A 5-year-old boy died Sunday night at the San Rafael hospital in Alajuela, after apparently ingestin an agricultural pesticide. The boy, from the Poasito sector, was rushed to hospital by his parents after learning of what had happened.
The death was confirmed by Francisco Pérez, director of the Alajuela medical center. The doctor also corroborated the minor’s age and the alleged cause, and that the boy was alive when he arrived at the hospital, suffering a cardiac arrest minutes later.
Preliminary information indicates that the child ingested the Fenix herbicide, used in the harvest of strawberries, a major economic activity in the Poasito area.
A group of Pakistani hackers managed to circumvent security and hacked several Costa Rican government websites this Sunday and still on Monday morning.
The group of hackers is called Pak Monster Cyber Thunders and attacked the websites with the domain extension .GO.CR – that is the domains assigned by the Costa Rica domain registrar, NIC.cr, to the government.
Between the attacked sites they are the Municipality of Puntarenas, Municipality of Matina, Municipality of Corridores, Municipality of San Isidro, among others.
In addition, the following websites were affected: Presidential House, Minaet, MEP, MCJ, Ministry of Security and even the OIJ, according to the report of several users.
According to the expert in cybersecurity, Esteban Jiménez, this situation is very worrying and shows that “the country does not have an operational incident response center or an organized chain of response nor protocols to help us mitigate an attack on big scale”.
In Costa Rica, the management of government cybersecurity is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT), which has not commented on the attack.
“All these domains must be put on primary alert. However, in Costa Rica there is no chain or formal incident control process and the CSIRT-CR is inoperative, so we inform and each institution,” said the expert.
It is presumed that the cyber attack may be due as a response to the departure of the United States from the nuclear agreement and the Israeli attacks.
The threat would have targeted all western countries allied with the United States, including Costa Rica.
Costa Rica’s telecommunications regulator Sutel announced that Claro (America Movil) and Cable Vision (ICE Group) have joined the “Hogares Connectados” (Connected Homes) program of the Fondo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (FONATEL) – National Telecommunications Fund – to provide computers and a fixed internet connection for low-income families.
The operators join the 7 companies that have been part of the project since it was launched in 2016, namely ICE, Tigo, Coopeguanacaste, Cabletica, Telecable, Coopesantos and Cooopelesca. Fonatel subsidizes up to 100 percent of the laptop and 80 percent of the total cost of the connection, with nearly 40,000 families already having benefited from the project.
Latin America has election fever. El Salvador held parliamentary and mayoral votes in March, Costa Rica elected a new president in April and Paraguay held general elections two weeks ago. Venezuelans go to the polls in two weeks’ time, Colombians a week later, and Mexico and Brazil will wrap things up in July and October.
More than half the population of the region is voting this year, representing well over two-thirds of its GDP.
With populism gaining ground in many developed economies, and figures such as Nicolás Maduro and Antonio Manuel Lopez Obrador getting much of the press in Latin America, it’s easy to conclude that votes equal volatility for emerging markets investors.
Next Door, But on Different Planets
The reality may be less exciting. Argentina and Chile opted for mainstream economic orthodoxy in their most recent elections, Paraguayans chose between two centre-right candidates and El Salvador’s elections dealt a blow to the previously dominant far-left FMLN. Costa Ricans kept the incumbent democratic socialists in first place in the legislature while awarding the presidency to a candidate from another centre-left party.
Colombia swept a number of populists from Congress in elections earlier this year. We expect the presidential race to be decided in June, in a second-round runoff between the left-wing populist Gustavo Petro and Iván Duque Márquez on the centre-right. We think Duque will prevail, but his lead has been shrinking over a crowded first-round field, which could trigger market volatility before the final runoff.
Strong and improving fundamentals lead us to maintain a positive view on Colombia’s external and local-currency debt, and the peso. An early adopter of economic orthodoxy, it last defaulted on its external debt more than 80 years ago, and it was one of the first emerging-market countries to gain investment grade ratings. An electoral surprise could cause a market correction, but the flow of Venezuelans across their border has left Colombians with little appetite for Chavismo-style “economic experimentation.”
Colombia is next door to Venezuela, but it might as well be on another planet — a perfect example of the diversity of this region’s economies. As Brad Tank wrote back in August, the situation in Venezuela, which was rated AA in the 1980s, is “tragic, unnecessary, but not representative.”
Opposition parties are boycotting May’s elections, so Maduro is likely to retain power. That will hardly come as a shock to markets. Will it be enough to stoke domestic unrest? Maybe, maybe not: Ultimately, this regime is likely to end simply because it runs out of cash as oil exports implode and external funding shuts down. It is worth remembering that Maduro still polls around 20 per cent, ahead of many other leaders in the region. He maintains that support through policies such as the latest 155 per cent hike in the minimum wage — although this must be cold comfort with inflation running at 10,000 per cent. The broader impact is likely to be limited to the global oil market. For investors, defaulted bonds trading at 20 to 30 cents on the dollar may present lower downside risk when and if the current regime is forced out.
Brazil and Mexico
The more consequential elections will come in Brazil and Mexico.
Even by Brazil’s standards, the political scene is unusually fragmented. There is no dominant figure or party — unless we count Lula, whose imprisonment hasn’t stopped him “campaigning.” He is unlikely to run in October, however, and no other single pre-candidate is polling north of single digits.
In Mexico, by contrast, Lopez Obrador (or “AMLO”) consistently polls well ahead of the other two core candidates, who are seen as uninspiring upholders of the status quo. While AMLO certainly indulges in populist rhetoric, markets appear little concerned. They may have partially priced in his victory, as well as recognised the constraints placed on him by the composition of Congress, the constitution, his more orthodox advisers, and the fact that he demonstrated relative fiscal constraint as mayor of Mexico City.
Given that, investors might perhaps focus on what Mexico has going for it: its primary fiscal surplus in 2017; its declining inflation and enviable space for looser monetary policy; and its competitive exchange rate. It has its red lines and “no deal is better than a bad deal” stance on NAFTA, but ultimately it doesn’t control these risks — the US does. Overall, we believe external sovereign debt and local rate are already attractively priced, and a surprise defeat for AMLO could trigger a substantial additional rally.
In any case, our view is that a “market-adverse” outcome in either Mexico or Brazil would be unlikely to trigger a systemic emerging markets reaction. They are large and important, but they are also very different, and today, investors make clearer distinctions than they used to.
That is perhaps the most important lesson to take from this unusually busy election year in Latin America. Politically and economically, its countries are more diverse, and probably more centrist and orthodox, than one might assume. That could help the region weather market-adverse surprises, and it stands to benefit those who take a truly discriminating approach to investing there.
Article by Gorky Urquieta, Senior Portfolio Manager, Global Co-Head of Emerging Markets Debt, Neuberger Berman. QCostarica.com was not involved in the creation of the content.
The Ituango plant became at risk on April 28 after an “unpredictable geological condition” that caused a massive landslide, covering up the waters below.
The officials are compiling a registry of people who have been affected by flooding. | Photo: @RiosVivosCol / @elcarlosjuan
The rising level of the Cauca river, in the north-eastern province of Antoquia, has forced at least 600 people to leave their homes on Sunday, as the hydroelectric plant Ituango created a situation of emergency, reported Medellin’s Public Companies or EPM.
