Costa Rica is a very popular vacation destination, whether you are looking for complete relaxation or an action packed trip, and visitors to Costa Rica can choose from a wealth of fun activities that are sure to suit their tastes. Here are some of the most popular things to do in Costa Rica.
Zip Lining
One of the most adrenaline filled activities to enjoy in Costa Rica is a zip line adventure through the spectacular forest canopy. Tourists can take an aerial tram ride up to a rainforest viewing platform with amazing aerial views before enjoying a thrilling zip line ride through the treetops. One of the best is in the Arenal Reserve, with panoramic views of the Arenal Volcano.
White Water Rafting
True thrill seekers will love the white water rafting trips that they can find in Costa Rica. The Naranjo River’s El Chorro section offers one of the most intense experiences with technical narrows and tight squeezes between canyon walls.
Relaxing
Many visitors to Costa Rica prefer to just take time out from their busy lives, completely relax and enjoy the things that they love most. Whether reading a book, unwinding by the pool, sunbathing or even visiting www.alljackpotscasino.com to enjoy the excitement and fun of All Jackpots Casino’s range of popular online games like video poker, blackjack and slots with the chance having a big win, there is plenty to do in Costa Rica to keep even the most picky holidaymaker happy.
Hot Springs
For those who prefer a more relaxing experience on their vacation, the EcoTermales Hot Springs in Costa Rica provides the perfect retreat. This private oasis offers warm mineral waters that heal and restore as well as rainforest walking trails, an elegant cocktail lounge and and authentic homestyle restaurant.
Golfing
Keen golfers will be delighted to discover that Costa Rica has numerous courses for you to choose from. One of the best is the La Iguana course at the Costa Rica Los Delfines Golf & Country Club. Pristine and beautiful, there are wonderful views of the local coastline and lush rainforest to enjoy here while you tee off.
Diving and Snorkeling
The clear and nutrient rich waters of the Costa Rican coastline provides a wonderful experience for divers and snorkelers of all ages and levels of experience. There is a wealth of wildlife to spot including dolphins, manta rays, sea turtles and whale sharks and with amazing visibility, there is no better way to spend the day. El Bajo del Diablo is one of the most popular diving spots where tropical fish and sharks can often be seen.
Beach-Hopping
Despite its location, tucked between the Pacific and the Caribbean, Costa Rica’s beaches have a character all of their own. From the brown sand beach at Playa Matapalo to the unusual sands at Playa Conchal where are made entirely from crushed shells, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Surfers should head to Tamarindo Beach which is known for its excellent waves.
These are just some of the wonderful things you could do in the beautiful Costa Rica. Enjoy your stay!
American Airlines is treating overhead bins like reserved spots in a constantly crowded parking lot beginning Feb. 1. For some special customers, that is.
The company sent an internal memo this week naming a few perks for passengers who pay for extra legroom, travel site Forward Cabin reported. The memo says American will install placards that will identify some overhead bins as being for the exclusive use of “main cabin extra” passengers, who pay an extra $20 for various perks. Another key point: Flight attendants will not be responsible for monitoring these spaces.
A spokesman for the airline said it’s offering “easier access to overhead bins,” in addition to a free drink.
“One of the biggest frustrations for travelers is the boarding process,” said Brett Snyder, founder and author of airline industry blog Cranky Flier. “There’s this need to get on board quickly solely because of the desire to make sure there’s room in the overhead bins for carry-on bags. American Airlines is taking the pressure off those passengers, he said. (American Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.)
Airlines are also under pressure to take the hassle out of traveling and make sure passengers don’t fight among themselves. The industry ranked seventh-to-last out of 43 industries in the American Customer Satisfaction Index in 2016. All aspects of air travel have been criticized, such as airfare, booking flights, getting onto the plane and even the flight itself.
Some airlines have tackled overhead space differently. United Airlines UAL, +0.73% offers basic economy, which restricts passengers from bringing on any carry-on bags, something American also offers now. Frontier Airlines FRNT, +0.00% charges $25 for overhead bin space. Ryanair only allows one small carry-on bag for free, and charges for any additional bag.
Airlines are not just clamping down on overhead bins. Others are setting rules all across the air travel process. Delt recently announced new rules for people bringing support animals, including paperwork proving they are actually service pets and also a doctor’s note showing the passenger really needs it. The new rule will curb unqualified pets (and not just dogs, but snakes, spiders and turkeys) from disrupting others on the plane.
“The United States appear to be destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty.” Those words were written by Simón Bolivar, 189 years ago. The Great Liberator understood that liberation and the U.S.’ concept of liberty are not the same. When imperialists talk about liberty, they mean access to land, water, and other natural resources for private development and profit.
Ana Esther Ceceña, in a piece published by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense in 2013, describes the objectives of the United States in Latin America and the world. She says the U.S. has “two general objectives: to guarantee the maintenance of capitalism and within it, the primacy of the United States; and to guarantee the availability of all the riches of the world as the material base for the functioning of the system, assuring that its hierarchies and dynamics of power are maintained.”
Six years before Bolivar penned his prescient words, the Monroe Doctrine said to European governments that any attempt to interfere in Latin America would be deemed “dangerous to our peace and safety….. we could not view any interposition…by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.”
By emphasizing this interference as “an unfriendly disposition toward the United States,” the Monroe Doctrine portrayed Latin American independence within a context of U.S. interests and influence. Since the establishment of the Monroe Doctrine, U.S. history in Latin America has been marked by invasions and occupations and proxy wars and outright theft of land such as occurred in the War against Mexico. This has made it difficult for the U.S. to establish full-on military bases in Latin America. The Mexican public especially maintains an aversion to U.S. military presence within its borders. Unfortunately, the country’s oligarchy ignores this aversion and betrays the people’s national pride.
Nevertheless, the U.S. has been successful in establishing bases in several countries throughout Latin America, with formally recognized bases in El Salvador, occupied Cuba, Aruba, Curacao, Antigua and Barbuda, Andros Island in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and even a micro-base, or “Lily Pad” in Costa Rica that the Costa Rican government officially denies.
However, until recently, the momentum had been against U.S. bases. Starting in 1999, when the U.S. lost the Howard Air Base in Panama, the number of U.S. bases had steadily declined. In 2008 the Colombian government had agreed to grant U.S. access to seven bases, but this was struck down by the constitutional court in 2010. The reality is that the U.S. continues to access and use these bases based on other agreements. The court decision was against a permanent foreign presence, but “permanency” is a somewhat amorphous concept open to interpretation. It is safe to say that U.S. access to these bases is relatively unfettered and continuous. And in 2008 the government of Ecuador booted the U.S. from its Manta base. Ernesto Samper, head of Unasur (the Union of South American Nations) has said that U.S. military bases should “leave the continent”.
Now the pendulum is swinging the other way, which is one reason we need this anti-bases movement. The coup in Honduras in 2009 occurred shortly after the elected president Manuel Zelaya had proposed converting the Palmerola (or Soto Cano) Air Force Base into a civilian airport. The U.S. and Honduras had both used the base since the 80s when it was an important component of the Contra war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Since the coup, the U.S. has undertaken new construction on the base and increased the number of troops, including stationing some 250 U.S. Marines there. Today there are more than 1,300 U.S. military and civilian employees, dwarfing the population of 300 persons at the Honduran Air Force Academy. Also since the coup, the U.S. military has built a base at Catarasca in Honduras’ Mosquitia region, and in Guanaja, the U.S. Navy has built a facility for the Honduran Navy that reportedly hosts both US and Honduran aircraft.
And that is just Honduras. At the end of 2016, Peru’s regional government in Amazonas approved a partnership with SouthCom, the U.S. military’s Southern Command, and Pentagon Contratistas to build a new base in that country. With the legislative coup against the government of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil and the right wing electoral victory in Argentina, both those countries are growing closer to the U.S. military, showing an openness to new U.S. military bases. Brazilian President Michel Temer has invited the U.S. to use the Alcantara missile and rocket launching base. (Samuel Pinheiro Guimaraes, Brazil’s former General Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Strategic Affairs, posits that “The Americans’ main objective is to have a military base in Brazilian territory with which it can exercise its sovereignty outside the laws of the Brazilian authorities…. The location of Alcantara in the Brazilian northeast facing West Africa is ideal for the United States for its political and military operations in South America and Africa.”) In Argentina, neoliberal President Mauricio Macri reached an agreement with the U.S. in May, 2016, to let the U.S. build two bases, one in Tierra del Fuego and the other, the Guaraní base, on the triple border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, in the area of the world’s largest reservoir of drinkable, fresh water.
Speaking of water and natural resources, if we look at how the bases and military activities and presences are spread throughout Latin America, we can see that they are located in and around concentrations of mineral and oil deposits, big agribusiness centers, and large reservoirs of water. The combined water resources of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru dwarf the resources of the next most water-rich countries and regions.
Despite these setbacks, the anti-bases movement in Latin America is strong and a manifestation of the people’s will. Furthermore, these bases not only threaten Latin America and especially Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, and the ALBA countries that form a bulwark against U.S. interventionism. They threaten the world. From the Palenquero base in Colombia – one of the seven Colombia bases where the U.S. is constantly… but not “permanently”… present, with no or just one refueling stop, jets can reach any country in Latin America, as well as Africa and the Middle East.
