Waze and ministry of transport working together to better traffic conditions in San jose
Waze and ministry of transport working together to better traffic conditions in San jose
QCOSTARICA – An agreement between Waze and the Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT) will soon bear fruit, with the launch of sharing of information platform about road closures.
The launch date is expected soon.
In Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) it is estimated that drivers spend the equivalent of 15 working days stuck in traffic. With the Ciudadanos Conectados (Citizens Connected) program by Waze, drivers will soon now areas to avoid.
Sebastian Urbina, deputy minister of transport, explained that MOPT officials, mainly in the area of police and traffic engineering will be updating information on road closures, whether they are partial or total, that is then indicated on the Waze app.
The road closure information could be for different reasons, ie. construction, holidays, events, religious activities, etc.
Urbina added that the program still needs to be debugged, one of the challengers is to provide historical data, while Waze provides the information only in real-time.
For Urbina, the historical data is important for analysis and comparison of traffic flows.
U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, , stands with the last group of Peace Corps volunteers
U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Fitzgerald Haney (front row, dark suit and red tie) stands with the last group of Peace Corps volunteers. Photo from U.S. Embassy San Jose.
QCOSTARICA – About 37 young volunteers of the Peace Corps of the United States were sworn in on Wednesday by U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, Fitzgerald Haney, to teach English in various schools and colleges across the country over the next two years.
The volunteers are professionals graduated in business administration, education, linguistics, psychology and sociology, among other races, who for the last three months were in training in communities in Heredia.
This program “Enseñanza del Inglés” (Teaching English) as a foreign language seeks to improve the linguistic and methodological skills of teachers and raise the level in the use of language by students, and developed in conjunction with the Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) – Ministry of Education.
To date, more than 3,300 volunteers have served in Costa Rica over the last 53 years in various community development programs, teaching English as a second language and youth development.
Photos of Friday morning’s eruption of the Turrialba Volcano by the Comision Nacional de Emergencias Facebook page.
QCOSTARICA – Some airlines cancelled, others delayed or diverted flights on Friday due to ashfall in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) after the last the eruption of the Turrialba volcano at 7:27am.
Ennio Cubillo, director of Civil Aviation, confirmed that the Juan Santamaria International airport (SJO) is operating normally, however, some airlines decided on the action either to delay, divert or cancel flights arriving or leaving from the San Jose airport.
Aeris, the airport manager, reported that several airlines have cancelled flights. United cancelled for today (Friday) flight 1082 from Newark and flight 1081 and 1565 from Houston. Both the latter flights are on the Fly2Sanjose.com arrivals table, yet the airline websites show the cancellation.
FlightRadar24.com provides latest flight information for the San Jose airport.
If you have plans to travel to Costa Rica (or are in Costa Rica) today and in the coming days, check with your airline for the status of your flight before leaving for the airport.
Cubillo added that the national weather service – the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – reports no presence of ash at the air terminal. Silvia Chaves, spokesperson for Aeris, said airlines can make their own decisions on the operations of their flights.
Erupción de las 7:40 a. m. en el volcán Turrialba (RSN)
7:40 am Friday morning eruption at the Turrialba volcano. Photo RSN.
QCOSTARICA – Two early morning eruptions this Friday by the Turrialba volcano, the first at 6:07am and the second at 7:40am, covered the Central Valley with more ash.
The first eruption was mild, while the second sent up a column of ash more than 3.000 metres (3 kilometres), according the Observatorio Sismológico y Vulcanológico de Costa Rica (Ovsicori) – Seismological and Volcanological Observatory of Costa Rica.
The Red Sismológica Nacional (RSN) – National Seismological Network – added the explosive phase lasted about six minutes.
The eruption spewed out gas and ash. In addition, it caused seismic activity in the area close to the crater.
“It’s going to keep spewing ash. The volcano continues seismicity and very high temperatures inside,” said volcanologist Gino Gonzalez.
In the social media, reports of ashfall included areas of Tibas, Moravia, Coronado and Goicoechea on the east side of San Jose (west of the Turrialba), and Belen in Heredia, La Guacima in Alajuela.
Last Thursday afternoon the volcano had several eruptions, the strongest at reported at 3:46pm and 4:09pm.
Eliecer Duarte, of the OVSICORI, said the volcano’s activity remains constant with tremors (micro earthquakes), shallow earthquakes, and lots of gas and steam.
This morning, the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) on the recommendation of the Municipal Emergency Committee, canceled classes at the Escuela El Volcán.
“The other schools remain open with preventive emergency protocols in place,” said the press office of the MEP.
In gender equality Costa Rica is ranked second in Central Amerca, 38th worldwide.
QCOSTARICA – When it comes to gender equality Costa Rica is second in Central America, 5th in the ranking of Latin American and the Caribbean countries and 38th worldwide.
Costa Rica’s neighbour to the north, Nicaragua is first in Latin America and the Caribbean and 12th worldwide, according to the 2015 Gender Gap Report, published by the World Economic Forum.
Nicaragua which was previously the only country from Latin America and the Caribbeanin the top ten loses 6 places this year due to decreases in wage equality and the percentage of women in parliamentary and ministerial positions.
Over the years, Costa Rica has dropped from 27th of 134 countries ranked in 2009.
The lowest performing countries from the region are Belize , Guatemala and Paraguay.
Finland is in first place globally, while Yemen has the greatest inequality among 145 countries.
Ten years of data from the Global Gender Gap Report – first published in 2006 – reveals in Latin America, Nicaragua and Bolivia are the strongest performers in reducing the overall gender gap over the last decade. Nicaragua and Bolivia are also among the most improved in the political pillar, along with Slovenia, Iceland, France, Italy and Switzerland, closing their political gender gaps between 20% and 35%.
In 2015, the Global Gender Gap Index ranks 145 countries on the gap between women and men on health, education, economic and political indicators.
“More women than men are enrolled in universities in nearly 100 countries but women hold the majority of senior roles in only a handful of countries(…),” said Saadia Zahidi, Head of the Global Challenge on Gender Parity at the World Economic Forum.
The report measures the size of the gender inequality gap in four areas:
Economic participation and opportunity – salaries, participation and leadership
Education – access to basic and higher levels of education
Political empowerment – representation in decision-making structures
Health and survival – life expectancy and sex ratio
Partners of the Global Challenge on Gender Parity are: A.T. Kearney, Bank of America, Bloomberg, Burda Media, Centene Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, EY, Heidrick & Struggles, Johnson Controls , JLL, ManpowerGroup, Old Mutual, Omnicom Group, Ooredoo, PwC, Renault-Nissan Alliance, SABMiller, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Tupperware Brands Corporation.