According to the latest reports, coming from the Unified Command Post in Hidroituango, 19 houses, 2 educational rooms and a health center have been totally destroyed and pedestrian bridges such as those in Puerto Valdivia were also destroyed by the current.
More health centers and several other bridges were also affected, while people living in Puerto Valdivia, Tarazá, Cáceres and Caucasia were preemptively evacuated on Saturday night, stated the government of Antoquia.
Con profunda desolación Comunidades afectadas por el crimen de #HidroItuango No nos quedan sino lágrimas y rabia Cansados de gritar que no le creíamos a #EPM así quedó su supuesto de “bajo control” que no nos pasaría nada, lo pedimos por escrito, pedimos un seguro Nadie respondió pic.twitter.com/6t3I1HKONm
— Movimiento RíosVivos (@RiosVivosCol) May 13, 2018
Hundreds of people gathered in front of the U.S. embassy in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa Saturday to protest Washington’s decision to cancel the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which granted protection status to nearly 60,000 Honduran immigrants.
The program protected nearly 56,000 Hondurans and offered respite to people fleeing violence in Central American and Caribbean countries for nearly two decades. TPS was established in 1999, a year after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras.
The protest follows the U.S. announcement on May 4, in which the Trump administration effectively terminated the program for Hondurans. According to the Center for Migration Studies, those under the TPS from Honduras have 53,500 U.S.-born children.
TPS had survived under several Republican and Democratic administrations, but the Trump administration claims the program has been abused and has allowed people to stay in the United States long after crisis conditions have ended in their home countries.
“Based on careful consideration of available information, including recommendations received as part of an inter-agency consultation process, the Secretary determined that the disruption of living conditions in Honduras from Hurricane Mitch that served as the basis for its TPS designation has decreased to a degree that it should no longer be regarded as substantial,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen said in the announcement, “Thus, as required under the applicable statute, the current TPS designation must be terminated.”
With a per capita income of US$5,500 per year and a minimum wage of just over US$1 an hour, Honduras is the second poorest country in the Americas. The two largest cities Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula recently ranked as two of the most violent places in the world.
Some 300 protesters walked in front of Palmerola, a U.S. military airbase and training center to demand the departure of the U.S. troops after the U.S. announced TPS cancellation for Hondurans.
The protest organized by the former President Manuel Zelaya, coordinator of the Alliance of Opposition Against Dictatorship, urged the right-wing government of Juan Orlando Hernandez to negotiate the TPS or permanent residence, in exchange for the continuation of the presence of U.S. troops at the base of Palmerola, located about 50 km north of the capital.
Manuel Zelaya called out the U.S. government, saying, “If there is no TPS, there won’t be Palmerola base.” Palmerola is a military base that houses nearly 600 U.S.troops. The base served as a Honduran air force base as well as a flight-training center.
“Juan Orlando must negotiate (with the United States) Palmerola, military treaties and trade agreements “in exchange for expanding the TPS or giving permanent residence to Hondurans,” Zelaya told AFP during the protest.
The site was built between 1984 and 1985 by the United States, based on a bilateral military agreement of 1954 and in the framework of the offensive that it undertook against the revolutionary movements, in the east-west conflict in Central America.
Since the exit of U.S. bases from Panama in 1999, Palmerola serves as one of the important airfields available to the U.S. on Latin American soil. Located in the central department of Comayagua, the base is approximately 30 miles north of the capital Tegucigalpa.
Sources: TelesurTV – AFP – El Nuevo Diario – NPR – CounterPunch
Bolivia's President Evo Morales speaks during May Day celebrations in Oruro, Bolivia, May 1, 2018. | Photo: Reuters
Bolivian President Evo Morales said Sunday that the United States and the Organization of American States are implementing a plan with the purpose of defeating the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales speaks during May Day celebrations in Oruro, Bolivia, May 1, 2018. | Photo: Reuters
“Before the elections they will carry out violent actions supported by the media and after the elections they will try a military invasion with Armed Forces from neighboring countries,” President Morales said on his official Twitter account.
Earlier this week U.S. Vice President Mike Pence requested that the OAS suspend Venezuela in during a speech at the Permanent Council of the OAS, comments that were rejected by the Venezuelan government calling such statements an aggression to disturb the peace in the country and further explaining that Venezuela is already in the process of leaving the “colonial” group.
Morales further explained that “the empire acts out of fear of the sovereign vote and knows that it will never again subject the free people.”
In February, the Bolivian leader had warned of the U.S. military presence in the Colombian department of Tumaco, warning that “any imperialist military threat against peace in sister Venezuela and our region will be thwarted by the dignity, sovereignty and unity of our democratic peoples.”
On May 20 Venezuelans will go to the polls to elect the nation’s president and members of the legislative councils, in the 24th election in 19 years of the Bolivarian Revolution.
Despite boycott of some factions in the right, five candidates submitted their candidacy for the Presidency. According to latest polls, Nicolás Maduro, the candidate of the Frente Amplio de la Patria, a coalition of left-wing parties, remains the favorite to win.
Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek, a vocal campaigner against sexual harassment in the movie industry, said on Sunday male stars should get less pay as way to even things up with chronically underpaid women.
A day after joining dozens of other female movie makers, including Jane Fonda and Cate Blanchett, at a demonstration at the Cannes Film Festival in support of the struggle for women’s rights, Hayek told a conference:
“The actors have to say: ‘OK, time’s up. I had a good run but now it’s also time to be generous with the actresses in the films.’ We all have to be part of the adjustment. That’s one idea. I’m going to be hated for it. I hope I can get a job after this!”
The 2017 Global Gender gap report by the World Economic Forum found “an average gap of 32.0 percent remains to be closed worldwide across the four Index dimensions in order to achieve universal gender parity.”
Additionally, when the report examined several regions, Western Europe recorded a gender gap of 25 percent, while North America had a gap of 28 percent, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia with a gap of 29 percent with Latin America and the Caribbean recording a gap of 29.8 percent. Meanwhile, South Asia recorded a gap of 34 percent, while the Middle East and North Africa region recorded a gender gap of slightly less than 40 percent. The U.N. Women also decried the gender pay gap the “biggest robbery in history.”
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 8 to May 19.
Epsy Campbell, vice president of the Republic and chancellor, has shown her support with the people of Nicaragua and even before assuming her position in the Government. Photo: Albert Marín.
The government of President Carlos Alvarado issued its first statement on Sunda on the difficult situation the people of Nicaragua are living.
Epsy Campbell, Costa Rica’s vice president and chancellor, has shown her support with the people of Nicaragua, even before assuming her position in the Government. Photo: Albert Marín / La Nacion
Through a press release from the Foreign Ministry, headed by Epsy Campbell, the Government supports the dialogue as a mechanism to reach a peaceful solution that allows the return to peace and tranquility of Nicaraguans.
Also, the Alvarado administration is pleased that the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua is guarantor in the dialogue process, though the time and place have yet to be defined by Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega.
“Costa Rica is in solidarity with the brotherly people of Nicaragua and regrets that the fundamental aspects related to the dignity and physical security of the current events generate the loss of human lives and injury to people,” the statement reads.
More than 50 people have lost their lives in Nicaragua since the clashes between the university students and riot-police began on April 18. No officials numbers are available, the Nicaragua media such as El Nuevo Diario and 100% Noticias place the number, including the violence during this weekend, at 52.
The pronouncement assures that Costa Rica is observing with attention the development of the events in the neighboring country.
