Image captured by the Telenoticias television camera located east of the airport termina'
Three lightning strikes fell on the San Jose airport Friday afternoon. Eight people were affected, six had to be sent to hospital
(QCostarica) It was around 2:00pm Friday when the skies around the Central Valley turned real ugly. It wasn’t your normal rainy season afternoon. The skies thundered and lit up in some areas, in others it was only a distant sound.
One of the areas greatly affected was the San Jose airport (Juan Santamaria interional airport), when three lightning strikes fell on the area of the airport occupied by Autogestionaria de Servicios Aeroindustriales (Coopesa), the aircraft maintenance hangar immediately west of the main terminal.
The lightning struck in the area of Coopesa, the aircraft maintenance hangar west of the main terminal. In the photo is one of the airicraft under maintenance.
According to Erick Barboza, director of Aeris, the airport concessionaire, eight people were affected by the lightning strike, six of which had to be taken to the nearby Alajuela hospital. Of the affected, three were Coopesa workers, the other five airport ground support personnel.
The two Coopesa employees impacted by the lightning were reported in delicate, but stable condition.
The lightning struck in the area of Coopesa, the aircraft maintenance hangar west of the main terminal. In the photo is one of the airicraft under maintenance.
“Lightning struck in three places, one in the Coopesa and the other wo in the area of the boarding bridges,” explained Barboza.
According to Barboza, the airport is equipped with lightning rods. “What happens is that if it is raining the energy (from the lightning strike) can move through the water,” explained Barboza of yesterday’s incident.
The impact of the lightning strike at the base of one of the supports.
Although the incident did not directly affect Friday afternoon airport operations, the prevailing weather conditions in the country led to three flights bound for San Jose detoured to the Liberia (Daniel Oduber) airport in Guanacaste. The three flights were: Iberia’s flight from Madrid; Copa Air from Panama; and the Avianca flight from El Salvador.
On the ground at the San Jose airport, the Air Canada flight was delayed in departure.
Image captured by the Telenoticias television camera located east of the airport terminal.
According to the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the area most affected by the lightning storm were Atenas, Orotina and Guacima (de Alajuela). The areas of the Pacific coast, from the Nicoya Peninsula to the Osa were also affected.
From January to June this year some 170,000 lightning strikes fell on the country, just shy of the record 177,000 recorded in the first five months of 2014. According to ICE, in 2015, recorded were 794,000 lightning strikes.
The statistics of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) reveal six fatalities in 2013 and seven in 2014, of people struck by lightning. The numbers for fatalities due to this natural phenomena in 2015 are not yet in.
Sources: La Nacion, Teletica, Accidentes de Costa Rica Facebook, Aeris, ICE
Fire consumes six downtown San Jose buildings in early Saturday morning fire.
(QCostarica) Six structures were consumed by flames in early hours of Saturday in downtown San Jose. No casualties were reported in the fire.
The emergency started at about 2:15am when the bomberos (fire department) was called to a fire 150 metres north of Correos de Costa Rica (post office).
Luis Salas, fire chief at the scene, explained that among the businesses affected were two bars, a bakery and a supply store.
Some 60 firefighters from different fire stations worked to control the fire.
The official said the initial call was of sparks and smoke coming out of a bar and that fire investigators are now looking into the origin and cause.
One of those affected by the fire is Gerardo Casasola, who four months opened his soda (small eatery) that is part of the six structures consumed by the flames.
Fire consumes six downtown San Jose buildings in early Saturday morning fire.
“I lost almost everything. When I arrived there was nothing to do, was all consumed,” Casasola told La Nacion.
(QCostarica) A year after the announcement, the project to establish a ferry between El Salvador and Costa Rica for the transfer of cargo and passengers, that was to have this past Thursday (July 28), remains on paper.
Baja Ferries says a delay in the economic and regulatory conditions of the project has led to an indefinite postponement to the start date.
The project announced last May, was for the company to provide ferry service between the ports of La Union in El Salvador and Caldera in Costa Rica. Despite the delay, the company says it still expects to be a commercial bridge between the two nations
Baja Ferries provides services in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, southern France, and soon in Cubaand the UnitedStates.
The history of this sea route started in August 2013, when the Spanish company Naviera del Odiel had been to start ferry operations connecting the port of La Union to Puerto Corinto, in Nicaragua. This project never materialized, apparently because of unwillingness on the part of the government of Nicaragua.
In January 2015 the same shipping company reappeared, announcing that early this year it would operate a cargo ferry between El Salvador and Costa Rica.
The reality is that, three years after the idea was raised, it remains a project on paper and will possibly longer stay that way for longer.
Torre 40 will be built on Paseo Colon, next to the Mercedes building and will, at 40 stories, be the tallest building in the country...until the Sabana Capital gets done.
Torre 40 is one the announced developments that is expected to change San Jose’s skyline, as Costa Rica moves from horizontal construction to vertical
Vertical and horizontal residential condominiums in the provinces of San José, Heredia and Cartago are some of the projects for which environmental impact studies were submitted in May 2016.
The report “Construction projects in Costa Rica in May 2016” prepared by the Business Intelligence unit at CentralAmericaData.com, provides an updated list of major construction projects for which environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies were submitted to the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA) in May.
Details of some of the projects:
Torres Freses S.A. presented an EIA to build, in Curridabat, in the province of San José, an apartment tower on 25 floors with a total construction area of 19,845m. According to the document an investment of $13,100,300 is estimated for the project called “Torre Freses”.
Bambu 106 Sociedad Anonima presented an EIA to build, in the district of Ulloa, Heredia province, two buildings of 19 floors each with 152 apartments each for a total of 304 apartments. The project is called “Condominio Residencial Comercial Vertical Bambu 106” and the investment amount is estimated at $12,945,031.
Residences Parque del Este S.A. submitted an EIA to build in the district of San Rafael, San José Province, a residential area consisting of 110 apartments with sizes ranging from 61m 2 to 90m2 distributed longitudinally in a building on 4 levels, graded according to the topography of the site. According to the study the investment amount is $10,050,000 and the project will be called “Condominio Residencial Natú”.
Under Resolution No. 9,855, and within the framework of the state of exception and economic emergency, the Venezuelan Labor Ministry provides that all the country’s companies will have to provide employees to strengthen agricultural production.
In accordance with Official Gazette dated July 22, 2016, under Resolution No. 9,855 issued by the Labor Ministry, “public, private, socially-owned and joint enterprises” have the “obligation to lend state-run and private employees, with proper physical conditions, theoretical knowledge and expertise in the different production areas, in order to strengthen production in companies of social interest, related to the agro-food sector.”
The summary reads that the resolution “establishes a temporary working regime, compulsory and strategic, for all companies nationwide, state-run, private, socially-owned and joint, which helps foster production in the agro-food sector, setting temporary employability in entities subject to special measures implemented to bolster up their production.”
Likewise, the Labor Ministry states that workers will provide services in the requesting enterprises for a 60-day term, which can be extended for an equivalent period if the circumstances so warrant.
The Venezuelan crude oil this week (July 22-29) ended at US$35 per barrel, a US$ 2.60 drop from the previous week (July 18-22), when it hit US$37.60 per barrel.
The information was disclosed on Friday by the website of the Petroleum and Mining Ministry.
According to the official website, such fall is due to pressure exerted on the market by “concerns over high global (oil) supplies and expectations around a slowdown in the world economic growth.”
Costa Rican truckers want the government to impose a 20% tax on foreign truckers and they go through the Riteve inspection, to even things out.
Truckers heading to Casa Presidencial to demand the government to impose a 20% tax on foreign truckers and they go through the Riteve inspection, to even things out. Photo Alonso Tenorio. La Nacion
(QCostarica) About a hundred truckers descended on Casa Presidencial (Government House) in Zapote, Friday morning demanding the imposition of taxes on foreign truckers.
Marco Murcia, leader of the truckers union, said that Costa Rica companies hire foreigner transport companies because it is cheaper for them.
“What we are asking is a tax of 20% of the Central American truckers to balance things out,” said Murcia.
According to Murcia, the current situation leaves them at a disadvantage, because the foreign companies do not pay taxes or social security contributions (the Caja) in Costa Rica; nor their vehicles are subject to the vehicular inspection (Riteve).
Murcia stressed that their (foreign carriers) lower costs enables them to charge from US$200 to US$700 less than Tico carriers.
In addition to the tax, the Costa Rica truckers are demanding foreign trucks undergo the Riteve inspection as well. “…it’s for all or none,” said Murcia.
Deputy Minister of the Presidency, Ana Gabrial Zuñiga, said the trucker’s protest this morning is not justified, given there is an ongoing dialogue with the union.
“Despite the comprehensive and timely response by the Presidency to the requests (of the carriers) and having agreed to dialogue at Casa Presidencial, (they, the truckers) decide to hold a collective action that is affecting traffic and inconveniencing a lot of people and is totally unjustified,” said Zuñiga.
According to the Ministry, in recent months there has been progress in streamlining customs procedures, the roads in Paseo Canoas (Panama border), the development of fines to foreign truckers not following regulations and coordination with the Customs Police in dealing with complaints.
Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel laundered illicit proceeds in Colombia via contraband clothing and footwear products, according to a new report, taking advantage of the difficulty authorities face in stopping trade-based money laundering.
In a July 27 article, Portafolio explains how Mexico‘s Sinaloa Cartel cooperated with what the Colombian news outlet calls “one of the world’s largest contraband gangs” in order to launder a portion of the drug trafficking group’s billions of dollars in estimated annual revenues.
The operation exploited a loophole in Colombian law that establishes tariffs on imported textiles. According to Portafolio, countries that have free trade agreements with Colombia are exempt from such tariffs.
