Turbo, Colombia, had to cross the Gulf of Uraba, a long and wide inlet from the Caribbean Sea. Turbo, on its southeast shore, has become a major point on the migrant trail, where travelers can resupply and where human smugglers offer boat rides.
Camara and about 75 other people boarded a launch for Capurgana, a village next to the Panamanian border on the other end of the gulf.
While the slow-moving boat was far from shore, the seas got very rough.
“There was a wave that came and tipped over the canoe,” Camara said. “Five people fell into the water, and they couldn’t swim.”
They all drowned, he said. The survivors pushed on.
Finally arriving in Capurgana after spending two nights on the boat, the migrants split into smaller groups to cross the infamous Darien Gap, a wild place that has tested the most seasoned of travelers. The thick jungle hides swamps that can swallow a man. Lost travelers have died, and been devoured, boots and all, by packs of wild boars, or have been found, half out of their minds.
Camara’s group consisted of 37 people, including women — two of them pregnant, one from Cameroon and one from Congo — and children.
“We walked seven days and climbed up into the mountains, into the forest,” Camara said. “When it was night, we slept on the ground. We just kept walking and sleeping, walking and sleeping. It was hard.”
One man, who was around 26 and from the African nation of Guinea, died, perhaps from exhaustion combined with thirst, Camara said.
By the sixth day, all the drinks the group had brought with them were gone. They drank water from a river. They came across a Panamanian man and his wife, who sold them some bananas for $5, Camara said.
Once he got out of the jungle, Camara went to Panamanian immigration officials who gave him travel documents enabling him to go on to Costa Rica, which he reached by bus. In Costa Rica, he repeated that process in hopes of going on to Nicaragua. But he heard authorities there were not so accommodating, so he and about 100 other migrants took a boat around Nicaragua, traveling at night along its Pacific coast.
“All we could see were the lights of Nicaragua,” he said. Then it was over land again, in cars, buses and sometimes on foot, across Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, all the way to the U.S. border at Tijuana. He was just about out of money and spent the night in a migrant shelter.
On May 20, he crossed into San Ysidro, south of San Diego.
“I said, ‘I came, I came. I’m from Africa. I want help,'” he said.
He is going to stay with a brother in Philadelphia while he pursues his asylum request.
Article by Andrew Selsky first appeared on APnews.com. Readl the original here.
Nearly 60% in Costa Rica say they do not have any banking app installed on their cellular phone, while half say they do not know how to make transfers and payments through their cellular phone or computer.
The data are derived from the study “Level of Banking and Financial Capabilities of Costa Ricans” (“Nivel de Bancarización y Capacidades Financieras de los Costarricenses”) conducted by Unimer for the Costa Rican Banking Association (ABC).
The sample was of 1,000 people, distributed proportionally by sex, age, socioeconomic level and area of residence, according to the last census of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC).
The data contrasts the high penetration of smartphones in the country and the growing number of mobile Internet subscriptions, half the population still making line at the banks in the era of digital services.
The reason, according to the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCC) – Central Bank – the lack of education, the dependence on cash and the percentage of people who are not yet banking are factors.
Cashless when?
Saying goodbye to cash is one of the goals of the Central Bank, and not only replaced with the use of cards, but also by electronic transactions.
This entity estimates that it costs the country around US$500 million dollars a year to manage cash.
In addition, there are other types of problems with cash, such as health (viruses that are transmitted by coins and bills), security (money laundering, people who move with cash are a simpler goal for criminals), traceability (achieving a transparent financial system), and even development, since in countries with low levels of bancarization, transaction costs are higher for the lower income sector.
Therefore, in order to reach a cashless state, the country needs the population to be bancarized and make use of digital services.
The Cental Bank sees the goal attainable, detailed in its 2017 report “Estadístico del Sistema Nacional de Pagos” (Statistical Report of the National Payment System) that last year there was an increase in the number of online transactions, up to 150.8 million from 64.2 million in 2010.
The Central Bank says the growth has occurred in people who see the benefits of using online services and gain confidence with the financial institution that provides the tools.
“Nearly 25% of the population over 15 years of age is not banked, so it moves practically with cash. There is also a part of the population, that being banked and receiving their salary in a bank account, does not have a level of education or digital means to make electronic payments and month after month goes to an ATM and withdraws 100% of their salary” explained Carlos Melegatti, director of the payments division of the BCCR.
In Costa Rica, the technology is available and banks are slowly launching their digital services (some more in the vanguard than others). What is lacking is more people using banks and educating them in order to achieve more inclusive results.