This is the first pronouncement that the new Government makes about what is happening in Nicaragua.
Costa Rica’s vice-president and Chancellor Epsy Campbell spoke about her interest in maintaining good relations with Nicaragua even before taking office.
“We have to establish the diplomatic channels in the best possible way so that our interventions are not taken as interventions that, rather, attempt against the reality of the brotherly Nicaraguan country,” said Campbell on April 26.
Last Wednesday, the Nicaraguan ambassador to Costa Rica was mobbed outside the Nicaragua embassy as he and his wife were leaving the diplomatic mission located on the east side of San Jose. A group of protesters outside the embassy shouted at the pair: “assassins, assassins!”.
Thousands of Nicaraguans have taken part in new anti-Ortega protests in Managua, Matagalpa, and Chinandega.
Since Wednesday, wearing the blue and white of the Nicaragua flag, protesters held pictures of people reportedly killed in the first days of demonstrations last month.
The unrest began on April 28 when the government of Daniel Ortega approved an increase in pension contributions and cut payouts in social security.
Pensioners who took to the streets to protest were soon joined by students and other Nicaraguans who have become the biggest challenge to Ortega’s authority since he took office 11 years ago and was able to make changes to the country’s constitution to re-election and consolidation of power, including the 2014 electoral reforms scrapping of presidential term limits.
Daniel Ortega is currently in his third consecutive term, in the last elections Last year, his wife, Rosario Murillo, was elected as vice-president, further consolidating Ortega’s power in the country.
The changes are seen by many Nicaraguans as a threat to democracy and some of those who have been demonstrating have accused Ortega of being a “dictator”.
Despite the revocation of the changes to the pension reforms, it failed to calm the protests, in which more than 40 people, mostly university students, have died. Human rights groups put the death toll at more than 60. Official figures are not available.
In addition, President Ortega called for a “national dialogue”, calling on the Catholic Church to mediate. But meetings that is to also include the business sector have yet to take place.
The renewed protests that began on Wednesday demand freedom of expression, access to information, an end to the violence and a call on Ortega and Murillo to step down.
An important change in the recent protests is the decision by the National Police not to confront the protesters and Saturday’s announcement by the Nicaraguan military to distance itself from Ortega and sayings it will not ‘repress’ the population.
The Nicaraguan Army said Saturday it will not engage in acts of repression against civilians who have held anti-government protests since last month and called for a dialogue to help resolve the crisis in the country.
“There is not a single soldier involved in acts of repression,” military spokesman Colonel Manuel Guevara said. He added that in this period of social upheaval, the role of the Army has been “to safeguard vital objectives for the functioning of the country.”
The Army will continue to “strictly adhere” to the norms established in the Constitution of the Republic, he said.
Guevara said that the military institution has given a vote of confidence to the dialogue between civil society and the government of Daniel Ortega to seek a way out of the crisis of governance that has shaken the country.
“We believe that dialogue is the solution” to this conflict, he said.
The protests began last April 18 with a demonstration of students against Social Security, which increased the contributions of workers and employers, but were extended due to the violent action of the police and government shock forces against civilians.
After two continuous days of brutal repression in Masaya, where one person is reported killed and more than 150 injured, the FSLN supported Channel 4 broadcast a brief message by President Daniel Ortega calling “to an end to death and destruction”.
The message to the people of Nicaragua from the Presidente Comandante Daniel was by way of a telephone call to the television station, brodacast live Saturday night.
“Dear brothers and sisters of Masaya: With the heart of Nicaragua full of pain goes this message of Christian faith to all the families that suffer this tragedy that today enlightens us.
We want to reiterate the call and commitment to put an end to death and destruction. Do not keep spilling the blood of brothers.
Dear Nicaraguan families: Peace is the way and the only door to coexistence and respect for the tranquility and security of all. We ask God to give us the strength to achieve it”.
“Queridos hermanos y hermanas de Masaya: Con el corazón de Nicaragua lleno de dolor va este mensaje de fe cristiana a todas las familias que sufren esta tragedia que hoy nos enluta. Les queremos reiterar el llamado y el compromiso de ponerle fin a la muerte y la destrucción. Que no se siga derramando sangre de hermanos. Queridas familias nicaragüenses: La paz es el camino y la única puerta a la convivencia y el respeto para la tranquilidad y seguridad de todos. Le pedimos a Dios nos de la fortaleza para alcanzarla”.
On the social media some are doubting the message is really by Ortega whose last televised appearance was on April 30 in commemoration of Workers’ Day in the Plaza Alexis Arguello.
Some of the comments posted included:
“Every dog gets his day. Daniel and the Witch (Murillo) will get theirs sooner or later. They speak of Peace and Of God, at the same time that they repress and kill their people. Ther are without shame. Corrupt, Assassins.”
“Dog! Rot in hell! Tell your dogs not to continue killing students or civilians. The clock does not stop, the countdown came to you, the Dog that kills those who took you to power and you became murderer and dictator.”
“There’s too many dead I do not forgive you son of a bitch killer.”
The clashes Saturday afternoon in the city of Masaya left a person dead and a young man wounded, an reported fire damage in the municipal market.
Auner García, director general of the Nicaraguan Red Cross, said in a press conference that they have a report that there is a deceased person, but that they were not the ones who attended the emergency.
The residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the main street that leads to the municipal market Ernesto Fernandez, defended themselves with stones against the bullets by anti-riot police.
Residents say they can not stand for the situation and that it is the riot police who are entrenched in the facilities.
The young people are elusive before the media because they said that the government can send infiltrators to record them and even start disturbances, including the fires.
“All went up on fire in a second, we can’t explain how it happened, if here there was the police, the odd thing is that only government people were safeguarding the building,” said Luis Madrigal, general manager of the market.
The anti-Ortega government protests of the last 25 days have left more than 50 dead, streets barricaded, damaged homes and public buildings burned.
The protests have spread outside from the original center of discontent, the capital city of Managua. Currently, more than 10 cities across the country have reported protests, roadblocks and clashes between protestors, anti-riot police and pro-government supporters. Cities such as Chinandega, Granada, Masaya, Leon, Esteli, Rivas and Matagalpa that have reported clashes Friday and Saturday night.
The Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) have given the Ortega government to stop the repression and initiate a national dialogue that will take the country out of the sociopolitical crisis it is going through.
Ortega accepted the conditions of the CEN Friday night, despite the police attacks that began minutes later.
There is yet start date to the agreed to dialogue, but the CEN, which is participating as witness and mediator, gave until Monday noon for Ortega to take “credible” steps to solve the crisis.
Today, Sunday, Nicaragua is in its 26th day of a crisis caused by mass demonstrations in favor and against President Daniel Ortega, which began on April 18 with protests in rejection of social security reforms and have continued regardless of the spilled blood and continued repression.
More than 1,500 people on Saturday visited the Teatro Nacional (National Theater) and discovered the hidden secrets of the architectural jewel of San Jose.
The building in the heart of the capital city, built in 1897, is open to guided tours this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Visitors will enter through the gardens of the Theater and will be greeted by living statutes and Pintal artists, “Painters in the open air of Costa Rica” who will recreate different areas of the monument.
In addition to the tours, visitors have the opportunity to see live musical performances. In the first hall, for example, the harpsichord will be played by musicians such as Roberto Enrique Vargas, José Pablo Calvo, MaryBehy Navarro and María Clara Vargas, who will play old and baroque music.