Realizing this, the contraband traffickers began purchasing textile products with ill-gotten funds and falsifying the countries of origin for products they imported into Colombia. This allowed the group to launder dirty money and avoid paying tariffs while doing it.
One way the smugglers accomplished this was by purchasing textile products from countries without a Colombia free trade agreement, and shipping those products through countries that did have such an agreement, including Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru and the United States.
In the case of the United States, the contraband gang exploited another trade-related regulatory loophole. According to Portafolio, the US-Colombia free trade agreement allows companies to self-certify the country of origin of the products they export.
The group purchased textile products from Asia, funneled them through front companies in the fashion district of Los Angeles, and falsely claimed they were made in the United States.
The Los Angeles fashion district scheme had a counterpart, which involved using drug trafficking proceeds to purchase clothing products from China, then smuggling those products across the US border into Mexico where they were resold to make the profits seem like legitimate earnings.
A large-scale federal operation targeting the Los Angeles fashion district operation commenced in late 2014, but authorities have said that they intend to stay on alert for similar schemes going forward.
Portafolio’s report indicates that the cooperation of Colombian police and customs authorities with their US counterparts led to the dismantling of the contraband textile ring that carried out the operation described above. The news outlet also says that the Colombian government is in ongoing discussions with regional partners about how to handle the issue of trade-based money laundering.
As InSight Crime has previously noted, many experts consider trade-based money laundering, or TBML, one of the most difficult forms of money laundering to combat because it allows illicit transactions to be hidden within the massive and complex system of legitimate global trade flows.
One potential solution that has been raised involves developing a system that allow for real-time tracking of imported goods. This could allow customs authorities to better monitor suspicious transactions. For instance, one of the ways investigators caught on to the textile scheme was by noticing a rapid and unusual increase in the number of clothing and footwear items being imported to Colombia from countries that had not previously been large exporters of such goods.
Portafolio also reports that authorities are seeking to develop better monitoring and information sharing regarding the true country of origin for goods being traded throughout the region. Improving those capabilities would make it harder for money launderers to take advantage of trade loopholes like those exploited by the Sinaloa-tied contraband ring.
A more balanced security approach may help El Salvador reduce violence
A more balanced security approach may help El Salvador reduce violence
(Q24N) El Salvador is the most violent peacetime nation in the world, seemingly stuck in a perpetual cycle of gang hostilities and truculent police behavior. A new security approach could quell inflamed tensions, and just might lower the country’s elevated homicide rate — for good this time.
“We’re at war.” The blunt declaration made by the head of internal affairs of El Salvador’s police in February 2015 was, technically speaking, inaccurate. El Salvador is not officially at war.
Still, the officer wasn’t too far off the mark.
Local newspapers in El Salvador are routinely peppered with accounts of confrontations between the country’s belligerent street gangs and its security forces. In early July, the director of El Salvador’s National Civil Police, Howard Cotto, said 318 gang members had been killed so far this year in 316 “exchanges of gunfire” with police. That number is comparable to the number of armed confrontations per year between Mexico’s military and cartels in that country’s so-called “drug war,” or the annual clashes seen in Colombia’s internal conflict. The comparison is more striking when you consider that El Salvador’s total population of about 6 million is less than that of Mexico or Colombia’s capital cities.
And not all the killings by police are legal. On the day of Cotto’s announcement authorities arrested seven police officers connected to a high-profile incident known as the San Blas Massacre. Reports of police death squads have surfaced as well.
Law enforcement is also on the receiving end of the violence; 58 police officers were killed in 2015, many of whom were off-duty when they were gunned down.
The growing drumbeat of war is even coming from El Salvador’s highest political office.
“Although some say that we are at war, there is no other path left,” President Salvador Sánchez Cerén said in March. “There are no spaces for dialogue, there are no spaces for truces, there are no spaces to get along with them. They are criminals, and we must treat them like criminals.”
Sánchez Cerén was alluding to the 2012 truce between the Barrio 18 and MS13 street gangs that was facilitated by the administration of former President Mauricio Funes (2009-2014). The truce temporarily cut El Salvador’s homicide rate nearly in half, but the agreement began to break down at the end of 2013. Sánchez Cerén, who succeeded Funes in June 2014, rejected the possibility of reopening negotiations with the gangs. He instead reinstated a policy that seeks to crush the gangs with a “Mano Dura,” or Iron Fist, with the security forces serving on the front lines of the battle.
Amid this oscillation from one end of the security policy continuum to the other, Salvadorans are dying at shocking rates. In 2015, El Salvador was the murder capital of the world, registering a staggering homicide rate of over 100 per 100,000. And the bloodletting increased during the first three months of this year, pushing the number of homicides from January to June 2016 slightly above the number registered in the first six months of 2015.
There has, however, been a temporary respite from the climbing murder rates. The government says newly implemented “extraordinary measures” were behind a significant drop in homicides from April to June 2016, but the gangs credit a non-aggression pact they reportedly struck in late March.
The Case for a More Balanced Approach
The polarization embodied by El Salvador’s security policy is likely a response to the enormous toll the violence is taking on the country’s social fabric. People are fleeing the country in droves to escape the rampant crime and reconnect with family members in the United States. Desperate times, the old saw goes, call for desperate measures.
But there is little evidence the policy prescriptions given by either of the last two administrations offer a long-term solution to El Salvador’s dire security situation.
El Salvador’s security policy will improve “not with truces, or with Mano Dura, but rather a systematic, methodological strategy based on international experiences,” Amaya told InSight Crime.
The truce had an immediate impact on homicide rates, but eventually unraveled and precipitated the current levels of violence that have surpassed even those seen during the El Salvador’s bloody civil war era. On the other hand, the various iterations of Mano Dura implemented in El Salvador over the last decade have actually coincided with heightened homicide rates, according to Luis Enrique Amaya, an international security consultant based in the country. Although homicides have been on the decline in recent months, the improvement is unlikely to last without structural changes to the government’s security policy.
An alternative approach that has been tried successfully elsewhere would establish a greater balance between the social and law-enforcement aspects of public security. To think of it in Salvadoran terms, such an approach would include communication with the gangs and other violence prevention strategies, but would not reach the level of open negotiations. It would require effective application of the law, but would not condone Mano Dura-style policing tactics.
El Salvador’s security policy will improve “not with truces, or with Mano Dura, but rather a systematic, methodological strategy based on international experiences,” Amaya told InSight Crime.
The United States is one place to look for examples of a successful security strategy in action. In a recent meta-review of violence intervention programs, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) found that focused deterrence “has the largest direct impact on crime and violence, by far, of any intervention” analyzed in the report, having a significant effect on homicide levels in 90 percent of cases. Focused deterrence is perhaps the epitome of a balanced approach. It involves mobilizing law enforcement, social services, and community leaders to directly communicate with offenders the rewards for complying with the law, and the consequences for violent behavior.
One specific intervention that has found success is the Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) program implemented in Los Angeles, which happens to be the birthplace of the MS13 and Barrio 18 gangs. The GYRD system, which emphasizes prevention, intervention and relationship-based policing, is widely credited with lowering gang violence in the city.
El Salvador also has plenty of examples to draw on from its neighbors in Latin America. In the 1990s, Colombia’s cities used a data-driven, epidemiological approach to tackle sky-high crime rates. By identifying and placing restrictions on high-risk behaviors like alcohol consumption on weekend nights and the use of firearms, authorities in Cali and Bogotá lowered homicide rates by as much as 50 percent. More recently, authorities have credited a 46 percent drop in murders this year in the city of Palmira — ranked the eighth deadliest in the world at the end of 2015 — to a combination of greater police presence and targeted community interventions.
“Yet that type of work here right now might get people killed. I do not think we have the infrastructure here yet for that type of work.”
Meanwhile, a new report (pdf) by the Brazilian-based Igarapé Institute highlights 10 innovate security measures that have been implemented across Latin America. Some initiatives, such as Todos Somos Juárez in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, coincided with a in violent crime. Todos Somos Juarez sought to address the underlying social and economic issues helping to fuel insecurity by establishing “Mesas de Seguridad,” or security round tables, which brought together government officials, representatives from the security forces and community leaders to discuss best security practices.
And these are just a few of many programs that have been implemented throughout the region.
“There has been a veritable explosion of citizen security initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean since the late 1990s,” Robert Muggah, director of research at Igarapé, told InSight Crime via email.
Muggah said that Igarapé has collected data from 1,224 such interventions dating back to 1998.
Why It Might Not Work
For a variety of reasons, balanced security strategies that worked in the United States or other parts of Latin America might not have the same effect in El Salvador.
First, due to the threat posed by the gangs and the weakness of state institutions, well-intentioned interventions could end up facilitating even more crime, rather than preventing it.
“There are things that we did in Los Angeles such as using former gang members to mediate conflicts between gangs,” said Guillermo Cespedes, the former deputy mayor of Los Angeles who started GYRD and is now tasked with implementing components of the program in Central America through a USAID Honduras project called Proponte Mas.
“That was done in collaboration with LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department] and the work was very effective there in reducing homicides,” Cespedes said. “Yet that type of work here right now might get people killed. I do not think we have the infrastructure here yet for that type of work.”
Second, a comprehensive strategy may not garner support from the Salvadoran population.
Salvadoran society “is very inclined to support repressive policies,” Amaya told InSight Crime. “It does not necessarily receive news of a prevention policy with open arms.”
Indeed, in 2012 and 2014, El Salvador ranked as the Latin American nation most likely to support the armed forces in combating street crime, according to Vanderbilt University’s AmericasBarometer survey. (See chart below)
Cespedes said the process of seeing gang members as more than just criminals was a slow, but ultimately necessary one in order for the social interventions in Los Angeles to take root.