The presence of U.S. military bases is only one component of the infrastructure of Empire. We know that U.S. military invasions, occupations, base constructions and accords are almost always followed by the passage of laws undermining traditional farming, the diversion of water resources, the exploitation of mineral and oil wealth, the militarization of police and borders, and the construction of and redesign of penitentiary systems on a U.S. mass incarceration model.
In terms of U.S. military activities in Latin America, the issue of the bases is really the tip of the iceberg. We must also consider the reactivation of the 4th Fleet in the Caribbean, the rapid increase in joint military exercises throughout the hemisphere which often result in the deployment of temporary, and therefore mobile, bases, and the constant flow of military advisors. One of the most effective methods to get around the anti-bases movement is via what might be called a puppet sovereignty, wherein nations pursue activities, policies, and accords that appear independent of the U.S. but in reality further U.S. strategies and designs.
Ana Cecena writes about how the Pentagon’s global command system guarantees “… a more detailed supervision of the lands, seas, glaciers, and populations that make up the Earth in its entirety.” These commands effectively put the militaries and security apparatuses of most other nations under the coordination of the Pentagon.
These “Commands” only represent one aspect of this phenomenon. As is so often the case, Colombia is the testing ground for this puppet sovereignty. For instance, in 2012, the U.S. and Colombia signed an agreement of military cooperation that has had Colombia undertaking joint patrols with the U.S. in Central America and West Africa. The U.S. has promoted a partnership between NATO and Colombia. Colombia has become heavily involved in the training of military, police, court, and prison personnel around the world. Over the last decade, Colombia has trained well over 25,000 persons in other countries. Half have been in Mexico, with the other leading recipients being Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama. It must be added that when we speak of “puppet sovereignty,” this is not meant to imply that the Colombian military is less capable or less professional than their U.S. military colleagues. Clearly, Colombian military personnel are quite educated and experienced in their craft and equal to their U.S. counterparts. In fact, the U.S. has spent billions of dollars in tax monies precisely to ensure the development of the Colombian military as a highly effective stand-in for U.S. objectives.
General John Kelly is President Donald Trump’s current Chief of Staff and was formerly head of Homeland Security. Before that, he was the commander of Southcom. Testifying before the U.S. Congress on April 29, 2014, Kelly made a startlingly honest and revealing statement: “The beauty of having a Colombia – they’re such good partners, particularly in the military realm…. When we ask them to go somewhere else and train the Mexicans, the Hondurans, the Guatemalans, the Panamanians, they will do it almost without asking. And they’ll do it on their own… That’s why it’s important for them to go because I’m–at least on the military side–restricted from working with some of these countries because of limitations that are, that are really based on past sins. And I’ll let it go at that.”
The U.S.-Colombia relationship has been so successful, it has become a model for U.S. relations with Mexico. This includes the development of Plan Mexico and the North American Alliance for Security and Prosperity, a military accord that binds Canada and Mexico more closely to the Pentagon.
The Mexican military has a history of nonintervention internationally. But at a conference in October 2016, Rebecca Chavez, Deputy Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs during the Obama administration and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, revealed that “Both the United States and Mexico…have taken steps that have resulted in a transformation of the strategic relationship.” Chavez explained that Mexico as the 15th largest economy in the world, has a growing role in world affairs, including the military sphere. She noted that Mexico has expanded its military mission with attaches in Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, South Africa, and several other countries and that it participated in peacekeeping missions in Haiti and Lebanon. Chavez sites Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto for reevaluating the role of the Mexican military, saying, “Even before the shift, Mexico engaged in approximately 40 external activities to support around 25 different partners…. Our first step has been to expand the dialogue and relationship from just a narrow internal security focus… Other potential areas of cooperation are Central America and working together to strengthen the Inter-American Defense System.”
It is a very good idea for us to participate in the global movement against foreign U.S. and NATO military bases. But any victories we win will be short-sighted if we don’t connect to the larger movement against imperialism and for liberation. The designs of the Pentagon are adaptable. Military agreements, joint exercises, coordinated commands, are among the ways to augment and even replace the expansion of foreign bases.
Ultimately, our struggle against foreign bases must be part of an even larger and overarching struggle, the struggle for liberation from Empire. If we get rid of the bases, but not the Empire, we are merely changing its forms. In the final analysis, the only answer is to shake off the yoke of U.S./capitalist domination and put something better in its place, that is with participatory democracy and socialism.
Whenever we raise the cry of No More Bases, then let us answer that cry with a shout of solidarity with Venezuela, solidarity with Cuba, solidarity with Bolivia, solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico and every occupied territory – solidarity with every popular movement and government that stands in the way of the forward march of Empire until that Empire is utterly and completely dismantled.
Protesters clash with police during a demonstration against the re-election of Honduras' President Hernandez near the National Congress in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. | Photo: Reuters
Salvador Nasralla, the former Honduran presidential candidate for the Opposition Alliance against the Dictatorship, said Friday that the “last chance” to prevent current President Juan Orlando Hernandez from acquiring a new term was Saturday, when he is expected to be sworn-in, because his re-election was carried out with “fraud”.
“Tomorrow is the last chance for Honduras to avoid a dictatorship, it is the last opportunity,” Nasralla told reporters before leading a convoy of vehicles from different neighborhoods of the capital Tegucigalpa. “People, hopefully you do not waste it because the dictatorships are atrocious.”
The new Honduran Congress held its first session Thursday, which the opposition protested and said was also void because the elections were fraudulent. Hernandez will be sworn-in in front of the country’s newly elected lawmakers Saturday.
But the the former candidate said the inauguration of the incumbent president will only be attended by 67 of the 128 lawmakers as members of his party and those of the Liberal Party will be absent in protest. Most of the attending deputies, 61, will be from the president’s own right-wing National Party.
Nasralla also said if people start gathering in the surroundings of the National Stadium, one location where the swearing-in is expected to happen, from the early hours of the morning, they could subdue the army securing the event and prevent Hernandez from being sworn in.
Nasralla will be leading the protest in Tegucigalpa against the president’s inauguration because he “is a person that the people did not choose.” Few hours before the event, there was no official confirmation of its location, whether it would be at the National Stadium, where it is traditionally held, or at the Central Bank.
Hernandez has proposed a national dialogue but Nasralla and the Liberal Party have so far refused to participate. Nasrallah argued that for such talks to take place it should be mediated by an independent international mediator whose decisions must be binding by a Honduran parliamentary decree.
Therefore if the dialogue broker decides that Hernandez is the president then he can continue in power, if it decides that new elections must be held then people must go to the polls again, and if it concludes that Nasralla is the president then he must assume take office, the former presidential hopeful further explained.
The anti-government convoy in the capital Saturday will also be led by the general coordinator of the Opposition Alliance, former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
Aside from the fact that it took almost a month for the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to announce the results of the Nov. 26 presidential election, the opposition’s main concern about the results came after Hernandez began to pull ahead after an hours-long technical problem caused the TSE system to “go down”.
When the system came back the sitting president steadily began to overcome Nasralla’s original five percent lead with over half of ballots counted, which experts had said would be irreversible.
A group of snorkelers were treated to a magical sight during their dive off the waters of Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica – an up-close encounter with a baby humpback whale.
Uploaded to Newsflare, the post says the video footage captured on Monday 22nd at 12:00 pm by one of the snorklers just inside the Playas del Coco bay, that shows the baby whale swimming incredibly close to the group.
“We never saw the mother or the escorts but I can assure you that they were there… close by and keeping an eye on that youngster. In all the twenty years that I have been diving in the Costa Rica Gulf of Papagayo, I have never had this sort of experience before…BLESSED!
“I saw into the eye of a whale and he looked deep into my soul and I was blessed! I still can’t believe the experience we all had. Here is the video of the young humpback whale approaching our diver to have a better look and Rob actually … gently pushed it away. He said it was really soft,” was Bob’s experience.
The short clip shows the baby whale approaching the snorkelers, surfacing a few times and even allowing one member of the group to gently touch the creature.
Costa Rica’s state-owned telecom, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) announced the activation of its 4.5G service, or LTE-A network, in the San José metropolitan area, increasing the maximum download speed to 200 Mbps.
LTE Advanced is the next major step in the evolution of LTE networks that’s expected to both help band-aid the massive increases in mobile data demand, and deliver much higher data speeds for all. That means better coverage, greater stability, and faster performance.
In an interview with El Financiero, ICE’s telecommunications director Jaime Palermo said around 60 LTE-A base stations would be operational in San Jose by the end of January, with commercial offers for customers of its Kölbi brand is set to be unveiled in due course.
The current maximum speeds on the network are 100 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload. Both will double following the network upgrade for users with LTE-A compatible handsets.
Palermo highlighted that 4.5G is the forrunner of 5G and that it allows Kölbi customers to double the speed of the Internet service, reaching speeds of up to 200 Mbps of download and 50 Mbps of upload in optimal conditions.
