A California woman had an interesting route home when a flight to San Jose didn't go to the San Jose she had in mind.
SOURCE: James Tensuan, The Chronicle
It’s happened before. More than once that I know of personally and most likely more often than less. Flights booked. Ready to go. Then comes the realization they are not headed for San Jose, Costa Rica, but, rather for San Jose, California.
In flight from Italy, woman realizes she is going to San Jose, Costa Rica and not San Jose, California (pictured above). Photo James Tensuan, The Chronicle
However, for Callie Zucker and her family, the opposite occurred. The Zucker’s hometown is Lafayette, California. On Holiday in Florence, Italy, Zucker’s family members booked on separate return flights set for a Wednesday flight from Florence to San Jose, California.
They never made it to San Jose, at least not the one they were expecting to arrive at.
The Lufthansa Airlines flight actually landed in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was two hours into their flight when Zucker discovered that the flight wasn’t headed for California, but rather for Costa Rica. Way south, thousands of miles in fact, of their intended destination.
“There was nothing we could do at that point except wait until we got to San José,” Zucker told ABC’s WMTV affiliate.
They landed late that evening in the tropical oasis and took stock of their errors.
“We assumed SJO was the airport code for San Jose in California,” Zucker recalled from the Costa Rican airport. The code is actually SJC. “I know that now.” She said her boarding pass, luggage tag, and the departure screens only listed the city, not the country.
The error cost the Zucker’s US$1,500 each. “Lufthansa is definitely going to have to reimburse us. I think,” she said.
“I think,” she said.
After 48 hours of travel and a layover in Panama City, the duo finally touched down at San Francisco International Airport (SJC) in the late afternoon Friday.
Costa Rican artisan beers that competed in the America Beers Cup 2017. Photo: Jeffrey Zamora.
A group of Costa Rican craft beer (cerveza artesanal) producers has been working on creating a cluster, in conjunction with the Foreign Trade Promoter, the Promotora de Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica (Procomer), to export their proudcts to new markets.
Costa Rican craft beers that competed in the America Beers Cup 2017. Photo: Jeffrey Zamora.
Initially aimed at the United States, the initiative is much more ambitious and hope to bring their craft beers to Central America, South America and Europe.
The cluster was formed two months ago. Ignacio Castro, president of the Asociación de Cerveceros Artesanales de Costa Rica (ACACR) -Association of Craft Brewers of Costa Rica, explained that the cluster is just in a formative stage, but they expect to officially present it in February of 2018.
The cluster must first meet the requirements for export.
“We have more than 100 associates that are dedicated to the production of craft beer in the country, but we are grouped into chapters. In this cluster, 39 producers in the microbrewery category may participate, although they must first meet the requirements for export, so we believe that we will start with about 10 or 12 producers, ” said Castro.
The craft beer market in Costa Rica reached a level of maturity that allows it to cross the border with quality products at competitive prices in other countries.
Johanna Davila, promoter of food sector exports at Procomer, who works closely with the country’s craft brewers, ensures that they have a high level of quality in the production processes of their drinks. “At the moment the cluster has not been developed, we are working on the creation of a strategy and the selection of companies that will be part of this group of exporters that want to take their beers to other countries,” said Davila.
“… According to Procomer, craft brewing companies that want to be part of the cluster must meet a series of requirements, such as having an established production capacity, having all the necessary export permits and economic solvency,” added Davila.
Castro said that those interested in joining this group of exporters should also have all the permits required in Costa Rica, have packing processes to export and be independent breweries.
When I speak of independents, we refer to companies that produce their own beer without the support of large conglomerates in the industry, so brewers must prove that they work in that way,” Castro said.
It is expected that under current economic conditions, the local currency will depreciate on average 3.6% against the US dollar in 2018.
The monthly survey on expectations of exchange rate variations up to December 2017 made by the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) – Central Bank, foresees that during the next 12 months the Colon will depreciate by 3.6%, which would mean an increase of ¢20.52 according to the average price on the Monex Wholesale Market of ¢570.20 at the close of last year.
The estimate of the increase of ¢20.52 corresponds to calculations based on data available on the BCCR website.
Consultant Andrés Volio explained to La Nacion that ” … the fiscal situation is critical and investor confidence will eventually reach its limit. If the next government does not correct the course that the current one has taken, it will run out of financing options internally and abroad and a crisis will unfold. It goes without saying what would happen in that case to the exchange rate and interest rates.”
Economist Roxana Morales said that ” … maintaining current conditions, it is possible that the exchange rate will increase slightly in the following months and reach a depreciation at the end of the year of close to 3.5%.”
Diane Kruger and Norman Reedus spend time together on the beach in Costa Rica on January 2, 2018. BJJ / BACKGRID
Surf’s up! Diane Kruger and Norman Reedus look to be enjoying every minute of their romantic getaway in Costa Rica.
Tell Me More! Kruger gazed lovingly at Reedus as they chatted on their way to the water. Credit: BJJ / BACKGRID
The lovebirds were spotted walking together on the beach on Tuesday, January 2, where the Troy actress showed off her midriff with a black crop top as she carried a blue and yellow body board. The Walking Dead star wore all black, holding on tightly to his blue and white striped surfboard. A day later, they were spotted enjoying some quality time with friends on the beach.
Friend Time is the Best Time! The low-key couple sat next to each other as they hung out with some pals. Credit: BACKGRID
Kruger, 41, and Reedus are in Costa Rica celebrating the actor’s 49th birthday. On Friday, January 5, the actor shared a gorgeous shot on Instagram of a shining sun above the ocean, where he thanked fans for their birthday wishes. This isn’t the first time the couple escaped to the Central American country — they previously spent quality time there together in August.
Pizza Party. The zombie killer looked back to his friends as he carried a pizza box while sporting Converse sneakers. Credit: BACKGRID
Reedus and Kruger met when they costarred in the 2015 movie Sky and were spotted kissing in March 2017 after leaving his place in the East Village.
Diane Kruger and Norman Reedus spend time together on the beach in Costa Rica on January 2, 2018. BJJ / BACKGRID
Kruger dated actor Joshua Jackson for 10 years before they split for good in July 2016. Reedus, who shares son Mingus with supermodel Helena Christensen, was previously linked to Walking Dead costar Emily Kinney.
The Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) – National Emergency Commission – reports the death of two homeless people from exposure due to the below normal temperatures in San Jose.
Image for illustrative purposes only
The two men are the first victims of the cold front that affects the country.
The information provided by the CNE is based on reports of the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and the San Juan de Dios hospital.
One of the men who lived on the streets of downtown San Jose suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest and had purple hands and feet. The man was alive when paramedics arrived, but later died in hospital. The second man was also taken to the San Juan de Dios where he died. Both deaths were between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Authorities have not released the names of the vicitms.
Typical of the first week in January, the entire country is affected by a cold front that has dropped temperatures by a few degrees Celsius, strong winds and intermittent showers.
The areas most affected by the cold temperatures are those in higher elevations of the Central Valley, Caribbean and Northern Zone. Though the temperature has dropped in the Pacific coastal areas, such as Guanacaste, Puntarenas and the Southern Zone, temperatures are still ranging in the high 20s and low 30s Celsius.
In San Jose, the normal daytime temperature highs during these last couple of days have been 22 Celsius (72 Fahrenheit) instead of all year round normal 28 Celsius (82 Fahrenheit). Night time temperatures dipped in the 15 to 17 Celsius.
The cold is expected to leave us by Sunday.
Also, in San Jose, wind gusts of up to 60 km/h on Thursday yanked a large sign off one of the retail stores, hitting three people on the boulevard of Avenida 4, in the area of the Señoritas school. A woman was treated on site by paramedics but refused to be taken to a hospital.
Across the country, the CNE reports (as of last night) 24 incidents affected by the strong winds, among them falling trees and downed power lines, the majority of incidents in Limon (Caribbean) and Alajuela (northern zone).
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced a new increase in the minimum wage this year, but it’s only worth enough to purchase one a cup of coffee per day.