“It’s hard to ask a community to see the guy that’s pulling the trigger also as the victim,” Cespedes told InSight Crime. “Which is what Los Angeles had to get to. But it took Los Angeles over 60 years to get to that position.”
Third, there is still not a lot of hard evidence supporting the effectiveness of citizen security interventions in Latin America. According to Muggah, only 7 percent of the 1,224 programs tracked by Igarapé have been subjected to any kind of assessment. In many of the success stories from around the region, a confluence of external factors also contributed to lowered homicide rates.
“No crime prevention program is wholly responsible for reducing lethal and non-lethal violence,” Muggah said. “There are invariably mitigating variables — including pacts, truces and ceasefires — that can positively and negatively influence the best planned measures.”
But without greater buy-in from top government officials and the security forces, Plan El Salvador Seguro will remain a component at odds with the overall security strategy.
Finally, a balanced security strategy requires a high level of inter-agency cooperation, something often lacking in El Salvador and elsewhere. Deploying troops or special forces to troublesome areas is a much more straight-forward solution, although it is rarely the best one. From military police forces in Honduras and Brazil to Mexico’s combative war on drugs, the militarization of domestic security in Latin America is hardly unique to El Salvador.
Even the United States, Cespedes says, has yet to fully grasp the complexities of a balanced approach.
“Implementing a violence reduction strategy that is made up of a balanced approach of social programs and constititional relational policing is very, very difficult,” Cespedes said. “It takes tremendous levels of collaboration, effort and community support, and it is in fact an ongoing struggle for many US cities… Are we asking the region to master something we still struggle with?”
Not Such a Radical Idea
Despite the extreme security measures taken by authorities in El Salvador over the last few years, reaching a more balanced approach may not be as difficult as it would seem. According to Amaya, the Sánchez Cerén government’s stated policy on citizen security is actually quite similar to that of the previous administration’s — and reflects a much more comprehensive strategy than the government’s abrasive rhetoric and Mano Dura tactics would suggest.
El Salvador’s security “policy is not balanced in practice, but it is in terms of design,” Amaya said.
The international security consultant pointed out that the current administration adopted with only minor changes a document previously presented by the Funes government that outlines the core objectives for citizen security (pdf). The document highlights “control and repression of crime,” but it also makes violence prevention, social reintegration and institutional reform central platforms.
The Sánchez Cerén administration has also taken some concrete steps to strengthen crime prevention efforts. In July 2015, authorities launched “Plan El Salvador Seguro,” which has 75 percent of its budget earmarked for prevention programs, according to Amaya.
But without greater buy-in from top government officials and the security forces, Plan El Salvador Seguro will remain a component at odds with the overall security strategy. Any progress made in terms of prevention will likely be undermined and overshadowed by the government’s repressive anti-gang policies.
“Social programs don’t function in isolation of the power hierarchy in which they occur,” Cespedes said.
In order for programs such as Plan El Salvador Seguro to reach their full potential, the guiding principles behind them will have to be adopted by those who occupy the country’s highest political circles.
That’s not say a more balanced security approach is guaranteed to turn the tide in El Salvador’s ongoing struggle to rein in violence and criminality. But there’s also good reason to think it can be done, and that this progress can be sustained over time. The experiences from around the region — in countries like Colombia and cities like Ciudad Juárez — show that a balanced security approach can work in places suffering from murder rates comparable to those in El Salvador.
(QCostarica) President Luis Guillermo Solis wanted it and legislators approved it hands down, but now the reality starts to set in, it takes money and resources to comply, if the Animal Welfare Act (Ley de Bienestar Animal) is approved in second and final reading.
Earlier this week, 50 of the 55 legislators of the Legislative Assembly voted in favour of the law that gets tough on animal abuse and cruelty. For President Solis he said publicly that the issue of animal protection was a concern of his even before he began his presidential campaign.
All good so far. But.
On Thursday, the Director del Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal (SENASA), Bernardo Jaén, said the national health service will need at least eight months time to prepare the necessary regulations to ensure the implementation of the law, once it is published in the official government newspaper, La Gaceta.
In addition, the service will required staff and additional financial resources.
Jaén said that, to apply the fines created by the new law, he will have to ask for at least 25 staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock ( Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería – MAG); and, apply to the Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda) for money.
“Our responsiveness is limited. We have many functions stipulated in the current Law on Animal Health and presidential directives, and the staff is shrinking due to hiring freezes,” said Jaén.
The bill approved this week puts the onus on the SENASA to apply the fines for offences such as not picking up poop from public areas, neglect, abuse, animal fights and aggressive animal husbandry, among other items. Fines range from ¢424,000 to ¢848,000 colones.
The director stressed that the bill does not provide for an increase in staff and money.
“I don’t have an estimate of the costs (to implement his law), but I know we are talking about 25 people, that would mean wages, social security, transportation to respond to complaints and other costs generated…” said the head of SENASA.
Although it will be the responsibility of the Poder Judicial (Judiciary) to apply the incarceration of the offenders, the SENASA has to primary responsibility to impose administrative sanctions, that includes fines.
On the issue of fines, the director said that although it could be considered that there is a high level of difficult to collect fines, such as not picking feces, the director sees no problem in applying them (the fines), nor to be disproportionate.
Jaen said his office has sufficient experience.
The bill may also encounter other problems before reaching (if it will reach) second reading, presidential signature and publication.
For example, in the words of our blogger and resident legal expert, Rick Philps, “they (legislators) do need to define which animals are protected by the law. If you slaughtered a farm animal raised for human consumption, you could run afoul of the law as it is now written. It makes me wonder who they have drafting these laws t miss something so basic.”
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What is your opinion on this initiative? What problems do you see in having this bill, if it comes into law, enforced? Have your say by way of our comments section below or post to our official Facebook page.
Costa Rican authorities had distributed in several countries information on the wanted Tico.
Wanted on suspicion of raping and impregnating his own daughter when she was a minor, José Alberto Orozco Ramírez was caught in the United States, where he fled to more tha a decade ago.
Orozco, now 48 years old, is wanted by the Cartago district attorney for the incident occurreed in 2002. The man is believed to have fled the country in 2003.
Costa Rican authorities had distributed in several countries information on the wanted Tico.
Orozco was captured by U.S. authorities in New Jersey, a state home to many Costa Rican expatriates.
Interpol wanted poster
Laura Monge, district attorney of the Office of Technical Assistance and International Relations (OATRI), told Channel 7 Television news that U.S. authorities are coordinating with Interpol and the immigration service (Migración) to repatriate the suspect.
The eco-activist founder of the Sea Shepard Society, Paul Watson, continues on the Interpol list, wanted by Costa Rica.
In 2012, another Tico wanted for rape was captured in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On the Interpol wanted by Costa Rica search, there are 104 results listed, including Paul Watson. Of the wanted with Costa Rica nationality, the search result is 48.
The photo depicts the condition the African migrants in Las Vueltas, Santa Cruz de Gunacaste. Photo Carlos Hernandez, La Nacion
The photo depicts the condition the African migrants in Las Vueltas, Santa Cruz de Guanacaste. Photo Carlos Hernandez, La Nacion
(QCostarica) At 3:42pm on June 3, was born on Costa Rican soil the first baby of African migrants who entered the country last April in their attempt to reach the United States. The baby girl is the daughter of Marie Loude Gue, 35, who is originally from Senegal.
The baby was born at the Liberia hospital of natural childbirth. Seidy Herrera, director of the Hospital Enrique Baltodano Briceño said the baby was born at 40 weeks gestation, the mother had not had any prenatal care, and spent two days in hospital after the delivery.
The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) – the Caja – reports the woman and baby are together with other migrants in the Las Vueltas shelter, in Santa Cruz de Guanacaste.
Luis Bolaños, director of the Civil Registry (Registro Civil), explained that as the child is Costa Rica, the parents are now able to obtain residency in the country.
“They can acquire residency for family reunion”, said Bolaños.
Since April mor than 4,700 African and Haitian migrants have been stranded in Costa Rica, finding the immigration doors closed to them by Nicaragua. Currently, only 2,000 migrants are being accounted for in Costa Rica, the immigration service saying that up to 2,700 have made their way out of the country, probably crossing into Nicaragua illegally with the help of “coyotes” (smugglers).
Official say some 1,500 migrants are in Guanacaste, the other 500 in the area of Buenos Aires and Golfito, in Puntarenas.
The Caja says that since April it has spent ¢121 million colones in treating the African and Haitian migrants; ¢3.5 million of that to deliver the Loude Gue baby.
The Loude Gue baby is not the first ‘migrant’ baby to see light in Costa Rica. Product of the wave of Cubans stuck in Costa Rica last year, also on their way to the United States, three births were of Cuban migrant parents were recorded on Costa Rican soil. The first was born on January 5, the second on March 4, and the third on March 18.
The families of the three children were able to reach the United States, after spending almost six months in Costa Rica, waiting. The situation for the Cubans is quite different from that of the African migrants: upon arrival on US soil, Cubans are welcomed under the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows them to obtain formal residency in the U.S.
Minister of the Presidency, Sergio Alfaro (der.) And Carlos Maldonado, UNHCR director for Costa Rica, announced that the country will host up to six months to 200 citizens Northern Triangle of Central America. (Presidential House for the Nation)
Carlos Maldonado (left), UNHCR director for Costa Rica, with Sergio Alfaro, Minister of the Presidency, announced that Costa Rica will take in up to six months some 200 refugees of the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras). Photo Casa Presidencial
(QCostarica) Costa Rica has agreed with the United States to offer temporary protection to refugees fleeing Central America. The partnership was announced Tuesday, following an admission by Obama administration officials of its failure to address the surge in refugees fleeing violence, rape and kidnappings.
“Our current efforts to date have been insufficient to address the number of people who may have legitimate refugee claims,” said Amy Pope, deputy homeland security adviser, in a press call on Tuesday morning.