In order for users to enjoy the new 4.5G network they must have a smartphone compatible with this technology.
Some of the smartphones compatible with LTE-A are the iPhone 7, 8 and X (10); the Samsung S8 & S8 Plus; Huawei P10; and LG G6, among others.
On Thursday morning, the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica made official the donation three tactical security vehicles, nicknamed “The Beasts” that will be part of the country’s police forces.
“The Beasts” were donated by the U.S. Embassy to the country’s police forces
One of the armored vehicles was donated to the Fuerza Publica (National Police); the other to the Unidad Especial de Intervención (UEI) – special intervention unit of the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad (DIS) – national intelligence and security service of the Presidency; and the third to the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ).
U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Sharon Day with the head of the OIJ, Walter Espinoza
The OIJ has used a tactical vehicle called “The Protector” but initially became popular as “The Beast” in operations by the Servicio Especial de Respuesta Táctica (SERT) – Special Service of Tactical Response – in the raids. According to Wálter Espinoza, head of the OIJ, that vehicle was used 262 times during 2017, reflecting its usefulness in fighting the growing delinquency in the country.
“It is a difficult moment with all the delinquency in the country so the help of friendly countries constitutes a very important possibility for us. The car will be called “El Justiciero,” said Espinoza.
For his part, Mariano Figueres, director of the DIS said the units will allow security teams better coordination to fight organized crime.
Sharon Day, U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, highlighted the alliance between the two countries.
“I can confirm that the support to the government of Costa Rica will continue for many more years,” said the Ambassador.
The presentation was made at a park near the U.S. Embassy in Pavas, on the west side of San Jose.
Each unit has a cost of US$208,221 dollars, putting the total of the donation to more than US$600,000 dollars.
Estos vehículos que se suman a la seguridad ciudadana, son de doble tracción, fueron equipados en Estados Unidos con tecnología de punta, cámaras infrarrojas y vidrios blindados. pic.twitter.com/QLrwWieYPR
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) – elections tribunal – has ordered the Catholic and Evangelist church from politicking from the pulpit or unlawful church electioneering.
A call to 911 reported an alleged person deceased inside the Hotel Del Rey, in downtown San Jose. Minutes later, paramedics arriving at the scene confirmed the body of a foreigner who had died in one of the guest rooms.
Officers of the Fuerza Publica (national police) and the San Jose Municipla Police guard the entrenace to the hotel. Foto: Jefrey Zamora, La Nacion
Police were called.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), when police arrived hotel security prevented the officers from entering the property. However, after asserting judicial authority, they forced their way into the hotel.
The statement by the MPS to the press Thursday afternoon said:
“The hotel management and private security did not want to provide details of what had happened, nor tell the officers where the body was in order to hinder their work.
“In the face of the adverse situation that the officers faced, three hotel security personnel and the hotel manager were arrested for using intimidation against the officers and hindering the execution of tasks proper to the legitimate exercise of the officers. This exposes them to imprisonment for up to 3 years (resistance)”.
What really happened?
According to the MSP and sources close the Q, it was around 1:00 pm when a call was made to the emergency services of a man unconscious man in one of the rooms.
According to the paramedics, the foreigner, a U.S. citizen whose identity was not released to the public, had been lifeless for more than 24 hours due to his state of rigidity.
Police has to force their way into the hotel, and proceeded to seal off the exits and safeguarded the scene, waiting on agents of the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) to arrive to commence the investigation and remove the body.
By late afternoon, after 5:00 pm, authorities indicated of an apparent suicide, due to several ‘farewell’ notes found in the room.
The security personnel arrested were identified by their last names Barboza, Rodríguez and Rivas, while the last name of the woman (manager) is Montero.
The hotel would return calls to learn of their version of the event.
Car dealers project sales of up to 50% more in electric cars this year. Costa Rica is the third country with the most zero emission vehicles in the region
At least four new car dealers are ready to bring more electric cars to the country, taking advantage of the tax exemption, as soon as the law Ley de Incentivos y Promoción para el Transporte Eléctrico (Law of Incentives and Promotion for Electric Transportation) goes into effect.
The Hyundai Ioniq is already in Costa Rica, still being tested; meanwhile, 45 BMW i3’s are already on the roads since 2016
This morning, Thursday, President Luis Guillermo Solis signed the legislation giving tax benefits on “clean vehicles”. For the law to go into effect, it needs to be published in the official government newsletter, La Gaceta, (typically within five business days), at which time the Ministerio de Hacienda (Treasury) can apply the tax exoneration.
Group Q, the exclusive dealer in Costa Rica for Huyndai and Cheverolet, already has the Hyundai Ioniq under test in Costa Rica and will bring in the Chevy Bolt is ready to bring in the Ioniq (which is already being tested in Costa Rica) and Chevy Bolt; the Agencia Datsun, exclusive dealer of Nissan vehicles is currenlty testing the Leaf; Bavarian Motors, exclusive dealer for BMW, already ahs the I3 in circulation in the country); and Grupo Automotriz, the exclusive dealer for Ford and Volkswagen, will be receiving the first two Ford Focus this week, no decision yet on the VW e-Golf.
The Leaf and Ioniq are ready to hit the roads of Costa Rica; the Focus is expected to arrive this week; while some 45 BMW i3 ‘s have been circulating since 2016. Infograph from La Nacion
According to Priscilla Piedra, general director of Hacienda, the exoneration is ready to be applied to vehicles, required yet is the regulations on spare parts, vehicle property tax and blue parking lots.
The law also authorizes public institutions and municipalities to promote the purchase and use of electric vehicles. The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has already taken the first step and published on November last, the public tender for the purchase of 100 electric vehicles, which will replace units with conventional engines.
Financial institutions, under the new law, will also be able to offer special financing for electric vehicles.
In recent months, the hype surrounding cryptocurrency and Bitcoin has exploded on a global scale, with mainstream media trickling information into the mass market and creating a culture of FOMO (fear of missing out).
This FOMO is pushing companies to jump on the hype train and adopt any kind of crypto solution they can get their hands on, whether that be a means to accept crypto payments, or more security within their database through distributed ledger technology (DLT) and Blockchain.
As demand for crypto products and services rapidly increases, one company is Costa Rica is attempting to satiate that demand with outsourced software development services, but, as with any hype-fueled adoption, there are challenges in misinformation, education, and talent.
Find The Best Crypto Exchange In Your Country cryptohead.io
Adapting to Demand
Founded in September 2017, InnovaMars is a seven-person company in San Pedro that started off developing AI products, but soon realized the potential and value of cryptocurrency, so quickly shifted its primary focus to DLT, crypto, and blockchain.
“We had to do a lot of convincing to get companies to buy into artificial intelligence, but not for crypto,” said Jose Zamora, Business Director at InnovaMars. “Clients are coming to us, eager to find a way to accept crypto as payment, but people are asking for Blockchain databases or solutions without even really knowing what they are. Thanks to the FOMO, we haven’t had to advertise or convince anyone in Costa Rica, and we are even turning clients away in some cases due to the level of demand.”
The company has been working on outsourced development projects for customers in Canada and Central America – an API for a hotel in Canada that wanted to accept Bitcoin payments, and smart contract development for a real estate firm in Guatemala. Generally, the clients are paying for the product, then taking on the liability of currency devaluations and hosting costs themselves.
Yet another Battle for Talent
Due the relative young age of the tech, there aren’t yet many developers or engineers who are experts in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, so when you throw in the current increase in demand the talent pool has very quickly started to dry up.
“Finding developers for blockchain services is extremely difficult,” said Zamora. “There are a lot of freelancers in Costa Rica who are either working for companies in the States or are working on something of their own.”
To get around this, InnovaMars is working with the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR) to generate more talent and interest in blockchain and DLTs. The company is currently assisting 60 undergraduate students in CRU and 20 in ITCR to help them learn about DLT and how to program within that sphere, focusing on the essential programming languages for the tech – Python, C++, JavaScript, and Solidity.
The program has been noticed by entrepreneurs and other larger companies who have faced the same problem, which is amplified further by the overall growth and adaptation of the services industry in Costa Rica.
“There is a new wave of these crypto ventures, and indeed start-ups in other next-gen technologies, happening in Costa Rica,” said Maykool Lopez, Trade Commissioner & Director at PROCOMER. “This is because of the improvements in the country and the potential for developing technology, which started with the influx of contact centers. Nowadays, these contact centers are more like business process sweet spots for artificial intelligence and digital assets. It’s not only the big companies working on new developments, but also new guys, new entrepreneurs trying to develop their own products, or create viable business ventures out of these trends.”
Burgeoning Bitcoin Ecosystem
Furthermore, the cryptocurrency community in Costa Rica is expanding, with events and meetups being held regularly to discuss the legality, technicality, and potential of this revolutionary technology – for reference, the country’s cryptocurrency meetup in October attracted 200 people and grew to 800 this month.
The country seems to be jumping into the tech feet first, as there are already ten businesses in Costa Rica accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment, most of which are hotels or companies in the tourism industry. There are even a couple of Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) in San Jose, allowing anyone to purchase the currency and add it to a wallet – think digital bank account for crypto.