Nicaragua is first in Latin America in gender equality and 12th worldwide
Nicaragua is first in Latin America in gender equality and 12th worldwide
Nicaragua is first in Latin America in gender equality and 12th worldwide, according to the 2015 Gender Gap Report, published by the World Economic Forum.
Costa Rica is second in Central America, while Guatemala is last.
Finland is in first place globally, while Yemen has the greatest inequality among 145 countries.
The study considers income, health, education and political participation of women (numbers in brackets indicate the overall position of each country of the region).
Global Gender Gap Index 2015. The highest possible score is 1 (equality) and the lowest possible score is 0 (inequality)
1 Nicaragua (12)
2 Costa Rica (38)
3 Panama (44)
4 El Salvador (62)
5 Honduras (80)
6 Guatemala (105)
The highest possible score is 1 (equality) and the lowest possible score is 0 (inequality).
People in search of recreation in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of San Jose
Currently major shopping centres can only be sound in the greater metropolitan area (GAM) of Costa Rica. People living in rural and coastal areas must travel to San Jose.
QCOSTARICA – Finding a shopping mall and entertainment centre outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) can be difficult for those living in rural and coastal areas.
With the exception of a few small commercial centres, like in Liberia, Grecia or San Ramon, the major malls are located in the GAM – an area loosely defined from downtown Alajuela to downtown Cartago.
This means that people living in outlying areas must travel to San Jose.
But that may soon change, as there is a strong interest by developers in bringing their projects to the areas not yet developed.
Plaza Km42 at the Escobal de Atenas intersection of the Ruta 27 would attract the more than 30,000 vehicles daily on the San Jose – Caldera highway.
Currently, there are four projects under construction in coastal areas, among them are Jaco Walk (Playa Jacó), Tamarindo Beach Plaza (Guanacaste), Ocean Mall (Puntarenas) and Plaza Km42 (Escobal intersection on Ruta 27) and existing ones looking to expand, such as the Plaza El Ingenio in Grecia.
In the case of Jaco Walk, it opened the first phase last December, with construction of the second starting later this month.
Jaco Walk in Playa Jaco
“In Garabito, the influence of the temporary resident population, the floating and passing through, is of such magnitude and impact that makes traffic in malls equivalent to an economically active population,” said Luis Diego Espinoza, marketing manager for Interra, the project developer.
Major shopping centres in the GAM include: CityMall (Alajuela), Multiplaza Escazu (Escazu), Paseo de las Flores (Heredia), Mall San Pedro (San Pedro), Lincoln Plaza (Moravia), Multicentro (Desamparados), Terra Mall (Tres Rios) and Mall Paseo Metropoli (Cartago).
Use the comments section below to list your favourite mall or shopping centre and the reasons for your visits.
TODAY COLOMBIA – Colombia’s Constitutional Court has dumped a law prohibiting foreign “idiots” and “cretins” from entering the country.
The law was adopted in 1920 and stated that foreign citizens may be turned away if they suffer from certain mental illnesses or infectious diseases, or if they are alcoholics, “idiots” or “cretins.”
“Those who suffer from mental abnormality, including dementia, mania, general paralysis, chronic alcoholism, ataxia, epilepsy; as well as idiots, cretins, and cripples whose injuries impede their work,” will be turned away, the 1920 law said.
The connotations of these words has changed over the 96 years since the law was passed, and over time it had become an explicit form of discrimination.
The court dumped the law because they believe that this discrimination violates principles of equality and human dignity, and because it uses offensive and excluding language.
El Chapo "Guzman with a rifle in hand. Photo credit: USDOJ - Rolling Stone
El Chapo “Guzman with a rifle in hand. Photo credit: USDOJ – Rolling Stone
Q24N by Nathan B. Jones* (InsightCrime.org) Two judges in Mexico have ruled that there is nothing stopping the extradition of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States, and following the first of those rulings Guzman was transferred on May 7 to a prison in Ciudad Juarez near the Texas border, the The New York Times reported.
As the article states, this suggests that Mexico’s secretary of foreign relations and the Enrique Peña Nieto administration will have 30 days to decide whether to extradite him, though the process could still take months, if not years, with defense appeals. The likely fear for some powerful and corrupt officials in Mexico is that Guzman has a wealth of information related to their dirty dealings with drug traffickers.
As security expert Alejandro Hope has pointed out, the fear for the Mexican government could also be that the flow of intel from Guzman could shut down once he is in the United States as US law enforcement officials become tightlipped in fear of leaks to Mexico. The unintended impact of the United States’ involvement in the decapitations of cartel leadership figures is now on everyone’s mind following Alfredo Corchado’s recent brilliant reporting for the Dallas Morning News on the plea deal Gulf Cartel head Osiel Cardenas Guillen agreed to once in US custody.
Moving Guzman could serve multiple functions. First, an unscheduled and unannounced move could be an effective mechanism to disrupt a potential escape plot. Guzman has twice escaped from maximum security prisons, and most of these prisons have the exact same layouts, as we learned from his last escape.
At any time, Guzman simply could be driven across the border in the middle of the night to El Paso where he could also stand trial.
Second, moving Guzman to Juarez puts him closer to US surveillance. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) is just across the border, as are many other US assets, including possibly a rapid reaction force. At this point, the normally sovereignty sensitive Mexican government is likely increasing its cooperation with the US on this matter to avoid another humiliation.
Third, his presence in Juarez could facilitate a rapid and unannounced transfer to US custody. An extradition request was submitted prior to his last escape. A US counter cartel task force member offered an excellent description of this extradition process during a National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund event featuring the law enforcement task force members that targeted the Arellano Felix Organization, also known as the Tijuana Cartel.
Fourth, while federal indictments against Guzman filed in New York and Chicago have garnered the most attention, he also faces indictment in the Western district of Texas. It is from that district, including El Paso, that the latest extradition request eminates. Guzman’s extradition could be handled differently from other past major kingpin extraditions, which were typically conducted via airplane and airports. At any time, Guzman simply could be driven across the border in the middle of the night to El Paso where he could also stand trial, making Texas a one-stop shop for both his extradition and the first of many potential trials.
The conspiracy theory that I find highly unlikely is that this is a move to allow Guzman to escape, orchestrated at the highest levels of government. That has not stopped former DEA agents from validly pointing out that the Sinaloa Cartel has the infrastructure in place in Ciudad Juarez to pull off such an operation and that the quality of the Ciudad Juarez prison is low.
I predict a fairly rapid extradition process from here, but I must admit I have been wrong in the past on things related to “El Chapo” Guzman: I was fairly certain the Mexican Marines would not bring him in alive a second time.