The foyer will receive visitors with lyrical singers, all students of the baritone Jose Arturo Chacón.
Visitors can take pictures and have their photos taken with the characters of the interactive painting.
Visitors will also have access to backstage and and a dressing room, an area little known to the general public.
Entrance is free. Be prepared for the lines.
For more information visite the Teatro Nacional website.
If you are one of the almost 100,000 drivers who use the Autopista General Cañas every day, take note that the ‘exclusive bus lanes’ will return into force on Monday, May 14.
The exclusive bus lanes will be enforced on weekday mornings and afternoons, the fine is ¢52,227 for illegal use
The exclusive bus lane program was introduced some years back, mainly to reduce congestion caused by the ‘platna’ bridge, but over the years, the exclusivity which in law runs the 5 kilometers from the Repretel in La Uruca to Los Arcos, in Cariari, has come into question due to the lack of enforcement.
However, starting on the 14th, the right lanes, in both directions, of the 10 kilometers of the Autopista between the Pablo II bridge in La Uruca and the Rio Segundo bridge (by the Cerveceria), will be exclusively for buses between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., from Monday to Friday.
The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) said at least three Transito (traffic) officials, in each direction, will be monitoring traffic and apply sanctions to infractors.
The fine illegal use of the exclusive bus lane is ¢52.227 colones.
During the first cabinet meeting of the new administration, President Carlos Alvarado, and the MOPT minister, Rodolfo Méndez Mata, signed a directive to intervene 28 bottlenecks that cause the biggest congestion in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM).
Taiwan’s President receiving in 2017 the “Vice-President of the Republic of Honduras Avarez Visiting Mission” and hopes that through practical cooperation, the two countries can maximize the effectiveness of the “Taihong Free Trade Agreement” and help the two countries win a mutual benefit in the economic and trade fields.Photo credit: presidential office on Best Running / CC BY
The Dominican Republic government broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan and switch allegiances to China, in a move that highlights the growing economic and geopolitical power of China across the globe.
Just last year Panama did the same, accelerating a growing trend in Latin America as China competes with the United States for power, trade relations, and influence.
Taiwan’s President receiving in 2017 the “Vice-President of the Republic of Honduras Avarez Visiting Mission” and hopes that through practical cooperation, the two countries can maximize the effectiveness of the “Taihong Free Trade Agreement” and help the two countries win a mutual benefit in the economic and trade fields.Photo credit: presidential office on Best Running / CC BY
Nonetheless, Latin America is a region where Taiwan still maintains diplomatic relations with a considerable number of countries; relationships it has assiduously cultivated. Its list of allies includes Belize, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras and Saint Lucia.
Taiwan was ‘deeply upset’ and ‘disappointed’ by the move, with the Taiwan ministry alleging that “Beijing’s crude attempts at foreign policy can only drive a wedge between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, erode mutual trust, and antagonize the people of Taiwan.”
The Dominican Republic government, however, announced that it was not a reflection of any problems in the relationship with Taiwan, but a reflection of current economic realities.
Top presidential legal adviser Flavio Dario Espinal thanked the Taiwanese government in a press conference, but noted that “history and the socioeconomic reality force us now to change direction.”
The move undoubtedly is also a reflection of the largesse that enables China’s roaring economic giant to use its financial clout to win allies throughout the world. The Chinese government reportedly gave USD $3 billion to the Caribbean nation, and is increasingly concerned by the efforts of some US lawmakers, particularly Republicans, to strengthen US-Taiwanese ties.
Despite sharp ideological differences and a robust geopolitical rivalry, the US has maintained formal ties with Beijing since 1979 under the Carter administration, simultaneously breaking relations with Taiwan. That has rubbed some conservatives the wrong way.
Signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 16, 2018, the Taiwan Travel Act is a sign of increasing strain between Beijing and Washington. It allows high-level diplomatic meetings on the soil of both nations and encourages economic and cultural exchange.
The Chinese government has expressed grave concerns over the bill, which was sponsored by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and has accused it of violating China’s Anti-secession act. The Chinese government is intransigent in its perspective that Taiwan is an integral part of China, and has steadfastly refused to recognize the Taipei government, which has ruled the island since 1949, when top Chinese nationalist leaders, defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist forces, fled across the narrow straight.
While certain political forces are eager to thumb their nose at the Chinese government by strengthening the US-Taiwan relationship, China is also eager to aggressively assert itself in the United States’ traditional sphere of influence. To that end, the Communist government has cultivated economic and geopolitical ties both with ideological allies, such as Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba, and with non-ideological allies such as Peru, Colombia, and Chile, with an eye to international trade and economic relationships.
China has invested particularly heavily in Ecuador and Venezuela but also plays a large role in Colombia, where it represents the Andean nation’s second largest trading partner. China has had a hand in infrastructure, development, and investment in the Andean region, which the United States views with growing unease.
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for example, has argued that “Latin America does not need new imperial powers that seek only to benefit their own people. China’s state-led model of development is reminiscent of the past.”
This assertion, of course, will be viewed skeptically by those who have long criticized US foreign policy in Latin America. Nut the significant new role of China in the region is scrutinized by political actors on both the left and the right, for concerns ranging from environmental degradation to human rights concerns to trade issues.
China’s ambitions in the region are nothing short of astounding. It is already the largest trading partner of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. In addition to USD $500 billion in projected trade between 2015 and 2019, it also has plans for a further USD $250 billion in foreign direct investment. For nations that struggle to access international credit markets, a partnership with China offers an attractive alternative, particularly given the reputation for speed that the Chinese have in constructing major projects like ports, highways, and railways.
Thus, the United States can use its mouthpieces to object to Chinese machinations in the region, but China is a major new player in Latin America. Which, by all appearances, is unlikely to change any time soon.
A city councillor in Rio de Janeiro has denied any involvement in the assassination of campaigning politician Marielle Franco, who was gunned down in March. Franco was a black lesbian who believed paramilitary groups were targeting people in impoverished neighborhoods for extra-judicial killings.
On Thursday, May 10, Public Security Secretary Raul Jungian said councillor Marcello Siciliano was being investigated, along with a police officer and a former officer and militia boss.
The day before Councillor Siciliano denied claims in the O Globo newspaper that he had any role in the assassination of Franco, who was killed on March 14.
Siciliano is a member of the centrist PHS (Humanist Party of Solidarity) — one of 22 political parties in Brazil — while Franco was from the left-wing PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party).
Marielle Franco murder: informant says that Rio city councilman and imprisoned ex cop/militiaman that controlled West Zone favela wanted Franco dead and arranged her killing https://t.co/p06HOO95pB
O Globo claimed a witness had testified to the police that Siciliano met with Orlando Oliveira de Araújo, a former police officer and now the leader of a vigilante militia group, to discuss rubbing out Franco, who had been asking awkward questions about a series of killings.
The witness, who has not been named, is reportedly a former member of the vigilante militia, which was hired by businesses to tackle criminals.
Assassination Re-enacted By Police
On Thursday, May 10, police re-enacted the shooting of Franco and her driver Anderson Pedro Gomes on the same street where she was killed.
“It’s important to have the movement of the vehicles and sounds. We can also see if the shooter was skilled or not, if there was a burst of shots or if they were intermittent,” Detective Giniton Lages told the Associated Press.
