Banco Kristal has an exclusive offer of solutions for women that facilitate and satisfy their financial needs. Long live the Kristal experience!
The bank for women project, Banco Kristal, by the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) has suffered a setback, the state bank deciding to cut back the Kristal format by shutting down 5 of the 14 branches.
Banco Kristal offers exclusively solutions for women and their financial needs.
The closed branches are located in shopping malls were the BCR also has branches. The closure is to avoid duplicity, said the BCR in a statement.
“We are also working on an optimization of the offices and a saving in the rent, so in certain cases, some Banca Kristal offices will be integrated into the BCR, while others will remain open,” said Renán Murillo, BCE deputy manager.
The official said, “the bank wants to take advantage of its positioning and refocus the business, expand the product and turn it into a mass access product”.
Kristal clients will now be able to access the services of the 200 BCR branches and not the only the “Kristal” branches. Bank officials said that despite the changes there will be no cuts in personnel.
A cyclist peddling without grabbing the handlebars and on the cell phone, died after being pinned under the weeks of a tractor trailed in El Prado de Guapiles, Limon.
Foto: Reiner Montero
The tragic accident occurred Frid ay morning. The identity of the deceased, a man between 30 and 35 years of age, was not revealed.
A witness, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the cyclist was distracted with his cell phone. At that moment, the truck overtook the cyclist, the wind sucked the cyclist under the truck.
In an interview that made Monumental News, this Friday, the president, Luis Guillermo Solis, analyzed what was done in the Government and the situation left at the head of the State. Photography: Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal.
With only days left in his term as the 47th President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, apologized to those who voted for him in the 2014 elections and who, in one way or another, regret today having given him support.
In an interview that with Noticias Monumental, this Friday, Luis Guillermo Solis, said he tried to govern as responsibly and dedicated as he could and can only ask forgiveness of those he disappointed. Photo Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal.
“I am very sorry, think about better the vote next time”, the president responded during an interview with Randall Rivera, director of Noticias Monumental.
Solis said that he only has to apologize to those who feel they made a mistake by giving his vote to lead the first government of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC).
“What I have done is to try to govern as responsibly and as dedicated as I could. If I disappointed one person or many, I can only ask their forgiveness,” said the president during the interview, this Friday morning.
Solis argued that, at his discretion, the work is done and an analysis of it is available, but he indicated that many do not want to analyze it and many do not want to accept it, or hate it just because.
“I did everything I could, I spent as much time as I could,” the president emphasized, while saying that he did meet the expectations of some and not others. He added that he did meet his own expectations.
As mitigation of his objectives, he argued that there were natural emergencies, migrations and “fierce” resistance in “bureaucratic, media and business” sectors to the promised change.
He also argued that there were multiple sectors, even in his party, who have always demanded to be more radical in his positions, though Solis defines himself as a restrained person.
“I continue to resist those demands to be more extreme,” he said.
Solis said he did not let the 1.3 million votes that put him in the presidential chair.
Luis Guillermo Solis also denied, in the opinion of Rivera, having regretted at some point his decision to hold the highest office in the land, not even at his most critical points, “like the latest editorial by La Nacion,” he said.
The editorial, titled, “the last disguise” (El último disfraz) says Luis Guillermo Solís disguised himself as a hero before the legislative plenary, ending four years of masquerade.
Costa Ricans who wish to travel to the European Union will be required to apply for an ETIAS visa as of 2020. ETIAS will allow for advance checks and, if necessary, deny travel authorization to visa-exempt third-country nationals traveling to the Schengen area.
With the approval of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). whether the trip is for leisure or business, all Costa Rican citizens will need to enroll in this program.
The measure aims to improve internal security, prevent illegal immigration, protect public health and reduce delays at the borders by identifying persons who may pose a risk in one of these areas before they arrive at the external borders.
“Today’s agreement is another important step in protecting the EU’s external borders. By knowing who is coming to the EU before they even arrive at the border, we will be better able to stop those who may pose a threat to our citizens,” said Valentin Radev, Bulgarian minister of interior, in a press release.
The system will apply to visa-exempt third country nationals, who will need to obtain a travel authorization before their trip, via an online application. The travel authorization fee of 7 euros or ¢5,000 colones per applicant.
At the present time, Ticos need only buy the air ticket, pack their suitcases and travel to enjoy the European charms without any need for paperwork. This is because Costa Rica is part of some 60 nations whose citizens have more flexibility to enter the countries of the so-called Schengen area.
As of 2020, all Costa Rican nationals traveling to Europe for a short-term stay must have a valid ETIAS visa.
At this time, a Costa Rican can enter Europe by any of the Schengen nations and visit the rest without the need to migrate in each border, however, in other countries must comply with immigration procedures, although many do not ask for a visa either.
Starting Saturday, international delegations will start arriving in Costa Rica for the Tuesday ceremony of the transfer of powers, when Carlos Alavardo will be sworn in as the country’s 48th president.
The ceremony is being held in the Plaza de la Democracia, the public square in the heart of downtown San Jose, that has been conditioned for the event.
The morning will start at 8:00 a.m. with Carlos Alvarado and his cabinet getting on a bus in La Sabana to travel to the Plaza. By 9 a.m. the president-elect and designated ministers will arrive at the Plaza, when Don Carlos and his two vice-presidents will be sworn in.
The newly elected president of the Legislative Assembly will address the public, the newly sworn president will receive the presidential sash from the outgoing president (Luis Guillermo Solis) and will give his first presidential speech.
At 1:00 p.m. there will be lunch in the Teatro Nacional, a few blocks away, for the international delegations. The event will be a working lunch, as the new president is expected to hold bilateral meetings with heads or delegations of other countries.
At 4:00 p.m., President Carlos Alvarado will arrive back to the Plaza, walking from the Teatro Nacional, for the musical part of the event.
As of Thursday, only half of the 162 countries had replied to the invitation. The Foreign Ministry expected others will be sending their reply by late Friday.
Gina Guillén, director of protocol and in charge of the event, said they expected between 70 and 80 international delegations to visit, the same number as four years ago, but will likely be more given the early replies.
Among the ‘presidential’ visits confirmed are the presidents of Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Bolivia, as well as the Prime Minister of Aruba, on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Although no Spanish royalty will be participating in this event, Spain is sending Ana Pastor, president of that country’s Congress.
Cuba will be represented by its vice-president, while legislators from Japan and South Korea will be representing their government and other countries will be represented by their Foreign Ministers.
Most European and Asian nations, Canada, the United States, Mexico and other Latin American countries, meanwhile, will be represented by prominent ambassadors.
From the emissions of the airplanes used by international delegations, to the electricity that their hotel rooms and the 200 official vehicles that will be used on inauguration day, the environmental impact of greenhouse gases will be compensated. At least that is the plan by the commission organizing the ceremony of the transfer of powers on May 8.
Image for illustrative purposes
The commission is headed by Gina Guillén, general director of Protocol and Ceremonial of the State, who proposed the idea to Carlos Alvarado shortly after he knew he would be the next president.
“The rooms, how many kilowatts of energy are consumed in each hotel, how many rooms are there, what’s the size of the rooms, how much greenhouse gas is produced by lodging in the rooms?” asks rhetorically Gina Guillén.
“The first time I was able to talk to him, I said: ‘President-elect, would you authorize us to do something crazy? How about, since you have talked so much about carbon neutrality, if we make this the first transfer of powers of the world that is carbon neutral? ‘ And he said to me: ‘Is that possible?’ And I told him I thought it could, and then he said yes, of course,” Guillén said.
If possible may be questioned, the important to many is the attempt. The participation of non-governmental entities is key in the task: the Costa Rica Neutral organization is calculating the total carbon footprint that will produce the logistics of the act, and another organization, whose name Guillen did not specify, will donate the necessary money to compensate the impact to through the figure of payment for environmental services, of which the country is a pioneer.
The money will be invested in trees on a farm in indigenous territory.
The transfer of powers ceremony will take place on Tuesday, May 8, in the Plaza de la Democracia, starting at 9:00 a.m.
Some 3,000 people will be on hand for the event in the open public square in downtown San Jose.
The president of the company Nature Air Mr. Alex Khajavi at a press conference at Tobias Bolaños Airport. Photo Alonso Tenorio
Nature Air, the troubled airline that this week was officially grounded by aviation authorities, blames the same body, the Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC), for the difficulties it faces to refinance its operations and attract new investors.