The new wage amounts to a daily income of 26,583 bolivars (US $0.26), which barely covers a coffee or a pie (20,000 bolivars US $0.2) at prices listed on December 31, 2017. Merely increasing the minimum wage won’t solve the economic problems facing Venezuela, which currently suffers from inflation of around 3,000 percent, as well as food and medicine shortages.
La tabla muestra equivalencias para estimación del salario mínimo de Venezuela en $ bajo diferentes técnicas. Las estimaciones fuera de ese rango son imposibles. El salario meta estaría en alrededor de unos 150$ USD. pic.twitter.com/bJE3s7KMNZ
An average salary in Venezuela is 248,510 bolivars (US $2.20). With additional food stamps of 549,000 bolivars (US $5.49), the salary is barely equivalent to eight dollars. The income situation in Venezuela is so poor that a person earning a minimum wage can only buy six percent of most basic goods, which exceeded 13 million bolivars (US $130) in November 2017.
Maduro’s country has the lowest minimum wage in all of Latin America, despite his recent minimum wage increase and the six previous salary increases in 2017. A report in El Universal found monthly earnings in Venezuela to be the lowest of any country and that Argentina has the highest minimum wage, at US $544.
Chile has the second highest salary in the region with $456, while Colombia has $265.
– Salario mínimo Venezuela 177.507. Franela de La Vinotinto 8.900.000 bs.
– Salario mínimo Argentina 8.860 pesos. Franela de la albiceleste 1.649 pesos
En Venezuela necesitas 49.5 salarios (4 años) para comprarla.
En Argentina te compras 5 franelas en un mes pic.twitter.com/pV5uEs09qu
In Venezuela, a family can’t eat properly with the current monthly salary. In December, the purchase of all basic needs cost $150.
The main Venezuelan employment association, Fedecámaras, said the minimum wage increase decreed by Maduro violates agreements that the country has with the International Labor Organization, because they were not consulted before making the decree.
“All minimum wage adjustments have to be consulted in a social dialogue, as well as with workers and employers,” said Fedecámaras President Carlos Larrazabal.
Larrazabal said the regime, “repeats the same mistakes of all the previous minimum wage increases where a decision is simply taken to try to correct the consequences of hyperinflation, but without taking into account the causes.”
Colombia’s recovery in coffee output, and exports, will progress faster than had been thought this season, US officials said – but on an assumption of “normal” weather, even as ideas of La Niña grow.
A worker checks coffee beans in Nariño, south-western Colombia
The US Department of Agriculture’s Bogota bureau pegged Colombia’s coffee output in 2017-18, on an October-to-September basis, at 14.7m bags, a 25-year high.
The figure was 100,000 bags above the USDA’s official estimate, and represents a near-doubling in output from a low 7.66m bags reached six seasons ago, when production was dented by a drive to replant with trees resistant to the rust fungus which had badly hurt the country’s productivity.
Indeed, the bureau’s output estimate reflects in part expectations of “more plants reaching their productive peak”.
More than 420,000 hectares of the 940,000 hectares of coffee area in Colombia has so far been replanted, with renovation continuing at an average pace of 84,000 hectares a year.
‘Too much rain’
However, the bureau’s estimate also factors in “projected normal weather conditions” for Colombia in 2017-18, an assessment which contrasts with concerns from some other commentators that a projected La Niña could bring extensive and damaging rainfall.
Last week, soft commodities analyst Judith Ganes-Chase, noting that La Niña “is becoming increasingly more likely, said that “this could bring too much rain to Colombian coffee areas.
“Colombia’s production view is now less certain.”
‘La Niña alert’
On Tuesday, Australia’s official meteorology bureau raised from 50% to 70%, “triple the normal likelihood”, its estimate of the probability of an imminent La Niña, on which it is now on “alert” status.
“The tropical Pacific is approaching La Niña thresholds,” the bureau said, with the weather pattern is typically associated with cooler than normal Pacific water temperatures.
Earlier this month, official US meteorologists raised their rating on La Niña to “watch” from “advisory”.
However, both US and Australian meteorologists forecast the event being short-lived.
Export prospects
The USDA bureau added that Colombian coffee exports in 2017-18 looked like reaching 13.59m bags, some 400,000 bags above the USDA’s official estimate, and also a 25-year high.
“Colombian coffee exports have been expanding significantly since 2013, reflecting the recovery in coffee production,” the bureau said, noting growth at both ends of the quality spectrum.
“Value added, specialty coffee now comprises close to 40% of Colombia’s total coffee exports.”
However, the bureau also flagged the boost to the, far smaller, shipments of lower quality coffee, including soluble, thanks to a move in May last year to lower a hurdle on export standards.
It could be months before we learn the cause of a Nature Air plane crash in Punta Islita, Costa Rica, last Sunday that killed 12 people, 10 American tourists and the two Costa Rican flight crew.
Pictured is the single-engine turboprop Cessna 208B Grand Caravan that crashed last Sunday in Punta Islita
The aircraft was badly burned and lacked a flight data recorder, said the director of the Costa Rica Aviación Civil (civil aviation) on Thursday.
Enio Cubillo also said that experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrived in Costa Rica on Thursday to assist with the investigation, along with staff from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Cessna, manufacturer of the airplane.
The director added that experts are analyzing Sunday’s weather conditions and possible mechanical failure and/or human error.
Earlier this week Cubillo said the engine of the crashed plane will be sent to Canada, to be analyzed by experts of the manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC). “The main point to be determined is if the engine was in good working order, and if it reached full power at the time of the takeoff,” said Cubillo.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a single cause,” he said. “This could take several months.”
The accident took place on December 31, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, with its destination the San Jose international airport. The single-engine turboprop Cessna 208B Grand Caravan crashed several hundred meters off the Punta Islita airfield. According to Costa Rica aviation regulations, the airplane was not required to carry a data recorder because it had fewer than 19 passengers. The plane had passed a safety inspection about a month ago.
Ten U.S. citizens and two Costa Rican pilots died in the incident. The U.S. victims included five members of the Steinberg family of Scarsdale, N.Y., four members of the Weiss family from Belleair, Fla., as well as their tour guide, Amanda R. Geissler, who was working for the active travel company Backroads. The Costa Rican pilots were Juan Manuel Retana and Emma Ramos.
Questions About Travel in Costa Rica
Tourism operators are assessing its impact on travel in Costa Rica. A report in the New York Times says, “since the accident, tour operators have been fielding inquiries from current and future travelers inquiring about alternative transportation options.”
“In the short term, the good news is anywhere you can fly to, you can drive to,” Dan Austin, the president of Austin Adventures, told the NYT.
Visitors to Costa Rica often opt for flights in favor of ground travel. Time is the factor, flights can take you to most destinations in the country within 20 to 50 minutes, driving is usually is in hours. For example, while a flight between San Jose (SJO) and the Pacific coastal town of Tamarindo takes only 50 minutes, the drive is about 4 to 5 hours.
Dalibor Dekický From Slovakia and lives in UK, so far 23 has visited countries including Costa Rica, posted these great photos of Manuel Antonio, Quepos on Instagram.
Wildlife photography in Costa Rica does not have to be a strenuous or demanding pastime. Interesting wildlife is everywhere to be found in Costa Rica and you don’t need to mount a safari to find it.
The following photographs were all taken in easily accessible locations: on the grounds of my condominium, in the garden of a very pleasant hotel, and a road in a national park—standing ten feet in front of my car.
As I have said before, photography of things wild and wooly is an entirely reasonable hobby for geezers—no matter what kind of shape they’re in.
WOUNDED MOMMA MONKEY
I fear this photo of a female Howler Monkey tells a sad story. I realize I am taking some license in reading all this into a photograph, but I think I am drawing reasonable inferences from the details of the photograph.
Male howlers are well known for killing their male offspring—like Herod and the Massacre of the Innocents. This reduces future battles for dominance and females. Costa Rican guides will tell you the howler is the most machista of all the Costa Rican monkeys.