Franco, 38, was elected in 2016 and spoke up for people living in some of the poorest and most marginalized shantytowns, or favelas.
Just days before she was killed, Franco had discussed on social media what she claimed were extra-judicial killings by the police.
“There is huge concern that two months after the killing of Marielle Franco there are no answers from authorities,” Renata Neder, research coordinator for Amnesty International Brazil, told AP.
Politics, like many other walks of life in Brazil, tends to be dominated by lighter skinned Brazilians and those with darker complexions tend to be at the bottom of the heap both politically and economically.
Two months after the killing of Marielle Franco there are no answers from authorities. Her death represents struggle for equality where more than 50% of people identify as black or mixed race yet most politicians are white. #mariellevive@AmnestyUK_LGBTIhttps://t.co/NFhjYdKm0K
Franco was not just black, but was also from the LGBT community, and lived with her partner Mônica Benício. The couple were planning to get married next year.
Nearly half of Venezuelan citizens intend to back incumbent President Nicolas Maduro in the upcoming presidential election, according to a poll published Monday.
The poll, conducted by the Hinterlaces and released by the Prensa Latina news agency, showed that 48 percent of respondents planned to support Maduro, while 31 percent were in favor of opposition leader Henri Falcon. Evangelical pastor Javier Bertucci is expected to receive 14 percent of the vote, the poll added.
The poll also found that voter turnout was expected to be 63 percent, while 28 percent of voters said they planned to abstain.
On May 20, Venezuelans will elect their next president. There are five candidates running: editor at the Aporrea media outlet Reinaldo Quijada and conservative preacher Luis Ratti will compete alongside Maduro, Falcon and Bertucci.
Venezuela, mired in a deep economic crisis, has been facing mass protests since last spring. The protests were sparked by the country’s top court’s decision to restrict the legislative powers of the parliament as well as the election to the National Constituent Assembly initiated by Maduro with the intention of changing the constitution. The National Constituent Assembly has not been recognized by the country’s opposition, the European Union or the United States.
All travelers love exchanging money. Whether you do it at the bank before a trip or at an ATM when at your destination, looking closely at the unusual coins and bills is the first step towards getting to know the culture of the place you’re visiting.
Sadly, bank cards are taking over and some countries are going cashless (looking at you, Sweden) so bills and coins are slowly but surely becoming obsolete. Before this happens, let’s make sure we take a good look at some of the most beautiful currencies out there and the particularities of their designs and histories that make them so unique.
1. The Cook Islands’ Dollar
The Cook Islands are a cluster of 15 remote islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Because the islands were a New Zealand colony from the start of the 20th century to the 1960s, the two countries have a special relationship; Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens and the currency used in the Cook Islands is the New Zealand Dollar.
That said, the Cook Islands also have their own bills and coins, including an unusual $3 bill and a triangular $2 coin, both of which are collected by travelers to the islands and kept as cool souvenirs.
The 3-sided, $2 coin’s obverse side shows Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, while the reverse side represents a simple table with an ewer atop.
There are two different designs for the unique $3 bill. One is pink and shows, according to Coincraft, a typical Sunday scene with churchgoers on one side. On the back, it shows dancers, tropical fish, a large conch shell, and a blue lorikeet. It is dedicated to the island of Aitutaki.
The other one is green and blue and displays a naked woman riding a shark. This is a representation of the legend of Ina, a young woman from the island of Rarotonga (the largest Cook island), who is said to have ridden a shark to visit her boyfriend on Mangaia (the most southern and second largest of the Cook Islands). After hitting the shark on the head with coconuts, the shark ate her so she never made it to her destination. On the back are a boat and a piece of traditional Cook Islands artifacts.
2. The Aruban Florin
Aruba is an independent Dutch caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela. The Aruban currency, the Aruban Florin, replaced the Netherlands Antillean Guilder in 1986, but the US dollar is widely accepted on the island and both currencies are often used together during commercial exchanges.
Aruba’s paper money is colorful, super pretty, and deeply representative of the country’s culture and natural life. They all have the same geometrical shapes on one side (decorative motifs found on pre-Columbian pottery), but each denomination has a different color and animal displayed on its other side, such as conch shells, rattlesnakes, owls, frogs, and fish. According to the Central Bank of Aruba, this combination was meant to emphasize the relation between past and present.
Aruba is the only country to have a 25 denomination in its currency, but it’s not the only cool fact about the Aruban Florin — its 50-cent coin is square. There used to be a 5-Florin square coin, but it was phased out and replaced by a round version to avoid counterfeits (round coins are harder to fake).
For more information about the bills and coins currently in circulation in Aruba, visit the website of the Centrale Bank van Aruba.
3. South Africa’s Rand
The South African Rand has been in circulation since 1961, the year the country became a republic; before that, South Africans used the Pound Sterling.
The name of the South African currency comes from Witwatersrand (“Ridge of White Waters”), a 56-km ridge famous for its huge gold deposits located in the region of Johannesburg.
Each South African Rand bill features one of the “big five” (the five wild animals associated with South Africa’s wilderness: the lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, and water buffalo ) on one side and honors Nelson Mandela (an anti-apartheid resistant fighter and the first democratically-elected president of South Africa) on the other side.
The South African coins are equally focused on celebrating the country’s beautiful nature by featuring indigenous animals and plants such as the black wildebeest, the kudu, the springbok, and the bird-of-paradise flower. Cool fact about these coins: According to the South African Mint, the text featured on each coin rotates annually to fairly represent South Africa’s 11 official languages.
The islands of Tahiti, or French Polynesia, are a collection of 118 dreamy islands located in the South Pacific. Because Tahiti is an autonomous overseas country of the French Republic, you’d think they’d be using the Euro as their currency. Well, they don’t and that’s probably a good thing because compared to the gorgeous Pacific Franc, the Euro is mighty boring.
The Pacific Franc is not only used in the islands of Tahiti, but in all French territories in the Pacific, i.e. New Caledonia and the islands of Wallis and Futuna. By having a currency that is different from mainland France, these territories keep their uniqueness and a semblance of independence, so we hope they won’t adopt the Euro any time soon.
Until 2014, The Pacific Franc bills were very large and out-of-this-world pretty. But they were also old (45 years) and had almost no security features. Here is what they looked like:
The size and designs of the Pacific Franc bills have changed, but they are just as incredibly beautiful and colorful. Each bill (500, 1.000, 5.000 and 10.000 Francs) has one side dedicated to one of the four regions where it is used (French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis, and Futuna). Every bill features fauna and flora that are significant of the area such as turtles, fish, bird-of-paradise flowers, etc., as well as elements of Polynesian culture such as the traditional house displayed on the 10.000 bill.
As far as coins are concerned, for each (there are 7 of them), one side is dedicated to the French Republic and the other side is dedicated to either French Polynesia or New Caledonia.
To learn more about the Pacific Franc, check out the Institut d’émission d’outre-mer’s amazing booklet on this currency’s history.
5. The Comorian Franc
Not only did France have her nose stuck deep inside the South Pacific, she also messed around in many African countries, Comoros included. This is reflected in the currency in use in the now-independent country.
After Comoros’ independence in 1975, a new set of bills and coins were issued to reflect the political change. However, even after the country’s independence, the Comorian Franc remained part of the African Franc community that is pegged to the Euro and regulated by the Banque de France.