The president of the Nature Air, Alex Khajavi, at a press conference at Tobias Bolaños Airport. Photo Alonso Tenorio, La Nacion
The company estimates that the inability to resume its flights has caused economic losses of up to US$1.6 million in 2018. As well as the dismissal of most of its staff, going from 105 to 12 workers today.
This was the word from company CEO, Alex Khajavi, who criticized the way in which the DGAC has handled the process against the company since the December 31 accident, in which 12 people, 10 passengers, and 2 crew, died in Corozalito de Nandayure, Guanacaste.
The DGAC announced on Wednesday the indefinite suspension of Natura Air’s operation, basing the decision on the fact that the company has not resumed activities, although precautionary measures issued after the accident were lifted in February.
Khajavi assured that the measures adopted by the DGAC in the last months caused the cancellation of 600 flights in January, affecting 10,000 passengers who had already paid for their trips; added to this are another 15,000 customers who also disbursed money for future flights.
“We were unable to insure the aircraft at a reasonable cost and we lost the agreements of aircraft contracts that we had already insured, all this caused by the inactive state of not being able to operate the flights due to the suspension,” Khajavi said.
“By the end of February 2018, Nature Air was forced to layoff 85 full-time employees, most of them with about 7 years of having been working for the company,” he added.
The president of the airline acknowledged that they still have not reimbursed some passengers, nevertheless, he guaranteed to be making the necessary efforts with the banks.
Despite the economic crisis, Nature Air maintains that it is not bankrupt and that it expects to obtain cash flows in order to reactivate its services.
Khajavi took the opportunity to point out that, with Nature Air out of the market, a “harmful monopoly” has been created, leaving SANSA as the sole provider, causing a rise in prices and “the disappearance of low-cost airfares to nationals” .
“None of the airlines that hope to enter the market have the penetration that Nature Air had to oppose this monopoly in the Costa Rican market,” he said.
Causes of the accident still to be defined
Another pending issue is the causes that befell the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft to crash at noon on December 31, 2017, shortly after taking off from the Punta Islita runway at Corozalito de Nandayure.
Two Costa Rican pilots and 10 American tourists died in the crash.
The company claims that the unfortunate events were the result of “force majeure” and that they had taken all possible precautions to avoid a tragedy.
Khajavi said by internal policy the airline had previously made the decision to reduce from 12 to 10 the number of passengers at Punta Islita and Nosara airports. “Even when we took extreme precautions, landing at another airport, and waiting for better weather reports, the strong and intermittent winds, the approach and obstacles at the airport, contributed to the accident,” the airline president said.
An independent investigative unit of the DGAC in charge of preparing the final report on the possible causes of the crash. Once the report is presented to the Civil Aviation Technical Council, its conclusions will be made public.
DGAC director, Ennio Cubillo, said the process has been slow due to the fact the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) seized documents related to the company, which produced an “impasse” of several months.
Nicaraguan singer and composer, Luis Enrique, has been active in social networks. He does not take his eyes off the latest events that occur in the country and does not neglect his musical projects, as he recently confirmed on Facebook when he announced that he is working on a very large project in New York.
Luis Enrique
His activism in social networks has been overwhelming. It has shown solidarity with the university students and has stated its position in the face of violence. He wants peace.
And as several Nicaraguan artists have done, the creator of the hit “Yo no se mañana” also dedicated a song and video to Nicaragua, with the difference that it is not a new composition, but that, by the lyrics, it adjusts to the call of peace that the artistic community of the country has expressed through music.
The song, “Abre tus ojos” (Open your eyes) quickly went viral because the artist used the lyrics to make a video clip with images of the protests and clashes between police officers, students and citizens.
The salsero shared the video clip on his official Facebook page with the message “Love made into song is the engine of our souls, I believe in a Nicaragua for all and in peace.” The lyrics of the song, accompanied by the effects of ambulance and protest, are linked to images of the national march held last week.
La solución a la crisis nacional tiene un punto de partida innegociable: la verdad sobre los crímenes causados por represión, identificar las responsabilidades de los autores directos e intelectuales, y someterlos a la justicia. Por eso urge la Comisión de la Verdad. – @cefechepic.twitter.com/Bx93cpdXuP
“Open the door to freedom / you have to raise awareness / you have to see life with humanity / you know the truth in the age of sensitivity / sensitivity .. Wake up! Awake!,” says part of the lyrics.
“These are my people, my land, committed and united to achieve the freedom that we all long for. No more perpetuity in power, no more violations of fundamental rights. Nicaragua rises up by way of peace and free expression, we demand what is ours. Let us pray for our children and its future, let’s support our youth so that their vision of the country is what they long for and deserve. Blessings brothers,” have been part of the messages that Luis Enrique has shared with his followers on Twitter.
An Andean man rests with his llama on Rainbow Mountain in Pitumarca, Peru, March 2. Tourists gasp for breath as they climb for two hours to the 5,000-metre peak in the Peruvian Andes, but stunned by the magical beauty that unfurls before them.
PITUMARCA, Peru (AP) – Tourists gasp for breath as they climb for two hours to a peak in the Peruvian Andes that stands 5,000 metres above sea level.
They’re dead tired, but stunned by the magical beauty unfurled before them.
An Andean man rests with his llama on Rainbow Mountain in Pitumarca, Peru, March 2. Tourists gasp for breath as they climb for two hours to the 5,000-metre peak in the Peruvian Andes, but stunned by the magical beauty that unfurls before them.
Stripes of turquoise, lavender and gold blanket what has become known as ‘Rainbow Mountain’, a ridge of multicoloured sediments laid down millions of years ago and pushed up as tectonic plates clashed.
It’s only within the last five years that the natural wonder has been discovered by the outside world, earning it must-see status on Peru’s burgeoning backpacker tourist circuit.
“You see it in the pictures and you think it’s Photoshopped — but it’s real,” said Lukas Lynen, an 18-year-old tourist from Mexico.
The popularity of Rainbow Mountain, which attracts up to 1,000 tourists each day, has provided a much-needed economic jolt to this remote region populated by struggling alpaca herders. Environmentalists, however, fear the tourists could destroy the treasured landscape, which is already coveted by international mining companies.
“From the ecological point of view they are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs,” said Dina Farfan, a Peruvian biologist who has studied threatened wildlife in the area just a few hours from the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.
A tourist poses for a photo at the entrance that leads to Rainbow Mountain, in Pitumarca, Peru
As proof, he points to a four-kilometre dirt trail climbed by tourists to reach Rainbow Mountain that has been badly eroded in the last 18 months, scarring the otherwise pristine landscape. A wetland once popular with migrating ducks has also been turned into a parking lot the size of five soccer fields that fills each morning with vans of mostly European and American visitors.
There are more serious threats, too.
A group of Andean muleteers break for lunch during a tour guide to Rainbow Mountain, in Pitumarca, Peru. Roughly 500 villagers have returned in the last couple of years to take up their ancestral trade of transporting goods across the Andes. The difference is that now they are hauling tourists on horseback
Camino Minerals Corp, a Canadian-based mining company, has applied for mining rights in the mineral-rich area that includes the mountain. The company did not respond to a request by The Associated Press for comment on its plans.
Yet the flood of tourists has meant jobs and hard cash for the local Pampachiri indigenous community, which has struggled with high rates of malnutrition and falling prices of wool for their prized alpaca. Many have abandoned nomadic life for dangerous gold mining jobs in the Amazon.
Now, they charge tourists USD3 each to enter their ancestral land, netting the community roughly USD400,000 a year — a small fortune that has triggered a tax battle with an impoverished, nearby municipality, which has seen no part of the windfall.
The surge in tourists also comes with a responsibility to be good stewards of the environment and their new guests, and Pampachiri community leader Gabino Huaman admits he is not sure they are ready to fully handle it.
“We don’t know one word in English,” he said. “Or about first aid.” Despite the challenges, roughly 500 villagers have returned in the last couple of years to take up their ancestral trade of transporting goods across the Andes. The difference is that now they are hauling tourists on horseback.
“It’s a blessing,” said Isaac Quispe, 25, who quit his job as a gold miner after six of his camp mates were murdered. He returned home and bought a horse that last year earned him USD5,200 hauling tourists uphill. The guides dress in colourful woolen clothes and wide-brimmed, traditional hats to lead the horses.