If you look closely at the photo, you will see lochia (postpartum discharge) hanging from the female’s genitals. This is an indication she recently gave birth.
The female is also cradling an infant in her arms and seems very protective of him. Additionally, she is looking up into the trees as if expecting an attack. She is not a happy camper.
Finally, there is a serious wound on her right side. Howlers—fifteen species recognized, among the largest of the New World monkeys—do not suffer much predation, at least not while in their packs high in the trees. This wound was likely the result of her defending her baby from her mate, the baby’s father.
This shot was taken with a telephoto and I didn’t even notice the wound, the lochia or the infant until later. I do not like to think about the possibility the baby she is protecting is already dead.
ANTS AND APHIDS
This picture is the result of an arduous and exhausting photographic expedition—one that took me 100 feet from my front door to the garden of my condominium.
I noticed this small herd of aphids and their wrangler ant in an arból de orquideas—a small flowering tree—on an overcast day. I returned with the camera, but was disappointed with the results in dim light. The next day was bright and sunny, allowing me to capture this shot.
Ants and aphids are both very successful insects: there are more than 4,000 species of aphids and an estimated 22,000 species of ants. Many of these species have formed mutually beneficial relationships—symbiosis. Ants that “keep” aphids are known as agricultural or dairying ants. Commonly, the ants benefit by consuming a nutrient liquid secreted by the aphid—akin to milking cows.
This photo motivated several of my neighbors to investigate further. It seems this aphid—in the nymph stage—is Membracis mexicana. It is a common pest for the nance plant in Mexico and was identified there. My Costa Rican friends were not familiar with the nymph stage, but know the winged adults as vaquitas or mariquitas.
ATTILA THE HUM
The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird lives in almost all of Costa Rica—everywhere except very high elevations. I commonly see them in my condo and in hotel gardens all around the country. In Spanish they are known as Amazilia rabirrufa.
The range of this small dynamo is usually thought to be from northern South America to Mexico. However, climate change, gardens, and feeders have allowed it to extend north into the United States, at least seasonally. A birder friend of mine with a home in Santa Fe, New Mexico reports them as regular visitors to her flowers.
There, the extremely aggressive nature of this small terror—they are dominant over most other hummingbirds—has earned it the sobriquet “Attila the Hum.”
For several years, Honduras was one of the most dangerous countries in the world, but this has gradually changed as the rate of homicides declined.
The Honduran National Police have reported that the homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants has been reduced by 34 points in the last four years. Violent deaths are at 42.7 inhabitants per 100,000, which is a reduction of 16.4 points.
These figures take Honduras out of the world’s 10-most violent countries in the world, according to the Director of the National Police Jair Meza Barahona. Legal actions, as well as the transfer of prisoners to maximum security prisons, were the main strategies that allowed the capital of Tegucigalpa and the city of San Pedro Sula, the industrial engine of the country, to see a significant decrease in homicides.
According to the Global Peace Index, the most violent countries in the world today are: Syria, South Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Central African Republic, Ukraine, Sudan and Libya. In Latin America, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico remain in the most precarious positions.
Police Analyst Miguel Colindres said that the homicide rate in 2016 stood at 59 homicides per 100,000 and at 77.4 in 2013, meaning there has been a significant shift toward safety in Honduras. The current figure resembles that of 2006 when it was at 42.3. Following that year, the figure gradually increased until reaching its most critical point in 2011, of 86.5.
According to the Online Statistical Police System, there were 1,369 fewer homicides in 2017 than the year before, which in turn means that there was a daily rate of 10.38 violent deaths. During 2017, nearly 3,000 criminals were arrested.
Colindres said that in 2016, Honduras ranked third among the 10-most violent countries in the world, recording 86 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
The National Police also said the seizure of weapons of all kinds has become an essential point of focus, as firearms are the main cause of violent death. Between 70 and 80 percent of homicides in Honduras are done with a firearm.
A total of 5,765 firearms have been seized, 593 of which were illegal. Among them were homemade weapons known in Honduras as “Chimbas,” as well as Galil rifles and R15s.
“Durante el año 2017 se reportaron 1,359 #Homicidios menos que el 2016 es una diferencia del 26% ” Sub Comisionado Jair Meza pic.twitter.com/nfjQ1yvkRd
The Global Peace Index pointed to Honduras and Chile as the countries in Latin America that have best developed a strategy for combating crime. According to the current government, Honduras has the lowest homicide rate in 11 years.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez said the efforts of prevention and job-creation impact the reduction of violence and the formation of criminal groups, which he said will be a priority going into his second term.
It could be a long 2018 for Nicaragua and President Daniel Ortega. The country’s economy may slow down significantly should the United States decide to issue sanctions, and internal financial problems threaten its stability as well.
Nicaragua grew in recent years by as much as five percentage points, but the threat of sanctions from the US government have already begun to make a difference for the worst, as 2017 closed with an economic growth of only 4.5 percent, according to the economist Néstor Avendaño.
The Central Bank of Nicaragua originally estimated that the country would grow between 4.7 percent and 5.2 percent, but 2017 closed lower than expected.
Meanwhile, the Nica Act —a law that would implement economic sanctions against Daniel Ortega’s regime — continues to move through the US Congress. The legislation intends to punish individuals with links to corruption or who are suspected of violating human rights.
That makes 2018 a complex year full of serious economic obstacles, especially with uncertain investors who may not be willing to put money into the private sector.
“When there is distrust in an economy, a large part of the flow of foreign investment is paralyzed,” Coordinator for the Economic Commission of Nicaragua Adolfo Acevedo. “It’s very risky to say at this moment, but I think there may be a lack of investment that will generate less economic growth, more unemployment, and more uncertainty. Remember that in times of crisis, both investors and consumers save, leading to a decline in domestic consumption and purchasing.”
Nicaragua continues to lose its strongest investors due to the authoritarianism of Daniel Ortega’s regime, as well as the scandals that the Donald Trump administration has brought to light regarding commercial ties with Venezuela. It’s set a bad precedent ahead of a vote for the Nica Acta, which could cause foreign and domestic capital to shift into other territories.
Costa Rica is first in Latin America and sixth globally in press freedom, according to the 2017 ranking of Reporters Without Borders.
Costa Rica, which has led Latin America two years in a row, climbed from 21st position in 2014.
El Salvador – second in the isthmus – fell four spots from last year’s ranking, to 62nd position globally, while Honduras in 140th place worldwide is last in Central America.
Norway displaced Finland as the world leader in press freedom among 180 countries. Canada placed 22nd and the U.S. 43rd, while North Korea is last.
Pluralism, security, consistent jurisprudence, and government transparency are some of the criteria used in the ranking (numbers in brackets indicate each country’s position in the global index).
Costa Rica (6)
Belize (41)
El Salvador (62)
Nicaragua (92)
Panama (96)
Guatemala (118)
Honduras (140)
Published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the World Press Freedom Index is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states.
The registration system of the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration failed between 12:20 p.m. m. and the 1 p. m. of this Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Coriport.
A failure in the system used by the immigration service (Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería) to control passengers leaving the country generated delays in flights and long lines at both the Juan Santamaria, in San Jose (SJO) and Daniel Oduber, in Liberia (LIR), international airports.
In Liberia, 12 flights were delayed, while in San Jose, the airport manager, Aeris, only reported long lines.
The immigration service in a statement at 5:00 pm Wednesday confirmed a system failure had occurred between 12:25 pm and 12:55 pm, peak hours at both airports.
Nicolás Meza, manager of operations at Coriport, the company that manages the Liberia airport, said this is the third time there has been a system failure since September when the immigration service upgraded its software.
The lines at the Liberia airport on Wednesday afternoon when the immigration record control failed for more than 30 minutes during the peak midday travel period. Photo courtesy of Coriport.
In the case of the Liberia airport, Meza added that each of the delayed flight had an average of 160 passengers, in total affecting almost 2,000 passengers that could not be cleared by immigration to leave the country.