Here is what the first Comorian bills looked like:
The Comorian bills and coins issued by the Banque Centrale des Comores were recently changed. They are colorful and unique to Comoros’ culture, history, fauna and flora.
Note that the African Franc community is a highly controversial topic and often considered a remnant of colonialism, so the francs in use in Africa may soon be a thing of the past.
For more information about the bills and coins currently in circulation in Comoros, visit the website of the Banque Centrale des Comores.
6. The Costa Rican Colón
The Costa Rican coins are somewhat ordinary, but the bills are some of the most beautiful paper currencies out there.
The six bills are very colorful (not a dull payment in sight!) and each of them pays tribute to the men and women who made significant contributions to Costa Rica’s history on their obverse side.
The reverse side of each of the bills is different and focuses on Costa Rica’s beautiful biodiversity with representations of plants, ecosystems, and animals such as sloths, hummingbirds, and sharks.
Some of Costa Rica’s previous bills were also very neat, but much less colorful and not as safe against counterfeiters:
Although Iceland is generally included in Europe on matters touching history and geography, it is not part of the EU and does not use the Euro, but the Icelandic Króna (krónur in plural).
There are five bills and five coins in use in Iceland.
Each coin’s obverse side features the four guardian spirits of Iceland (a bull, a mountain giant, a bird, and a dragon) while the reverse sides display marine wildlife. Each coin has a different sea creature: a lumpfish, a shore crab, capelin, dolphins, and a cod.
The bills are not as bright as some of the ones displayed in this list, but they are so intricately detailed that it is hard to know where to look. Also unlike every other currency mentioned in this list, the Icelandic Króna bills do not focus on fauna and flora, but instead mostly displays historic Icelandic characters and artists, as well as famous Icelandic pieces of art such as drawings, painting, tapestries, quilt patterns, and embroideries.
The 5000 Króna bill is especially cool. Look at those women’s hats!
For more information about the bills and coins currently in circulation in Iceland, visit the website of the Central Bank of Iceland.
In Golfito, in the Southern Zone, a man is alleged to have killed his better half and then forced a friend to bury her. Authorities say Hellen Abarca López, 20, who had gone missing since February 15, was killed and buried in the woods until the remains were found this week.
According to the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), the man now in custody, arrested in Herradura, Puntarens, and identified by his last name Arce Quesada, apparently killed Hellen and then asked his friend to go looking for her, that she had a habit of running off into the mountains. There, when they came upon the body, the two men argued and Arce threatened the friend and forced him to bury the young woman. It wasn’t until investigators questioned the friend that he spilled all.
Giovanni Rodríguez, interim sub-director of the OIJ, said it was the alleged killer who filed a missing person report and when they learned the man had a history of complaints related to domestic violence.
Investigators learned hat Hellen had begun a relationship with Arce a month before her disappearance.
Rodriguez explained that the body was decomposed but a tattoo allowed to fully identify the victim.
After more than a decade without a rate increase, the cost for a vehicle inspection at the Riteve went up this week to ¢13,405 colones, up from ¢12,160, for a vehicle under 3.5 tons. This is the third increase in a year.
The first increase in 12 years was in May 2017, the second in November 2017.
The Riteve had been operating without a rate increase since 2005, although it repeatedly made requests for adjustments to the regulating authority, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep). The regulator rejected them on all occasions, arguing that the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) was the institution responsible for setting rates.
According to Aresep, the transit law gave them the responsibility to create methodologies and resolve tariffs in services where there are several operators; however, in the case of the vehicular inspection there is only one operator, therefore rated corresponded to the MOPT.
Brayan Alvarado Espinoza, 21, one of the passengers who was injured on Thursday in the collision of two buses on the Autopista General Cañas, died Friday, the Hospital Mexico confirmed.
Wrtnesses said the yellow bus was speeding and could not avoid hitting the stopped bus (blue) making a stop to let off and taken on passengers. There is no bus bay at this legal bus stop. The young man who died Friday night had just gotten off the blue bus.
The death occurred at 6 p.m., confirmed by telephone by the director of that medical center, Douglas Montero.
Alvarado was a native of Grecia, and the father of a three-and-a-half-year-old son, according to Civil Registry records.
“It was the product of a multi-system failure, the organs did not recover due to the blow suffered during the accident and they all failed until the death occurred. He was critical from the moment of the accident until now. The family was with him,” said the doctor.
Alvarado was the most seriously injured and had had his leg amputated on following the collision and remained in the Intensive Care Unit.
Alvarado Espinoza, who had a birthday coming up next month, on June 23, had just got off that bus that had stopped when he was hit by it after the bus was hit from behind.
The Ministerio Publico (Prosecutor’s Office) reported that it has officially opened a criminal investigation into the crash.
The crash occurred at 5:40 a.m. Thursday morning on the San Jose – Alajuela direction of the Autopista General Cañas, at the bus stop in front of the immigration offices in La Uruca.
Speeding and reckless driving is being alleged as the cause of the collision. Witnesses told the morning television crews at the scene that the yellow bus was speeding and could not avoid the blue bus, stopped to let off and taken on passengers, due to traffic in the other lanes.
At this point in the Autopista, the bus stop is in the right lane. There is no bus bay.
The Fiscalia is investigating the case for criminal negligence. “Since yesterday, the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the events that occurred jointly with the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ),” said the press office of the Ministerio Publico.
Currently, the case in the stage of collecting evidence and witness statements to determine possible responsibility and establish who would be charged.
For its part, the Public Transportation Council (CTP) confirmed that the Zúñiga Transportation bus, which provided the San José – San Antonio de Belén service, lacks permission to carry passengers, while the Station Wagon bus has all the paperwork in order.
The Caja will vaccinate against the flu1.3 million people this year
The national flu vaccination campaign will start next month, with the goal of protecting 1.3 million people against the virus that causes the flu. The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) will invest US$7 million in the purchase of the doses.
The Caja will vaccinate against the flu1.3 million people this year
The massive vaccination is aimed at at-risk groups such as the pregnant women, the elderly, diabetic, obese, heart disease and children between six months and five years.
The massive vaccincation every year is linked to the start of the rainy season, when serious acute infections rebound.
Those most affected by the viruses are young children and adults 60 and over.
The Nicaraguan ambassador to Costa Rica, Duilio Hernández Avilés, and his wife, Ana Lillyam Yllescas, had an uncomfortable situation leaving the Nicaraguan consulate and embassy in San José.
Image from 100% Noticias
A group of protesters outside the diplomatic mission shouted at the pair: “assassins, assassins!”.
This was on Wednesday, when a group of Nicaraguans protested in front of the Embassy in Barrio Los Angeles, demanding justice for the students killed during the April protests in their country, and to demand that President Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo step down from power.
According to a report by 100% Noticias in Nicaragua, protesters carried signs and repeated slogans such as “they were students, they were not criminals”, “Daniel Ortega dictator” and “murderers, rapists, corrupt and genociders”.
The ‘inconveniente’ occurred while the Ambassador and his wife were in their vehicle, leaving the embassy. Some banged on the windshield of the vehicle being driven by the diplomat, despite the efforts of the Fuerza Publica (police) to protect the diplomatic vehicle.
Enrique Arguedas, deputy director of the Fuerza Publica, said that once it was learned that the protest was taking place in the Nicaraguan Embassy, police officials were deployed to contain and protect the integrity of the members of the diplomatic mission and others.