Farfan, the biologist, said he hopes the Pampachiri can learn from other sustainable tourism endeavours in Peru.
It was the success of one such project, in the nearby town of Chillca, that first put Rainbow Mountain on the map.
For much of the past decade, a group of shepherds had been quietly taking small groups of tourists to the mountain as part of a five-day hike around the fast-melting Ausangate glacier.
Over time, and thanks to the stunning photographs posted on the Internet, the secret got out.
Today the shepherds of Chillca manage four lodges made of eucalyptus wood with a capacity for 16 tourists each. They are lighted only by candle, but have hot water.
Arriving guests are given shoes made of alpaca leather and wool.
At dawn, lodge-keeper Orlando Garcia gently awakens his guests with a love song performed in the Quechua language.
“You always have to be guessing what the client wants, and take care of it so you don’t lose their smile,” Garcia says. “We want them to feel the greatest comfort at almost 16,404 feet.”
United States President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to Costa Rica to attend the inauguration of Carlos Alvarado on May 8, 2018, in San Jose.
Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Labor, will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation will include: Sharon Day, United States Ambassador to Costa Rica; Juan Cruz, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs, National Security Council; and Sandra Alba Cauffman, Deputy Director, Earth Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The Dirección General de Aviación Civil (Civil Aviation) has suspended indefinitely the operation certificates of the companies Nature Air and Air Costa Rica. Aviation director Ennio Cubillo assured the two airlines have problems.
In the case of Nature Air, despite being authorized to do so, the airline never resumed flights after the December 31 crash in Guanacaste that killed 12, to which the company is the focus of the judicial investigation to determine the cause.
As to Air Costa Rica, the suspension is an administrative one. Aviation did not elaborate. The airline started its charter operations a little over a year ago, after overcoming a long process of procedures.
the morning a black cat was walking through the gardens of the assembly. Photos: Mayela López
Fulfilling the strict protocol that mandates wearing black in the legislative session of May 1 of each year, a very special misingo (scrawny cat) walked this Tuesday by the Legislative Assembly and once fired all the alerts of the most “creyenceros” (foreseers), who began to say that the kitten was nothing more and nothing less than a (bad) omen of the next four years.
OnTuesday morning a black cat was spotted walking through the gardens of the Legislative Assembly. Photos: Mayela López
But the new deputies capotearon (covered) the cat and its possible bad vibes because some do not believe in tales of Martians and others want to take the cat to the Virgin of Los Angeles. Others are convinced that bad luck, or good luck, does not depend on misingo but on the 57 legislators.
“On the road of life we have everything, black cats and white cats, but I am convinced that the positive thing that we attract in our paths is based on work and dedication. In front of a black cat of legislative bad luck, you have to put work. There is no bad luck for those who try every day,” said Luis Fernando Chacón, the only male member of the Legislative directory.
Legislator Franggi Nicolás said the bad omen of black cat was annulled because from the first work session of this new legislative group, that demonstrated that the legislators are thirsty for work; In addition, she stressed that there are 26 women in the first power of the Republic.
“Although I am from a province very ‘creyencera; in these things as it is Puntarenas, I think that the bad luck of the black cat did not hit because they started doing everything with good vibes,” said the legislator.
“For many people, it is a bad omen, we could think that there are going to be many problems in the Congress and discussions,” said visionary Minor Khayyan.
According to the expert, once a black cat has passed, there is nothing to do, so he recommends that they, the legislators, work hard to make things go well and try to keep the peace during these four years.
A screen grab from the Redskins’ website, which had some images from the cheerleaders’ calendar photo shoot in 2013. Credit Redskins.com
On Tuesday, the New York Times revealed that Washington Redskins cheerleaders would have been victims of sexual exploitation on a trip to Costa Rica in 2013. According to the Times, the events would have happened during a calendar photo shoot in a hotel in Guanacaste.
A screen grab from the Redskins’ website, which had some images from the cheerleaders’ calendar photo shoot in 2013. Credit Redskins.com
According to the New York newspaper, the photo shoot took place at the adults-only Occidental Grand Papagayo resort on Culebra Bay, some cheerleaders said that, during the photo sessions, they were required to be topless, and others wore nothing but body paint, though the photographs used for the calendar would not show nudity.
Given the resort’s secluded setting, such revealing poses would not have been a concern for the women — except that the Redskins had invited spectators. “A contingent of sponsors and FedExField suite holders — all men — were granted up-close access to the photo shoots.”
“When the Washington Redskins took their cheerleading squad to Costa Rica in 2013 for a calendar photo shoot, the first cause for concern among the cheerleaders came when Redskins officials collected their passports upon arrival at the resort, depriving them of their official identification,” opens the New York Times article.
The article says that one evening, at the end of a 14-hour day that included posing and dance practices, the squad’s director told nine of the 36 cheerleaders that their work was not done. They had a special assignment for the night. Some of the male sponsors had picked them to be personal escorts at a nightclub.
“So get back to your room and get ready,” the director told them. Several of them began to cry. “They weren’t putting a gun to our heads, but it was mandatory for us to go,” one of the cheerleaders said. “We weren’t asked, we were told. Other girls were devastated because we knew exactly what she was doing.”
A screen grab from the Redskins’ website, which featured an interactive game where fans could choose one cheerleader over another based on their pictures. Credit Redskins.com
Their participation did not involve sex, the cheerleaders said, but they felt as if the arrangement amounted to “pimping us out.” What bothered them was their team director’s demand that they go as sex symbols to please male sponsors, which they did not believe should be a part of their job.
The Redskins’ weeklong trip to Costa Rica in 2013 — for which the cheerleaders were paid nothing beyond transportation costs, meals and lodging, the team said — provides a vivid illustration of how N.F.L. teams have used cheerleaders for far more than sideline dancers during games
The NYTimes says the account of the Redskins’ calendar shoot at the Occidental Grand Papagayo is based on interviews with five cheerleaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were required to sign confidentiality agreements when they joined the team, who were involved, and many details were corroborated with others who heard descriptions of the trip at the time.
“It’s just not right to send cheerleaders out with strange men when some of the girls clearly don’t want to go,” one cheerleader who was there said.
Stephanie Jojokian, the director of the Redskins cheerleading team, at the release party for the 2013 calendar. Credit Daniel Swartz/Revamp.com
Stephanie Jojokian, the longtime director, and choreographer for the Redskins’ cheerleaders, disputed much of the women’s description of the Costa Rica trip. She vehemently denied to the NYTimes that the night at the club was mandatory and said that the cheerleaders who went were not chosen by sponsors.
“I was not forcing anyone to go at all,” Ms. Jojokian said. “I’m the mama bear, and I really look out for everybody, not just the cheerleaders. It’s a big family. We respect each other and our craft. It’s such a supportive environment for these ladies.”
For the Costa Rica trip, the cheerleaders had a dress code: white tops, khaki bottoms and heels. Straw hats were permitted, while flats were definitely not.
During the photo shoots, they were anxiously aware when the sponsors and other guests were watching.
“At one of my friend’s shoots, we were basically standing around her like a human barricade because she was basically naked, so we could keep the guys from seeing her,” one of the cheerleaders said. “I was getting so angry that the guys on the trip were skeezing around in the background.”
Remember the passports? At the end of the nightclub outing, at about 2 or 3 a.m., the article explains that on returning to the waiting van, the women were stopped by several police offices who asked for their passports.They did not have them because the team had taken possession of them upon arrival.
“I guess they thought you were prostitutes,” a man affiliated with the cheerleading squad told them after they were allowed to leave.
They returned to the resort, but several women on the team decided not to return to the squad the next season. What happened in Costa Rica, they said, made them feel worthless and unprotected.
The cheerleaders were not paid for the time they spent posing for the 2013 calendar. Credit Daniel Swartz/Revamp.com
Jojokian told the NYTimes she recalled the cheerleaders saying they enjoyed the night at the club. When she asked the women how the party was the next morning, “They were like, that was fun,” she said. “I’m like, glad you had a good time — don’t get the other girls jealous that they couldn’t get to go.”
She added: “No sponsor is worth these children’s safety and well-being at all.
If you’re looking to make friends, Costa Rica is the place to go. A study by Internations, among 12,500 expatriates, places Costa Rica in second place among 65 nations, for its quality of life and ability to adapt to the culture.
Costa Rica is the second favorite country in the world of people who are looking for a home outside their home country. Bahrain is tops. Following Costa Rica is Mexico, Taiwan, Portugal, New Zealand, Malta, Colombia, Singapore and Spain, rounding out the top 10.