This article was originally published by the Baker Institute Blog and was edited to for clarity and republished with permission. It does not necessarily repesent the views of InSight Crime. The original can been seen here.
*Nathan P. Jones is a nonresident scholar for the Baker Institute Mexico Center and Drug Policy Program. He is also an assistant professor of security studies at Sam Houston State University.
COSTARICA BLOGS – Many of you foreigners living in Costa Rica and reading this blog, will not be as involved in Costa Rican Society as I am, as a practicing Costa Rica Attorney, particularly on the side of doing business and interacting with Governmental institutions and other Costa Rican professionals.
Of course, as my bio at the end of this blog indicates, I was born, socialized, and educated initially as a Canadian, previously practicing law in Victoria, B.C., and I do identify firstly with those Canadian values and patterns of logical thinking and associated behaviour.
Over the eighteen years that I have lived in Costa Rica, I have, of course, become aware of the differences between the basic underlying differences between Costa Rican (Latin) and Canadian (British) social norms.
As many of you will have noticed, “professionalism”, when applied to an Attorneys’ behavior, takes on an entirely different meaning in Costa Rica, in many cases not existing even in its most basic form. Indeed, practicing law in Costa Rica is a significantly different experience than practicing law in Canada.
One of the most profound differences that I have noticed is the important role that “jealously” plays, particularly in the interactions between legal, or other professionals, and persons generally belonging to what I have referred to in some of my previous blogs as part of the Ruling Class, or the “Blue Bloods”.I doubt that this premise would be applicable to the everyday life of a Costa Rican “campesino” (farmer).
In the legal profession, it is quite common to hear lawyers “bad-mouthing” other lawyers and actively standing in the way of their colleague’s advancement, purely based on jealousy. This would be very uncommon and would be considered unethical behavior to be exhibited between lawyers in Canada. Business success in Canada, or the U.S., is promoted and admired with an exhibition of personal pride for another’s success. The success is not thwarted by obstructionism based on jealousy, as it is in Costa Rica.
I first encountered this behavior from fellow students, when I attended Law School in San Jose to obtain my Costa Rica Law and Notary Degrees; this even after attaining the highest academic standing in a class of all Costa Ricans but myself.
I can confirm that I have witnessed that this obstructionist behavior based on jealousy, has continued to manifest itself between colleagues in the legal profession, and other business and Governmental institutions, through my fourteen years of law practice in Costa Rica.
I don’t deny that such behavior may exist between like members of society in Canada, but not nearly to the degree that it exists in Costa Rica. It really constitutes a form of “turf protection” gone awry.
A good example of the reverse thinking which exists in Canada and the U.S., is the U.S. example of the CNN Political Pundit, Ana Navarro, a born Nicaraguan, naturalized as a U.S. Citizen, and now a member of the Republican Party.
She is quoted regularly on political issues in the U.S. and is not in any way hampered in her ability to do so.
In my opinion, no U.S., or Canadian Citizen naturalized in Costa Rica, would ever be afforded this recognition or stature Nationally, due to the overriding premise that jealousy plays in Costa Rica Society.
I know that many of you like to invoke the common reply of, “If you don’t like Costa Rica, go back to your country of origin”. However, I don’t believe that this is an answer.
Costa Rica, through this negative behavior, is losing-out to a very competitive global market, where the well-being of Costa Ricans as a whole depends on producing the climate for all Costa Ricans to aspire without these obstructionist road blocks.
Panama-Stadt mit ca. 1,5 Millionen Einwohnern ist die Hauptstadt und der Regierungssitz des mittelamerikanischen Staates Panama.
Panama City financial district, 22 March 2016| Wikimedia Commons
Q24N (IPS) By Robert J. Burrowes– A previously little-known law firm called Mossack Fonseca, based in Panama, has recently been exposed as one of the world’s major creators of ‘shell companies’, that is, corporate structures that can be used to hide the ownership of assets. This can be done legally but shell companies of this nature are widely used for illegal purposes such as tax evasion and money laundering of proceeds from criminal activity.
Despite widespread awareness of offshore tax havens in many countries around the world, governments have never acted in a concerted manner to halt these illicit financial flows.
Why? In essence, because wealthy elites are heavily involved in using these mechanisms to isolate their wealth from the usual scrutiny to which the rest of us are subjected precisely so that they can evade tax. And governments do as these controlling elites instruct them.
There is an important reason why wealthy individuals want to maximise their wealth and evade contributing to any country that gave them the opportunity to make this wealth. You might think that you know this reason too: greed.
However, greed is a simplistic explanation that fails to explain, psychologically, why an individual might be greedy. So let me explain it now.
Individuals who engage in dysfunctional behaviours, ranging from accumulating excess wealth to inflicting violence, do so because they are very frightened that one or more of their vital needs will not be met. In virtually all cases, the needs that the individual fears will not be met are emotional ones, particularly including the needs for listening, understanding and love.
So, bizarre though it might seem, the dysfunctional behaviour is simply a (dysfunctional) attempt to have these needs met.
Unfortunately, the individual who compulsively accumulates wealth and/or hides money in a shell company is never aware of their deep emotional needs and of the functional ways of having these needs met which, admittedly, is not easy to do given that listening, understanding and love are not readily available from others who have themselves been denied these needs.
Moreover, because the individual is unconscious of their emotional needs, the individual (particularly one who lives in a materialist culture) often projects that the need they want met is, in fact, a material need.
This projection occurs because children who are crying, angry or frightened are often scared into not expressing their feelings and offered material items – such as a toy or food – to distract them instead.
Because their emotional responses to events in their life are not heard and addressed, the distractive items become addictive drugs. This is why most violence and ‘business’ involving illicit financial flows is overtly directed at gaining control of material, rather than emotional, resources.
The material resource becomes a dysfunctional and quite inadequate replacement for satisfaction of the emotional need.
And, because the material resource cannot ‘work’ to meet an emotional need, the individual is most likely to keep using direct and/or structural violence to gain control of more material resources in an unconscious and utterly futile attempt to meet unidentified emotional needs.
This is the reason why individuals using the services of Mossack Fonseca seek material wealth and are willing to take advantage of tax evasion structures beyond legal scrutiny.
They are certainly wealthy in the material sense; unfortunately, they are emotional voids and each of them justly deserves the appellation ‘poor little rich boy’ (or girl). For a full explanation of how this emotional damage occurs, see ‘Why Violence?‘ and ‘Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice‘.
Were they emotionally healthy, their conscience, their compassion, their empathy, their sympathy and, indeed, their love would compel them to not hide their wealth and, in fact, to disperse it in ways that would alleviate world poverty (which starves to death 100,000 people in Africa, Asia and Central/South America each day) and nurture restoration of the ancient, just and ecologically sustainable economy: local self-reliance. See ‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life on Earth‘.