When asking the respondents of the survery if they had a smartphone, 85% answered affirmatively, 8.4% said they had a conventional one, indicating that the vast majority of in Costa Rica do have the possibility of accessing digital services from their cell phones.
“The survey reveals that users of digital channels are comfortable using these services. However, it cannot be ignored that between the use of physical branches and digital channels there is a process of financial culture that must be faced with education and the gap is even greater in the elderly, ” said María Isabel Cortés, executive director of the ABC.
In Costa Rica there is a level of bancarization that is around 75% of the population. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) had calculated it at 65% two years ago. Whatever the correct percentage, so that the country can aspire to cashless, this has to rise.
For example, in European countries in excess of 95% the population is bankized.
Cashless society
Among the actions developed in the country is the strengthening of simplified accounts, that is, that a bank account can be opened by presenting a ‘cedula’ (Costa Rican ID). With this mechanism, more than 1.2 million simplified accounts have been opened in the last three years.
The simplified account also allows foreigners in the country to open bank accounts, with limitations on the amount of the transactions.
Another tool is Sinpe Móvil, which allows the use to associate a phone number with the bank account and in this way make immediate transfers to other numbers associated with the platform.
The BCCR is also working to prepare businesses to adopt contactless technology in order to expedite payments at the retail level and motivate customers to pay for their purchases with plastic and forget cash.
In Costa Rica about 70% of the terminals support contactless payment and currently 25% of payments are made with this technology.
The “Sin Contacto” (No Contact) project in reatail is the preamble to the electronic payment system in public transport. It is estimated that around 30% of cash transactions are related to the payment of public transport, so in the last year the project of electronic payment in buses has been promoted, which is expected to start in the 2019, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT).
According to the Cental Bank data, in terms of value, digital banking mobilized ¢182.6 billion colones, which is the equivalent of 5.6 times the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 2017.
The move to digital banking, which for some is daily bread in their transactions, still today represents a barrier for an important segment of the population.
Although the tools are in the hands of users, it is necessary to promote digitalization, because the new technological wave that is already beginning to be felt in the most developed markets are payments with cell phones and bracelets, among others.
The future of payments comes hand in hand with the Internet of Things (IoT) – “Internet de las Cosas” in Spanish – and for this it is necessary to get used to contactless payment and online banking.
/EINPresswire.com/ — The world’s leading luxury vacation rental company, Exceptional Villas has expanded its portfolio and is pleased to introduce Costa Rica as its newest destination.
Costa Rica is one of the most incredible destinations in the world. Costa Rica (literally the rich coast), is a beautiful and peaceful country that is located between Nicaragua and Panama to the South.
Villa Nova Costa Rica
The country is rich in culture and is the essence of what all Central American countries should be.
Costa Rica is going to be one of our most popular locations in 2019”
— Linda Browne
It has plenty of history, splendid geographical features, a welcoming population and some of the best villas in the world.
The Papagayo peninsula is one of the most sought after location in Costa Rica. Home to the Four Seasons Resort this area is scenically beautiful and is ideal for a family looking for a luxury villa with 5 star service and access to amenities of a resort – it’s the perfect combination.
Another popular location is the Playa Hermosa area and the wonderful town of Tamarindo which is one of the most beautiful towns. Further south you will find the popular location of Los Suenos Resort – perfect for families the resort offers luxury villas with access to resort amenities making it ideal for families with children. Moving even further down south you will reach Manuel Antonio which has some of the most luxurious villas in Costa Rica
Each property in Costa Rica has been vetted by the villa specialists at Exceptional Villas. What this means is that you will not be talking to a random call center but instead, you will be speaking with the actual person who has been to Costa Rica, stayed in the villa you wish to book and who has experienced all that the destination has to offer. What’s more the company offers a complimentary concierge service. A dedicated concierge will be available to assist you with all aspects of your vacation from airport transfers and private chefs to planning the best excursions for you to enjoy.
Linda Browne, Sales, and Marketing Executive at Exceptional Villas says “Costa Rica is going to be one of our most popular locations in 2019″. Whether you are a history buff, an adventure seeker, hiker, rainforest lover or want to visit a stunning volcano there is something to suit everyone in Costa Rica”.
With a climate that varies throughout its many regions, Costa Rica is a destination that can offer warm and sunny weather all year round. Whether you are chasing a holiday packed full of wild adventures, are keen on site seeing scenic landscapes or even something in between, Costa Rica is the destination for you.
The Marchamo is due for payment by December 31 each year, after which drivers behind the vehicles without the current Marchamo are subjected to a traffic fine.
The Quality Leap: Export Sophistication As a Driver for Growth 
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