Migraciõn assures that no passengers lost their flight or connection. “Both at the Juan Santamaría International Airport and at Daniel Oduber, all without exception, passengers and flights, complied with the corresponding review, all flights and passengers entered and left Costa Rica with due control,” the statement added.
On November 28, a similar incident affected passengers at the Juan Santamaría airport during the early morning hours.
Leaving Costa Rica, the immigration service does a background check of every person leaving the country to ensure that there no impediments to their departure, such as judicial warrants or arrears in family support payments.
The check begins once the airline has closed its check-in, sending the detailed list of passengers to the immigration office located at each airport. Passengers who are not cleared to leave the country will be taken off the flight.
Since revolutionary forces ousted U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959, the Cuban Revolution has captured the imagination of the world. The Cuban Revolution (Spanish: Revolución Cubana) was an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement and its allies against the authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
Just kilometers south of most powerful nation on the planet and its foremost adversary, the tiny Caribbean nation has nonetheless been able to excel in social fields such as health, education, culture and sports. During recent years, Cuba has become recognized also as a leader in health technology.
A man waits for clients inside a private vegetable market, next to an image of Cuba’s late President Fidel Castro, in Havana, Cuba December 21, 2017. | Photo Reuters
Through its education and medical missions, as well as through its commitment to the independence of formerly colonized nations in Africa and Asia, Cuba has developed friendship with the vast majority of countries. Up until this year, it looked as though the United States would also shift closer in this direction.
People pass by an image of Cuba’s President Raul Castro in Havana, Cuba, December 21, 2017. | Photo Reuter
However the Trump administration has taken things back, and is now ramping up hostilities.
Meanwhile, Cuba prepares for crucial elections that will see current leader Raul Castro vacate the country’s top post.
A group of scientists, marine ecosystem protectors and government officials from several countries throughout the Americas are working together to create the “Galapagos-Cocos Swimway.”
An adult Pacific leatherback sea turtle.
The swimway will be a “new type of international (marine) management” system, Carlos Chacon, Director of Pacific Network (Red Pacifico in Spanish), a principal proponent of the swimway, tells TeleSUR.
He and other ocean researchers want to implement the swimway with marine life protections along the Cocos Ridge, a 700km underwater mountain range that connects the Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve in Ecuador and the Cocos Island Marine Reserve in Costa Rica in order to safeguard several varieties of at-risk species of sharks, whales and sea turtles that frequently mate and migrate along this oceanic corridor.
A significant portion of the migration of the Pacific leatherback occurs along an underwater mountain range that connects the Galapagos Islands and Cocos Island, two World Heritage sites separated by 400 miles of ocean.
He says the proposed swimway would be the first internationally, “specially managed” marine conservation project, taking into account ocean ecologies and human economies.
Pacific Network, a multinational marine conservation organization that works to protect the 2 million square kilometres of ocean waters off the shores of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, doesn’t have policy details, yet but its director says the oceanic project may require fishing seasons for “certain species of fish” in certain areas along the ridge.
The Cocos and Galapagos Islands Marine Reserves are doing a great good job at protecting sea life within their respective protected areas, says Chacon. “But what happens when these turtles, sharks, whales and manta leave the reserves?”
Chacon makes this statement based on research conducted by Migramar.
Migramar, an international marine research and conservation organization whose members include The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution, the University of California at Davis, California, and marine protection organizations from Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, has been tracking the migration patterns of key marine animals along the proposed Galapagos-Cocos Swimway for the past 12 years.
The organization has found that the proposed swimway area is a biological “hotspot” and a migratory haven for species of sharks, whales, sea turtles between Galapagos and Cocos reserves.
Several species of these big fish, mammals and reptiles – including hammerhead and silky sharks, sperm whale, and leatherback turtles – are endemic to these marine reserves and at risk of extinction.
Ecuador
The endangered status of these sea animals, particularly for the hammerhead and silky sharks in Ecuadorian waters, is due largely because nationally registered “artisanal” boats, fishing for yellowtail tuna and dolphinfish also fetch tons of these at-risk species as “bycatch” – or unintended casualties, explains Santiago Bucaram, Ph.D., Pacific Network consultant and Director of the Center for Economic Investigations at Ecuador’s Polytechnical University in Guayaquil, or ESPOL.
Bucaram tells TeleSUR that between 2008 and 2012 artisanal “nets caught over 40,000 tons of sharks as bycatch, or at least 250,000 sharks per year in Ecuadorian waters” most of these sharks were caught in the proposed swimway area pertaining to Ecuador.
The Pacific Network consultant says that the 45,000-registered artisanal Ecuadorian fishing boats “use longlines, a fishing gear that is not selective. Small or juvenile fish can escape through the long lines, but larger and more vulnerable species such as sharks, dolphins, and small whales can’t.”
According to Bucaram, artisanal fishermen generally use mother boats to transport a group of five to ten speedboats to biodiverse sensitive areas putting pressure at a level on par with industrial fishing capacity, rather than the small-scale activity they were intended to be.
He adds that the number of bycatch sharks captured in the swimway during the same time was “far greater than what it was caught by the industrial purse seine fleets in the entire Eastern Pacific Ocean, a region 100 times bigger” than the swimway.
Professor Bucaram says the issue is largely political. Artisanal fishers are allowed to bring ashore and sell bycatch shark as long as they declare it as such. This regulation was allowed in 2007 under previous president Rafael Correa and allows artisanal fleets to be the judge and jury of their own bycatch.
The Pacific Network consultant even says that the high rates of shark bycatch in Ecuadorian waters indicates it’s not accidental, but purposeful. In fact, he believes that today sharks are a “de facto” target fishery of the Ecuadorian artisanal fleet.
Therefore, Bucaram concludes that bycatch of endangered sharks within the proposed swimway corridor doesn’t merely implicate international vessels but is an “in-house” issue.
It’s not just international ships, such as the Chinese ship caught last August traveling through the Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve carrying over 6,600 endangered shark species that are putting marine life at risk in the swimway waters, says Bucaram, but that Ecuador’s artisanal fishing fleets are also responsible.
Being that the Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999 didn’t catch any of the several tons of shark found on board its hull, other experts also suspect the endangered species were illegally transferred to the Chinese flag ship at sea by smaller fishing vessels in the area.
Costa Rica
While still suspect in Ecuador, illegal shark finning-catching, cutting off their fins and throwing the live body back into the water – has plagued the potential swimway waters of Costa Rica for over a decade.
The practice was banned by a 2005 fishing law following environmental rights activists, Randall Arauz’s fight against the practice in Costa Rican waters. He was later awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his advocacy.
However, Arauz and Bucaram say the Costa Rica Fishery Institute, INCOPESCA, charged to enforce the law, rarely does. Arauz, in a 2013 interview says that the independent agency avoids enforcing the shark finning ban because its board members are personally and professionally tied to the fishing fleets that commit the illegal practice. The Goldman recipient says having INCOPESCA oversee fishing is like “Dracula taking care of the blood bank.”
Bucaram concurs that INCOPESCA is hardly an oversight entity but a privately-run institute with close connections to international fishing companies. Its members and those it protects would take a destructive economic hit were they to apply the ban.
The statistics corroborate these claims. In 2011 alone the practice killed around 400,000 in Costa Rica ocean waters, including those in the proposed swimway region.
Fisherman in Costa Rican waters say they easily evade the INCOPESCA inspectors searching for illegal fins by hiding them in their boat’s engine room, or merely paying them off.
Shark fins captured along the swimway contribute to a multibillion-dollar black market where a pound currently averages $US350, and the coveted shark fin soup easily costs $US100 per bowl, served mainly in China and Hong Kong.
Galapagos-Cocos Swimway
These are the obstacles that Galapagos-Cocos Swimway advocates are up against.
Yet both Chacon and Bucaram stress that they and other swimway developers don’t want to implement heavy restrictions or ban fishing in this oceanic region, but create a sustainable marine environment that is also economically viable for commercial and tourist fishing.