Of course, it is not just those who use tax havens to evade their social responsibilities or, more generally, those billionaires and millionaires of the corporate elite who have suffered this emotional destruction.
Those intellectuals in universities and think tanks who accept payment to ‘justify’ the worldwide system of violence and exploitation, those politicians, bureaucrats and ordinary businesspeople who accept payment to manage it, those judges and lawyers who accept payment to act as its legal (but immoral) guardians, those media editors and journalists who accept payment to obscure the truth, as well as the many middle and working class people who perform other roles to defend it (such as those in the military, police and prison systems, as well as many school teachers), are either emotionally void or just too frightened to resist violence and exploitation.
Of course, it takes courage to resist violence and exploitation. But underlying courage is a sense of responsibility towards one’s fellows and the future.
As an extension of the above point, governments that use military violence to gain control of material resources are simply governments composed of many individuals with this dysfunctionality, which is very common in industrialized countries that promote materialism.
Thus, cultures that unconsciously allow and encourage this dysfunctional projection (that an emotional need is met by material acquisition) are the most violent both domestically and internationally. This also explains why industrialized (material) countries use military violence to maintain political and economic structures that allow ongoing exploitation of non-industrialized countries in Africa, Asia and Central/South America.
In summary, the individual who has all of their emotional needs met requires only the intellectual and few material resources necessary to maintain this fulfilling life: anything beyond this is not only useless, it is a burden.
What can we do? We need to recognize that several generations of people who were extremely badly emotionally damaged created the world as it is and that their successors now maintain the political, economic and social structures that allow ruthless exploitation of the rest of us and the Earth itself. We also need to recognize that the Earth’s ecological limits are now being breached.
And if we are to successfully resist these emotionally damaged individuals, their structures of exploitation and their violence, then we need a comprehensive strategy for doing so. If you wish to participate in this strategy you are welcome to sign online ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World‘.
Whatever else they do, the Panama Papers give us insight into the extent of the psychological damage suffered by wealthy elites and those who serve them.
The author has a lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an effort to understand why human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He is the author of ‘Why Violence?‘
Q24N (IPS) – As the Global South works to overcome a history of weak institutions, armed conflict and poverty-driven forced exodus, key causes of its humanitarian crises, developing countries now have to also fight to keep global warming from compounding their problems.
“Disaster Risk Reduction and climate change adaption in fragile and conflict-affected states in the Global South have long been overlooked, as it is often perceived as too challenging or a lower priority,” Janani Vivekananda, an expert in security and climate change, told IPS.
Vivekananda, the head of Environment, Climate Change and Security in International Alert, a London-based non-governmental organisation working to prevent and end violent conflict around the globe, cited her country, Sri Lanka, as an example of problems shared by developing countries.
“Given the fragile political situation since 25 years of violent conflict ended in May 2009, ensuring that climate impacts do not fuel latent conflict dynamics is critical,” she said from London.
A politically unstable developing island nation like Sri Lanka, and many other countries in the South, will see their problems multiply in a warmer planet with higher sea levels, she said.
“Climate change is the ultimate ‘threat multiplier’: it will aggravate already fragile situations and may contribute to social upheaval and even violent conflict,” says “A New Climate for Peace”, an independent report commissioned in 2015 by members of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthiest nations.
This is the challenge faced by the governments and organisations that will attend the first World Humanitarian Summit to be held May 23-24 in Istanbul. The conference was convened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “to generate strong global support for bold changes in humanitarian action.”
At the summit, the delegates will search for ways to integrate the traditional conception of humanitarian emergencies with new crises, such as those caused by climate change, which this year caused record high temperatures.
“This is why the World Humanitarian Summit’s initiative to remake the humanitarian system is so timely and so important,” said Vivekananda.
Ahead of the summit this week, torrential rains drove nearly 200,000 Sri Lankans from their homes, and 35 were killed by landslides, she said, citing one illustration of a crisis generated by climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that in the absence of policies that effectively curb greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures will rise by four degrees Celsius by 2100.
And even if the world were to reach the “safe limit” for global warming – a rise of 1.5 to 2.0 degrees C, the target agreed in the Paris Agreement in December – the effects would still be felt around the planet, warns the IPCC, which decided in April to prepare a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The landmark climate deal is one of the key elements that the national delegations will have when they reach Istanbul, along with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agreed in September, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, agreed in March 2015.
Municipality says the paint job is to demonstrate they are a canton free of all forms of discrimination
QCOSTARICA – The Municipality of Heredia decided to paint some of its crosswalks with colours of sexual diversity. Officials chose a number of intersections in Heredia centre for the colourful paint job.
The paint was donated by students of higher learning.
“Today we painted crosswalks because we are a canton free of all forms of discrimination and to promote values such as respect, tolerance, love, diversity, equality and equity,” wrote the Muni (in Spanish short for municipalidad) on its Facebook page.
The press office of the Muni said that “this initiative is part of a series of activities within the framework of an agreement adopted by the municipal Council in 2013.”
However, not everyone is in agreement with the Muni’s decision.
Among the naysayers are several politicians who, on social media sites, say the colours (of crosswalks) should be all white as anything else can confuse drivers and pedestrians.
QLIFE – Found this post by Tica Macha of August 31, 2006 while surfing the Internet. “Please, if I die in Costa Rica, DON’T let them bury me in one of those furry caskets!
That’s the promise my girlfriend and I made each other when we passed this truck loaded with these five-foot furry caskets in the San Jose area.”
The story is still valid today, furry caskets or “cofre de peluche” in Spanish, are common for funerals in Costa Rica.
It’s been some time, it was a couple of years before the Tica Macha post, I had the occasion to bury a friend. Frank Johnson was more of an acquaintance really, but, I was the perhaps the only friend he had in Costa Rica since it was me that the U.S. Embassy in San Jose called on.
The total cost of the furry casket, the funeral and the burial plot (in Curridabat that is still in my name) came to the equivalent of US$800.
Dying in Costa Rica is expensive.
Today, funerals starts around ¢600,000 colones (US$1,100), not including the niche or lot and can run into the millions of colones. Burial lots can add a few more million colones.
But, if you plan ealry, funeral homes (funerarias in Spanish) offer financing with plans that start around ¢5.000 colones monthly. Plans with a “big send off” can be double or more of that.
At some cemeteries you can rent a niche (yes, rent) for around ¢150.000 colones for five years.
Have you ever seen a furry casket?
Use the comments section below to share you story.