On the client side, Zamora has found that most companies in Costa Rica are far behind when it comes to technological areas of the business, some not having CIOs or CTOs, for example. “Although many companies want this tech, they aren’t usually technical enough to adopt it,” he confirmed. “For example, a retail firm came to us to help them accept Bitcoin payments, but didn’t even have any e-commerce setup, so we couldn’t help them. To address this knowledge gap, we are launching workshops and courses to introduce people to cryptocurrency, giving people info on the basics of what it is, how to buy it, and how to keep it safe.”
For InnovaMars, the biggest challenge is keeping up with the evolution of cryptocurrencies and the technology behind them, and getting clients up to speed with what is possible.
“First we had Bitcoin and the blockchain, now we also have IOTA and the Tangle, plus numerous other technologies emerging, so it’s not always easy to know which one to focus on,” said Zamora. “Almost every company that is starting with crypto is also launching an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) to raise funds, but we want to avoid the ICO route and focus on creating something that will add value.”
While it’s still early days for Nearshore crypto software development services, this clear wave of interest is expected to continue, so expect to see more vendors offering blockchain, crypto, and DLT solutions in the near future.
QCostarica.com was not involved in the creation of the content. This article was originally published on Nearshoreamericas.com. Read the original article.
Eighteen months after the expansion of the Panama Canal began to operate, its performance exceeded expectations. According to a new Moody’s Investors Service report, the total tonnage of the channel increased 22% in fiscal year 2017 (from October 2016 to September 2017), as its capacity more than doubled, with a clear positive credit impact.
The performance of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP, A2 stable) exceeded the projections, with an increase of 15% of revenues in fiscal year 2017, which resulted in financial indicators stronger than expected. “Solid performance will have a domino effect on US ports and cargo ships, and international trade will further benefit the channel,” says Adrián Garza, Vice President and Senior Analyst at Moody’s.
The ACP expects revenues to exceed $ 3 billion for fiscal year 2018. Thanks to its strong performance, the ACP registers better-than-expected financial indicators, which supports its high credit quality.
The tonnage of cargo that crossed the channel reached a record of 402.8 million CP / SUAB (volume measurement of the Universal System of Ship Arcing of the Panama Canal) in fiscal year 2017, the largest annual tonnage in history and 22% higher than the previous year. This increase is also significant given that the tonnage of the ACP was relatively stable over the last 10 years, with a compound annual growth rate of 1%.
The channel also benefits from growth in certain business segments thanks to the new locks. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) grew 147% and represented 7% of the total tonnage in fiscal year 2017 compared to 4% in 2016. LPG accounted for 4% of total tonnage, compared to 0.5% the previous year.
Challenges
For Moody’s, although there are still challenges, including the legal dispute related to the expansion, the ACP’s solid financial position partially compensates for these challenges.
Tyrannical regimes generally employ repressive domestic intelligence directorates to keep the opposition at bay. In Venezuela, the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional —SEBIN), under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Popular Power for the Interior, Justice and Peace, is President Nicolás Maduro’s preferred tool of repression.
Established in 1969 and known until 2009 as the National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services, the SEBIN, technically, is to Venezuela what the FBI is to the United States. Its mandate is to detect, predict and combat external and internal threats that may affect Venezuela’s national security. Unlike the FBI, however, the SEBIN, with extensive guidance from skillful Cuban intelligence officers, persecutes, threatens, arrests, tortures and eliminates political dissidents.
Latin America’s dictatorial regimes have been notorious for adopting lethal methodologies. The Dominican Republic’s former Intelligence Military Service — SIM — under dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, assassinated political opponents on and off Dominican soil; it tortured, kidnapped, threatened and incarcerated those not aligned with Trujillo’s directives. Under Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, secret police — the National Intelligence Directorate, or DINA) — was responsible for more than 3,000 assassinations during that era.
Similarly, SEBIN takes on matters that the Venezuelan government sees as threats to its stability. It eavesdrops on anti-government groups, infiltrate and divides them and, sometimes, eliminates them. More than 100 people have died in Venezuela since April 2017, protesting Maduro’s dictatorship.
At El Helicoide, SEBIN’s headquarters, there are hundreds of political prisoners held without medical treatment or access to visitations. Its cells are the sites of cruel treatment, torture, corruption, poor ventilation, overpopulation and lack of food and water. The SEBIN does not need a warrant to hold people at El Helicoide; it has the authority to keep people there even if a judge rules against it. Hence, arrests without warrants and prosecutions of peaceful activists, flouting Venezuela’s constitution, is a habit.
The arrests of opposition leaders Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo Lopez in August 2017 are examples. They were removed from their homes and thrown in jail by the SEBIN, based on accusations of spreading anti-government propaganda.
Yon Goicoechea, a member of Voluntad Popular, was arrested in August 2016 by unidentified individuals. Goicoechea’s arrest was later confirmed by a senior government official, who accused him of carrying explosives. In October 2016, José García, a member of the opposition, was detained by members of the SEBIN. His wife later revealed that the SEBIN had planted grenades and military uniforms in his car during his arrest. In August 2017, violinist Wuilly Arteaga was imprisoned after a protest. He was brutally beaten and tortured.
Political assassinations remain part of Venezuela’s status quo. In February 2014, Bassil Da Costa, a university student, and Juan Montoya, coordinator of the Revolutionary Secretariat of Venezuela, were killed by a SEBIN official. In January 2017, Nadis Orozco died in hands of the SEBIN after extreme torture. In September 2017, opposition member Carlos García died because of the lack of medical attention while being held by the SEBIN at El Helicoide.
Since the death of former president Hugo Chávez in 2013, corruption-stricken Venezuela has rapidly descended into anarchy. Venezuela possesses the largest oil reserves on the planet — 300 billion barrels — however, it is one the most poverty-stricken nations in the Western Hemisphere. Chavismo continues to be the catalyst for the tyrannical narco-state that Venezuela has become.
Former CIA operations officer Scott Uehlinger blames socialism for Venezuela’s critical situation. The political environment indicates that the nation is on the brink of a barbaric civil war. Based on the human rights abuses perpetrated by the SEBIN, if the political disagreements escalate between the government and the opposition, the Western world could see one of the bloodiest civil wars of our time.
It is imperative that the international community unite in efforts to reestablish democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela. The first step, however, is to generate consensus on the departure of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
It seems that every time the Times is ready to turn a corner on its Latin America coverage, it reverts back to covering the 639 million, six language-speaking peoples as it always has; ‘not-Cubans’.
Never mind that Fidel, Che, and their rampaging entourage murdered 5,000 in only their first year in power. The caricatures of the regions it relies on are based on a 60-year-old revolution. Neither the color tv, the computer, or even ‘the pill’ had been invented. Yet The NewYorkTimes can only view the continent and its struggle through a Cuban lens.
This is why when Nick Casey compared Oscar Perez, the assassinated dissident police investigator on the run for the last 7 months, to Che Guevara I was not at all surprised.
Perez, by the paper’s own admission, did little more than fire blanks, flash-bangs, and fly provocative banners. But never the less the comparison was made to Castro’s executioner in chief.
Are Latin Americans so simplistic, so tribal in nature that they are incapable of rising above the idolatry of a coke-head murderer? Can we not instead idolize “folk-heroes” more alike to John Parker or Paul Revere? Heck, we’d even settle for Ernest Hemingway, who, as a soldier in the Spanish civil war, killed as many if not more than Perez.
But to make matters worse, Venezuela has its own litany of folk heroes Casey could have drawn from. Rómulo Betancourt, who helped topple the Jimenez dictatorship. Raul Leoni, who defended the country against an impending Cuban invasion in the 1967 Machurucuto incident. And yes, even Hugo Chavez, the power hungry, and silver-tongued socialist colonel who tried to overthrow the republic in ’93. So why not compare Perez to one of those “folk heroes”?
The NewYorkTimes insults Latin Americans and its readers by continuing to cut the Gordian Knot of Latin America’s leftist upheaval with a Cuban blade.
It’s long overdue for some creativity and honesty on the subject from the paper.
QCostarica.com was not involved in the creation of the content. This article was originally published on Panamapost.com. Read the original article.
In true democratic style that could only happen in Costa Rica, on Tuesday, 11 of the 13 presidential candidates put aside rhetoric and their political differences to share a burger. No bodyguards. No stress. Just a fun time.
Fabricio Alvarado (left) and Juan Diego Castro (right with BK hat) play futbolin in an unusual get together of 11 of the 13 presidential candidates for free burgers, laughs and hugs on Tuesday
The unusual get together, rather party was held at the Burger King Parque de La Paz, that gave away 1,000 hamburgers.
The only one not to attend were Liberationist Antonio Alvarez Desanti, the candidate who was a shoe-in to win the elections on Feb. 4, but is now in 3rd place, according to the latest UCR poll published Tuesday morning; and the ‘Good Doctor’, Republicano candidate, Rodolfo Hernandez.
The 11 candidates played futbolín (table soccer), answered riddles, hugged each other and laughed, putting aside the negative news on the economy. As Costa Ricans say: “ardía el rancho” (the ranch was burning).