“This is a new, international” way of creating policy “This is a process [and] we’re still in the first parts of the process,” Chacon says to TeleSUR. He reports that he has had “very positive” talks with members of the Costa Rican government regarding the proposed project, and is looking forward to January talks with members of Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment, among other ministries.
The Pacific Network director says “We never thought of these two countries as neighbors, but they are. They share an immense oceanic border.”
The two swimway proponents are hoping the proposed protected oceanic corridor will become a reality in the next two to three years.
VATICAN ENQUIRER – Undercover agents in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, take down a dangerous gang for trafficking in an unspecified quantity of cholesterol and triglycerides. Authorities say they had been on the heels of the gang for some time, but their investigation was prolonged since the group operated mainly during the Christmas holiday season.
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Authorities say the tamales were filled with cholesterol and triglycerides, which may have been brought in from Mexico, other Central American countries and even South America. The cholesterol and triglycerides Tamales in Costa Rica are typically eaten with Salsa Inglesa (English sauce), usually Salsa Lizano, a locally prepared Worcester kind of sauce.
Hampering investigators is that the Tamales had to be steamed for about 30 minutes, depending on their size, or until the masa becomes firm and the with cholesterol and triglycerides filling is heated through before they could be confirmed dangerous to the public.
Although the group moved from one country to another, there is no evidence that the trafficking went on across borders from Mexico to Central and South America.
The cholesterol and triglycerides were wrapped in plantain leaves.
Authorities say the acted in taking down this gang because it has been found that, though the body needs some cholesterol to work properly, if you have too much in your blood it can combine with other substances in the blood, while Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans, combined can be unhealthy.
Ever to stop to think why we don’t see that many traffic cops (Transitos) on the road? One of the most likely reason is mechanical problems with a large number of the Policia de Transito (Traffic Police) vehicular fleet.
Transitos (traffic officials) complain the patrol vehicles are in poor condition and it takes a long time to fix them
That is the complaint by many Transitos who are forced to work with units in poor condition and report that it takes a long time to fix them. This goes along with the fact at the Transito does not count with its own mechanic and repair shops.
The unavailability of units, abandoned and with mechanical problems hinders the world of the traffic police force. And those that are working, many are in a bad state of repair.
The Dirección de Tránsito (Directorate of Traffic) says everything will be very different soon, with the purchase of 165 late model vehicles, that will be on the roads in a short time.
The Directorate also indicated that a mechanic’s shop located in La Uruca has been awarded the tender for the repair of the damaged units. In addition, a new ‘Transito’ campus will be opening in Zapote, giving officials better working conditions.
All this is very troubling given that the country is in the middle of an epidemic when it comes to road deaths, 2017 closing as the worst year on record with 457 fatalities, slightly more than in 2016 and double of several years ago.
The rising number of road fatalities can be attributed to a weak police force, a force that doesn’t have the number of officials to properly patrol the roads across the country, a government that is financially strapped to provide the financial resources for the added manpower and the to give the few officials the proper tools, ie working patrol units.
Driving in Costa Rica has always been a nightmare. Worse now with figuratively no traffic cops on the job – a police body with less than 1,000 officials to cover the entire country.
LATAM Airlines, formerly LAN Airlines, inaugurated its non-stop flight between Lima and San José, Costa Rica. At 3:55 pm Tuesday, January 2, for the first time ever a LAN flight touched down at the Juan Santamaria international airport (SJO).
The inaugural Lima – San Jose flight by LATAM arrived at the Juan Santamaria airport on Tuesday, January 2, 2018
The airline will operate three flights weekly between the two cities, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Starting in March, it will add one additional flight weekly, on Saturdays.
Flight LA2408 departs Lima at 1:05 pm, arriving in San Jose at 3:55 pm. Flight time is 3 hours and 50 minutes. The return flight, LA2409, will take-off from San Jose at 5:15 pm and land in Lima at 8:05 pm. All times are local, there is an hour difference between San Jose and Lima.
Héctor Iriarte, general manager of Latam Airlines for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, said the inaugural flight with an Airbus A320 was full, 168 passengers and crew. Among the passengers were visitors from Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
“We have 8,500 seats sold since we announced the flight, in the middle of last year, in South America, this speaks of the good response it has had, people consider attractive the rates we have to know Central and South America,” said Iriarte.
“This new route is excellent news for tourism and connectivity in Latin America, and strengthens our unique network of destinations. Costa Rica is world-renowned for its diverse nature, landscapes and outdoor activities – and our passengers throughout the region will be able to access this destination with connections via our Lima hub,” said Enrique Cueto, chief executive of LATAM Airlines Group.
“In 2018, we will continue to strengthen connectivity in the region and Costa Rica is just the first of 24 new routes we have already announced for this year, which include Boston, Las Vegas, Rome and Lisbon.”
New Gateway to South America
Mauricio Ventura, Costa Rica’s Minister of Tourism, explained that the arrival of Latam Airlines to Costa Rica represents a new gateway to South America, reaching markets that previously had no direct connection.
“We started the year in the best way, opening our horizons and venturing even further into South America, it is one of the hemisphere’s strongest airlines in both tourism and cargo, and we are honored that we have been chosen as the first destination in Central America,” he said. Fortune.
In recent years there has been an increase in new routes and airlines to the country as part of the response of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) to Avianca’s announcement to restructure its flights to Costa Rica.
LATAM Airlines
Many in North American are not aware of LATAM. Founded on March 5, 1929 as Línea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica), renamed on June 17, 2005 as LAN Airlines. LATAM Airlines Group was formed after the takeover by LAN of Brazilian TAM Airlines, which was completed on June 22, 2012. In August 2015, it was announced that the two airlines would fully rebrand as LATAM, with one livery to be applied on all aircraft by 2018.
DH 60G Gipsy Moths in service with LAN-Chile, 1933
Currently, LAN and TAM continue to work as separate companies, under a common executive management. LATAM Airlines Group is currently the largest airline conglomerate in Latin America.
LATAM’s main hub is Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (Santiago, Chile), with secondary hubs in El Dorado (Bogota, Colombia), Jorge Chávez (Lima, Peru), José Joaquín de Olmedo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) and Jorge Newbery (Buenos Aires, Argentina) airports.
LATAM Airlines operates in 31 international, 17 domestic (Chile), 5 seasonal and 4 marketed destinations in 21 countries. When the airline takes delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner it will start flights to Washington D.C. and London-Heathrow. It is also considering starting flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Barcelona (starting in Dec. 2016), Milan, Zurich, Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong. With the delivery of more Airbus A319s, Airbus A320s and new deliveries of the Airbus A321, it will start new destinations in South America.
On October 5, 2017, LATAM started a direct route between Santiago and Melbourne, Australia, a 15 hours (westbound) and 11,300 km flight. It is currently the southernmost commercially point-to-point flight. The flight’s great circle passes south of the Antarctic Circle, at a distance of approx 800 km off the Antarctic mainland. The flight numbers are LA805 (westbound) and LA806 (eastbound).
Nine of the U.S. citizens who died in the plane crash Sunday in Punta Islita, Guanacaste, were part of a tour organized by the California-based adventure travel company Backroads, a family of four from Scarsdale, New York, as well as family of four from Florida. Included in the victims was the guide for Backroads and the two members of the flight crew.
The Steinberg family, Bruce and Irene and their children William, Zachary and Mathew (de 17, 19 & 13).
Ennio Cubillo, director of Costa Rica Civil Aviation, confirmed Tuesday the investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash occurring at noon on Sunday, December 31, minutes after the plane took from the Punta Islita aerodromo when it crashed.
The Weiss family, Mitchell and Leslie and their two children, Hannah and Ari, 19 & 16)
There were no survivors.
Backroads tour guide Amanda Geissler
Costa Rica authorities are looking into possible strong winds or mechanical problems as the most likely cause of the crash. “No possibility can be left out for certain,” said Michael Soto, deputy director of the Organismo Investigacion Judicial (OIJ). “We have two aspects: The principle one would be some weather condition and if there was a mechanical issue.”