The plan is identify the most vulnerable people in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Costa Rica has agreed to host 200 individuals at a time for six-month periods under the new protection transfer agreement (PTA).
Only those who have been pre-screened by U.S. State Department officials in their country of origin will be eligible to travel to Costa Rica. People who travel to the country on their own will not be accepted into the program.
Carmen Muñoz, deputy Minister of the Interior (viceministra de Gobernación) who is currently acting Director of Immigration (Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería), said the agreement will streamline the process to deliver, in less than five days, humanitarian visas.
Muñoz says Costa Rica was chosen by the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) for political and social stability offered to migrants whose lives are at risk in their home countries.
The Minister of the Presidency (Chief of Staff), Sergio Alfaro said that this is a temporary protection mechanism for the people of these nations – known collectively as the Northern Triangle of Central America – while their paperwork refuge approved in nations like the United States, Canada and Australia.
Central Americans from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have fled their countries in the thousands as violence in their countries spiked in 2015, with more than 110,000 seeking asylum, five times that in 2012. Most are seeking refuge in Mexico and the United States.
“The profile of the people as part of this agreement are environmentalists and community leaders and of the LGTBI movement who are persecuted and threatened in their countries by criminal organizations such as the maras,” explained Muñoz.
Carlos Maldonado, director of UNHCR Costa Rica, said the UN agency will be responsible for meeting all expenditures of the refugees, such as English language learning programs, induction in the culture of the seeking refuge country, as well as maintenance and medical expenses in Costa Rica.
Maldonado stressed that at no time will the number (under this program) be higher than 200 and those receiving a humanitarian visa will live in private homes in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of San Jose.
Deputy Minister Muñoz added the country reserves the right to request from UNHCR detailed information on each person, in order to prevent abuse of people who are trying to leave their countries with other intentions.
According to the deputy minister, so far in 2016 Costa Rica has seen triple the normal number of application for refugee status from Salvadorans, for Example. Currently, the immigration service is evaluating some 700 applications from that country alone.
In Costa Rica, some 3,500 people live as refugees. In addition to those from the Northern Triangle, immigration records indicate mainly Colombians and Venezuelans.
They’re seeking donations to raise £100,000 (US$132,000) so they can move to Costa Rica in pursuit of their ‘self-sustainability’ dream. So far, they’ve raised £345.
They’re seeking donations to raise £100,000 (US$132,000) so they can move to Costa Rica in pursuit of their ‘self-sustainability’ dream. So far, they’ve raised £345. DailyMail on Facebook
An “off-grid” British couple is using crowdfunding to raise £100,000 (around US$132,000) to help make their dream come true of moving to Costa Rica with their two children, five-year-old Ulysess and one-year-old Ostara, to start what they call a “self-sufficient” way of life.
“We are inspired … to create a business, home and lifestyle which can show people that they don’t have to comply to the constraints of ‘the system,’” the couple wrote on FundMyTravel.com.
Our ultimate goal is to become self – sufficient, the way of making that happen is by moving to Costa Rica and buying a big plot of land where we can grow food, and have access to wildlife and nature in it’s natural state.
So far they have raised from donations only £245 (US$325) as of Thursday.
“We firmly believe that there are alternative parenting ways & you don’t have to conform to what’s expected. We have an all natural approach to parenting and are reaping the benefits,” write the couple who want to share their knowledge of off-grid parenting and expand on their experience by fully immersing themselves in a natural environment where they can become more self-sufficient.
On the website, they don’t say how they will be self-sufficient. But they detail their alternative parenting style which includes allowing their children to pick their own bedtimes.
Adele still feeds both children breastmilk, because they say it is a “great supplement, not just for infants,” and their older child “can decide when he wants to stop breastfeeding.”
They also refuse modern medicine, saying they use “lemon water if [they] have a cold and breastmilk is [their] cure for an eye infection!” Neither child has been vaccinated.
When asked about their lifestyle by the Daily Mail, Adele admitted they have seen criticism from many people.
“My mother has always been very supportive of us as a couple, helping us out over the years, but lately we have agreed to disagree over the way we are bringing up our children,” she said. “We accept other people’s choices and do not judge them, so why judge us?” Matt told the the Daily Mail.
(Cntraveler) Could a paperless passport be on the horizon? Technology continues to make travel easier—and more accessible—than ever. There are services that check you in for flights automatically, trains that soon may move at the speed of sound, and luggage that weighs itself.
Recent developments in technology are now also looking to transform an essential travel item: the passport.
De La Rue, the world’s biggest passport producer, is currently working on a “paperless passport,” developing technology that could store passports within mobile phones. On smartphones, the passports would function in a fashion similar to that of mobile boarding passes, which act as an accessible, handy substitute for printed tickets. And while the concept is in the early stages of development, there has already been concern over forgery—or even what would happen when someone loses a phone.
“Digital passports on your phone will require new hardware on the device in order to securely store it so it cannot be copied from the phone,” David Jevans of security company Proofpoint told The Telegraph. The passports on smartphones will thus have to be communicated wirelessly to passport readers, because having a passport onscreen—like with an airline ticket’s QR code—opens the passport up to copies and forgeries.
As one of the last hold-outs of non-digital documents in the travel industry, passports have, in recent months, been given the technological treatment: “cloud passports” have been given a trial run, and travelers can even take a selfie as their passport photo. Will passport books soon go paperless? Only time will tell.
(TICO BULL) A Youtube video by The Talko listing the 10 most dangerous roads in the world inspired me to make a list of my own, a list of roads in Costa Rica that although may not be considered among the most dangerous outside Costa Rica, they certainly are locally.
Following is a list of the top 5 roads I consider the most dangerous, either because of its design (or lack of it mostly), bad driving habits on these roads – I would even go as far to say there are no bad drivers in Costa Rica, just bad roads. Ok, maybe I am stretching that a bit, or a lot, but anyone who has driven on these roads knows perfectly what I am talking about.
And though some of these roads are called an “autopista” (highway in Spanish) – other “Rutas” (Routes), in Costa Rica they are considered a highway. A stretch of any imagination. At best they are a road. And even then…
1. Autopista General Cañas
This road (cannot call it a highway) that starts in La Sabana, became six lanes (from four) from Pablo II bridge to the airport by eliminating the shoulders and making the lanes narrower. And it still has two four lane bridges, one of them, the infamous “platina”.
Traffic on the General Cañas east from the San Jose airport on an easy day.
2. New Cañas – Liberia
What was supposed to be the “best” road in the country is, in my opinion, is bad and dangerous. Transport authorities want us to believe otherwise, perhaps it is for Ticos that have never driven outside of Costa Rica. With years behind schedule, is the best of the best? I drove it before it became official and then after. I say, it is the worst.
The new Cañas – Liberia road. A marvel of Tico engineering.
3. Bernardo Soto
The Bernardo Soto is the road that runs from the airport to San Ramon. It includes what can be called the worst intersection in the country, the turn off to Alajuela immediately east of the airport. To the east, just before Coyol you have a concrete post in the middle of a four lane road on both sides, that narrow to two and a half. The railway overpass was never refurbished with the reconstruction of the road. It doesn’t get any better from there.
Scenes like this are common on the Bernardo Soto
4. Ruta 27 (San Jose – Caldera)
I remember driving this road before it was open to the public, from Santa Ana to past Atenas, half way to Orotina. It was a marvel. This was January 2010. By June 2010, when the road was officially opened, it became the “death road”, fatal accidents almost every other day. Today, six years later, the only thing reducing the carnage on this road is the constant congestion. One of my best drives was following a police escort, from Santa Ana, on the way to the opening ceremony in Orotina.
From its first days of opening to the public it was evident the toll road would not be able to handle the volume of traffic.
5. Ruta 32 (San Jose – Limon)
This is a road you don’t drive at night. Or in the rain. Even in good weather you are taking your changes. The worst could be said is through the Braulio Carillo national park, as it winds through the mountains, the Zurqui tunnel, etc. But don’t forget the straight stretches between Guapiles and Limon, as speeding vehicles dodge pedestrians crossing the road, stopped buses without a bus bay and vehicles turning left and right. This road is the main road between the port city of Limon, the major port and San Jose and the rest of the country. Truck traffic on this road is at maximum.
The Ruta 32 as wit winds through the Braulio Carrillo national park.
I have logged in many kilometres on each of these roads. I have been fortunate never to have had any serious incident, but there have been too many times when I came close, like the time driving, at night on the Ruta 27, back to San Jose, when ahead of me is a truck without any lights. None at all.
What do you think of my list? Want to share your experience on Costa Rica’s roads? Use the comments section below or post to my Facebook page.
(QCostarica) A study by the Imperial College London (ICL) published Tuesday revealed that on average, Ticos (Costa Rica) are mid-table among the world’s tallest and shortest.
The 100-year global study finds Costa Rican men have increased their average height by about 11.2 centimetres (4.4 inches) and women 13.7 (5.4 inches).
At an average height of 1.56m (5.2ft), Ticas (Costa Rican women) are just seven centimetres above the shortest in the world, Guatemalan at 1.49m.
These figures are, however, far below Latvian women, the tallest women in the world, averaging 1.70m (5.6ft).
For their part, Tico men, whose average was nearly 1.58m in 1896, managed to reach the adult height of about 1.69m, 18 centimeters below their Dutch peers. The study found Dutch men are the tallest, with an average height of 1.82m.
While the Dutch and Latvian are the most height of the world, the East Timorese and Guatemalan are the shortest.
The 800-strong research team, which worked with the World Health Organization, used data from various sources including military conscription figures, health and nutrition population surveys and epidemiological studies. The scientists use these to generate height information for 18-year-olds in 1914 through to 18-year-olds in 2014.