While the politicos of the country were hamming it up, Bloomberg revealed that Costa Rican dollar bonds plummeted, their value dropping in response to the morning poll placing Fabricio Alvarado, a candidate with a weak financial plan, in first place and in second, Trump-like candidate, Juan Diego Castro.
Alvarado obtained 17% of the popular support in the Center for Research and Political Studies (CIEP) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) poll, while Castro in second with 16% and Alvarez Desanti third with 11%. The others, candidates like Otto Guevara and Carlos Alvarado, scored like under 6% each in the polls, and the rest, well does it really matter?
None came even close to the 40% required for a win on election day. Voter apathy seems to reign in this election cycle.
Lower bond prices mean Costa Rica cannot raise as much cash it needs in the markets, forcing the government to take out bank loans, that could be denied, or pay higher interest rates that, finally, we all pay with more taxes.
The low confidence in the bond market could also mean fewer companies choosing Costa Rica for their manufacturing or services operations. A situation that could push unemployment up.
But what the heck, it was free burgers, the media and people and no stress. A timeout, if you will, for the candidates as they head for the home stretch.
Costa Ricans will go to the polls on Sunday, February 4. If neither candidate receives the required 40% of the popular vote, a run-off election between the top two contenders will take place in April.
The newly elected president will take office at noon on May 8, 2018, a week after current president Luis Guillermo Solis gives his final state of the government report to the legislative assembly and thus the people of Costa Rica.
Sources: La Teja; La Nacion, Telenoticias; Crhoy.com; and others
With 19% endemic poverty, 10% open unemployment and 40% informal employment, and some of the highest electricity rates in the region, Costa Rica is opposed to US$1 billion in clean energy investments.
Meanwhile, the bureaucracy of state-owned companies continues to prescribe first-world remuneration, and continues to protect its privileges following ECLAC development concepts from the middle of the last century, which are utterly out of place today. Because Costa Rica does not have the investment capacity or know-how necessary for the development of latest generation renewable energy projects, even though it has all of the necessary primary conditions: sun, wind, thermal energy.
The state company that holds the monopoly on energy production, the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad or ICE), boasts that the largest percentage of energy consumed by the country comes from renewable sources, which underpins the image of Costa Rica as leader in environmental protection, but does not boast – of course – that the price paid by consumers for this clean energy is the most expensive in Central America.
And the environmental paradox is that the weight of such high tariffs not only directly affects the competitiveness of the Costa Rican economy by increasing production costs, but also discourages replacement of energy from oil with clean energy, both in the vehicle fleet and in the industrial sector.
Just as the break-up in 2010 of the telecommunications monopoly significantly boosted the development of this sector -which was stagnant- the liberalization of the energy market would provide a strong impetus for the Costa Rican economy, to attract the necessary strong investments, with the consequent generation of genuine employment, and ultimately, increasing the country’s competitiveness by decreasing production costs.
Costa Rica’s own investment promotion agency, CINDE, says: “In the last five years, Costa Rica failed to receive more than $1 billion in direct foreign investment from companies interested in setting up renewable electricity plants (wind and solar) due to the legal limits on the size of those facilities. The current model does not allow an investor to come and spend $100 million on a solar plant and sell energy to customers. The law prevents it. In Costa Rica, private investors are prevented from building generation plants with clean sources of more than 50 megawatts (MW) of capacity.”
QCostarica.com was not involved in the creation of the content. The editorial by Jorge Cobas González was originally published on Centralamericandata.com. Read the original article.
Stand-up paddleboarding through Lake Nicaragua’s isletas is idyllic.Teri K. Miller
(Today Nicaragua) New Yorkers rarely stop to rest. Last year, I diagnosed myself with chronic over-scheduling: 12-hour work days and social events that led to burnout.
The cure: Nicaragua, essentially the wilder little sister of its popular neighbor to the south of Costa Rica.
Granada’s colonial architecture is a Nicaraguan highlight. Boutique property Tribal Hotel styled its courtyard for maximum relaxation. Julien Capmeil
I plotted out 10 days exploring the Central American country’s jungly landscape, peaceful waterways and scenic shores along the Pacific and Atlantic. Its pace was slow, its landscapes jaw-dropping, its locals welcoming.
The nation of 6.5 million — slightly smaller than New York state — has cultural lures, like festivals tinged with native and Spanish traditions.
Inhale some tacos at the Rancho Santana resort.
There’s plenty to do without a ton of must-sees, making it ideal for some R&R. Here’s how to recharge in settings from mountains to beaches.
Hidden courtyards
Most visitors pick Granada as their home base. And for good reason: It’s less than an hour from the capital of Managua, where the major airport is located, as well as lakes and volcanoes of interest. Its cobblestone streets are lined with pastel-colored facades that hide lush interior courtyards and intricate tile work. Prime spots to ogle the latter include the trendy Tribal Hotel (from $145), owned by New Yorkers Yvan Cussigh and Jean-Marc Houmard. Its seven rooms book up fast, thanks to an inviting pool with a patterned bottom and photogenically funky decor sourced from Nicaragua and surrounding countries, as well as Turkey, Morocco and Thailand.
Volcanic activities
Put your feet up at Pacaya Lodge & Spa
Half an hour from Granada by car sits the Laguna de Apoyo, a 650-foot-deep crater lake gently warmed by volcanic steam vents. Base yourself in one of Pacaya’s 26 rustic-yet-modern rooms — all balconied — to overlook this oasis from a cliffside perch (from $150). Take a free shuttle down to the water’s edge, then shell out $6 for a day pass to a laid-back beach club. Enjoy smoothies and tacos in deck chairs, and the club’s kayaks, boogie boards and floating docks. Then turn up the heat at nearby Masaya, Nicaragua’s most famous volcano, whose innards of bubbling red lava are best viewed in the evening.
Jump in the lake
Stand-up paddleboarding through Lake Nicaragua’s isletas is idyllic.Teri K. Miller
Granada is also the jumping-off point for a chain of some 350 small islands in the northwest corner of massive Lake Nicaragua. Las Isletas, as they’re called, are home to relaxing hotel hideaways only accessible by boat. The poshest is Jicaro, an eco-lodge with nine treehouse-style casitas made out of wood salvaged from Hurricane Felix, which slammed Nicaragua in 2007 (from $440). Jicaro’s all-natural philosophy extends from its stellar menu to its seawater-filled pool, making for a truly idyllic retreat with a conscience. Stand-up paddleboarding around the isletas is a serene experience interrupted only by wildlife, like cheeky monkeys and elegant birds.
Surf’s up
Get gnarly in Nicaragua.Mukul, Auberge Resorts Collection
The Pacific Ocean’s whitecaps crash along Nicaragua’s western coast, where two impressive resorts for deep-pocketed beach bums sprawl. A 2013 debut, Mukul started as a collective of mansions for the country’s richest, envisioned by billionaire rum baron Carlos Pellas Chamorro. Now run by Auberge Resorts, the hotel spans 1,600 acres, with villas of varying sizes, a central clubhouse with a pool and restaurant, a golf course and a surf school whose instructors can coach beginners to stand for a few glorious seconds ($550). Half an hour north is Rancho Santana, a resort and residential community that spans five stunning beaches (from $285). Highlights include a colorful art gallery with local works on view and for purchase and a delightful taqueria, complete with cold beers and playful kittens vying for scraps.
Island in the sun
Little Corn Island is an oasis off the country’s Caribbean side.Colibri Boutique Hotels
Hop a puddle-jump flight (about $80 each way on local carrier La Costeña) over to Nicaragua’s Atlantic side, where, about 40 miles into the Caribbean Sea, you’ll find the Corn Islands. Big Corn has a tiny airport and more shops, as well as a small dock with regular speedboats to Little Corn. An endearingly sleepy backpacker enclave, Little Corn is positively enchanting. It’s remote yet friendly; everyone on the island ends up at the same bar, Cafe Tranquilo, each night. The poshest hotel on the island (but still modestly priced by New York standards) is Yemaya, tucked away on Little Corn’s north shore (from $180). Its 16 cabanas have porches with views of palm trees arching over crystalline water, the restaurant is top-tier and it’s a scenic 20-minute walk to the village’s main strip. A stylish couple from LA said they pay Yemaya and Little Corn a visit every year, and we can see why.
Bond prices fall when they are less attractive to investors and those who are willing to buy them demand a higher yield because they consider them riskier.
La Nacion reports, “according to information released by the Bloomberg firm, and consultations with local analysts, there is a fear that a fiscal agreement will not be reached. There was some optimism that Alvarez (Antonio Alvarez, the candidate of the Partido Liberacion) would approve a comprehensive fiscal reform, and that is much less true now, Eurasia Group analyst Risa Grais-Targow said in a telephone call.”
Financial experts say Alvarado has been vaguer in his economic policy plans. “There needs to be a tax reform that addresses both the increasingly complicated revenues and expenses. The market is beginning to lose hope, and with that comes the pressure on bonds and currency,” said Andrew Stanners, a London-based money manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.