The research was elaborated with more than 12,500 people from 166 nationalities and 188 countries who offered their impressions about living as foreigners. These are people who live and work in another country to their origin, as part of a company or on their own.
The country rankings list the best (and worst) among 65 destinations across the globe, focusing on essential topics: quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, family life, personal finance, and cost of living. The report also compares results across the years, identifying the biggest winners and losers in 2017.
Costa Rica was an attractive country due to the ease that outsiders have of adapting to the culture, the speed to make friends, the high quality of life indexes and the favorable conditions to establish a family.
The 2017 report takes a closer look at the Ease of Settling In Index, from local friendships and expat bubbles to feeling (un)welcome in a country and its culture.
When it comes to friendships forged abroad, Costa Rica has the best results for both finding new friends in general and making local friends: 34% and 26% respectively are completely satisfied with these factors (globally: 18% and 12%).
Expats say it’s easy to make local friends, with almost one in five (19%) saying their social circle is mostly Costa Ricans and 63% saying it’s a mix of locals and expatriates.
Moreover, 87% of respondents in Costa Rica are generally satisfied with the friendliness of the population as well as their attitude towards expats. About four out of five (81%) generally feel at home in the Costa Rican culture; another 75% agree that it’s easy to get used to the local culture. It took more than half the respondents (52%) up to just six months to start feeling at home there.
The language barrier in Costa Rica may pose a problem sometimes. The percentage of expats who agree that getting by without local language skills is easy is about average (47% vs. 46% worldwide). “I hate that I don’t speak the language fluently and I am a little embarrassed at my language skills (I find it very difficult!),” one British expat admitted.
Fortunately, not everyone shares this view: 55% think that the local language isn’t hard to learn, and about half (49%) describe their proficiency in Spanish as “fairly good” or “very good”.
A WELCOME AS WARM AS THE WEATHER
It’s not just the friendliness of the local residents, Costa Rica is in the top 10 for three of the five indices: Quality of Life, Ease of Settling In, and Family Life. The country made particularly impressive improvements in the latter index, jumping 16 places due to better scores in the Quality of Education and the Availability of Childcare and Education subcategories.
According to the report, Costa Rica has also made big improvements in the Personal Finance Index, jumping from 43rd place in 2016 to 24th. Almost seven in ten respondents (68%) are generally satisfied with their financial situation, with 79% saying they have enough or more than enough to cover their daily expenses.
With almost a third of respondents describing themselves as retired (32%), many said that they appreciate the slower pace of life and pura vida vibe. One American respondent enjoys the “freedom to live a peaceful, happy life, surrounded by peaceful, kind and happy people”. With such a warm welcome and tranquil lifestyle, 48% can see themselves staying forever.
COST OF LIVING
Vietnam, Mexico, and Colombia are the countries that offer the best living costs according to foreigners residing in those countries. 93% of respondents said that in Vietnam they have what they need and even more than they expected. In the Asian country, foreigners say that there is an ideal balance between the money they earn and the costs they have to assume to live there.
Colombia also becomes an attraction for foreigners, since 73% consider that one of the great advantages of this place is the low cost of living there.
Costa Rica appears in position 43, the lowest place it obtained in the entire index, a situation that reflects what foreigners perceive, that despite the good relations they develop, the country is an expensive place to live.
The report indicates that destinations with lower living costs help expats to balance their books. Number 1 Vietnam has climbed from fifth place to take the top spot in 2017. Number 2 Colombia and number 3 Myanmar are new to the global top 10. While Costa Rica made significant improvements.
WOMEN NOT WELCOME?
For 86% of all respondents, gender has never been a reason to feel unwelcome abroad. However, there is a difference between male and female expats: only 79% of women say they’ve never felt unwelcome due to their gender compared to 94% of men. Among expat women, 11% state they feel unwelcome due to their gender very rarely, and another 7% feel less than welcome sometimes. The percentages for men are noticeably lower, 3% and 2% respectively.
The five countries where expat women don’t feel particularly welcome are Kuwait, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.
Infograph prepapred by La Nacion based on the InterNations report:
Aerial image of the construction works of the new bridge over the Virilla River, in Lindora, Santa Ana. Photo: MOPT
The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) extended one more week the night closures on the bridge over the Virilla river, in Lindora, Santa Ana, due to the expansion works carried out in the structure.
Aerial image of the construction works of the new bridge over the Virilla River, in Lindora, Santa Ana. Photo: MOPT
The closings were to have ended today, May 3. The extension maintains the bridge closed, between Belén and Santa Ana, from 10 p.m. at 5 a.m. until May 10.
The closure is to permit the use of a crane that allows the transfer of large and heavy pieces of the bridge used on the project.
Once complete, the new two-lane bridge will be 133 meters in length and will complement the existing two-lane bridge, widening passage over the river for the 33,000 vehicles daily to 4 lanes once the project is complete.
The work began in May 2017 has an approximate cost of US$ 8.5 million, equivalent to ¢ 4.9 billion colones, and is financed through the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
Due to the crisis affecting the country, the tourist sector union estimates that hotels, hostels and restaurants are facing losses of around US$100 million.
As a result of the social crisis that the country has been suffering from for two weeks, representatives from the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (Canatur), reported that for the next few days hotel reservations have been canceled almost in their entirety, while restaurants are working at 15% capacity.
Lucy Valenti, president of Canatur, explained to Laprensa.com.ni that ” … since the first outbreaks of violence, tourists have left the country and those who had planned to come in the coming months have canceled their trips. ‘The first to be cancelled were programmed activities to be carried out in various hotels, for events and meetings. The groups that were to come in these days have been canceled, groups have been canceled in the next three months.’”
In this regard the president of the Association of Hoteliers of Nicaragua, Alvaro Dieguez, explained that ” … at the weekend hotels in Leon reported zero occupancy, while in Managua they have not even reached 20 percent.”
To reverse the situation and attract more tourists, hoteliers in San Juan del Sur decided to offer discounts of up to 25% during May and June.
Sarah Black, who recently completed her Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at CU Boulder, collects water samples from Laguna Caliente.
Credit Brian Hynek.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered microbes living in a toxic volcanic lake that may rank as one of the harshest environments on Earth. Their findings, published recently online, could guide scientists looking for signs of ancient life on Mars.
Sarah Black, who recently completed her Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at CU Boulder, collects water samples from Laguna Caliente. Credit Brian Hynek.
The team, led by CU Boulder Associate Professor Brian Hynek, braved second-degree burns, sulfuric acid fumes and the threat of eruptions to collect samples of water from the aptly-named Laguna Caliente. Nestled in Costa Rica’s Poás Volcano, this body of water is 10 million times more acidic than tap water and can reach near boiling temperatures. It also resembles the ancient hot springs that dotted the surface of early Mars, Hynek said.
The Costa Rican lake can support life–but only barely. Hynek and his colleagues found microbes belonging to just a single species of bacteria in the lake water, a rock-bottom level of diversity.
“Even in an extremely harsh environment, there can still be life,” said Hynek of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and the Department of Geological Sciences. “But then there’s very little life. Mars was just as extreme in its early history, so we should probably not expect to find evidence of large-scale biodiversity there.”
Laguna Caliente is chaotic, with water temperatures that can swing wildly in the span of hours and magma channels running under the lake that kick off frequent, geyser-like eruptions.
“We’re at the limits of what life on Earth can tolerate,” Hynek said. “It’s not somewhere you want to spend a lot of time because you’d probably get covered in boiling mud and sulfur from the eruptions.”
To search for living organisms in this “fringe” environment, the researchers scanned samples of lake water for DNA. In research published this month in Astrobiology, they found the signature of one species of bacteria belonging to the genus Acidiphilium–a group of microbes that scientists have previously seen in toxic drainage from coal mines and other harsh locations.
“It’s not uncommon to find an environment with no life, say in a volcano that’s self-sterilizing,” Hynek said. “But to find a single type of organism and not a whole community of organisms is very, very rare in nature.”
If life did evolve on Mars, Hynek said, it would likely have survived in ways similar to the lake’s bacterium–by processing the energy from iron- or sulfur-bearing minerals. Hynek has spent much of his career searching for places on Earth today that look like Mars did nearly four billion years ago, when liquid water was plentiful on the surface.