Local pharmacist in Costa Rica. Photo from yo-yo in paradise blog
Local pharmacist in Costa Rica. Photo from yo-yoinparadise blog
QLIFE from A Dull Roar – Here’s a simple, real-life story about how part of Costa Rica’s approach to healthcare works. It’s pretty typical in our experience. It’s too bad that the U.S., with its struggle to provide decent healthcare for its citizens, cannot adopt something along these lines.
Nearly two weeks ago, all three of us came down with the flu. The usual symptoms were present: fever, nausea, diarrhea, and so on. Two days later, the worst was over. In fact, Sean was back to normal and back in school.
Tamara and I, however, still were not quite our chipper selves. We had a lingering fatigue, a vague nausea that came and went, an upset and gaseous digestive system. We limited our diet to bland foods, drank a lot of green tea, and kept hoping for the best, but each day was about the same.
At the end of the first week, I decided it wasn’t flu at all, but probably some sort of Costa Rican parasite we had all picked up from bad water or food or who knows where. I researched that topic and found it’s not unusual for young people, with their strong immune system, to overcome such an infection, so that could explain why Sean recovered so quickly and we did not. Tamara took a … ahem, … sample into one of the local labs to get it checked out along with a small jar of our drinking water. The latter test I’d been meaning to do forever anyway.
That usually reliable lab was two days late with the results, which by that time I was convinced would show Giardia inhabiting my bowels. The symptoms of Giardiasi seemed to be a good match compared to other parasites that were possible in our area of the world.
The good news was that the sample came back totally clean of about 20 parasites that they check. The bad news, of course, was that we still did not know what was plaguing us. We were already downtown, so we popped into one of our favorite pharmacies, Betasaida, to see if the doctor was in.
All pharmacies in Costa Rica are owned and/or operated by a physician, who will give you free consultations for the minor stuff like this. Doctor Natalia, as we call her, was indeed there. As I recounted the symptoms in gory detail, she began nodding. She knew exactly what it was.
She told us that it’s a virus that is pretty much confined to the Tropics and that it often lays people low at the start of the rainy season. In young people, such as Sean, it passes quickly, but young kids and adults get to enjoy it for about two weeks, sometimes more. She also said that your body will not build an immunity to it, so you are subject to contracting it over and over. That was a new one on me!
In short order, she had all the medicines assembled for us to feel better: electrolytes, a tropical yeast, and an intestinal antibiotic. The electrolytes came as a nasty cherry-flavored liquid (would it kill them to make it taste like rum and coke?), but the yeast powder, mixed in water, is relatively tasteless. Already today, the day after, we both feel that we moved up a couple of points on the wellness scale, so we hope it’s on the run.
What did that consult for the two of us cost? The consult was free, the medicines added up to about $68. We’re in co-pay territory there for a typical U.S. health insurance policy, no waiting for an appointment, no waiting in a room with sneezing, coughing patients. To me, that’s a bargain. If you add in the lab test I could have avoided, it’s about a hundred bucks.
That’s what I love about the healthcare system in Costa Rica: the tiers of care. Little stuff, do at a pharmacy, big stuff, do a private clinic (25% of U.S. retail), or spend a lot of time waiting to use the public care especially if you don’t have a well-funded clinic in your area.
The article was posted at adullroar.blogspot.com in 2013 by Casey Bahr , who according to his Google profile, “works at Remaining unemployed”.
The Nokia 1100 is the top-selling mobile phones of all time. Released in 2003, Nokia sold more than 250 million units.
QTECH – The Nokia brand is set to return to mobile phones, two years after the Finnish company sold its flagship handset business and walked away defeated by Apple and Samsung.
Once the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, Nokia was wrong footed by the rise of smartphones. It sold its entire handset business to Microsoft in 2014. But it held on to its phone patents with a view to eventually striking a licensing deal, though it had to wait due to a non-compete deal with Microsoft.
Nokia said on Wednesday it had signed an exclusive 10-year licensing agreement for newly formed Finnish company HMD global Oy to create Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets. HMD is owned by Smart Connect LP, a private equity fund run by former Nokia executive Jean-Francois Baril, and its management.
The products will be made by Taiwan’s Foxconn and Nokia will receive an undisclosed royalty on sales, covering both brand and intellectual property rights. Microsoft announced simultaneously it would sell its entry-level phones business to HMD and Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile for $350 million.
Nokia, whose global market share in handsets peaked at around 40 percent in 2008, said its brand remained widely recognized, especially in developing markets.
“The areas where we believe the brand is strongest are Asia, South America and parts of Europe. Clearly China will be one of the target markets,” Ramzi Haidamus, chief executive of the Nokia Technologies unit, told Reuters.
(Q24N) FreshPlaza.com – Frutesa is a Guatemalan company devoted to the export of fresh fruits and vegetables, mainly various types of peas, French green beans and blackberries, since 1983.
According to Luis Teo, of Frutesa, they were pioneers in the export of these products to Europe.
“We were the first company to export snow peas from Guatemala to the UK, and the first in the world to export sweet peas to England,” said the exporter.
The firm’s main products are snow peas and sweet peas (also known as mangetout and sugar snaps, respectively), but it also sells French green beans and blackberries and is starting to diversify with rambutan.
“We are currently working with 1,000 associated producers. We don’t have our own plantations; we sign contracts with producer groups, associations, cooperatives and committees, all in the Guatemalan highlands,” explains Teo. “In the contracts, it is specified what is going to be planted, when, where and by whom, and we provide the growers with technical assistance, training in the proper use of pesticides, quality issues and hygiene, and we support them financially, supplying them with agricultural inputs, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.”.
“Afterwards, when the season starts, we receive the produce and, once brought to our packing plant, it is refrigerated, sorted and packed according to the needs of our customers,” he continues. 95% of Frutesa’s sales are made to the European continent, to the UK, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany. “We are very well established in Europe. It has traditionally been our main market and we have held relationships with some customers for more than 30 years.” Frutesa sells the products under its own brand in supermarkets in Europe.
Its campaign lasts from October to May/June, which is the dry season in Guatemala, when they can better control the quality and its products are exported by sea and by air. “Most shipments are made by sea. At the start and end of the season, when we do not have much produce, we export by air, because the products are not yet strong enough to endure 21 days of maritime transport. At that time, there is also very little volume from our competitors, mainly Africa (Kenya, Zimbabwe and Egypt) and Peru, so we can afford the air transport costs,” explains Teo.
“Peru is in our off-season. The Peruvian export campaign lasts from mid-June or July to October,” he explains. “Zimbabwe is also starting now, and Egypt has a relatively short campaign, from December to March. Kenya is present all year round, but it usually faces weather issues and its production is not very stable.”