An eyewitness reported seeing the small passenger plane bank sharply, then plummet toward the ground seconds before it crashed and burned.
A report in La Nacion said the engine of the crashed plane will be sent to Canada, where experts at Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) will make an analysis. Ennio Cubillo, director of Aviacion Civil (Civil Aviation) said the main point to be determined is if the engine was in good working order, and if it reached full power at the time of the takeoff.
The director said that this does not mean that in advance ther is thinking of a mechanical failure as the cause of the accident, but is an edge of the possible reasons for the accident. The other hypotheses of the crash are due to a climatic effect (a strong gust of wind), a possible overweight or a human failure.
Aviation experts say the U.S. made single engine Cessna Grand Caravan is a workhorse and well-suited for Costa Rica’s short hops on short airfields. Pilots in Costa Rica told Telenoticias that the Punta Islita runway is at sea level. It is 900 meters long and inland there are hills that reach 300 meters in height.
Aerial photo of the Punta Islita aerodromo
During 8 months of the year, the runway has normal wind conditions and it is between November and February when they change. The so-called ‘nortes’ affect the country and the operation on the runway must be adjusted.
All the bodies were recovered from the crash site and moved to the Forensic Medicine laboratory in Heredia, where authorities have begun the task of identifying the remains through DNA testing and dental records.
The Medical Examiner’s office said it could take up two months for all the bodies to be identified. The bodies were charred and DNA samples for family members will be required in the process.
TODAY PANAMA – Businessmen from the Panamanian tourist sector welcome the arrival of Air China flights in March 2018, but consider it will be a challenge to attract a type of tourist that seems to prefer very different destinations than those offered by Central America.
Twitter @AirChinaNA
In a region which for many years has specialized in serving North American tourists and more recently Europeans, preparing to provide the attention demanded by tourists from China will be a challenge, according to the Panamanian tourism entrepreneurs themselves.
The fact that Panama is becoming a hub for air connections with the Asian region does not mean that the tourism industry is prepared to receive the type of tourist which has characteristics that are very different from the tourists that Panama and Central America are used to receiving.
Prensa.com reports that “…According to representatives from travel agencies in Panama, Chinese tourists are still discovering Asian countries and are venturing into European countries such as France and Italy, but attracted by luxury brands. According to official data, 54% of Chinese, who visit the French capital more than British and Americans, intend to go back to Paris within two years, compared to 71% of other nationalities.”
“… Another characteristic of Chinese tourists is that they prefer to stay in three and four star hotels, especially those that offer free internet.”
“… Beyond being a center for air connections for the Asian market, Panama must work on a plan to attract Chinese tourists, who at the moment are not interested in beach tourism or ecotourism, which are the country’s strong points, said Ernesto Orillac, president of the Panamanian Association of Tourism Operators.”
A country that is looking to get it’s share of the Central American tourist business is Nicaragua. Tourism in Nicaragua has grown considerably recently, and it is now the second largest industry in the nation.
In the heart of Central America, Nicaragua truly deserves the descriptive nickname of “The Land of Lakes and Volcanoes.” Visitors to Nicaragua are able to enjoy the natural beauty of dozens of volcanoes, rivers, and lakes, as well as two oceans.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has stated his intention to use tourism to combat poverty throughout the country.
The results for Nicaragua’s tourism-driven economy have been significant, with the nation welcoming one million tourists in a calendar year for the first time in its history in 2010. In 2013, more than 1.2 million tourists visited Nicaragua, representing an increase of nearly a third from 2009. More than 1.5 million tourists visited Nicaragua in 2017.
Nicaragua has been overshadowed by its neighbor, Costa Rica, but a boom in tourism may push this under-the-radar destination into the spotlight.
But don’t think of Nicaragua as the new Costa Rica, think of it as the new Nicaragua. Long overlooked by leisure travelers, the second-poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere is on the brink of a tourism boom, offering massivae attractions such as: volcanoes, surfing, centuries-old colonial architecture and a warm-hearted people.
Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373km² and contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua (Lake Nicaragua) or Cocibolca. It has coastlines on both the Caribbean Sea, in the east, and the North Pacific Ocean, in the west.
Climate
Hot in the lowlands, cooler in highlands, with occasional rainbow features. The weather during the dry months (November-April) can be very hot in the Pacific lowlands. Torrential downpours in the rainy season (May-October) can leave you soaked and chilly, even in the Pacific lowlands when it’s cloudy, so be prepared if you’re travelling during those months. Also be prepared for cooler, cloudier weather in mountainous regions. The Atlantic coast sees an occasional hurricane each season. In the past, these hurricanes have inflicted a lot of damage
People
There are about 5.6 million Nicaragüenses (Nicaraguans) in Nicaragua. The majority of the population is mestizo and white. Nicaraguan culture has strong folklore, music and religious traditions, deeply influenced by European culture but enriched with Amerindian sounds and flavours. The main language is Spanish, which is spoken by about 90% of the population.
Tourism
More tour operators in Nicaragua. Between 2010 and 2016, the number of tourism companies grew by 47%, and in the same period, the number of transport companies and travel operators increased by 320% and 160%, respectively. In 2010 the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute counted 62 businesses dedicated to providing travel organization services, and last year, this figure reached 161, thanks to the growth experienced in tourism in the country.
Tourists visit for the beauty and richness the country has to offer. With growing eco-tourism, world class beaches, colonial cities, nightlife and reasonable prices, Nicaragua is experiencing an increasing number of tourists from around the world. There is much to see and do in Nicaragua, and it is still a budget travel paradise. The tourist infrastructure has kept pace with this growth and visitors will find a variety of attractions, accommodations and restaurants to fit different plans and lifestyles.
Visit this increasingly popular tourist destination before it becomes a hotspot.
Rescuers at the scene of a bus crash that killed dozens north of Lima, Peru, on Tuesday. Credit Vidal Tarky/Andina News Agency, via Associated Press
LIMA, Peru — At least 48 people died when a bus tumbled down a cliff onto a rocky beach Tuesday along a narrow stretch of highway known as the “Devil’s Curve,” Peruvian police and fire officials said.
Rescuers at the scene of a bus crash that killed dozens north of Lima, Peru, on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. (Vidal Tarky/Andina News Agency, via Associated Press)
The bus carrying 57 people was headed to Peru’s capital when it was struck by a tractor trailer shortly before noon and plunged down the slope, said Claudia Espinoza with Peru’s voluntary firefighter brigade.
The blue bus came to rest upside down on a strip of shore next to the Pacific, the lifeless bodies of passengers strewn among the rocks.
Rescue workers surround an injured man on a stretcher who was lifted up from the site of a bus crash at the bottom of a cliff, after the bus was hit by a tractor-trailer rig in Pasamayo, Peru, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. (Vidal Tarky, Andina News Agency via AP)
“It’s very sad for us as a country to suffer an accident of this magnitude,” Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said in a statement.
Rescuers had to struggle to rescue survivors and recover the dead from the hard-to-reach area in Pasamayo, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Lima.
No road leads directly to the beach, complicating rescue efforts, Espinoza said. Police and firefighters used helicopters to transport six survivors with serious injuries to nearby hospitals. Col. Dino Escudero said 48 people were confirmed dead and at least three were missing.
An injured man is transported over water from a bus that fell off a cliff after it was hit by a tractor-trailer rig, in Pasamayo, Peru, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. (Vidal Tarky, Andina News Agency via AP)
Transportation Minister Bruno Giuffra said initial reports indicated both vehicles involved were traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the crash. Calls by The Associated Press to the company that owns the bus were not immediately returned.
As rescue operations continued late into the night, authorities announced a suspect had been detained for allegedly robbing belongings of victims.
Traffic accidents are common along Peru’s roadways, with more than 2,600 people killed in 2016. More than three dozen died when three buses and a truck collided in 2015 on the main costal highway. Twenty people were killed in November when a bus plunged off a bridge into a river in the southern Andes.