It’s a hard task: Rampant volcanism during that period created volatile and mineral-rich pools of water, giving rise to “Yellowstones all over Mars,” Hynek said.
In 2020, NASA is planning to send the Mars 2020 Rover to the Red Planet to hunt for fossil evidence of life. Hynek said that they should look first at these “Yellowstones.”
After breaking his neck in a zip line accident in Costa Rica, in season 5, Tobias “Toby” Wyatt Flenderson, returned to his job as Human Resources Representative at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin/Sabre.
Toby Flenderson (played by Paul Lieberstein)
Toby’s love for Costa Rica was revealed in season 4 of The Office, the season where Toby ‘outs’ Pam and Jim’s relationship. Maybe it has something to do with Toby’s crush on Pam, as learned the previous season. In’The Convention”, Toby attempted to ask Pam out but was unsuccessful. He got nervous and retreats by pretending to forget what he had planned to say.
In the ‘Night Out’ episode, Toby reveals that he will move to Costa Rica. In that same episode, Jim, Pam, and Toby start laughing, Toby puts his hand on Pam’s knee. Jim sees this, and Toby announces “I’m moving to Costa Rica. I’ve thought it over… so yeah.” Then he runs out the door and hops the fence.
Pam and Jim
Of course, Toby is not real. But his love for Costa Rica is.
Toby is a fictional character in The Office played by Paul Lieberstein. He is generally soft-spoken and mild-mannered, is divorced (Toby’s ex-wife remarried and is now named Cathy Becker) and has a daughter (Sasha Flenderson). Toby possesses a masters degree in social work from Temple University as seen in Counseling. The frame is crooked in the shot. In Season 4, Episode 2, a diploma is visible in Toby’s cubicle that reads “California Coastal College \n B.S. in Psychology \n Toby Flenderson”, as well as a bumper sticker from Penn State University.
Toby’s parents divorced when he was a child. Both of them wanted custody, and both asked him to testify against the other in court. He was unsure what to do because he loved both his parents and didn’t want them to get divorced in the first place.
A number of emails and bar stool discussions had the same question, what of Fabricio (Alvarado)? Who? You know, the guy you almost became president?
Fabrico, the only guy in the photo during the Nuesta Voz radio program hosted by Amelia Rueda (right) on Tuesday.
On the Nuestra Voz radio program hosted by Amelia Rueda, the ex-presidential candidate said he will return to his role as a journalist, though he has yet to decide if it will be behind the television camera or a microphone on the radio.
“The plan is to have forum to return to assume the role of the communicator”, affirmed on Tuesday the also now former legislator.
Alvarado explained that the project is under development and has no name, although one working title is ‘Fabricio Presenta’, like one of the slogans he used on his Facebook to communicate in the last electoral campaign.
Nor did he specify which television channel or radio station will broadcast his program.
“The idea is to bring personalities from different positions to analyze issues,” he said.
The former presidential candidate said he will also be following closely the work of the 14 legislators of the Partido Restauración Nacional (PRN) that will make up the Legislative Assembly for the next four years. “My task will be to advise and guide them with my experience of the last four years,” said Fabricio.
Another of its objectives will be to strengthen the party for the 2020 municipal elections. “I’m not announcing a candidacy for 2022, I now have to work in the party, work in the country,” he said.
In the Februay 4 presidential election, Fabricio Alvarado won by a small margin over Carlos Alvarado. But neither Alvarado – no relation – won the required 40% of the popular vote, forcing a runoff election on April 1, when Fabricio lost the presidency of the country
Women will set the tone for the first year of the new Legislative Assembly (Congress), with the election of Carolina Hidalgo Herrera, as president of the six-member multiparty legislative body that includes five women.
Carolina Hidalgo, the new president of the Legislative Assembly, elected on Tuesday
Hidalgo, 35, from San Ramon, and currently living in Alajuela, is a lawyer and is a legislative member of the Partido Accion Cuidadana (PAC).
On Tuesday, she was elected by a majority vote, the first woman of the PAC to steer the Legislature for the next 12 months. She is also the third woman in the country’s history to preside over the Congress.
The last time a woman presided over Congress was 18 years ago, when Rina Contreras López, 50 at the time, of Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), was elected for the 2000-2011 period. Before her, for the 1986-1987 period, Rosemary Karspinsky Dodero, 52 at the time, del Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), held the post.
Hidalgo, who is up at 4:10 a.m. every day for her 2.5-kilometer swim, campaigned to promote initiatives in favor of urban reordering and encourage the use of collective transport and the bicycle. She has also spoken of her “commitment to the comprehensive policy of sports and recreation,” as well as the need to promote reforms to the regulations of the Legislative Assembly.
The new president of the Congress, Carolina Hidalgo, likes to mobilize by bicycle. Photo courtesy of the fraction of the PAC
Moreover, Hidalgo is “totally” in favor of same-sex marriage and the need to legalize abortion, because he considers “that we must advance in the sexual and reproductive rights of women.”
The other young woman to influence the Legislative process is Maria Ines Solis Quiros, 34 years old, who was elected vice-president of the Congress.
Three other women make up the Congress board: Ivonne Acuna Cabera (36) of the Restauracion Nacional; Yorleno Leon Marchena (47) of the PLN; and Shirley Dias Mejia (48) of the PUSC. Luis Fdo. Chacon Monge (59) of the PLN is the only male member of the multiparty board.
Around US$500,000 worth of video surveillance equipment meant for Costa Rican prisons sat in the U.S. Embassy for years because officials didn’t know how to plug in the cameras.
The State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office (INL) at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica, ordered the US$540,077 surveillance setup for a high-security prison in 2015 as part of the government’s assistance with local law enforcement.
The problem is management didn’t have a plan to connect the video system to the electrical grid, according to an Inspector General’s inspection of the embassy released Monday. The prison “lacked the necessary electrical infrastructure and cabling,” the report stated.
Video surveillance was necessary to “monitor host government prison conditions due to past allegations of prisoner mistreatment,” the report noted. A 2013 State Department report detailed a number of human rights abuses, including torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners, at multiple prisons around the country.
As the video equipment sat unused in INL’s warehouse at the embassy, the two-year warranties expired, drastically decreasing their resale value. Government purchasers are supposed to have a plan to install such equipment before acquiring it. When inspectors visited the embassy between September and December 2017, officials were considering spending between US$500,000 and US$1.2 million more for facility upgrades.
The acquisition “decision-making process did not take into account the facility improvements required to operate the equipment,” the report said.
After the OIG recommended the company should come up with a plan, INL said it donated the equipment to Penitentiary Police Dec. 17 to be installed in three high-security prisons at “no additional investment” from the embassy. The OIG was still waiting for documentation of the transfer of equipment but otherwise marked the recommendation as complete, the inspectors said.
It’s unclear how INL resolved the lack of the electrical infrastructure or if the equipment went to different prisons than first intended. The State Department did not immediately return The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Partially due to the video equipment, the embassy’s warehouse stored $617,000 worth of equipment waiting to be given to the Costa Rican agencies. The warehouse had $343,000 of computer equipment — some items worth upwards of $15,000 — intended for the Costa Rican Government. The OIG didn’t find any irregularities with the computer equipment but suggested INL improve its inventory management system.
From all parts of the country, they came out for the traditional “marcha de los trabajadores” (march of the workers) in the center of San Jose, some defending health, education, while others expressing the discontent of the workers against the proposed tax reform.
The multitudinous march was colorful, full of music & rhythm, moving along the Avenida Segunda (Second Avenue) from the La Merced park to the Legislative Assembly to be noticed by the new crop of legislators (all but 6 of the 57 legislators are new) that took their seats for the first time today.
The march had the participation of most of the workers’ unions in the country.
One of the things the new group of legislators that take their curuls (seats) in the Legislative Assembly today, May 1, is to support or reject the bill for the absorption of the Bancredito by the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR).
Last week, the bill led by Otton Solis, made it to the legislative commission stage to promote the absorption law, which would increase BCR assets by ¢25 billlion colones.
BCR’s motivation is to increase business in the province of Cartage, increase its assets through the properties owned by Bancredito, the administration of the country’s airport tax, among others, according to BCR (interim) general manager, Douglas Soto.
Two weeks ago, the BCR and the intervention team of the Bancredito signed a cooperation agreement to stop Bancredito’s assets deteriating further.
The question being asked by many is, why now, why not before the Bancredito’s insolvency problems began?