The season is coming to an end. “The start of this campaign (2015-2016) was quite difficult, because we had a very dry rainy season, and all the rain expected for that period was recorded in late September, October, November and even December, causing severe damage to our plantations and big production losses,” he explains, adding that the delay caused by these weather conditions pushed prices up at the beginning of the season, as Guatemala was practically the only country supplying the market with sweet peas and snow peas, and the customers needed the product urgently, so they exported by air. This year, the situation has already become normal again.
The trader states that there is currently enough demand, as well as moderate growth. “Now consumers are more health conscious and want to consume high quality products that comply with all European regulations.”
In any case, the company plans to diversify with a new product. “Last year, we started marketing some rambutan, especially in the Netherlands, although it was at the end of the season, in October. This time, we will start next month, in early June,” explains Teo, adding that there is demand for this exotic fruit. “Our Dutch customer was very happy with the quality and this year wants to continue working with us.”
The company’s certifications include the GlobalGAP for its fields and the HACCP for its packing plant; it also has social and corporate responsibility certifications. “We just had our audit; it went pretty well,” concludes the exporter.
(EFE) The El Niño weather phenomenon is causing the worst drought in 30 years in Central America’s Dry Corridor, one of the world’s most vulnerable spots for unstable weather conditions.
Since 2012, the rains have been avoiding Central America and the drought has caused local farmers to lose their harvests in 2013, 2014 and 2015, destroying between 70 percent and 80 percent of the corn and bean crops, staples of the local populace, experts Guido Calderon and Ivan Aguilar told EFE.
This issue and others will be discussed on Tuesday at the regional forum on the drought’s impact and other adverse effects of climate change, an event being held in Guatemala prior to the World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey on May 23-24.
The forum will provide the opportunity to discuss impacts, forecasts and needs arising from potential humanitarian crises facing Central America, which have led to a systematic lack of jobs, an increase in food insecurity, the spread of plagues of weevils and blight, along with the spread of dengue, malaria and Chikungunya.
Aguilar said that it is a “complex” situation that has no easy solution, and Calderon added that it cannot be solved only by money, requiring the “political will to want to deal with the problem.”
“The governments of Central America don’t want to acknowledge that the area is highly vulnerable. The fact that it’s raining now doesn’t solve the problem,” said Calderon, who is of Salvadoran origin, adding that the region’s fragility is due to unequal wealth distribution, lack of governments’ ability to respond to crises and weaknesses in local education and health systems, among other things. EFE
TODAY PANAM – The gloves are off between Panama taxi drivers and the Uber system with both sides gearing up to claim their right to serve the city’s traveling public, while the transit authority stands on the sidelines.
The actions of the yellow hornet drivers are having a more visible effect on road users, as they expand their road closures and demonstrations.
The latest came on Tuesday, May 17 when a group of taxi drivers partially closed Via Espana near the El Carmen Church causing major traffic jams in many sectors of the city as drivers sought alternate routes, while police were diverted from other duties to the protest site.
“Our focus areas are public roads and there we are going to defend ourselves,” said taxista leader Rafael Reyes
Reyes said that following the commissioning of Uber hundreds of local drivers have suffered losses. He said they have even been able to corroborate that Uber drivers has already been allowed entry Tocumen International Airport, where they are officially banned, to pick up passengers.
“With this taxi drivers who go out to work day, night, and those engaged in the tourism sector lose,” said Reyes and called on the Transit Authority ATTT to clamp down on Uber.
Meanwhile Uber responded with its weapon of choice – the smart phone – and called on users to sign a petition that “defends” the right of users and partner drivers to choose how to travel and work.
The message under the heading PanamaNoPara invites the public to “enjoy a new alternative mobility.”
Meanwhile a few block from the protest taxi drivers were practicing their traditional “No voy” (not going where the passenger wants) routine which the ATTT which claims Uber’s operation “’is not within the framework of legality” has failed to curb.
TODAY PANAMA – The Italian Parliament approved Tuesday a double taxation treaty that was signed with Panama at the beginning of 2010 and which had been ratified by the Panamanian National Assembly in December of that same year.
The treaty will go to the senate for final approval.
“We are particularly proud to approve this agreement with Panama because it helps us to better combat tax evasion,” said legislator Fabio Porta.
Porta said the ratification process had been delayed due to difficulties in diplomatic relations between the two countries, something that he said is not uncommon.
“Unfortunately, these agreements do not always reach parliament in a timely manner,” he said, noting that deals from as far back as 2009 are still waiting approval.
The treaty became a priority due to the publication of information about alleged cases of tax evasion contained within the files of the law firm Mossack Fonseca. Those files were made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
“There has been a prioritization in the discussion related to the revelations concerning Mossack Fonseca,” the legislator said.
The data included the former president of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo, and former Senator Marcello Dell’Utri, who is serving a prison sentence for his ties to the mafia.
Panama ambassador to Italy Fernando Berguido stated that the signing of the treaty represents an example of the “cooperation between the two countries in the fight against crime.”
He added that the treaty is an example “of the commitments made by this administration to adopt new standards of transparency.”
A man from northern Colombia went to extreme lengths to get more money from his parents by kidnapping himself and extorting his own family for millions of pesos.
The 22-year-old went missing a month ago from his parents’ house in Sincelejo, the capital of the Sucre province.
Not long after his family began receiving photos showing their him bruised and bloodied, tied to a chair. The photos came with a message demanding money for his release.
The photos were reasonably convincing and the horrified parents paid seven million pesos to secure his release.
Only he was never released, and another message soon arrived demanding a further five million pesos.
The parents decided to get the police involved at this point, and their son’s charade soon unravelled.
The police traced the messages arriving from the alleged kidnappers to the place where the money was being collected.
There, they found that the person collecting the money was the very one who was being tortured.
The man was arrested and sent to prison, but his two friends that helped him stage the photos were let off free.
Over the course of a month, he allegedly had spent his ransom money on prostitutes, parties, drinks and drugs, and could now face up to 30 years in prison. One year for every day of decadence.
TODAY COLOMBIA – Colombia is preparing itself for extreme levels of rainfall due to weather phenomenon La Niña following months of extreme drought caused by El Niño.
Both El Niño and La Niña are caused by water flows in the Pacific ocean that in the case of El Niño in Colombia causes drought and in the case of El Niña causes extreme rainfall.
“At the moment the models show that we have less dispersion, which increases the probability of ‘La Niña’ from 60-70% to 76%. This situation would have a consolidation on the last quarter of this year, with strong and abundant rain,” according to Colombia’s meteorology institute.