Rescue workers load an injured man on a stretcher after he was retrieved from a bus that fell off a cliff after it was hit by a tractor-trailer rig, in Pasamayo, Peru, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. (Vidal Tarky/Andina News Agency via AP)
The nation’s deadliest traffic crash on record happened in 2013 when a makeshift bus carrying 51 Quechua Indians back from a party in southeastern Peru fell off a cliff into a river, killing everyone on board.
Espinoza said the passengers in Tuesday’s crash included many returning to Lima after celebrating the New Year’s holiday with family outside the city.
The highway is known as the “Devil’s Curve” because it is narrow, frequently shrouded in mist and curves along a cliff that has seen numerous accidents. Police said the bus fell an estimated 80 meters (262 feet).
Miguel Sidia, a transportation expert in Peru, said that while road conditions in the Andean nation have improved in recent years, lack of driver education and little enforcement of road rules still lead to many fatalities each year.
He called on authorities to immediately conduct studies into building a new highway farther from the cliff where the accident occurred.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Sunday, just before the new year, a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage — as a protection for Venezuelans against ongoing aggression.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks during an event in Caracas, Venezuela. | Photo: Reuters
Effective January 1, the salary increase brings the Venezuelan minimum wage up from 177,608 bolivars to 248,510 bolivars.
The president also decreed an increase in the pension system, from 177,507 to 248,510 bolivares, while the war bonus has also been increased from 53,252 to 99,340 bolivares.
Maduro, in his address, also pressed that the Government’s goal for the first four months of 2018 is to reach 100 percent of care for the elderly, through the Carnet de la Patria system.
“We have to reach 100 percent of pensioners … with the Carnet de la Patria in hand, that is our goal and we will achieve it,” he said.
Finally, he reported that the government is strongly promoting a new cryptocurrency, the Petro, which is backed by the country’s natural and mineral wealth, saying the move is a solution that will prevent Venezuela from being the target of financial attacks, such as blockades and sanctions.
Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has said that 2018 will be the “year of liberation” for the Honduran people.
In a written statement posted to his Twitter account, head of the Opposition Alliance invited everyone to “continue to take to the streets” until the “capitalist dictatorship” of President Juan Orlando Hernandez “has been defeated.”
Carta de fin de año al pueblo HONDUREÑO : el heroísmo es continuar en las calles hasta derrotar la dictadura . pic.twitter.com/wgedOMYXeP
In his message, Zelaya said the Opposition Alliance and the Honduran people “will construct a better way with our own hands” against the “illegal dictorator” Hernandez, whose “criminal acts” of electoral fraud and protester killings are supported by the United States and other international governments.
“We won’t rest, but will battle on all fronts until the sublime moment arrives and we can celebrate,” announced the former president.
He accused the Hernandez of being the leader of an “organized crime” ring that is “violating the Constitution and laws of the Republic, impoverishing the country” and helping the rich accumulate more wealth while leaving the general population with inadequate healthcare and education.
Zelaya publicly lectured the military and reminded them that they are part of the people. El Pulso
Hernandez was announced the official presidential winner on Dec.17 by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, TSE, the government agency charged to oversee electoral processes in Honduras. He allegedly won with 42.95 percent of the votes, just over Opposition Alliance candidate Salvador Nasralla’s 41.42 percent.
These two were the frontrunners in the Nov. 26 Honduran presidential elections that have been rocked by domestic and international allegations of fraud and “irregularities.”
As late as Dec. 27, Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States, OAS, was calling for an election redo because of evidence of countless acts of fraud on part of the TSE during and after people went to the polls in late Nov. 26.
He ceased his initiative after the OAS permanent mission and Hernandez’s foreign minister accused Almagro of “inserting” himself in the nation’s sovereignty and overstepping his judicial boundaries.
Nasralla and the Opposition Alliance presented evidence of over 100 counts of electoral irregularities committed by TSE employees and its director, David Matamoros. Nasralla continues to insist he won the presidency and that the TSE worked in collusion with Hernandez to rob the Opposition Alliance candidate of his post.
Also tweeting late last night was the Honduran priest and civil rights activist, Ismael Moreno, saying he has received “accusations that put his life in risk.”
The well known priest, who was a close friend of government-murdered activist Berta Caceras, ended his tweet asking, “is this the open dialogue that President (Hernandez), backed by the U.S. ambassador (in Honduras) is talking about? Is this the kind of dialogue endorsed by corporations, some churches and sectors of the so-called, “official civil society.”
The School of the Americas Watch, SOA Watch, says that the government is falsely accusing Moreno, and several other human rights activists in Honduras of having ties to “narcotrafficking” in order to “detract” from Moreno’s work.
Moreno has been an outspoken critic of Hernandez, whom Moreno said has created an “authoritarian democracy that will become a dictatorship” for Honduras.
Hernandez’s first term, which officially ends this month, has been littered with alleged corruption and impunity. During his first electoral run in 2013, Hernandez and his National Party of Honduras, PNH, reportedly siphoned off US$90 million from the Honduran Social Security Institute to pay for his campaign against candidate Xiomara Castro, Zelaya’s wife.
In total, the PNH reportedly stole US$300 million from the social security system while Hernandez was president of the Honduran National Assembly. Hernandez claims the party received US$150,000 in illicit funds, but took no responsibility.
Since the polls closed Nov. 26, military and national police forces have killed at least 30 demonstrators who accuse Hernandez and the TSE of rigging the electoral results.
The image of Hernandez was a popular effigy burned throughout Honduras in the country’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
First full moon of 2018 – and closest supermoon – at 99.9% illumination as captured from Karachi, Pakistan by Talha Zia.
Did it seem brighter than usual last night where you were? What a great way to start 2018 as the first full moon of 2018, the “Luna del Lobo” (Wolf Moon) or Supermoon illuminated the skies over Costa Rica Monday night.
Supermoons aren’t really larger and brighter than other moons, but they appear so because they’re closer to the Earth in their orbit, as NASA explains it, “because the moon’s orbit is elliptical, one side (apogee) is about 30,000 miles farther from Earth than the other (perigee). Nearby perigee full Moons appear about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than full moons that occur near apogee in the moon’s orbit.”
Astronomy in Palo Verde 2018. The Fundación para el Centro Nacional de la Ciencia y la Tecnología (Cientec) will hold a practical course during the 2 nights of observation in the Palo Verde National Park, at the mouth of the Tempisque River, Guanacaste. More info here.
“It’s hard for our eyes to distinguish these small changes in size when the moon is high amidst the vastness of the night sky,” NASA said on its website. “But any time you catch a full Moon as it rises or sets, while it’s suspended low on the horizon beaming through the silhouettes of trees or buildings, its apparent size might make you do a double-take.
The first Supermoon of January is also called the Wolf Moon. The next, called a “blue moon” is at the end of the month, as January gets two Supermoons, an occurrence that only happens every two or three years.
The January 31 Supermoon won’t appear as big and bright as the one on New Year’s Day.
Though we could not find any photos of the Wolf Moon over Costa Rica, we bring you photos from around the globe. Photos from earthsky.org.
Supermoon from Rome, Italy via Gianluca Masi at the Virtual Telescope Project, which hosted an online viewing of the event.Heidi Gabbert in San Jose, California wrote: “New Year supermoon – January 1, 2018 – giving us a glimpse through the cloudy sky.Neeti Kumthekar in Belmar, New Jersey caught the supermoon rising with a mirage effect. The rising or setting moon or sun can exhibit a mirage when there are air layers of different temperatures near your horizon, for example, over an ocean.Supermoon rising from Héctor Barrios in Hermosillo, Mexico.January 1, 2018 full supermoon over Seattle, Washington from Gary Peltz.First full moon of 2018 – and closest supermoon – at 99.9% illumination as captured from Karachi, Pakistan by Talha Zia.“First full moon of 2018 and a super one to boot,” wrote Lou Musacchio in Montreal.