The Banco Crédito Agrícola de Cartago was intervened by the superintendent of banks, the Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (Sugef), on December 22, 2017, after the entity fell in default of payments with Hacienda (the Treasury), it could not pay out the investment in term deposit certificates made by the Ministerio Hacienda.
The financial problems at the Bancredito began in mid-2016 and deteriorated rapidly when the arrears of eight business loans hit its profits, forcing the government to take action, stopping its function as a financial intermediary (bank) due to the liquidity crisis. The bank continued to operate to collect the airport exit tax and as an institutional bank.
In case you were asking, why the need to involve legislators? Because both Bancrédito and the BCR are state entities, created by law, and any changes require the approval of the Legislative Assembly.
The organization of the Central American Council of Tourism recently held a meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to continue the search for concrete actions in favor of greater integration and cooperation, such as a common visa, which will result in the growth of this important sector for the region.
Taking part in meetings were delegations from Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, under the organization of the Central American Tourism Council (CCT), the Central American Tourism Promotion Agency (CATA) and the Secretariat of Central American Tourism Integration (Sitca).
“Among the challenges we face are breaking down those barriers that impede the free mobility of tourists and visitors in the intraregional aspect, in addition to trying to reduce the costs of air tickets and the application of more competitive rates,” Rodrigo Báez, executive secretary of the Sitca, the organism of the System for the Central American Integration (Sica), told EFE.
Another point being discussed by the participants is the achievement of greater air connection in the region.
Dominican Tourism Minister, Francisco Javier García, is calling for the creation of a common visa for tourists and visitors from the region. He considers that the ideal for Central America is the model of the European Union (EU), which allows those who receive a visa from one of the member countries to visit all the other member nations of that bloc.
Last year, Central America and the Dominican Republic received 23.1 million visitors, registering a growth of 7.5%, compared to 2016, which represented 1.6 million additional visitors.
The main markets for tourists to the region were North America (43.3%), Central America (26.8%), Europe (15.8%), South America (11.8%), Asia (0.9%), Caribbean (0.7%), and rest of the world. (0.7%).
Costa Rica is one of those countries that has it all, everything from beaches and volcanoes, to jungles and national parks rich wildlife. Places like the coastal area of Tamarindo are packed full of beach bars and tour guides ready to take you zip-lining and quad-biking.
Meanwhile, tranquil towns like Puerto Viejo, on the border with Panama, are perfect for laying around on the beach and feasting on seafood. But, that’s not always why people come to Costa Rica.
People flock to Costa Rica from across the globe to admire its natural beauty and wildlife hotspots in the Costa Rica National Parks. Costa Rica is “wild” and has protected (by law) about 25% of its natural terrain through jungles and national parks.
In total, the country has 27 national parks teeming with wildlife including spider monkeys, sloths, and quetzal birds. It is no secret that Costa Rica has an outstanding level of biodiversity for such a small country. Huge amounts of the nation are covered in rainforest, which forms the natural habitat for thousands of these birds and animals.
Those who travel into the depths of the rainforest also have the chance to see jaguars, ocelots, monkeys, sloths, and crocodiles!
Of course, in order to spot Costa Rica’s wildlife, you need to know where to go and you need to be with someone who knows what they are doing. Here are seven of the best places in the country for wildlife-spotting. Be sure and enlist a guide to help you seek out the rainforest’s inhabitants!
1. Corcovado National Park
Corcovado encompasses a range of different terrains, from the beach habitats along the coast, through the rainforest, up to the cloud forest. Each zone boasts different wildlife and all of them are worth your time to explore. What brings people to Corcovado Park is the chance to see some of Costa Rica’s rarest animals.
Sightings of jaguars, scarlet macaws, and Harpy’s eagles occur more regularly than anywhere else in the country, so have your camera ready! Once you come out from under the rainforest’s canopy, you can take a dip in the ocean or go on a whale and dolphin watching tour. At the end of the day, rinse yourself off under a waterfall and relax in your accommodations.
2. Marino Ballena National Park
For those that don’t speak Spanish, ballena means whale. Marino Ballena National Park is named after the humpback whales that migrate past its coastline every year. Visitors are able to see whales and dolphins breaching in the water from the beaches.
Sea turtles and marine iguanas are also frequently spotted here. This is without a doubt the number one spot for marine wildlife spotting. Just outside the park, in Uvita are a number of hotels as well as some luxury Costa Rica vacation rentals – perfect if you want to spend the night and have a few extra days at the park!Costa Rica National Parks, Marino Ballena National Park
3. Caño Negro Wetlands National Wildlife Refuge
The tours through the Caño Negro Wetlands National Wildlife Refuge are done by boat. With the formidable Arenal Volcano looming in the background, it makes for quite the adventure. This park is a particular favorite with bird-lovers and from December through May, the whole area is teeming with colorful birds. Highlights include the laughing falcon, amazon kingfisher, and toucan.
Those with a penchant for fishing will be pleased to know that fishing in Caño Negro is one of Costa Rica’s best-kept secrets. Snook, guapote, and tarpon can all be found in the murky waters of the Río Frío that runs through the park. Make sure you get yourself a license from the ranger hut in Caño Negro Village before you set off.
4. Monteverde Cloud Forest
The misty haze that settles over the trees in Monteverde is what makes it such a magical destination. Whether you choose to explore the forest by walking along its hanging bridges, following its trails, or swinging through it on a zip line, you will be astounded by its beauty.
One of the main attractions of the park is the brightly colored quetzals that live in the forest. People come from far and wide to admire these striking birds. The cloud forest is also home to butterflies, tree frogs, monkeys, deer, and tapirs. Note that it can get chilly up in the cloud forest so take something warm to wear while you explore the region.
5. Tortuguero National Park
The Tortuguero National Park is one the best places on the planet to see turtles up close. Just like Caño Negro, the park can only be accessed by boat and the journey takes visitors along the shores where they can see the turtles’ nesting spots.
Green sea turtles, Olive Ridley turtles, and leatherback turtles all come here to lay their eggs – a spectacle that is breath-taking to behold. The various creeks and lagoons are also home to a number of endemic species.
The serenity of the park as you float along the lazy water is thoroughly captivating. Be aware that the water here has strong currents and a large shark population and is therefore not suitable for swimming.
6. Manuel Antonio National Park
Although the Manuel Antonio National Park is the smallest of Costa Rica National Parks, it is without a doubt one of the country’s best and most beautiful. The park’s abundance of sloths and monkeys is just one of its many attractions.
The trails that run through the rainforest wind through the trees, under the shade of the canopy, until they open up onto the pristine white sand beaches. Visitors can easily spend a day soaking up the sunshine on the beach or seeking out the animals that dwell in the leafy regions of the rainforest.
7. Carara National Park
Just outside San Jose, Costa Rica’s lively capital is Carara National Park. Its proximity to the city makes it one of the most accessible and therefore most popular parks in the country. It is a hub of ornithological activity and draws in thousands of amateur birdwatchers, many of whom will happily tell you about the birds you can see.
There are other notable attractions at this park: the Crocodile Bridge.
From the bridge, you can see crocodiles swimming through the water or sunning themselves on the banks. With these large crocks just 50 feet away, this is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
There you have it, a run down of 7 of the most amazing Costa Rica National Parks.
Marriott Courtyard Escazu, San Jose, Costa Rica. Photo Booking.com
Ithaca Capital Partners announced that it agreed to acquire the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Escazu, San Jose. The firm did not disclose the contracted purchase price.
Marriott Courtyard Escazu, San Jose, Costa Rica. Photo Booking.com
The firm has also agreed to buy the brand’s 145-key location in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic.
Orestes Fintiklis, Managing Partner of Ithaca Capital, stated “We are excited by an investment into two (Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic ) of the fastest-growing economies in the region and we are confident that the quality of the assets and fundamentals of the transaction will generate unique returns.”
The San Jose property comprises 120 key (room), a food & beverage outlet, meeting space, parking spaces, outdoor pool, fitness center and other amenities. The hotel is located in the western suburb of Escazú, along the Próspero Fernández Highway (Ruta 27), and 9 kilometers from the Juan Santamaria International airport (SJO).
In August 2017, Ithaca announced the acquisition of the Trump International Hotel, Panama, a 369 luxurious condo-hotel, with world-class restaurants and conference facilities within a 70-storey tower, the tallest building in Central America and a regional landmark.