So far in the first season of rains that began in early April, there have been “306 events, including landslides, windstorms, flash floods, torrential floods, avalanches and hailstorms”, according to the National System for Disaster Risk Management.
According to the report, the departments of Meta, Choco, Cordoba, Risaralda and Arauca were worst hit with about 4,000 families affected.
The report also notes that the Government has invested approximately $200,000 (600 million pesos) in emergency humanitarian care such as mattresses, blankets and hygiene kits for 2,249 families.
Without any real certainty regarding the effects of La Niña, based on projections, Colombia’s government appears to be preparing for the worst in order to prevent further displacement among the country’s most vulnerable populations.
Despite its financial constraints, Costa Rica is one of the countries in the world, dedicating more resources to support the public sector.
QCOSTARICA – Despite its financial constraints, Costa Rica is one of the countries in the world, dedicating more resources to support the public sector.
Compared with the nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a group where entry is by invitiation, Costa Rica is only surpassed by Denmark and Norway, according to a report by that organization.
The country spends approximately 13% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to pay its bureaucrats, while other nations like Japan, South Korea, Germany, the United States and France, invested a smaller percentage in 2013, according to a report released this year.
However, this does not mean that public employees in Costa Rica are better paid than their counterparts in the OECD, said Xiomara Rojas, secretary of the Costa Rican Independent Union of State Workers (Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores Estatales Costarricenses), since there are significant wage gap between central government employees and universities (such as the Universidad de Costa Rica – UCR and the Universidad Nacional – UNA) and autonomous institutions (such as ICE – the Instituto Costarricense de Electricida and the AyA, the water and sewer utility, for example).
Government spending on remuneration is not because the country has the largest state payroll says the OECD, since the bureaucrats hardly represent 15% of workers, while in Denmark, Norway and the Czech Republic for example, these they represent more than 30%.
The new airport in Orotina would benefit tourism and agriculture and bring multiple business opportunities to the area west of San Jose
QCOSTARICA – The proposed construction of an international airport in Orotina creates multiple business opportunities, ranging from construction and operation, to expansion of the surrounding road infrastructure.
The project, at a cost of US$5 billion dollars, would also benefit tourism; the airport being closer to the Pacific beaches and more tourists with largest capacity.
The agriculture industry would also benefit, producers can increase export capacity, thanks to more direct flights with larger aircraft to Europe.
The Ruta 27 would have to be expanded to at least three lanes in each direction between Orotina to San Jose. There will also be a need to connect the airport to the train. The national railway, Incofer, would in charge of creating a San Jose – Orotina corridor.
There is still a lack of clear definition of the project, however, what is clear is that it would be difficult to expand the Juan Santamaria international airport (SJO), given the limitations of space in the area.
The government this week announced the contracting of an international consultant – the British firm, Mott MacDonald – for the preliminary study of the Orotina airport. The cost for the technical, operational, construction, financial, social, meteorological, and environmental analysis, among others, is US$1.6 million dollars.
The Orotina airport would have a capacity for 10 million passengers yearly, be built on 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres), with three runways that can accommodate large aircraft such as the A380 and Boeing 747-800.
If you are a consumer, buy later, not now. Save your money in cash and not in banks. If borrower, consider getting a loan with a floating rate. If employer avoid hiring. Welcome to the world of deflation.
QCOSTARICA – La Republica, Costa Rica’s business newspaper, says the impact of deflation on Costa Rica would be moderate, since prices over the past year have fallen only slightly below zero.
Experts say it is difficult to predict for each case, since the cost of any product or service could increase, while interest rates could increase due to other factors, such as high demand for money, typically by the Government.
However, whatever form it takes, this is the first time since inflation began to register that Costa Rica experienced deflation, defined as a widespread and consistent reduction in prices.
The experts say we must analyze core inflation indices measured by the Central Bank, which are close to zero or even negative; and why we talk about deflation and not negative inflation.
On the other hand, up to April, the annual rate of inflation was -0.9%, according to the Consumer Price Index (Precios al Consumidor in Spanish) measured by the INEC (National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica), which began measuring in 1977.
A collapse since 2014 of prices of raw materials, largely caused by slow growth, especially in Europe and China, is one of the main causes of the phenomenon.
La Republica says what to do in a world of deflation depends on who one is.
If you are a consumer, maybe you need to wait before buying, because prices will likely be lower tomorrow. If a borrower, get a variable rate loan because interest rates tend to fall during deflation.
If an investor, storing cash in a safe place is one option. If the rates are already negative as has happened in Sweden and Japan, an option is to use a safe for cash, which in the future will worth less than today, but at least you will not be paying fees for your savings.
If you are an entrepreneur, it would be wise to think twice before increasing the payroll, and at the same time move inventory as quickly as possible. As to staff, there are always exceptions, as there are companies that grow even in a deflationary environment. In terms of inventory, cash value will diminish the longer your products stay in inventory.
CAN DEFLATION BE PREVENTED?
A note by MIT say the point is that deflation should – or so we thought – be easy to prevent: just print more money. And printing money is normally a pleasant experience for governments. In fact, the idea that governments have a hard time keeping their hands off the printing press has long been a staple of political economy; dozens of theoretical papers have argued that the temptation to engage in excessive money creation causes an inherent inflationary bias in fiat-money economies.
It is largely to combat that presumed bias that most of the world has accepted the notion that monetary policy should be conducted by an independent central bank, insulated from political influence – and has written into the charters of those central banks that they should seek price stability as their main, often only, goal.
Yet here we are, with deflation turning out to be a serious problem after all…How can this be happening?
The MIT note is in four parts.The first considers the popular view that deflation is simply a product of world excess capacity, and the problems with that view. The second part argues a point that is gradually becoming familiar: that concerns about deflation generally make sense only if they are linked with the idea of a liquidity trap, in which the money supply is irrelevant at the margin. The third part tries to go to a deeper level, relating deflationary pressures to an excess of desired saving over desired investment – an approach that leads to a seemingly paradoxical interpretation of deflationary pressures that I believe to be fundamental to the whole issue. Finally, I consider the policy implications of the apparent emergence of a serious deflationary threat.
Canadian boxer Donny Lalonde named in #PanamaPapers, linked to land deals in Costa Rica
Canadian boxer Donny Lalonde named in #PanamaPapers, linked to land deals in Costa Rica.
(QCR) A left hook by the great Sugar Ray Leonard in 1998 in Las Vegas knocked down Donny “Golden Boy” Lalonde. Although Lalonde lost that night, he also won big, paid US$5.5 million dollars and bragging rights.