The study says human height is strongly influenced by nutrition and environmental factors, although genetic factors can also play a role in individuals. Children and teens who are better nourished and live in better environments tend to be taller. Height also has lifelong consequences. Some studies have found that taller people tend to live longer, get a better education and earn more. But being tall may also increase some health risks, with studies linking height to a higher risk of developing ovarian and prostate cancers.
“This study gives us a picture of the health of nations over the past century,” said Majid Ezzati, an Imperial professor of public health. He said the findings underlined the need “to address children and adolescents’ environment and nutrition on a global scale.”
The difference between the tallest and shortest countries in 2014 was about 23 cm for men – an increase of 4 cm on the height gap in 1914. The height difference between the tallest and shortest countries for women has remained the same across the century, at about 20 cm.
The height difference between men and women has on average remained largely unchanged over 100 years – the average height gap was about 11 cm in 1914 and 12 cm in 2014.
The researchers also found that some countries have stopped growing over the past 30 to 40 years, despite showing initial increases in the beginning of the century of study. The United States was one of the first high-income countries to plateau, and other countries that have seen similar patterns include the UK, Finland, and Japan. By contrast, Spain and Italy and many countries in Latin America and East Asia are still increasing in height.
Among the findings the team found that:
Dutch men are the tallest on the planet, with an average height of 182.5cm. Latvian women are the tallest on the planet, with an average height of 170cm.
The top four tallest countries for men are the Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Latvia. The top four tallest countries for women are Latvia, the Netherlands, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
Men from Timor Leste were the smallest in the world in 2014, with an average height of 160cm. Women from Guatemala were the smallest in 2014 with an average height of 149cm.
The difference between the tallest and shortest countries in the world in 2014 was about 23cm for men – an increase of 4cm on the height gap in 1914. The height difference between the world’s tallest and shortest countries for women has remained the same across the century, at about 20cm.
The height difference between men and women has on average remained largely unchanged over 100 years – the average height gap was about 11cm in 1914 and 12cm in 2014.
The average height of young men and women has decreased by as much as 5cm in the last 40 years in some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Sierra Leone, Uganda and Rwanda.
Australian men in 2014 were the only non-European nationality in the top 25 tallest in the world.
In East Asia, South Korean and Chinese men and women are now taller than their Japanese counterparts.
Adult height plateaued in South Asian countries like Bangladesh and India at around 5-10 cm shorter than in East Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea.
The smallest adult men in 1914 were found in Laos, where the average male height was 153cm, a similar height to a well-nourished 12-year-old boy living today. In 1914 the smallest women were found in Guatemala, where the average female height was 140cm, a similar height to a well-nourished 10-year-old girl.
A great article by Liz Galloway published on the Matadornetwork. The article was published in June 2015, but still applies today. My favourite is: “you know what a ‘Mexican standoff’ is”. What’s yours? Read on…
You weigh an extra 5 pounds due to a mass accumulation of 500 colone coins.
Don’t blame weight gain on beachside sunset drinking — blame it on the large 500 colone brass coins that jingle around the bottom of your bag and in your pockets due to the fact that not many local places here want to accept your credit card.
You know what a ‘Mexican standoff ‘is.
Driver’s education is an unfamiliar concept in Costa Rica, so let’s just say Ticos drive ‘differently’ than many other places in the world. They are also very family oriented, so if you haven’t seen your brother’s, wife’s, sister’s niece for a while and see them passing in the opposite direction, it would be just plain mala vibra (bad vibes) not to stop in the middle of the road to catch up. This seems to happen principally on narrow two-lane roads with miles of rainforest on each side and no escape for the drivers behind. Might as well pull out your whatsapp to chat with some peeps of your own, because until they’re done, no honking or yelling will move them. It’s called a standoff because both refuse to move. That’s pura vida.
You’ve gotten bona fide crocodile warnings.
It’s worth elbowing through a stream of slack-jawed tourists at Tarcoles Bridge to see the behemoth crocodiles sunning in the mud below. But don’t throw meat over the bridge to incite a frenzy, as it’s against Costa Rican law. Snap a stellar photo, just don’t attempt a selfie: #deathbycrocodile. There are 23 species of these meat-eating reptiles in C.R. and if you live on a coast you’ve heard the tragic legends of small dogs and children being plucked from the beach.
You don’t mind an occasional shock from a faulty suicide shower.
While science and our parents have taught us electricity and water don’t mix the best, these electric showerheads still remain the most popular and cost effective way to heat a typical Costa Rican shower. You know to keep your head down, your showers short, and keep the water flow low so it heats to a lukewarm drizzle. You always wear a pair of rubber soled flip-flops (shower shoes), never touch the temperature switches and avoid the exposed electrical wires. If you’ve used a suicide shower and lived to tell about it, you have conquered a local rite of passage.
When there are street riots and business closings, you just assume there is a soccer game.
La guerra del fútbol (football wars) is alive and well in Costa Rica, and when the national team La Sele is playing it’s hard to escape the broadcasters singular
GGGGOOOOAAAAALLLLL and the fist-pumping howls that come after. Fueled by a dangerous blend of national beers and Cacique — a version of 190 proof Grain Alcohol — soccer hooligans have been known to shut down streets, turn over cars, and exercise their love of bonfires. Businesses and schools take a national holiday to participate in the face-off.
You don’t buy bananas and mangos because you can pluck them from trees for free.
You’re in a fruitarian paradise and possibly never have to buy food again, if surviving on potassium, fiber, and Vitamin B6 is your thing. In practically any beach town, you will pass by dozens of mango and banana trees on the side of the road, and probably in your own back yard. Bad news — you most likely are not the only one gawking at the lime green stumps nestled in the leaves waiting for them to ripen. Good news — you score some truly fresh fruit (free of pesticides) if you happen to be the one wandering by once they have ripened. Twist, pull, and experience instant hydration and the tropical fruity feel dancing on your tongue. In peak season it’s practically raining mangoes and bananas, so grab a backpack and load up.
‘Colectivos’ (collective taxi transportation) are your go-to ride.
It’s a bit like a co-op and the perfect way of carpooling. With the flick of an index finger you can flag down a shared taxi ride to do your shopping. You know they have an open seat by the requisite flash of the headlights. It’s a money saver and a splendid way to get to know the locals. The chances of you already knowing someone en route, including the taxi driver, are pretty high when you live in a small town. Jump on and off where and when you want with a quick ‘aqui mae’ to the driver, toss him a media roja, and you’re off. Say goodbye to $10 taxi rides — you’re a local now.
This story was produced through the travel journalism programs at MatadorU.Learn More
You don’t lift an eyebrow at seeing taxi drivers navigating windy roads with rum and Coke in hand.
It’s legal to drive while drinking in Costa Rica — as long as you’re not drunk.
Nor do you lift an eyebrow at security toting sizable machetes and AK-47s in public.
Heavy weaponry may seem a little odd to visiting outsiders, but this is commonplace in banks, malls and the occasional fast food stop. Security guards stationed outside these spots carry semi-automatic hardware and scope out a slice of shade to tolerate the thick humid weather in bulletproof uniforms. The chances of you crossing paths with several machete-toting locals is pretty high. More frequent in rural areas, these are used for pretty much everything — rarely a weapon — and are nothing to worry about. Forget the Leatherman, why not pick up your own machete?
You understand the automatic 10% added to your bill.
There’s no deception, it’s just an automated gratuity that guarantees the local employees receive tips and that labor costs are kept down. Don’t think your waiter is making a killing either, they don’t receive the full 10% themselves or the extra you leave on top of that. It goes into the communal bookkeeping and is divided equally among the total number of employees, then added to an individual’s meager monthly salary.
You party with fireworks year-round.
There are colorful fire shows for weddings, soccer games, or just because you crack open a cold beer. Holiday celebrations like El Tope, Festival de la Luz and Fiestas de Zapote highlight over 7,000 fireworks a piece. The love of a good party is contagious, and street parties luring you in may be exciting when you first arrive, but when the stroke of midnight launches skyrockets night after night, it becomes unnerving and gets a little old. Most of these impromptu pyrotechnics are by neighborhood kids, and for the sake of sanity and safety officials are confiscating some 1.5 million annual illegal party explosives.
You feel wild exploring off-the-beaten path spots like Damas Caves.
Lanky black spiders, bats, and other seemingly extraterrestrial bioluminescent critters are just a few of the stunning features in the 400-meter-deep Damas Caves. After a short drive through the palm forest you will arrive at the cave opening on the bank of the Tulin River. Stake out your swimming hole for a quick dip after your biology lesson in the caves, or hike to any of the waterfalls on the reserve. The caves are free and open to the public without a guide — I would recommend taking a few locals and a pair of knee-high rubber boots — and are very man vs. wild. You almost feel like you could survive with a knife made of rock and recycled rainwater from a coco shell. Let’s face it, you can’t. Enjoy your “Bear” Grylls-esque cave adventure, then head back to the comforts of home.
(by Mitzi Stark for QCostarica) Earthquakes can be scary. Volcanoes are a mystery. At MAGMATICA in Cartago you can experience the thrill and fright of both without a shred of danger.
MAGMATICA is a tourist delight that shows us how the ground shaking movements of the earth produced the continents and the land bridge that makes up Central America, and demonstrates how a volcano erupts by adding vinegar and baking soda to a miniature volcanic cone. MAGMATICA represents Cartago; the city was destroyed by a 6.4 earthquake in 1910 and the province is home to two volcanos, Irazú and Turrialba which has sent ashes flying all over the Central Valley in the latest series of eruptions.
MAGMATICA is interactive and combines traditional displays with new technology that puts us right there in the jungle with toucans and sloths, or out in the Pacific among whales and dolphins. It is a museum that keeps turning up surprises as you move from room to room and from one era of history to another.