In a routine traffic check, on suspicion of illegal transportation, a man was detained on a previous arrest warrant and traveling with a minor with whom he allegedly maintained a relationship.
When asked if they were family, the man bolted out of the car and tried to run away, ending up in a scuffle with a Transito (traffic) police officer, just outside the Traffic police headquarters in San Jose. The minor told police that she had been in a relationship with the 33-year-old man, identified as Alvarado Abarco, for the last two years.
According to the OIJ, the man was detained and faces charges for an apparent improper relationship and resistance to authority (the scuffle with the traffic official).
Street racing (piques in Spanish) and possibly the use of alcohol and drugs were a deadly mixture Monday night, when one of the drivers of one of the vehicles involved in the illegal activity lost control, hit a concrete divider wall, and splits in half.
Photos from Telenoticias
The incident, occurring at 11:46 p.m. on the Pavas direction on the Circunvalacion, 400 meters from the traffic lights, left two dead and two others injured, and in serious condition in hospital.
Witnesses told the television news cameras, the vehicle was traveling at a great speed when it appears the driver lost control, hit the concrete median, flipped in the air and then splitting in half as it came crashing down.
Although their names were not released to the press, the bodies of the two deceased were strewn on both sides of the road, forcing the total closure of the Circunvalacion, in both directions, for hours.
In the three months prior to each World Cup, Uruguay is struck by a ‘fever’ for collecting Panini album stickers. This phenomenon affects children and adults, young and old, women and men.
If a foreigner walks along July 18 Avenue, Montevideo’s high street, they’ll be sure to notice kiosks selling and trading World Cup players’ stickers. Adults can be seen haggling over stickers with the passion of children at recess.
Exchange of Russia 2018 World Cup Stickers
The scene repeats itself every four years, about 100 days prior to the start of each World Cup. In fact, Uruguay is among the countries with the highest per capita sales of stickers and with the highest rate of completed albums, explains Nicolás Lerner, the commercial manager of Panini — an Italian company that has been making World Cup stickers since 1970.
“The FIFA World Cup album isn’t a children’s game. We can see collectors who are five years old and up. It’s not just men who collect stickers: 30-40% are women. They include grandmothers and grandfathers. Those who used to be ashamed to say that they’re buying stickers now say it with total pride,” Lerner said.
Why is this practice so successful in Uruguay? There is no single answer, but it can be explained by a great tradition of collecting and a huge passion for football. Sputnik Mundo discussed the matter with sticker collectors and sellers.
Russia World Cup 2018 Stickers Vendor
“I sell and I don’t complain, but I have no idea why it is so fierce. There are studies that appear in the news and say that compared to Spain or Italy, even if they have more people, we consume more stickers. It’s all about fanaticism” — Sergio Vázquez, who runs a kiosk in downtown Montevideo, says.
For his part, Panini’s manager points out that the albums’ theme unites people as it “cuts across the whole of society”, since “there’s no distinction of socioeconomic level, nor of gender or of age.”
Every time Uruguay plays football, even in a friendly, non-competitive match, the country is paralyzed. Public offices see their operation distorted. Some shops modify their opening hours and traffic collapses with people who want to get home to watch the game.
Russia World Cup 2018 Stickers
Moreover there’s a hobby of collecting stickers and other little things with sportsmen on them. The custom dates back to the late 19th century, when the first football players’ images came in cigarette boxes imported from Argentina or England, says Lerner.
Tobacconists had fierce competition through this marketing strategy, but at a certain point they stopped putting the cards into cigarette boxes. There they moved to the candy boxes, especially chocolates. And then they were resold at the local stalls.
“Here in Uruguay about 700 albums were seen, without counting all the collections of stickers that do not have albums, more than 150 of which are related to football” — Panini’s manager says.
Russia World Cup 2018 Stickers
The first World Cup album was that of Mexico 1970. However, the first official album to come to Uruguay was that of France 1998. The company’s commercial strategy in Uruguay was based on reaching all parts of the country, with more than 19,000 sales outlets. It may be reached through an alliance with a company that distributes alfajores, a popular Southern American treat.
“It’s a myth that’s about thirty or forty years old. I was talking to collectors to learn where this urban legend came from. They say it’s from the 50’s and 70’s. The locals made their own stickers and sold them with trucks in the neighborhoods. Everything was homemade: the sheets were cut by hand as well as the envelopes,” Lerner says.
In that process, they removed a sticker from each sheet and that’s why “it was very difficult to complete an album; only one in 2,000 or 3,000 people could do it”. According to Panini, this strategy is at odds with the current one. Today, the printing process occurs in equal quantities and the stickers are enveloped at random.
Russia World Cup 2018 Stickers Vendor
“For us, the key is that the album should be completed: the more satisfied customers we have, the better the business is. Otherwise the process will encounter frustrations” — he says.
A university study was carried out by the University of Geneva in 2010. A group of mathematicians hypothesized a possible shortage of certain Panini’s stickers but this theory has been discredited.
According to Sergio Vázquez, he opened more than 1,500 envelopes and “never” saw the “00” number. Instead, he has at least 20 Lionel Messi cards.
Bernardi also agrees with that. At 2014 Brazil World Cup, he completed “all countries”, except the one that cost him the most, both on this and other occasions: Uruguay.
The arrival of the first Cuban migrants in the United States, although only a small fraction of the more than 6,000 Cubans still stranded in Costa Rica, symbolizes the collapse of that hateful wall raised by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega to block their passage through Central America.
The wall was erected via the deployment of troops, police and tear gas, alleging “national security” as a reason to deny the migrants temporary transit visas. Ortega’s reasoning failed to convince anyone in Nicaragua or any of the countries belonging to the Central America Integration System (SICA).
The wall has been torn down thanks to a diplomatic initiative involving the decisive participation of Mexico, which facilitated an accord between Costa Rica and the Central American countries to the north – El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. The agreement prevailed with the support of the International Organization for Migration (OIM), the consent of the United States, and in the absence of any objection from Cuba. In this way a secure route was found for resolving an exceptional migrant problem whose solution was well within the possibilities of the Central American Integration System had it not been thwarted by Comandante Ortega’s arrogance.
Clearly, the underlying issue won’t be resolved until the United States Congress repeals the Cuban Adjustment Act with its “wet foot-dry foot” policy that confers on the Cubans a distinctively different treatment, one unique in the world in terms of immigration policies. It’s a law as archaic as the U.S. trade embargo in this era of normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba, and sooner or later its time will come.
But it’s one thing to demand the repeal of this law and something very different to orchestrate the kind of blackmail that Ortega imposed on the SICA by closing our southern border and thus holding the Cuban migrants hostage in Costa Rica.
In the end, the Cubans flew from Liberia, a city in northern Costa Rica, to El Salvador, and after crossing three other countries arrived at the United States border. Ortega’s wall drove up the cost of their trip, but costed the Nicaraguan government even more when the Comandante was left “hanging by the seat of his pants” with his policy completely isolated in a region that has been trying to take the lead against the United States on matters of immigration. In addition, Ortega’s disguise of “Christianity and solidarity” slipped off, revealing to his neighbors and international public opinion the demagoguery that masks the authoritarian regime that we endure in Nicaragua.
At the root of this apparently irrational behavior in Nicaragua lies a structural cause. Under Ortega, a State foreign policy based on national interests came to an end. It was substituted by a conspiratorial strategy based exclusively on the alignment of friends and enemies around the interests of the Comandante.
This conspiracy is directed by a closed family circle, and marked by a lack of transparency and public debate. That’s how the concession for a canal was negotiated with the Chinese mogul Wang Jing to the detriment of the national interest, and why a solitary Nicaragua, motivated by the alliance between Ortega and Putin, supported Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s independence from Georgia.
And since we’re also clients and partners of Chavez’ Venezuela, Nicaragua denounces at international forums the “economic warfare” and the “international plot” to overturn Maduro, while Ortega profits from the private business deals made possible by diverting millions in international cooperation from the Venezuelan state.
On the topic of the Cuban migrants, Ortega has been moved by his ideological alignment with Cuba to attack the United States. The paradox is that while the one-party Cuban regime is at the center of his personal political ideals, he can’t be guided by the island’s economic model; not only because of its palpable failures, but also because the Comandante, when all is said and done, is a pragmatic Stalinist who himself holds a large amount of private capital in the country as well as being in partnership with many large business owners.