The Center for Research and Political Studies (CIEP) at the University of Costa Rica poll published Tuesday shows Alvarado leading, with populist Juan Diego Castro in second place and traditional party candidate Antonio Alvarez, the front-runner for most of the election cycle, slipping to third place.
It’s not just Bloomberg showing concern, Moody’s warned foreign investors on Tuesday about the political difficulties facing the next government of Costa Rica to achieve a fiscal agreement, due to the fragmentation that is expected in the Legislative Assembly and the ability of a single legislator to put a halt to any such process.
The Fall has started and could continue. The Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda) said the decrease could affect the sale of bonds for up to US$1.5 billion dollars through the domestic market, which would be purchased by foreign investors.
Deputy national treasurer, Mauricio Arroyo hid behind regulations of the Sugeval (Superintendencia General de Valores) – General Superintendency of Securities – denying information about the placement of the bonds.
“The only thing that we can indicate is that the prices of domestic debt securities, by their nature, behave differently from the prices of the external debt bonds referred to in the note,” said Arroyo.
(Costa Rica Confidential) The world’s hottest weather girl will be in Costa Rica next week.
Pamela Longoria, the brunette beauty, from Monterrey in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, became a sensation when she went to Brazil to cover the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but has since made the switch to covering the weather.
The Mexicana will be in Tiquicia next week and promises to raise the temperature.
Pame is considered one of the sexiest in the world – who is a huge social media star – has racked up 167,000 fans on Instagram who tune in to see her everyday life.
The Azteca says that although he body is her main weapon to capture viewers, but is working on that that is not everything and that’s why she studies and informs himself to learn more about the weather.
Remember that in countries like Canada, the United States and Mexico the coverage of the weather is as important as the news, television stations dedicating important air time.
In our country, the producers of El Telediario de Multimedios (newscast) have already known of her skills and we are sure that with her visit many more will also.
Samady Fonseca, known as La Barbie, minutes after hearing the condemnatory sentence. Alejandro Gamboa
It was on October 5. 2015 that the young man, 22-year-old Gerardo Cruz Barquero, shamed publicly an alleged “viejo verde” (sexual pervert) for videoing, with his cellular phone, up a woman’s dress while walking in downtown San Jose. The video that went viral in the social media and reported in the local and international media.
Samady Fonseca, Gerardo Cruz’s former girlfriend, known as ‘Barbie’, being escorted from the courtroom minutes after the reading of the sentence. Photo Alejandro Gamboa
Two days later Gerardo was stabbed, after work, walking to an interview he had at Parque Kennedy, known as Parque Musmanni, in San Sebastian, on the south side of San Jose. Two men on a motorcycle stopped and stabbed Gerardo in the throat and chest.
The young man fought for his life, agonized for forty-three days, when on November 19, 2015, Gerardo died in hospital.
At first, it was believed the viejo verde had had something to do with it, too much of a coincidence to have been a random assault, authorities theorized it to be an act of vengeance, retaliation.
On Tuesday, Samady Fonseca Fernández also known as ‘Barbie’ was sentenced by the Tribunal Penal de Pavas (Pavas Criminal Court) to 30 years in prison for the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Gerardo Cruz.
Samady Fonseca Fernández (standing, in dark blouse) was sentenced to 30 years in prison and her daughter Kristina Valerín (standing, gray sweater) to 25 years. Sentenced to 25 years each was also Rónald Arce Barrientos and César Chaves Cerdas. Photo Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal.
In addition to the 42-year-old hair stylist Samady Fonseca, three others were sentenced each to 25 years in prison: Samady’s daughter, 20-year-old Kristina Valerin Fonseca, also a hairstylist; 22-year-old Ronald Arce Barrientos, an informal taxi driver; and Cesar Chaves Cerdas, 24 years of age and a painter.
The three-judge panel found the two men to have been intermediaries between women and murderers.
The judge panel was made up fo Geovanny Hernández, Leonardo Pereira and Sonia Quintana. Photo Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal.
The fifth suspect, a 46-year-old man identified by his last name Castillo, was acquitted for lack of evidence. Apparently the man had only made a call alerting the women about the time Gerardo left work.
With respect to the civil action for compensation or economic retribution, the Court set awarded the Cruz family ¢90 million colones for moral damages.
The reading of the sentence began at 3:00 pm by Judge Leonardo Pereira, in room 5 of the Third Judicial Circuit of San José, in Pavas.
One of Gerardo’s murderers was captured, a 16-year-old who accepted the charges of homicide and underwent an abbreviated trial shortly after being captured. The second is still at large.
Karol Zuñiga, was pregnant with Gerardo Cruz when he was stabbed. Their daughter is almost two years old. Photo Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal.
After the trial, Karol Zúñiga, the young woman who was pregnant with Cruz’s child, said that she is satisfied with the sentence, although she asserted that because of those people her two-year-old daughter does not have a father.
“Justice has been served, but there is never going to be peace, I am grateful to God, and people were condemned who really had to be condemned,” she said between sobs.
Kattia Cordero, Gerardo’s, said she feels at peace because her nephew can rest in peace. On those sentenced, she said she does not harbor hatred against them. “They have the forgiveness of our family, but they have to pay what they did,” she said.
Relatives of Gerardo Cruz wore T-shirts with a message of thanks during the reading of the sentence. Photo Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal
The sentenced mother and daughter had been in preventive custody (remand) since June 7, 2016, at the Buen Pastor women’s prison in San Rafael Arriba de Desamparados. On Tuesday their preventive detention was extended to August 7 when the appeal time has ended and the sentence is final.
With less than two weeks to the 2018 presidential elections, a run-off election in April is almost guaranteed based on the latest polls that reveal no one candidate reaches 20% of the decided vote, let alone the 40% required to win.
The most recent poll taken by the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) after the Inter-American Court decision on same-sex marriage has Fabricio Alvarado of the Restauración Nacional leading the pack with 17% of the decided voters.
However, that would not be enough to win the election if it were held today. Costa Rica’s election rules require that the winning candidate obtain at least 40% of the popular vote. In the event no one candidate reaches the 40%, a run-off election will be held between the top two vote earners, to decide the office of the presidency.
The poll results pegged the “Trump-like” Juan Diego Castro of the Partido Integración Nacional (PIN) at 16%, and up to now front-runner Antonio Alvarez Desanti of the Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN) at 11%.
The poll results are much lower, almost half of others, such as the Opol Consultores poll released last week (January 15 to 17). The poll took in the response of 1,013 people by telephone and has a margin of error of 3.1%.
The Inter-American Court decision on ‘equal marriage’ was made known on January 9.
Since, all the front-running candidates have made it clear they are opposed to same-sex marriage, committing to blocking gay marriage in the country.
Fabricio Alvarado is the only candidate despite his opposition to the Court decision saw an increase in the decided voters, jumping 3 percentage points from 14% in December to 17% this past week. Alvarado’s opposition to equal marriage includes saying he would withdraw Costa Rica from the American Convention on Human Rights.
As to the other contenders from the presidential chair is Rodolfo Piza of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) with 9% of the decided voters and Carlos Alvarado, of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) and Rodolfo Hernández, of the Partido Republicano Socialcristiano, each with 6% of voter support.
The other seven candidates were even lower.
For decades up to the 2014 elections, the PLN and PUSC split the political power in the country, the PAC (that did finally form a government – 2014-2018) always the third wheel and the Movimiento Libertario the voice that no one ever listened to.
Today, the PLN (despite Alvarez’s early rise and lead in the polls), PUSC and PAC all seem to be trailing the fringe parties that have been gaining political clout in the last several years.
If the win by Luis Guillermo Solis was a surpirse in 2014, the 2018 results could be even more interesting.
Costa Ricans go to the polls on Sunday, February 4.
File photo: Deportees wait to be processed at an immigration facility after a flight carrying illegal immigrants from the US arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador, January 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
(AFP) San Isidro, El Salvador: Uncertainty and fear are rising in Central American countries over how many families will manage to get by when remittances from the US are cut off under plans by the Trump administration to make tens of thousands of Salvadorans and Nicaraguans leave.
File photo: Deportees wait to be processed at an immigration facility after a flight carrying illegal immigrants from the US arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador, January 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
“I hope the American dream doesn’t end, that it goes on,” said Salvadoran Milagro Bonilla, a resident of the town of San Isidro, where most of the 11,000 inhabitants have risen out of poverty thanks to money sent from relatives in the United States.
The anxiety felt here has surged since January 8, when President Donald Trump’s government said it was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans who have lived for years in America. They risk being deported if they don’t leave by September 9, 2019 or find some alternative way to stay.
Bonilla, 60, works as a cleaning woman but relies on the money sent by her son Carlos to pay for costs associated with caring for her 86-year-old mother and a handicapped sister.
“I hope they at least allow him to stay a little longer, because 18 months passes so quickly,” she said.
Carlos, 34, emigrated to the United States through a risky overland voyage organized by a “coyote,” or people smuggler, in November 2000.
He subsequently became included in the TPS program extended by then-president George W. Bush following devastating earthquakes that hit El Salvador, becoming one of thousands of compatriots who had irregularly entered the United States and were allowed to stay there and work.
“Without his (Carlos’) help, I could never get by here, because what I alone earn isn’t enough,” said Bonilla.