Portrait of Juan Mora Fernández will accompany Carlos Alvarado in his office
“El Ejecutivo desea que el estado sea feliz por la paz, fuerte por la unión y que sus hijos corten cada día una espiga más y lloren una lágrima menos” (The Executive wishes that the state be happy for peace, strong for the union and that their children cut each day one more ear and cry one less tear) are the words of the first Costa Rican Head of State, Juan Mora Fernández and that Carlos Alvarado included in his inauguration speech on May 8.
Portrait of Juan Mora Fernández will accompany Carlos Alvarado in his office. In addition, President Alvarado placed in his office a picture of his son Gabriel.
So, it is only fitting that a portrait of Mora accompanies the new president in his office.
Carlos Alvarado also placed in his office a picture of his son Gabriel.
“Our illustrious Juan Mora Fernandez was the first head of state, whom I have always admired for the vision with which almost 200 years ago he began to guide the Costa Rican political life,” reflected Carlos Alvarado, president number 48, on his second day on the new job.
Alvarado recalled that our first head of state considered making Costa Rica a country of peace, united and just. He highlighted among his achievements the ordering in education, health and public finance, and his concern for the training of Costa Ricans. Also, his contribution to the consolidation of the democratic and national institutions of incipient independent Costa Rica that he had to assume.
Considered the father of Costa Rican journalism, Juan Mora Fernández was director and teacher of a primary school in Alajuela, founder of the newspaper “El Noticioso Universal” and one of the leaders for the declaration of independence of Costa Rica.
In addition, he served in various political and administrative positions in the public service as president of the Supreme Court of Justice and President of Congress.
As Head of State Mora founded the Casa de Enseñanza de Santo Tomás, the Casa de la Moneda and the Hospital San Juan de Dios. In addition, he established the first coat of arms of the Republic of Costa Rica.
The portrait in the office of President Alvarado is a work of Costa Rican artist Gonzalo Morales Alvarado, that belongs to the National Museum.
With the selection of Mora Fernández, President Alvarado reiterates his commitment to education and free journalism as the support of a robust democracy. Also, it evidences the intention to assume the great challenges of the Costa Rican State at significant moments.
Just as Don Juan Mora Fernandez was responsible for leading a country in its first years of independent life, President Carlos Alvarado will be responsible for leading Costa Rica in the celebration of its 200 years of republican life.
Inauguración Terminal Doméstica del Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría, 7 mayo 2018. Fotos: Roberto Carlos Sánchez @rosanchezphoto
From the beginning of this week, the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), in San Jose, has a new terminal for local flights. The project, valued at US$12 million dollars, is part of the expansion investment plans of the airport operator, Aeris.
The new domestic flights terminal at the Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría. Foto: Roberto Carlos Sánchez @rosanchezphoto
The new domestic flights terminal is expected to move some 200,000 passengers yearly.
The terminal is a one level building of 526 m2 (5,600 sq. ft.), a domestic ramp (parking for aircraft) and access road that is operational, though work is still being carried out.
The new terminal has a central lobby, a meeting room, and commercial space, a waiting room for passengers and two boarding gates.
The new terminal was inaugurated on Monday, May 7, by outgoing President Luis Guillermo Solis. “Continuing to consolidate the main air terminals in Costa Rica is a job that fills us with satisfaction since these works have a direct impact on the dynamic tourism industry, which generates employment, well-being, and linkages in the territories. Tourism places Costa Rica on the world map and offering better conditions to domestic and foreign tourists is undoubtedly an important success,” said Solis.
The project was a combined effort of the airport manager, the MOPT, Costa Rican Tourism Institute and Civil Aviation.
Currently, the only airline with scheduled domestic flights across the country is Sansa.
The domestic flights terminal is a short walk to the left of the main international terminal.
As part of the strategy to decarbonize the Costa Rica economy, in one of the first acts as President on Tuesday, Carlos Alvarado, and Environment and Energy Minister Carlos Manuel Rodríguez issued a directive to promote the use of hydrogen as fuel.
On Tuesdaym, the incoming president and his ministers arrived at the inauguration ceremony on the hydrogen-powered bus developed in Costa Rica by the scientist and former NASA astronaut, Franklin Chang Díaz.
“The institutions that comprise the environment and energy sector are instructed so that, within the framework of their competences, they develop an action plan to promote research, production and commercialization of hydrogen as a fuel”, says the guideline.
He adds that the action plan must be presented within the next 6 months.
In his inauguration speech on Tuesday, President Alvarado commented that “decarbonization is the great task of our generation.”
“We must promote decisive and coordinated action by all sectors of society to initiate and accelerate this process irreversibly, not only by promoting transport and electricity production, hydrogen and other technologies, but modernizing our institutions,” he said.
As a demonstration of a clear political will to insert itself in the global trend of decarbonizing economies to ensure truly sustainable development, the incoming president and his ministers arrived on the hydrogen-powered bus, developed in Costa Rica by the scientist and former astronaut of the NASA, Franklin Chang Díaz.
Venezuela’s Margarita Island will be the country’s first special economic zone (SEZ) to use the national cryptocurrency, the Petro, President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday.
Margarita Island, Venezuela’s Caribbean holiday island will be the country’s first special economic zone
Maduro said he signed a presidential decree making duty-free Margarita Island, in northeast Nueva Esparta state, a “special economic zone for the use of the Petro as a currency for purchases, for exchanges within the free zone.”
The president, who is hoping to be reelected on May 20, announced the news at a campaign stop in Nueva Esparta.
Earlier this year, Venezuela launched the first cryptocurrency in the world to be backed by a nation’s natural resources in a bid to overcome U.S.-imposed sanctions that cut off its access to capital markets.
The oil- and mineral-backed Petro has generated millions of dollars, according to the government.
Brazil’s federal police on Thursday launched Operation Bravata, which dismantled a gang dedicated to perpetrating online hate crimes, threats, and inciting terrorism on websites and social media platforms.
The police carried out search and arrest warrants in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Recife, Curitiba, Santa Maria and Vila Velha.
One of those arrested was Marcello Vale Silveira Mello, a systems analyst from the southern city of Curitiba, while six other suspects were rounded up.
The arrest warrant against Silveira Mello was signed by judge Marcos Josegrei, who emphasized that such online crimes were “aggressions… stimulating the most diverse violations of human rights.”
Mello was arrested and charged for similar crimes during another operation in 2012.
He was part of an online hate group named “Hombres Santos” (Holy Men), which used social media to spread racist and neo-nazi content, inciting violence against black people, homosexuals and women, as well as encouraging rape and murder.
The police indicated that there was evidence that those under investigation were responsible for “bomb threats sent to various universities in the country.”
HOJANCHA, Costa Rica, May 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Farmers everywhere know water means life, and a lack of it can spell ruin. In Hojancha, a canton that lies about 130 kilometres (80 miles) west of the Costa Rican capital San Jose, cattle farmer Manuel Rojas understands that as well as anyone.
Normally by this time of year, he said, his small herd of 30 cattle would be desperate for water. Not any longer.
“Now they have it there easily,” he said, pointing to a full drinking trough.
What changed? Last month Rojas installed a rainwater harvest system that, as the name suggests, captures rainwater and stores it in an evaporation-proof, 1,000-cubic-metre tank.
It is one of the country’s first such systems. Its inverted pyramid structure stores 1 million litres of water, enough to last four months if used carefully.