Photo by Mitizi Stark
We see how the earth started out as one big continent surrounded by one body of water, and due to the earth’s movements the land mass broke into continents. We learn how the intensity of the quake and how we feel it depends on the depth and the type of land. The quake of Cinchona in 2009 caused more deaths and destruction than others of the same magnitude because the soft and mountainous terrain gave way.
We get to examine volcanoes, miniatures of the eleven existing in Costa Rica, and get to cause our own eruption by pouring vinegar and baking soda into the cone.
The final part relives the famous earthquake of 1910. In a room furnished as a cottage of that year with newspapers pasted on the walls to keep out the wind, tin cups and a lantern hanging from hooks, tin dishes and simple furnishings. A window in the wall looks out on the cathedral, the one left in ruins to this day.
We hear the rumbling first and then the earthquake begins with a shaking that intensifies as we sit and clutch the bench and hold our breath. Tins cups fall and roll on the floor. The lantern and dishes crash down adding to the noise and confusion and as we stare out the window the cathedral begins to crumble and fall down. We’ve lived through Costa Rica’s most devastating earthquake!
After that there is more to come as we experience the quakes in Alajuela in 1990 and Limón in 1991 but this time we watch through the window as the Richter scale measures the intensity.
Photo by Mitzi Stark
MAGMATICA was a great idea by businessman Manrique Araya Arrienta who wanted to bring tourism to the area with a Cartago theme. “MAGMATICA is a unique way to do it as the only other earthquake simulator is in Chile. But there is a purpose in it because MAGMATICA teaches us how to react in an earthquake and to better understand the phenomena,” Araya explains.
Adding to the theme is a restaurant, Gallito Pinto, offering traditional dishes at moderate prices in a comfortable old Cartago setting complete with oxcart and newspapered walls. MAGMATICA is close to the center of Cartago on the road to the Irazú volcano, it’s easy to get to by car, train or bus and taxi. For classes or conferences there are meetings rooms and packages to include the tour and lunch can be arranged.
Prices for the tours are ¢5000 for nationals or residents with cedula, ¢4000 for children and seniors, $15 for foreign tourists. MAGMATICA is fun, thrilling and educational. This is one tour you will remember for years to come.
For reservations or information call 2552-0304 or write to reservas@magmatica.cr. Or visit MAGMATICA on Facebook. Open Tuesday – Sunday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Legislators approved in first debate the law against animal abuse that punishes animal cruelty with jail time or hefty fines for not picking up dog poo or being able to care for pets, among other things
Legislators approved in first debate the law against animal abuse that punishes animal cruelty with jail time or hefty fines for not picking up dog poo or being able to care for pets, among other things.
(QCostarica) Approved Tuesday in first debate is the Ley de Bienestar Animal (Animal Welfare Act), with 50 of the 55 legislators of the Legislative Assembly voting in favour and four against (three legislators of the Movimiento Libertario and one from the Frente Amplio).
The initiative had the full support of the Executive Branch (government), that in the words of President Luis Guillermo Solis culminates into a reality the protection animals and making owners accountable, a project he says he was interested in even before the start of his presidential campaign.
The approved bill (that still requires second debate and the signature of the President) punishes with between six months and two years prison anyone who directly or through a third party, that “causes harm to an animal”. The injury includes leaving the animal in a debilitated state, persistent weakness in health, involves the loss of an organ, limb or causes sever pain or prolonged agony.
The law also punishes with prison time is from six months to and three years anyone, either directly or through a third party, who has sex with animals (zoophilia), dissect an animal in the name of research (if they don’t a have a permit from the Ministry of Science and Technology) or causes death to an animal maliciously.
The law exempts (from punishments) those engaged in fishing or livestock and veterinary activities, aquaculture, breeding and sanitary and phytosanitary control, reproductive control or hygiene of the respective species, agricultural, husbandry regulated by the National Animal Health Service – SENASA.
Also exempt from punishment are animal deaths for the sole purpose of personal or family consumption.
Among the other points in the law are:
The law will also requires owners of pets to ensure that the animal’s basic living needs are met and pick up fecal waste from public areas. Pet owners that do not provide basic sanitary conditions for animals or who do not collect their pet’s feces from public roads, are exposed to a fine of between one and two base salaries, currently between ¢ 424,000 to ¢ 848,000.
Also subject to the above fine is the promoting of animal fights of any species or raising, crossbreeding or training an animal to increase their aggressiveness (danger).
Abandonment penalized. The owner of an animal who abandons their pet and/or by their actions causes unwarranted injury or animal abuse may be sentenced to between 20 and 50 days imprisonment. The fine daysare transformed into economic sanctions, in this case between ¢282,000 to ¢ 707,000.
In addition, the law aims to educate the public, from an early age, raise public awareness against animal abuse and train authorities on animal welfare.
The law establishes a series of actions such as:
Animal welfare be incorporated into the grade school curriculum.
Launch a Special Commission for the care of animals used as companion or emergencies.
Train the 14,000 members of the Fuerza Publica (police) on animal welfare. To date, only 50 officers of the canine unit and 25 lawyers in various functions of the Fuerza Publica have been trained in this area.
The MOPT (Ministry of Transport) and ICE begin with signage in national parks and protected areas to alert drivers of wildlife on the roads.
Second Debate. No word yet when second debate will occur. One of the oppositions to this bill is the leader of the Movimiento Libertario, Otto Guevara, who says the law violates the Constitution, will affect Costa Rican traditions (such as cock-fight), could do with productive activities, creates legal uncertainty and increases public spending.
The legislator says the writing of the law must be improved, the text lacks specificity and that he will send a query to the judges of the Constitutional Court for their observations and possible restructuring of the proposed law.
Costa Rica's border police has been on the lookout for coyotes (smugglers) that prey on the migrants desperate to reach the United States. Photo ALONSO TENORIO, La Nacion
Costa Rica’s border police has been on the lookout for coyotes (smugglers) that prey on the migrants desperate to reach the United States. Photo ALONSO TENORIO, La Nacion
(QCostarica) Evading immigration controls in Costa Rica and possibly those in Nicaragua, some 2,700 African and Haitian migrants found they way north, seeking to migrate to the United States.
The Dirección de Migración y Extranjería (Costa Rica’s immigration service) says that of the more than 4,700 migrants in the country since April, are no longer in Costa Rica.
According to Mauricio Herrera, minister of Communications, the Government of Luis Guillermo Solis does not know now they left the county. It did, however, confirm that many of the foreigners in the care centres paid coyotes (smugglers) to crossed the northern border with Nicaragua.
“There are people who have been defrauded and robbed by coyotes. I do not know from what point they are leaving (crossing the border), but there is an agglomeration of Haitians and Africans in the Mexico – United States border, that have passed through here,” said Herrera.
In April, there was an explosion of migrants reaching Costa Rica from Brazil and Colombia by way of Panama. On April 10, Costa Rica said it would not accept anymore, but Panama refused to receive them returned, arguing that it could not be proven they had passed through their territory.
After protests and riots and transfers to detention centres, the government decided to give tthe migrants free transit through the country for 25 days.
According to Herrera, this time was to allow the migrants to decide to either return to their home country or seek out a third country to “somehow” to go to.
Authorities say that some 1,500 migrants are currently in the Peñas Blancas, El Jobo and Las Vueltas centres. Another 500 or so are in shelters in Buenos Aires de Puntarenas and Golfito.
From April to date, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) reported providing medical attention to 1,298 migrants, at a cost of ¢121 million colones. Among the main health problems suffered by the migrants are gastrointestinal diseases, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin problems, fevers, and ear infections, among others.
Herrera said that the Cancilleria (Foreign Ministry) is working on a solution, international agreements.
“Extremely worrisome is the trafficking. They are taking a trip under very high vulnerability. The big question is what to do and how to solve it,” said Ombudswoman Montserrat Solano.
Solano insists that the immigration issue should be a regional issue. Costa Rica can not solve it alone.
(QCostarica) It was 4:50am this Wednesday when an earthquake measuring 4.4 degrees was woke many in the areas of Naranjo, Palmares, La Uruca, Pavas, Desamparados, Heredia, Tarrazú, Acosta, San Sebastian, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, Escazu and Tres Rios.
In addition there are reports of being felt in Perez Zeledon, Alajuelita, Turrubares, Hatillo, San Ramon and in the area of Los Santos.
The Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica’s (OVSICORI) said the epicentre was 18.5 northwest of Parrita, Puntarenas, at a depth of 8 km.
The quake was caused by the subduction of the Cocos and Caribbean plates.
Through the social networks, many reported hearing a “estrueno” – big bang.
Mamoncillo, the fruit that cures insomnia and restores your nervous system. Pick up (or pick from a tree) some today!
Studies have proven the high nutritional value and multiple healing properties of the Spanish lime or “mamón”, “mamones” or “mamoncillo” as it is called in Costa Rica.
The fruit is a marvelous treat. Clusters of these little green drupes are traditionally eaten out of hand or used to make drinks and desserts, and jellies. The seed is quite big, the flesh clings to it in such a way that the best way to eat the mamoncillo is to suck on it for awhile, sort of like eating a tropical lemon drop candy.
The Spanish lime is a natural remedy because of the great amounts of:
Vitamin C
Vitamins B1, B3, B6 and B12
Amino acids
Minerals
Unsaturated fatty acids (oleic and linoleic)
Protein
Fibers
Calcium
Carotene
Iron
Riboflavin
Thiamine
Niacin
Tryptophan
Tannins etc.
As you can see, it is a fruit that provides multiple benefits to our health. In many parts of the world, Spanish lime is considered as the most powerful natural remedy, the first of its kind, widely used to prevent and combat a various conditions and diseases.