In San Isidro, residents who mainly work in subsistence agriculture warn that their country is woefully unprepared to absorb thousands of Salvadorans deported from the United States.
“Those who might come because TPS is over are going to find it tough, because here there’s no source of employment, and because they’ll go from earning $12 or $15 an hour to $5 for a day’s farm labor,” cautioned Daysi Moreno from the door of her small grocery store. She has three brothers living in the US.
More than 60 percent of San Isidro emigrated to America, fleeing poverty. Today, around 90 percent of the town’s inhabitants receive money from their relatives in the US, far more than the 21 percent who do so nationally, according to Ernesto Romero, a 55-year-old economist who runs a mini-bank dealing with remittances.
The signs of the inflow of money can be seen in the construction of the houses, made of concrete and no longer clay, and the satellite receivers adorning the roofs.
Remittances account for a staggering 16 percent of El Salvador’s gross domestic product. Last year, more than $5 billion was received from relatives abroad.
‘Tough’ Trump
El Salvador is not the only Central American country that faces an abrupt change because of changes to the US TPS program. Nicaraguans have also been told to leave, and Honduras is expecting a similar decision.
For Rosa Chavez, a 65-year-old housewife in Nicaragua’s capital Managua, the situation is worrying. She depends on the money sent from her two US-resident sons.
“What worries me most is that that man (Trump) is taking drastic measures that are affecting remittances, because the only ones harmed are the ones living here,” she said. “But who is going to correct that man? That man is very tough.”
The end of TPS will impact 5,349 Nicaraguans, according to the US Department for Homeland Security. They have until January 5, 2019 to leave, secure a different migration status, or be removed.
Around 57,000 Hondurans are looking at the same fate. In November the TPS for them was extended for six months, but there is little hope it will be renewed again.
Honduras last year received $4 billion in remittances, a 13 percent increase over the previous year, according to official figures.
Family separation
American migration policies are already dividing Central American families.
Lazaro Villalobos was deported back to Honduras, leaving behind in the US his two sons, aged 14 and 16, and his Mexican wife. Now he works as a motorbike taxi rider in his birth town of Aramecina, south of the capital Tegucigalpa.
“I haven’t been able to see my two sons since June 2016, when they deported me,” Lazaro, 37, said.
He explained that he had lived for 19 years in North Carolina state, where he had bought a house and a car workshop which his wife was forced to sell to raise the money for him to remake his life in Honduras.
Central America was united as one nation for a brief and volatile period in the mid-19th century following independence from Spain, and the Honduran hero who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America is the center of a historical biopic filmed in his homeland of Honduras by a local production company.
via Facebook/Hispano Durón
Francisco Morazán’s name is often conjured up when discussing the one-time union of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica – and Morazán became the first Honduran film to be considered for an Academy Award.
Globalization is contributing to a new era of cinematic production in Central America due to new technologies and lower costs, GDP growth exceeding 3% in four of the five Central American nations, reduced fragmentation in regional film distribution, and increased sponsorship and interest from afar, not to mention that Spanish is second only to Chinese as the world’s most widely used language.
Central American productions have a limited life span that starts with the release in local theaters. With luck, some are picked by Latin American cable channels like Cine Latino. Increasingly, feature films and documentaries from the region are screened at international film festivals near and far from home, from Cuba to Germany, and receive prizes.
The production of Morazán, directed by Hispano Durón, was not without hiccups – the most notorious was the casting of a Colombian actor to play the lead title role. Despite initial reservations, critics and audiences flocked to the theaters and made the film a certifiable hit in Honduras. The film centers on the last week in Morazán’s life, culminating with his execution in San José, Costa Rica. By request, Morazán commanded the firing squad that shot him.
Finding Success
The movie Morazán was the most successful among more than a dozen other films produced in Honduras that had their turn at local theaters in 2017 with various box office results. Themes of the movies varied from the comedy Cuatro Catrachos en Apuros, or Four Hondurans in Trouble, to historical biopics like Morazán. It’s nothing short of an industry boom for Honduras, where less than a decade ago, only one film emerged every two or three years.
Honduran director Tomas Chi credits technology. He has averaged a film per year since 2014, including 11 Cipotes (11 Kids), Fuerza de Honor (Honor Force), and just in time for the 2017 holiday season, Y Los Tamales? (Where Are My Tamales?) He explains that making a motion picture was once an onerous venture, with thousands of dollars needed just for production of film reels and processing for Cinemascope in local theaters.
The arrival of digital technology, both for camera equipment as well as projectors, reduced these costs to near zero. Suddenly, the production of a motion picture was within the grasp of dreaming young filmmakers. And they have embraced new technologies. During production, Chi explains how the director relies on devices like tablets to record rehearsals and provide feedback to the actors.
The film industry in Central America has no direct ties with the likes of big studio production companies in Hollywood and remains the stuff of dreams for many, with the most adventurous investing their own money to achieve those dreams. Most productions require sponsorship from companies in the private sector and, in most cases, the government as well. The region’s banks do not consider filmmaking a viable investment, at least not yet.
A distinctive film industry is emerging in each Central American country based on their previous success. For instance, Nicaragua has not produced a fiction film since 2014 with La Pantalla Desnuda, or The Naked Screen. Instead, the local producers have focused on documentaries that have been well received at international film festivals in Costa Rica and Cuba. Two documentaries by local producers opened in December: Las Mujeres de Wangki, or Wangki’s Women, by Rossana Lacayo, and Heredera del Viento, or Wind’s Heir, by Gloria Carrión.
The future of film production in the country looks bright with its acceptance to Ibermedia in 2017, according to Karly Gaitán Morales, a Nicaraguan film historian, and journalist. Ibermedia launched in 1998 and has since sponsored more than 600 projects, many of them lauded at international film festivals like San Sebastian or Sundance and even with a handful of Academy Award nominations. The programme currently has 21 members: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Perú, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Gaining prestige
Costa Rica has become a beacon for Central American cinema with the Costa Rica Festival Internacional de Cine, sponsored by the Costa Rican Center for Film Production, or Centro de Cine, a branch of the country’s Ministry of Culture and Youth. The sixth annual festival closed in December with 10 days of more than 70 feature films, documentaries and short films in 18 languages shown in theaters throughout the city of San José. Their awards, including three specifically for Central American films, are coveted prizes, and the festival received productions from 35 countries this year.
The film industry in Honduras is young, but growing with increasingly ambitious productions and young players. In 2017, producer and director Juan Carlos Fancony of Honduras released Un Lugar en el Caribe, or Somewhere in the Caribbean, with international actors and international filming locations from Los Angeles to the Bay Islands. After its run in theaters, the movie received airtime on HBO Latino, a channel offered throughout Latin and South America, part of the competition for broadcasting market share in fast-growing emerging economies that also provides entertainment for the US Latino market in the United States, about 60 million people, or 18% of the population. Latinos represent about half of US population growth since 2000, according to the Pew Research Center.
Jurek Jablonicky likewise is leaving his mark on the industry. A Honduran producer of Czech heritage on his father’s side, he studied business administration in Boston, cinema studies in Bilbao and global filmmaking in Madrid, Spain. Upon his return to Honduras, he was aghast to discover that Honduras lacked a selection committee for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He quickly got to work and started a year-long process of accreditation with the Academy. After filling out paperwork and forming the committee, he issued an invitation for national filmmakers to submit their work. Under Academy rules, only the most recent films could be considered and, in total, 10 films were produced during the election cycle and only three submissions qualified. After the committee’s review and a blind vote, Morazán won unanimously. The committee’s announcement boosted Morazán’s run in theaters.
Much like the ephemeral dream of a united Central America during the 19th century, the thrill of the nomination for Morazán was short-lived – the film did not make the cut into the nine finalists for best foreign film announced by the Academy in December. However, the committee is in place and the road paved for consideration of future films. Jablonicky and audiences throughout Central America anticipate more and better submissions in the years to come.
(Reuters) – Former Guatemalan presidential candidate Manuel Baldizon, who is wanted on graft charges, has sought asylum in the United States after he was arrested while trying to enter the country, authorities from both nations said.
Renewed Democratic Liberation (LIDER) party’s presidential candidate Manuel Baldizon addresses supporters during a political rally in Villa Nueva, on the outskirts of Guatemala City, September 4, 2015. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez/File Photo
Baldizon, a wealthy businessman who ran for president twice, was detained at the airport in Miami on Saturday after flying in from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Yesenia Enriquez said.
Guatemala’s charges against Baldizon are part of a giant corruption probe involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA, according to the prosecutor’s office. The scandal has claimed high-level political scalps across Latin America.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrested Baldizon following an Interpol alert resulting from a Guatemalan arrest warrant, the U.S. embassy in Guatemala said.
“The United States will follow established international protocols to return Mr. Baldizon to Guatemala to face justice,” the embassy said, referring all further questions to Guatemalan authorities.