In addition to the alignment with Cuba, the blockade of the Cuban migrants has been influenced by Ortega’s political blindness: he views the democratic government of Costa Rica as part of an enemy band that conspires against him. This perception has its roots in the cold war of the 80s, and with help from the necessary counterpart of Costa Rican collaborators has kept both countries from sustaining a political dialogue for the past nine years.
Given that Nicaragua is a country of emigrants – over 20% of our population live in the United States, Costa Rica and other countries – the absence of a permanent dialogue with Costa Rica is unforgivable; it represents a mockery of the interests and the rights of our fellow citizens that work either seasonally or permanently in that country.
For reasons of law, but also for ethical and human rights considerations, Nicaragua’s State policies should support the legal and safe migration of our citizens to Costa Rica. Nevertheless, Ortega has never designed such policies to support our emigrants, and he was even less prepared to accept that the demand of the Cuban migrants to make their crossing through Nicaragua wasn’t a foreign conspiracy but a legitimate matter of migratory human rights.
We are now witnessing the third consecutive failure in the last two months of Ortega’s foreign policies. The first was during the COP21 forum on climate change in Paris, where his government was one of only a few in the world – forming a select club with North Korea – that opposed the global accord, refusing to present a proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Several days later in the Hague, the International Court of Justice emitted a verdict that condemned Nicaragua for violating the sovereignty of Costa Rican territory and also obligated them to negotiate a compensation agreement. The third, obviously, is the fiasco of the Cuban migrants.
Common sense suggests that we should wait for a rectification, but that won’t happen until a democratic political change is produced in Nicaragua. Hence, we can expect worse times ahead with the same pompous rhetoric of Ortega, unleashing “battles” against his enemies. As a consolation, we are left with the fact that in the area of migrant rights Ortega’s demagoguery has reached an end.
Pedro X. Molina, Confidential’s cartoonist, immortalized the Comandante in a sketch entitled “Dany –Trump”, a fusion of both personalities in which Trump’s inimitable blond crest of hair is reborn upon Ortega’s baldness, like one of those yellow metal trees that the First Lady installed in Managua, presenting it as the new symbol of his regime. From now on, each time that Trump vociferates against the Latin American migrants that try to reach the United States, we’ll see the reflection of Ortega in the mirror of this grotesque personality, his Trumpian scorn for the Nicaraguan and Cuban migrants and the collapse of his wall in Central America.
Managua, Nicaragua – Embattled Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, battered by two weeks of street protests so violent many of his political enemies are openly saying he’s lost control of his government, offered an impressive show of strength in rebuttal Monday, leading tens of thousands of supporters in a pledge to “say yes to peace!” at a huge street rally.
“We must say no to death, no to destruction, no to violence, no to barbarity!” Ortega said, leading his supporters in raising their hands as if swearing an oath. “Yes to life, yes to dialogue, yes to work , yes to peace!” The crowd roared in mighty approval.
Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega speaks to supporters in Las Victorias square in Managua on Monday. Photo Alfredo Zuniga AP.
Ortega’s supporters mounted the rally in response to a chain of Saturday demonstrations across the country demanding his resignation — the biggest of them, with a crowd as big as 150,000 by some estimates, just a couple of miles down the street from where the Sandinistas gathered.
Ortega needed “a sea of people” to show “the love and care that we have for our undisputed leader,” the Sandinista communique announcing the rally said, and he certainly got it. While Ortega’s demonstration was not nearly as big as that of the opposition — and certainly included some ringers, government employees ordered to attend — it was nonetheless an impressive achievement.
Thousands of people gather outside Managua’s Cathedral during Saturday’s massive march called by the Catholic Church as a day of prayer, in Managua, Nicaragua. Photo Alfredo Zuniga AP
His supporters filled a small plaza on a traffic circle near the Hilton Princess Hotel on the capital’s south side, the crowd extending out for blocks in all directions along the four streets exiting the traffic circle. Except for Ortega’s somewhat meandering but popularly received speech at the end, there was no talking, just singing and dancing along to some four hours of recorded music.
Many of the songs were old party hymns from the 1960s and 1970s, when the Sandinistas were a guerrilla group fighting to topple Nicaragua’s decades-old Somoza-family political dynasty. Old Sandinistas in the crowd sang reverently along to the tunes on Monday, some with eyes looking off into a distant past.
Supporters of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega hold up his photo and Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) flags during a government event at Las Victorias square in Managua, Nicaragua, Monday, April 30, 2018. Alfredo Zuniga AP
But there was also music clearly aimed at Nicaragua’s here and now. The DJ played at least 10 Spanish-language versions of the old Ben E. King record “Stand By Me,” an anguished plea for loyalty in the darkest night of the soul, as Ortega’s supporters sang along in obvious comprehension.
“You have to remember we had war for such a long time,” said Ortega supporter Aura Montaño, a 54-year-old accountant, her eyes glistening. “Now we’re developing, in health, in education, in everything. And all these advances were under the comandante.”
Not everybody, perhaps, shared her spontaneous enthusiasm. “A lot of these people work for the government, and the government told them to be here,” said a taxi driver whose cab stand was surrounded by the crowd. “The government pays them, so they do it.”
Demonstrators wearing work shirts from the government electric company and healthcare organizations were numerous. So were uniformed workers from several Sandinista-controlled city halls, some in towns as far away as Rio Blanco, more than a four-hour drive east of Managua.
A caravan carrying peasants from northern Nicaragua arrives in Managua to participate in a massive march called by the Catholic Church as a day of prayer on Saturday, April 28, 2018. Alfredo Zuniga AP
And more than a few members of the crowd looked like they would rather be anywhere else, sullenly refusing to talk with reporters about how much they supported the government. “Go ask that woman waving the flag,” snapped one, pointing at a demonstrator wildly waving a black-and-red Sandinista banner.
But the overwhelming majority seemed sincere in their devotion to Ortega. “Most of us Nicaraguans still support the government,” said 27-year-old Roberto Fonseca, who works for a private company in Managua. “We’ve got people on the other side, of course, but most of us believe the government is working for the general good of the country.”
Like the opposition rally on Saturday, the Sandinista rally was completely peaceful. The 19th Of April Student Movement, an umbrella organization for the many small student groups who’ve traded punches with Sandinista supporters and — and, in dozens of cases, been fatally gunned down by them — had promised to stay off the streets until Wednesday and kept its word.
The peaceful demonstrations of the past three days have been a dramatic contrast to the bloody street battles of the previous two weeks, which according to human rights groups took as many as 63 lives and left more than 400 injured.
The protests began after Ortega announced a rise in social security taxes and a reduction in services in mid-April. In the wake of the violent response by police, the protests have broadened into general demand that Ortega and Murillo leave office. The Catholic Church has called for an organized dialogue between the government and its opponents, which is expected to get under way in early May.
On this day, on May 1, 1985, President Ronald Reagan banned trade with Nicaragua to try to undermine the Sandinista government which came to power in 1979.
The embargo both forbade American products from entering Nicaragua (with exceptions for medicine and other humanitarian goods) and Nicaraguan products from entering the United States. It further banned all Nicaraguan ships from landing in any U.S. port or planes from landing on U.S. soil. The strategy was similar to the embargo against Cuba.
Ronald Reagan, on the day he declared the embargo, stated: “I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, find that the policies and actions of the Government of Nicaragua constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”
Reagan made four demands against Nicaragua during his embargo announcement:
To “halt its export of armed insurrection, terrorism, and subversion in neighboring countries.”
To end its military ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union
To cease its “massive arms buildup”
To adhere, in law and practice, to democratic principles and “observance of full political and human rights.”
In 1986 the embargo was found to be in violation of international law by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.
The ICJ’s ruling states that the embargo was “in breach of obligations under Article XIX of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the Parties signed at Managua on 21 January 1956”, stating that “neither party shall impose restrictions or prohibitions on the importation of any product of the other party, or on the exportation of any product to the territories of the other party.”
Further, by laying mines in Nicaraguan waters to enforce the embargo, the United States of America also violated “its obligations under customary international law not to use force against another State”.
The United States was therefore obligated “to cease and to refrain from all such acts” and pay an unspecified amount in reparations to Nicaragua.
However, the United States continued the embargo nearly 4 years after the ruling, and did not pay reparations.
The embargo was extended for six months by George H. W. Bush on November 1, 1989.He later lifted the embargo after five months on March 1990.