Two stone spheres are among them. The stone spheres are declared a world heritage by the United Nations. They are from the Díquis archaeological region and date from the period 500-1000 AD.
Venezuela will return nearly 200 pre-Columbian stone and ceramic archaeological artifacts to Costa Rica on Jan. 2, making good on a promise to return plundered goods.
Two stone spheres are among them. The stone spheres are declared a world heritage by the United Nations. They are from the Díquis archaeological region and date from the period 500-1000 AD.
Sculpted by the Indigenous of Costa Rica, the 196 items include items of significance to understanding the Indigenous cultures and peoples who populated the Americas before Christopher Columbus’ landing on the continent and reflect the diversity of the country’s region in the Atlantic, North Pacific-Guanacaste area and Diquis, Osa.
These items include stone spheres that are significant to world heritage, sculptures of human figures, and two metates (mealing stones) used to process grains and seeds. No such similar items exist anywhere else in the world, and in many cases, the pieces are unique.
Venezuela’s Ministry of People’s Power for Culture and the Institute of Cultural Heritage agreed to repatriate the treasured Indigenous heirlooms after they were discovered among various properties seized by Venezuelan authorities.
The 196 archaeological pieces returned to Costa Rica by the Venezuelan government were to be auctioned in the United States. They entered illegally into Venezuelan territory in 2012 and were confiscated in 2013.
After Harry Mannill Laul passed away in 2010 at his Costa Rican mansion in San Rafael, Heredia, local authorities found over 100 pre-Colombian treasures. That same year, Venezuelan customs officials obtained 56 similar items illegally held at a warehouse, tipping them off to search his home in the country. It was there that they found a veritable museum of artifacts. The house was searched two more times in 2015.
Laul was an archaeological art collector of Estonian origin who allegedly aided the German Nazis in 1941and 1942.
The process of identifying and verifying the origin of the archaeological items required that the National Musem of Costa Rica invested US$22,000, and was implemented through the collaboration of the Costa Rica and Venezuela’s consulates. The National Gallery in Costa Rica also worked alongside the Cultural Heritage Institute of Venezuela.
A photo from Irene Steinberg’s Facebook page of her family, who lived in Scarsdale, N.Y. From left, William, Bruce, Irene, Zachary and Matthew Steinberg. Credit via Facebook
A New York family of 5 are among the 10 Americans killed in Sunday’s plane crash in Guanacaste.
According to the New York Times, several weeks ago, Bruce and Irene Steinberg, from Scarsdale, New York, had told their friends and family how excited they were about the adventure they were going to undertake with their three children in a country with “exuberant tropical forests and beaches.”
Irene Steinberg’s Facebook page of her family, who lived in Scarsdale, N.Y. From left, William, Bruce, Irene, Zachary and Matthew Steinberg.
The Steinbergs were accompanied by the children William, Zachary and Mathew (17, 19 and 13).
The family, along with a group of 15 other American tourists, had been visiting Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. On Sunday, the Steinbergs, in the second group of 10 American tourists, were headed to San Jose for their flight home. But the small plane, a Cessna Grand Caravan with the tail letters TI- BEI, carrying them crashed in the area of Nandayure, Guanacaste, minutes after taking off at 12:10 pm.
Crahs site. Photo from MSP Facebook
The other victims of the crash were identified as Thibault Astruc, Amanda Rae Geissler, Charles Palmer, Leslie Weiss and Sherry Wuu; and the Nature Air pilots, Costa Ricans Emma Ramos and Juan Manuel Retana.
The first plane, carrying the other 10 American tourists, had taken off at 11:00 am and had landed at the Juan Santamaria airport at 11:40 am and without incident.
Authorities responded to smoke and flames rising from a wooded area near the Punta Islita airfield, first responders finding the charred wreckage of the small aircraft and the burned remains of those who had been on board. There were no survivors.
Punta Islita aerodromo. Photo from MSP Facebook
The New York Times reported, “A sister of Mr. Steinberg confirmed Sunday night in a Facebook post that her brother and his family had died in the crash. A relative who answered the phone at Mr. Steinberg’s parents’ home in Florida confirmed that the Steinbergs lived in Scarsdale, a suburb north of New York City, with their sons William, Zachary, and Matthew.”
“They were the kind of people you would like to have many of,” the relative said before saying she had to hang up. “They always did everything as a family,” said the report.
Aviacion Civil (Civil Aviation) authorities on Sunday said the cause of the crash was unknown but that the small airplane had encountered bad weather – wind gusts of up 50 km/h. Ennio Cubillo, director of the Civil Aviation, explained at a press conference that the plane, on its way to Punta Islita from San Jose, had landed first at the Tambor aerodromo (airfield), taking off again after the winds had died down, eventually landed at 11 am at Punta Islita.
After picking up the passengers, the plane took off for San Jose. Photos posted on Facebook by the Ministerio de Seguridad Publica (MSP), show that the small plane crashed several hundred meters from the end of the Punta Islita runway.
On Facebook, President Luis Guillermo Solis, who is vacationing in Spain, lamented the tragedy, offered his condoliences to the families of the tourists and pilots and confirmed that an investigation would be underway today (Jan. 1) to detemine the cause of the crash.
In September, an American and another passenger on a Nature Air flight died when a single-engine Cessna crashed in the Torres river, in San Jose, minutes after taking off from the Pavas airport.
On Twitter, former President Laura Chinchilla (2010 – 2014) said her cousin had been the pilot of the downed plane.
La fatalidad se interpone en las celebraciones de familia. Nuestro querido primo fallece como parte de la tripulación de la avioneta siniestrada en Guanacaste. Fuerza a sus hijos y hermanos y paz a sus restos.
Permanecerás en nuestro corazón querido #JuanManuelRetana
The Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), reported last night all the bodies of the victims had been recovered and were transferred to the Forensic Medicine Lab in Heredia.
Gesline Arango, photographer for La Nación, and part of the team in the coverage of the air tragedy that left 12 dead, this Sunday ( December 31) in Guanacaste, gives a heatbreaking account of the crash site and the moment the bodies of the victims were removed.
Juan Manuel Retana was in command of the Nature Air airplane that fell this Sunday afternoon in the mountainous area of Bejuco en Corazalito de Nandayure, Guanacaste.
The downed aircraft, that left 12 dead (ten foreigners and two Costa Rican pilots), was one of two small planes that left Punta Islita to with tourists headed for the Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose.
The aircraft, with the tail letters TI-BEI left Punta Islita, on the Pacific coast, at 12:10 pm, ten minutes later the fall of the aircraft was reported.
The first aircraft, TI-BBC, had left Islita at 11:00 am and arrived at the Juan Santamaria at 11:40 am.
TI-(xxx) is the Costa Rica aircraft registration prefix.
Ennio Cubillo, director of Civil Aviation, during a press conference, explained Retana had reported gusts of wind caused the pilot to opt for the Tambor airfield, to wait for them to decrease. Once informed of an improvement in conditions, Retana retook the flight plan to Islita. There he picked up the passengers and took off for the flight to San Jose.
Cubillo assured that the aircraft was certified to navigate and rejected that there is any relationship between the crash and an investigation of the company months ago, confirming that the aircraft went through the proper inspection a month ago.
According to a statement by Nature Air, the 10 American tourists were identified as Thibault Astruc, Amanda Geissler, Charles Palmer, Bruce Steinberg, Irene Steinberg, Matthew Steinberg, William Steinberg, Zachary Steinberg, Leslie Weiss and Sherry Wuu.
Accompanying Retana in the flight cabin was pilot Emma Ramos.
Nature Airt, in a statement, said, “In total 20 passengers were traveling from Punta Islita to San Jose, the group was divided into two flights.”
Infograph from La Nacion
The downed aircraft was a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan turboprop, manufactured in the United States.
Civil Aviation is investigating the causes of the crash.
On Facebook, President Luis Guillermo Solis lamented the tragedy.
Punta Islita, on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, is popular among North American and European tourists for its pristine beaches and lush landscape.