“We hope that this system can help us maintain production throughout the whole year, and not only when it rains,” he said.
Hojancha lies in Guanacaste province, a region on the Pacific coast that is particularly prone to drought, especially during the intense summer months.
This area has few rivers, said Oscar Vasquez, the provincial director at the ministry of agriculture, who was at Rojas’ farm for a ceremony marking the system’s installation.
“I do not see another way (than this). Water comes only from the sky,” he said.
Despite the need for it, though, capturing rain is in its infancy in Costa Rica, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, in part because people do not know about the technology.
But there are other reasons, Vasquez said: it is costly to set up, and there is not enough clarity about the law covering rainwater harvesting. Both factors lower the economic incentives for farmers to invest.
HELPING HAND
A system like the one Rojas installed costs about $12,000, a sum that, in practice, is unaffordable for farmers like him.
It consists of a network of gutters that captures rain from the roof of his barn and directs it to the tank. From there a pump distributes it to the troughs, an irrigation system for grazing, and another that cleans the barn housing the cattle.
Rojas’s system was financed through the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation, with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) helping to design and install it.
FAO programme assistant Diego Fallas said it is hard for farmers to get financing for green solutions like rainwater harvesting as the existence of such systems is largely unknown.
“Access to green financing is important, for example. These are actions that adapt producers to climate change, and green financing should make this type of technology more accessible to producers,” Fallas said.
The FAO wants to encourage more farmers in the drought-prone Guanacaste region to consider rainwater harvesting, said Octavio Ramirez, FAO country head, during the ceremony at Rojas’ farm.
Doing so would help farmers deal with the effects of climate change, said Fallas, by creating a water reserve to supply their farm’s needs during drought.
MORE CHALLENGES
The FAO focuses on Guanacaste because it lies in Central America’s “Dry Corridor”, one of the regions whose agriculture the agency regards as being more vulnerable to rising temperatures.
The area is also exposed to extreme events such as El Nino, said hydrologist Alejandra Rojas (who is not related to Manuel Rojas) from the University of Costa Rica.
The last El Nino, which hit Costa Rica’s typically dry northern and central regions in 2015, caused losses of more than 28 billion Costa Rican colon ($50 million) to agriculture and livestock, government figures show.
So while rainwater harvesting will help farmers deal with the effects of climate change and lower the stress on aquifers, it will take much more than that to minimise the effects of extreme weather events, she said.
“What happens a lot of the time is that the system goes into a hydrological drought. In other words, there is a decrease in all water sources – both rain and reservoirs – as well as aquifers,” Rojas said.
Dealing successfully with those types of situations needs more, including setting up water-saving habits and using drip irrigation.
And although nature is beyond the government’s control, fixing regulations around rainwater harvesting is not. Both the ministry’s Vasquez and Fallas from the FAO said a lack of clear rules is holding back the spread of rainwater harvesting.
Regulations about water use have long been complex in Costa Rica. Farmers, for instance, must get permits if they want to use rainwater once it has landed on the country’s soil.
And until last year, they also needed a permit to capture rainwater from their own roofs. That changed after an executive order was issued allowing farmers to store up to 1,000 cubic metres of rainwater without permission, said Fallas.
“Water that has not touched national soil can still be used without any permits,” Fallas explained.
That remains true for now. However, as the executive order expires next year, it is unclear what will happen then.
The complications do not end there: regulations around water storage are also complex, Fallas said, as they involve strict construction rules that can take two years to complete – a lengthy, costly process that many farmers cannot afford.
Patricia Quiros, general manager of the government’s National Service of Groundwater Irrigation and Drainage (SENARA), said local authorities could help by including rules on rainwater harvesting in their regulations on land use.
They could do the same by devising local regulations on building storage systems, she said, cutting both the amount of red tape and the time farmers need to spend on securing water.
The FAO’s Fallas said time is of the essence.
“We must take the issues on the table and start working together because the ones suffering right now are the producers. The agriculture and livestock sector is being harmed,” he said. (Reporting by Sebastian Rodriguez, Editing by Robert Carmichael and Zoe Tabary. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights.
The Saprissa and Alajuelense showdown or ‘Clasico’, which will define the ticket to the final of the Costa Rican league’s title, be played at 4 p.m. on Sunday in the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium instead of 6 p.m. as previously announced.
Leading up to Sunday’s game, Saprissa edged Herediano, while Alajuelense knocked off Santos, setting up the showdown between the clubs this weekend for a chance to play for the Costa Rican league’s title.
The bus with license plate 12732 operated by Transportes Zúñiga, involved in the early Thursday morning collision with another bus on the Autopista General Cañas that left 39 people injured, had not authorization to transport passengers, according to the Consejo de Transporte Público (CTP) – Public Transportation Council.
Pablo Rosales, in charge of the concessions and permits at the Public Transportation Council (CTP), confirmed that the bus is not registered with the CTP as a route bus, or of transporting students or special services. Or for anything.
That is to say that, according to the official, the vehicle should not have been on the road with passengers on board.
“We have reviewed our systems and it does not appear, it is not registered nor in a regular route, nor as special services, it does not have authorization for anything,” Rosales declared.
He added that the CTP cannot specify which route the bus was offering service on because there is no information about it.
Rosales added that the CTP will be reviewing the case closely to determine the type of sanctions that could be applied against the owners of the vehicle.
However, in a brief statement at the site of the accident, Alonzo Zuñiga, who identified himself as a representative of the bus company, alleged at the unit had its papers in order.
“Of course it does, in a referendum that is issued by law, and is in a process, as we know it is a bit slow processing all the documentation, but of course that it has everything appropriate,” he said.
In the case of the other bus involved in the collision, with license plate 6300, owned by the Station Wagon bus company, the CTP indicated it had all its papers in order.
The press office of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), confirmed that both buses had their “Marchamo” (circulating permit), so that the injured will have the right to receive medical attention through the Seguro Obligatorio de Automóviles (SOA).
The SOA is the compulsory insurance coverage included in the Marchamo that offers coverage of up to ¢6 million colones (US1$10,700 dollars) to each victim of a traffic accident.
The morning collision occurred at 5:40 a.m. at the bus stop in front of the immigration offices in La Uruca, on the San Jose – Alajuela direction of the Autopista General Cañas.
In total, 39 people were injured in the collision, two of them with serious injuries. One of the passengers was a woman 28 weeks pregnant.
The collision generated a tremendous traffic chaos on the west side of San Jose, from Paseo Colon and the Avenidas west to La Sabana to La Uruca, the Circunvalacion and the Ruta 27 west.
What happened?
According to witnesses speaking to the morning television cameras and the print press, the blue bus (allegedly without permits) was making a regular stop, letting off and taking on passengers. At this point in the Autopista, the bus stop is in the right lane of the three lanes. There is no bus bay.
The bus (yellow and with its papers in order) was barreling down the Autopista, at a high speed some of the injured passengers asserted, slamming into the stopped bus given traffic in the other lanes did not permit the driver to swerve, to avoid hitting the stopped bus.
According to Alonso Zuñiga, representing the bus company that for the time being is in the hot seat with the authorities, the bus was providing service between San José-San Rafael de Alajuela-La Guácima, was stopped when it was hit from behind. Zuñiga added that the driver, Johanny Porras, tested negative for the usual breathalyzer given to drivers each morning.
No word was available from anyone at the Station Wagon bus company.