Benefits and healing properties
It activates the immune system and prevents the proliferation of viruses and bacteria in the body. It is especially recommended in cases of urinary or lung infections.
It cures insomnia and restores your nervous system.
Improves the reproductive system, and it is especially recommended in pregnant woman.
It is very effective in control the malignant cells spreading in patients with cancer. This is considered as a major and the most powerful Spanish lime benefit.
Combat kidney problems.
Improves digestion
Treats constipation.
Increase red blood cells production and thus fights anemia.
It can lower cholesterol.
Kills the bad bacteria and microorganisms in the body, such as parasites.
Supports bone development.
It can successfully relief cold symptoms.
It is effective to treat skin problems such as acne.
Prevents stomach ulcers.
Prevents bronchitis and flu.
Helps in the treatment and healing process of gum infections.
Its roasted and ground seeds mixed with honey can be used to control diarrhea.
So, as you can read, this powerful fruit is really worth having in your everyday diet. It is also quite inexpensive. In Costa Rica, for under ¢1.000 colones you can stay healthy for a week.
Teenage pregnancy and the offering of children for sexual
Teenage pregnancy and the offering daughters for sexual encounters is a reality in many areas rural areas and cities in the country. Photo La Nacion
(QCostarica) “The mother sells them right there in the house,” says Rachel, while holding her two-year old son. Rachel is not talking about the woman that sells perfumes or jewellery from her home, rather, sells her daughters.
This according to Rachel (and four of her friends), a teenager who became pregnant at the age of 12 and is now part of a group of adolescents under the care of the Iniciativa Mesoamerica project, a group that seeks to lower the number of pregnant minors.
In an investigative report, La Nacion consulted with a representative of the Ministry of Health, Nancy Vargas, confirming the existence of parents who offer their 11-year-old daughters for sexual encounters, for example, with owners of stores or bars, in return for the forgiveness of a debt or some other economic benefit.
Vargas confirmed that in fieldwork conducted in 11 districts of the Huetar Caribe and Brunca (southern zone), there are parents or guardians who take economic advantage of the sexuality of their children and adolescents.
The La Nacion team says it visited the province of Limon, deep in the banana plantations and pineapple farms, exacerbated by poverty and lack of opportunities, stories as described by Rachel are a daily occurrence.
Children are used as currency for the payment of a debt (liquor and gambling, for example), to improve their economic situation, to get a better paying job or simply for easy money, according to Vargas, is a reality of the area.
The offering of minors by the parents or guardians to have sex with an adult, is a reality that affects an unknown number of girls in different areas of the country, according to the experts.
“Go over there, let him touch you and bring back half of what he gives you.” With some variance, those are words heard often by children from their parents, narrates Sofia, a minor now under the care of the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI) – the child welfare agency – from a Limon banana plantation community.
In Costa Rica, every 90 minutes a child is born to a mother between the age of 12 and 17, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Offering children for sexual purposes has authorities concerned. The stories, testimony and findings of social workers and specialists of institutions such as the PANI, the Ministry of Education (MEP), the Cen-CINAI and Ngo’s like the Defence for Children International (DCI), have allowed to shed light on this phenomenon.
According to the director of the DNI Costa Rica, Karin Van Kjuik, the situation is due to the environment in which the minors are raised. “What happens is that within breeding patterns there are multiple manifestations of violence. Care must be taken, because per se the families do not seek evil for their children.”
“Sometimes the family will think they (the young girls) are better off with these men,” added Kjuik.
“Unfortunately it happens. This is not a secret to anyone. It is not only in one area; It is something that happens all over the country. Is a reality that must be corrected,” says Dr. Tatiana Rivas, regional coordinator for Iniciativa Mesoamerica for the Huetar region.
Dr. Rivas emphasizes that complaints from the community and public officials is essential. For Rivas, the issue of age and mental maturity is a factor that plays against the minors, so it is important that relationships between a minor and persons five years older than them should not occur.
“The complexity is that many people begin to see the situation in a context of normality; I can not point out the places, but it occurs in rural areas and in cities; we are working for so that there is better responsiveness,” said Rivas.
Currently, stalled in the Legislative process is a bill to punish with prison sexual relations with anyone under 15 years of age.
The proposed bill seeks to prohibit marriage for minors and sets a maximum difference of 5 years between a minor and an adult to have sex. Violating the age difference would mean a prison term of 2 to 4 years, typifying it as an “improper relationship”.
Members of a Costa Rica soccer youth team was stranded in Charlotte on Monday. Image from Telenoticias (television news) screen capture.
(QCostarica) Once again, a group of Costa Ricans remain stranded out of the country due to problems in their flight plans gone wrong.
Members of a Costa Rica soccer youth team was stranded in Charlotte on Monday. Image from Telenoticias (television news) screen capture.
On Monday, a group of 43 members of a youth soccer team were stranded in the United States because their flight was turned back following the eruption of the Turrialba volcano. In the group are 26 children aged between 10 and 12, part of the team participating in a tournament in Minnesota.
According to team coach, Edson Soto, they were an hour from arriving in Costa Rican when the American Airlines pilot announced their return to Charlotte. “He said it was because of the volcano ash from the eruption,” said Soto.
Local television news, Telenoticias, says some of the parents of the of the children confirmed that they were now in Miami and waiting to return today (Tuesday).
On Sunday last week, a group of Costa Ricans were stranded when their Cubana Airlines flight could not leave Cuba, the group reporting by way of the social media saying there was a shortage of jet fuel on the island; the airline, in an official statement, said it was due to mechanical problems experienced with the aircraft. Tuesday afternoon they are back on Tico soil.
Flights Cancelled
On Monday, American Airlines cancelled two flights that would have landed at the San Jose airport and diverted a third to the Liberia airport, in Guanacaste. This was due to four eruptions of the Turrialba volcano: two Sunday night and two early Monday morning.
On Saturday, following a series of strong eruption Friday afternoon, hundreds of passengers were affected by the suspension of at least 16 flights by American and United Airlines between Costa Rica and the U.S., according to Ennio Cubillo, director of Civil Aviation.
Although the Turrialba volcano eruptions Friday (and Sunday and Monday) did not affect airport operations, the two airlines decided to take action in face of adverse climatic conditions.
Cubillo said the decision was a unilateral one by the airlines following a weather report detecting volcanic ash in the airspace.
Turrialba activity intensified on Friday, with at least three strong eruptions. During Saturday morning emanation of ash prevailed, but to a lesser extent, according to the statement by both the National Seismological Network (RSN) and by the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI)
Nikol Vega, the young woman victim, from her Youtube video
Nikol Vega, the young woman victim, from her Youtube video
(QCostarica) The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) – Judicial Authorities – confirmed Monday afternoon that the two men on a motorcycle who died after being hit by a vehicle did in fact tried to assault a young woman.
Michael Soto, head of OIJ office of plans and operations, said the driver of the vehicle who hit the motorcycle fled the scene and was identified in San Joaquin de Flores, several kilometres away, but was not detained. Soto said the vehicle as impounded and the driver let go.
The two men on the motorcycle were minor, 17 years of age, and a 24 year-old identified by his last name Luna Maltez; neither had a criminal record. The two were not armed.
On the social media, the young girl victim said she does not condone the violence that ended in the life of her assailants and that in the attack neither were violent with her.
According to Nikol Vega, 17, the two men asked her not to scream and hand over her cellular telephone, but never threatened her with a weapon or violence.
Vega, on Monday, posted on Youtube a video to make a call for a stop to the violence on the streets. She says she is concerned about the reactions of hundreds of people who have even come to celebrate the death of the two young men who tried to assault her.
According to the young girl, after the attempted robbery she had grabbed a rock and continued walking and when she ran into police, ambulances and saw the two men lying on the ground, she realized that it had been the same two had assaulted her.
In the video, she explains how impacting it was to see the face of one of the men, still barely alive.
“I got close one of them because I wanted to see his face to see if I recognized him, but it was full of blood. There I dropped the stone and began to cry,” said the girl.
The scene in San Franisco de Heredia Sunday afternoon police securing the site of the accident that left two motorcyclists dead. Photo Adrian Soto, La Nacion
(QCostarica) Should we be worried? Maybe not, but certainly concerned for the start of a trend of citizens, frustrated over a judicial system that appears to reward criminals, taking the law into their hands.
It was 2:30 in the afternoon on Sunday, in the area of San Francisco de Heredia, on the main road that connects with Alajuela, when a driver struck and killed two motorcyclists in preventing the pair from fleeing the scene after they apparently tried to rob a woman.
According to witnesses and the police report, the driver (identified by his last name, Marquez) witnessed two men on a motorcycle try to grab the cellular phone of a young woman, but she struggled and the assailants took off empty handed.
That fact was witnessed by a driver and occupant of another vehicle (blue in colour) and the occupants of yet another (a yellow coloured vehicle).
Perhaps not wanting them to get away, Marquez took chase, followed the pair on the motorcycle and when nearing the Walmart store, hit the motorcycle from behind. The incident was recorded by a Heredia Municipal police camera.
According to the Heredia police, the impact seems a light one, yet, due to the speed of the vehicles, the driver of the motorcycle was thrown six metres (18 feet) while the driver landed some 12 metres away. Both died at the scene.
Infograph La Nacion
At this point Marquez kept going, himself fleeing the scene, but was intercepted in San Joaquin de Flores, almost 4 kilometres away from the scene of the impact, by a private security guard working for Walmart who had given chase on witnessing the accident.
Meanwhile, the driver and occupants in the yellow car witnessing the attempted grab of the young woman’s cell phone stayed to help her and give and account to judicial investigators.
The hit and run driver, Marquez, was in police custody and the vehicle impounded for examination.