Baldizon requested asylum in the United States, Guatemala’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which falls under Homeland Security’s jurisdiction, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Baldizon is wanted in Guatemala on charges of illicit association, bribery and money laundering, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The statement said former Infrastructure Minister and brief presidential candidate Alejandro Sinibaldi was also wanted on suspected corruption charges stemming from the Odebrecht investigation, and was now a fugitive.
The prosecutor’s office did not give any information on the link with Odebrecht, which has admitted to paying multimillion-dollar bribes across Latin America and has already spent $3.5 billion for settlements in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland.
The prosecutor’s office carried out 10 raids on Saturday and arrested three people as part of the Odebrecht investigation, the statement added.
In 2016, the head of Guatemala’s special anti-corruption prosecutor’s office told Reuters he had already been investigating Odebrecht’s bribes to a government official, and President Jimmy Morales said his administration would check all of the company’s contracts.
QCostarica.com was not involved in the creation of the content. Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Additional reporting by Zachary Fagenson; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn
Telia Carrier, a subsidiary of Telia Company, has reached an agreement to provide its global fiber backbone to Costa Rica’s state-owned telecom, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad ( ICE).
Gaining access to the tier-1 internet backbone, which connects to the Maya-1 cable system, will enable ICE to launch its first 100G IP transit service and meet growing demand for broadband services.
Telia Carrier will also provide Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection, allowing ICE to offer the highest standards of protection to its end customers and their business-critical applications.
“ICE has climbed to the next level in the market by connecting its Internet backbone to Telia Carrier’s 100G services.. This capability marks an important step in meeting the growth of market demand and ensuring the development of telecommunications in Costa Rica,” said Edison De Leon, regional director of Latin America and the Caribbean for Telia Carrier. “By providing DDoS protection integrated with our IPT services, we also provide ICE´s end customers with an inherently high level of protection against malicious attacks,” he added.
The move represents an opportunity for Telia Carrier to move into developing markets in Central America
Thanks to a recent law reform, residential rentals in colones cannot rise above the accumulated inflation of the past 12 months.
In 2018, the legal hike in rents is 2.6%.
This means that rents on apartments and houses, paid in colones, cannot go up more than ¢2.600 colones per ¢100,000, notwithstanding what the rental contract says.
The reform does not apply to rentals of commercial and industrial premises and residential rental contracts in US dollars.
All residential rental contracts in Costa Rica are for a minimum period of three years, in colones or dollars. The difference is the rent increases, dollar rents are not subject to legal limits, only what is stipulated in the contract.
Prior to the reform enacted last year, rentals in colones could be increased automatically and unilaterally by landlord, up to 15% per year, with or without justification.
The US dollar has lost more than 5% of its value against Colombia’s peso over the past month, partly because of an increase in price of Colombia’s primary export product, oil.
The peso has not just increased in value against the dollar. The Colombian currency also made a 2.2% hike against the Euro over the past month.
Since December 14, the dollar dropped from COP3,008 to COP2,854.
The peso has not just increased in value against the dollar. The Colombian currency also made a 2.2% hike against the Euro over the past month.
Colombian analysts told newspaper Portafolio that the Colombian currency hike could spur the dollar to drop to COP2,600 this year if oil prices are maintained and the dollar continues to lose value against the Euro.
Over the past year, the dollar has lost almost 13% of its value against the Euro.
The Colombian peso experienced a major price drop between August 2014 and February 2016 when the dollar when from COP1,880 to COP3,295 in par with plummeting oil prices.
This has now partially been corrected as a consequence of the 10% oil price hike of the past month.
An peso price hike reaching levels similar to those before 2014 are unlikely as the US, the world’s largest energy consumer, has dramatically increased domestic oil production under former President Barack Obama.
Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ruled against Uber with a verdict that affects 83,000 drivers affiliated to the technology platform. The decision follows a similar ruling last December by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that argues Uber is a transportation company and not just a technology services company.
Photo of the Avenida Colombia tunnel in Cali, El Pais
The ECJ’s decision forces Uber to abide by the European Union’s strict licensing rules.
Colombia’s Corte Constitutional denied two petitions from drivers who argued that the Ministry of Transport’s indecision on what constitutes a legal cab service infringes their constitutional right to work. The court dismissed the tutelas claiming that Uber must abide by the existing regulations set out by the Ministry of Transport, which clearly defines the role of “premium taxi companies.” To qualify as a premium cab company, all vehicles must be painted either yellow or white. Law 1753 of 2015 also states that private vehicles cannot be used as a taxi.
According to the court, the Ministry of Transport is also clear on the responsibility of drivers affiliated to luxury cabs. All drivers are required to have a license within a specific category that allows them to transport passengers and are required to take out additional insurance. Until this ruling, Uber drivers were only required to have the Ministry of Transport’s standard category driving license and obligatory third-party liability insurance (Soat).
Following the European Court’s decision that Uber is “inherently a transport service,” nonprofessional drivers in Colombia affiliated to the app must also comply with all the requirements of professional drivers employed by yellow and white cab companies.
If Uber does not comply with the court’s ruling it continues to operate illegally in Colombia.
As of the high court’s ruling, private drivers stopped by transit police transporting passengers face heavy fines and the impounding of their vehicles. According to the Policía de Tránsito, during the first 11 days of 2017, 216 cars have been immobilized for using illegal digital platforms.
More than half a million Venezuelans have taken refuge in Colombia to escape the crippling economic crisis in their country, Colombia Immigration (Migración Colombia) said on Friday.
Authorities said 550,000 Venezuelans entered the country in 2017, an increase of 62 percent in the last year.
Venezuela’s crisis “has not only forced thousands of nationals to return to Colombia, but also caused Venezuelans to our country … as a means to transit to other destinations, to settle or to purchase essential products,” said Colombia’s director of immigration, Christian Kruger.
Colombia and Venezuela share a 2,200 kilometer border.
Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas said earlier this week that the government has assumed the cost of its “policy of openness and solidary” up to now. “We have offered emergency medical care and school for all Venezuelans,” he said.
However, he warned that Colombia “has limitations if these migratory processes escalate.”
The migration authority said some 1.3 million people had registered for a border mobility card, which allows them to travel between the two countries.
Apart from the 550,000 Venezuelans who remain in Colombia, another 231,000 traveled through the country en route to Ecuador last year.
The Colombian government has accused Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro of installing a dictatorship, and has offered refuge to his opponents.
UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres said on a recent visit to Colombia that the United Nations was willing to send more aid to help cope with the influx of migrants.
The money was seized by the PCD. Photo Ministerio Publico
A woman of Cuban nationality was detained by the officials of the Policía de Control de Drogas (PCD) – Drug Control Police – at the Juan Santamaria (San Jose) international airport, for carrying a large sum of cash hidden in her hand luggage.
The PCD confirmed the detention of the 23-year-old woman, surnamed Jimenez, when she tried to enter Costa Rica as a tourist. The Ministerio de Seguridad Publica (MSP) confirmed the woman arrived from a flight originating in Italy, with a stop in Spain.
Authorities said Jimenez was carrying 36,460 Euros which she had not declared on her customs form. The woman told immigration officials that she was a tourist, with the intention of leaving the country on February 17.
Jimenez was transferred to the Fiscalia (Prosecutor’s Office) in Alajuela for not reporting the money to authorities.
The money was seized by the PCD. Photo Ministerio Publico
There is no limit to the amount of cash you can carry domestically or internationally. It is legal to travel with any amount of cash or other monetary instruments in and out of Costa Rica. However, you must declare your cash to customs if the amount exceeds US$10,000 dollars or its foreign equivalent.
The Banco Central (Central Bank) confirmed on Monday, January 22, that the new ¢1,000 banknote in circulation is not counterfeit, as it has been reported on social networks, in particular, WhatsApp groups.
The Central Bank reassured the new series ‘B’ bank notes, that replace the older series ‘A’ are in fact real.
The new bills were put into circulation in December 2016, but only recently they have started to become more common and people have begun to notice.
The changes in series B with respect to A are:
The relief in the image of the character (Braulio Carrillo) is perceived in the hair and in the clothing.
The markings for blind people located on the upper right side of the front of the note is more sensitive to touch.
The red color intensifies at the ends of the reverse and the orange hue of the background is suppressed.
The date of issue, the signatures of the president and the manager of the Central Bank are updated with respect to those showing the series A tickets.
The series of the note located in the upper right part of the front and the letter that precedes the numbers located in the upper part of the back change from “A” to “B”.
The white border of the transparent window is thinner and a transparency is incorporated around the portrait of the character.
In addition to the above aspects, the ¢ 1,000 the ‘B’ banknote intensifies the fluorescence at the ends, on the upper part, and on the front face shield.
The ‘A’ banknotes were released into circulation in 2011 and the Central Bank says it has never seen any instances of falsification up to now.
For the complete list of Costa Rica’s banknotes in circulation, click here.
Trivia:
Did you know that the ¢1,000 colones is commonly referred to as “un rojo” (a red) for its color?
The bills in circulation are different in size, the larger the denomination, the wider it is: ie, the ¢1,000 is 125 x67; the ¢2,000 is 132 x67; the ¢5,000 is 139 x67; the ¢10,000 is 146 x67; the ¢20,000 is 149 x67; and the ¢50,000 is 153 x67.