Last week, on Thursday, another attempt at a robbery gone wrong ended up with two people dead and a police officer wounded, when a bodyguard (who was no licensed to carry a weapon) opened fire in a dentist’s office in Limon, twarting an attemped robbery. A preschool teacher who had just come out of the dentist chair was hit in the head; the assailant was killed; and, the off duty police officer is recovering in hospital from his gunshot wound.
On Friday, the Juzgado Penal de Limón (Limon Criminal Court) set fee the bodyguard, a 22 year old man identified by his last name, Green, who is being asked to sign in at the court every 30 days and cannot leave the country while judicial officials investigate.
The social media has been on fire with these two cases, mostly over the Sunday incident. The question being asked by many is: Is the start of a trend? Are we seeing people frustrated begin to take the law in their hands? Who will be next, me, you?
So, within days, in two separate incidents, four people were killed and one wounded by citizens foiling attempted robberies, It maybe too early to be worried, but definitely time to be concerned.
What is your opinion on people taking the law into their hands? Use the comment section below or post to our Facebook page your views.
For now we only have a shot from above of where the tallest building in the region will be located. Sabana Capital will be built next to the ICE building across from the Sabana park.
For now we only have a shot from above of where the tallest building in the region will be located. Sabana Capital will be built next to the ICE building across from the Sabana park.
(QCostarica) Construction will start soon on the tallest building in the region. Located in La Sabana, at 150 metres tall, the new tower will dwarf the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) building and become one of the tallest buildings between Costa Rica and Mexico.
The project, “Sabana Capital” will be a “mixed use building” (residential, office and retail) being developed by the local construction company, H. Solís. The 42 storey building will be ready for occupancy in September 2019.
Currently, the tallest buildings in the country are Torres I and II on Paseo Colon, 29 and 30 stories respectively, overtaking the Banco Nacional building that stands 22 stories (80 metres tall), built in 1982.
And, starting construction soon is the Torre 40, also on Paseo Colon, next to the Torres Mercedes (Scotiabank building), that will stand at 41 stories, being developed by Omnia, a U.S. real estate developer.
Infograph from La Nacion
The Sabana Capital project is expected to provide some 600 jobs directly and another 100 indirect, says the developer.
The “reach for the skies” trend is based on a call by former President Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014) that San Jose needs to develop vertically, leaving behind the tradition of spacious horizontal constructions. Perhaps, the race upwards is closer tied to high land costs in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) and taking advantage of maximum use of land area.
On its Facebook page, H. Solis uses a photo of the Empire State building (New York, U.S.) under construction, with the caption “every great icon has a beginning“.
The area of La Sabana park currently counts with at least four towers and several others some blocks away in Rohrmoser, in addition to the Torres in Paseo Colon
Venezuelans cross the Simon Bolivar bridge linking San Antonio del Tachira, in Venezuela with Cucuta in Colombia, to buy basic supplies on July 17, 2016. (GEORGE CASTELLANO/AFP/Getty Images)
At the start of 2014, Venezuela’s GDP stood at $371.34 billion, with nearly half of that coming from oil (it accounts for almost 100% of exports). But after a year-high of $105.54 in June, crude plummeted by more than 50% to $48.51 by the end of the year. Oil has held steady in the $50-a-barrel range since, allowing the country’s socialist policies to materialize without the guise of high crude–and economic disaster has ensued.
Just this year, Venezuela has faced shortages in toilet paper, diapers and milk (and more) forcing more than 6,000 people to cross the border in Colombia to purchase necessities. The country had to ration its electricity use because of severe power shortages. It also could no longer afford to print its own money. Come 2016, the IMF forecasts Venezuela’s inflation rate to exceed 1,600%.
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A Bolivarian Republic, Venezuela turned to socialism in 1998 when Hugo Chavez was elected president after two unsuccessful coup attempts to oust his predecessor. The new regime brought not only a new constitution, but higher oil prices as well. The following year Chavez passed laws redistributing land and wealth, which he followed in 2005 with a land reform decree that would eliminate larger estates to the benefit of the poor in rural areas.
In 2007 the government took control of important oil projects in the Orinoco Delta and later expropriated two U.S. oil companies, furthering Chavez’s nationalization plans.
Nationalization continued with the Bank of Venezuela and household fuels distributors and petrol stations. In 2011, with a 27% annual inflation rate, the Venezuelan government introduced price controls of some basic goods (they would extend to other products in the following years).
By the time of Chavez’s death in 2013, inflation had grown to 50% and rose to 63.4% in the following year. Towards the end of 2014, the country entered into a recession.
Officialy a Bolivarian Republic, Venezuela is currently undergoing a large economic crisis which is largely deemed to be a result of socialism.
Present-day Venezuela is facing a humanitarian crisis and Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s hand-picked successor, and his socialist regime is rightly shouldering the blame. The country’s emphasis on oil exports, price controls and a heavily-controlled economy are all features found in other current and former socialist countries–features that have contributed to the demise of whole economies, or brought them close to it.
Perhaps the most obvious example of economic failure is the Soviet Union (or USSR), With its highly centralized government and economy, the USSR survived for 69 years until its collapse in 1991, representing the longest time a state has been led by a Communist Party (China comes in second at 67 years).
While oil prices were high, the Soviet Union appeared to have a strong economy and could maintain its focus on increasing its military power. But when oil prices fell towards the end of the 1980s, the USSR found itself forced to borrow from Western banks. Its sluggish economic system and dependency on the West also weakened the control that it had over countries under the USSR’s control and eventually led to its demise. Venezuela now finds itself in the same difficult position.
Venezuelan officials like to blame the crisis on the United States and rightwing business owners aiming to sabotage the system, it seems obvious that the heavily centralized state-run system inherited from Chavez is what is driving Maduro’s country to ruin. With a GDP percent change of -8% from 2015 to 2016 and an unemployment rate of over 17%, the only thing that can save Venezuela is ditching socialism.
The opposition has called for a referendum to oust Maduro this year, but the process is still in limbo–meaning relief for the Venezuelan people might not come until 2018, the next scheduled presidential election.
Cuban residents in Venezuela on Saturday celebrated the 63rd anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Garrison with a political-cultural event at the Main Theater of this capital.
During the ceremony, on behalf of the Cuban missions in Caracas, Jacinto Gomez stressed the importance of that action, which paved the way for the armed struggle against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba, which defeated in 1959 by the revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro.
In that regard, he recalled the work and ideas of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, whose birthday Cubans will celebrate soon and to whom the gala was dedicated.
Diplomats, doctors and health collaborators, journalists and other Cuban representatives who are complying in Venezuela with commitments made by both Revolutions to improve the lives of people, also attended the event.
The delegation of the Cuba-Venezuela Solidarity Movement also participated in this activity. This group will also attend an event in support of the governments and peoples of the two countries to be held on Wednesday, July 27, in the Dominican Republic.
The attack on the Moncada Garrison, on July 26, 1953, was the first action of the political and insurrectionary movement led by Fidel Castro, which was later named after this event and that led the struggle against the Batista tyranny.
Despite being a military failure, the action proved that fighting the dictatorship with the arms was possible and there was a political force in the country that was willing to take this way.
Archives photo of Daniel Ortega (left) and Raul Castro (right(
Cuban President, Raul Castro, stressed in a message the process of revolutionary changes carried out in Nicaragua to benefit the people and especially the poor.
In a letter read by Cuban First Vice President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, addressed to President, Daniel Ortega, and the Nicaraguan people on the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, Raul Castro stressed that a no less difficult and complex stage began as of July 19, 1979.
Havana, July 18, 2016
Year 58 of the Revolution
Dear Daniel:
Although it was not possible for me to join you, I thank you very much for the invitation to share, alongside your people, the celebration of the 37th anniversary of the triumph of the glorious Sandinista Revolution, which on July 19, 1979, put an end to the Somoza dictatorship and foreign domination.
As of that moment, a no less difficult and complicated stage began: the process of revolutionary transformations to the benefit of the Nicaraguan people, especially the most humble, and confronting the war unleashed by internal counterrevolutionaries and U.S. imperialism, in a very adverse regional situation.
The people could not be defeated, and the Revolution continues today under your sure leadership and that of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, achieving notable political, economic, and social gains. Nicaragua is today an independent, sovereign, peaceful, and democratic nation, of free men and women, as General Augusto César Sandino dreamed, and for which so many other patriots and revolutionaries gave their lives, among them the unforgettable Comandante Carlos Fonseca Amador.
Compañero Daniel Ortega Saavedra, President of the Republic of Nicaragua:
Over these years of struggle, we have forged indestructible ties of brotherhood, solidarity, and collaboration. We are proud to share with you the same revolutionary, anti-imperialist trench, working for sustainable development with social justice and equity, for the integration and unity of Our America.
Accept, in the name of Fidel and mine, that of our people and government, our fraternal greetings and solidarity, with the confidence that the Sandinista Revolution will continue advancing victoriously, and will always have the unconditional support of the Cuban Revolution.
A strong embrace,
Raúl Castro Ruz
President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba
About this issue, he talked on how Nicaragua faced a war unleashed by the internal counterrevolution and U.S. imperialism in a very adverse regional environment.
“The people could not be defeated and the revolution continued under your accurate leadership and that of the Sandinista National Liberation Front with outstanding political, economic and social achievements,’ the letter says.
In another part of the message, Raul Castro noted that Nicaragua is now an independent, sovereign, peaceful and democratic nation, with free men and women as General Augusto C. Sandino dreamed, and for which so many other patriots and revolutionaries, among them unforgettable Commander Carlos Fonseca Amador, gave their lives.
‘Throughout these years of struggle, we have forged bonds of indestructible brotherhood, solidarity and collaboration.’
We are proud to share with you the same revolutionary and anti-imperialist trench, working for the sustainable development with social justice and equity for the integration and unity of Our America, Raul Castro wrote in his message.