That was a long time ago. Lalonde and his wife, Christi, a former Beach Boys backup dancer married for 25 years, lived the high life. But after a couple of failed comeback attempts, Lalonde decided to return Canada in 1990, ready to make his fortune in real estate.
But by 2004, Lalonde had declared bankruptcy in British Colombia, owing $1.5 million to creditors, mostly linked to failed real estate ventures. He moved to the Pacific beach community of Tamarindo, a town teeming with American tourists, world-class surfers, SUVs and beer.
A year later, Costa Rica was booming. Lalonde controlled 38 companies, according to public records. Everybody wanted to invest in Costa Rica, a country of lush rainforests and sandy beaches. Not missing out on the opportunity, Lalonde got back into the speculative land development game. A decade later, some 30 investors filed a class-action lawsuit, hoping to recoup $3.5 million.
In an article in the Hamilton Spectator, by the Toronto Star, we learn how the recently leaked documents, the Panama Papers, reveal that a complicated array of companies registered by Mossack Fonseca comprise Lalonde’s Costa Rican real estate business, according to documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the Toronto Star and CBC/Radio-Canada.
[su_note note_color=”#f8f8f6″]QCostarica’s own Rick Philps was quoted in the Toronto Star article on Donny Lalonde. Click here to read the Star article and Philps’ comments.[/su_note]
As of May 2016, Costa Rican records reveal Lalonde controls 53 companies, many tied to development; 43 of these owe more than $36,000 (U.S.) in taxes to the Costa Rican Treasury.
Lalonde, now 56, denied that he owns that many companies, but added that Costa Rican law requires you to create a company for any property you buy. In emails and interviews with the Star and CBC, Lalonde said he became a client of Mossack Fonseca’s in 2006, because he heard they were a reputable firm and he understood they had “been around forever.”
Two real-estate deals, El Escape and Howler Ridge, threaten to ensnare him in what would be one of Costa Rica’s largest class-action lawsuits, involving 29 Canadian and American investors.
“Some of the funds entered Costa Rican bank accounts and others went through Panamanian bank accounts,” said Jeannette Salazar, lawyer for the plaintiffs. “The main problem is that Lalonde never fulfilled the development of what he called ‘our community.’ ”
Lalonde, whose email address is ‘The Fighter’ in correspondence with Mossack Fonseca, denies all of the allegations. The Lalondes haven’t lived in Costa Rica since 2015. They have moved to Malta, where Lalonde is coaching the promising Libyan boxer Malik Zinad.
“I help boxers. I’m really hoping to introduce the world to the best, most dynamic individual fighter I have ever met in the boxing game … And my passion is to introduce him to the world. He is like the golden boy of Libya.”
Lalonde said he has done nothing to harm the investors, many of them former friends who have now turned on him. To the contrary, he said he has sacrificed years of his life to push the projects along.
“All they have to do is go look at the records and tell me, what did I do? Look at the work I did from Day 1 until I resigned. Tell me what fraudulent person sits there and works nine years on a project that they’re fraudulently doing something with. It makes no sense,” Lalonde said in an interview.
“I’ve been threatened many times by the same crew. But if I did something to you so terrible, would you wait eight years to do something about it? There’s nothing. These guys are threatening me, using social media, slandering my name in grocery stores.”
THE REAL ESTATE GAME
How did a boxer become a land developer?
Lalonde bought his first properties in the early 1980s in Winnipeg, where he was launching his boxing career, on the advice of a co-worker in the city’s water department. Lalonde soon learned it was easy to buy homes with minimum down payments, then use the equity and any rental income to buy other properties. He owned five houses by the time he was 22.
Donald Lalonde, former Canadian light-heavyweight boxing champion, seen on the streets of Malta as he talks to the Star and the CBC. Lalonde, who is training a fighter in Malta, was named in the Panama Papers.
“You need sellers that are willing to co-operate, to give you the right to buy it,” Lalonde said. ” … The houses were $16,000 to $24,000 … That was a different world. Today, for a $2-million house, I wouldn’t know how to do it.”
This informed him in what would become his formula for speculative real estate. But in Costa Rica, Lalonde would buy land with no money down, raising the money from investors to pay the mortgage and the servicing bills and earn a commission as the “the guy on the ground in the jungle fighting off everybody who wants to steal it from us. You go back home to Tennessee and I’ll be your partner.”
In B.C., Lalonde raised money from friends and family to build “wonderful, dynamic” communities, but when the logging and fisheries industries faltered in the mid-1990s, Lalonde said he ran into financial problems. “All of a sudden, you had no market. I started struggling with paying the bills … Revenue Canada came in and froze my accounts (because) they said I wrote off some loans that I was not qualified to write off. I fought that, I won in court. But they don’t pay you back the money you spent and all the assets you lost while they fought you, seizing your properties,” he said.
The Star and the CBC could not find court records for this case. When asked again to clarify, Lalonde said, “I disputed a declaration they used to justify seizing my assets and won that appeal.”
In 2000, federal courts ordered the B.C. sheriff to seize and sell property associated with one of Lalonde’s company’s, Alias Developments Ltd., in order to collect $78,000 in unpaid taxes.
Federal bankruptcy records show that Lalonde filed for bankruptcy in 2004 with liabilities of $1,456,846 and $9,044 in assets, including a 1981 (Toyota) Land Cruiserand $3,000 in personal belongings. Lalonde’s primary address was listed as a condominium in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Bankruptcy trustee Hayes McNeill & Partners Ltd. wrote in their bankruptcy report that “DonnieLalonde was involved with several companies as a developer. Christie was also self-employed as a design consultant. Lack of business experience and education. Poor financial management. Business failures.”
The housing complex where retired professional boxer Donny Lalonde lived when he declared bankruptcy in Canada. Getty Images.
Lalonde’s creditors — most tied to his real estate deals — lost big time: Cadenza Corporation, a granite and marble company, lost $243,715.13; Dodd’s Lumber & Building Supplies Ltd., a company in Duncan, B.C., lost $6,744.04 and the Royal Bank Group in Vancouver lost $101,719.05.
“I should never have taken money and tried to become a land developer in Canada. I should have left my money with my qualified, educated money manager who had me making $30,000 a month, you know, hanging out with Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bryan Adams, hockey players, actors, having the life of Riley,” he said. “And I should never have gone back to Canada.”
El Escape was supposed to be a Wild West-themed village of about 162 hectares nestled in Costa Rica’s ranch country.
The horse-friendly gated community would have room to ride, horses could be tied to posts along the main streets and the lots would be serviced by roads, water and electricity.
“We just wanted to do a cowboy community,” Lalonde said. “We thought people from Alberta, people from Texas, people like that, would like a western-themed community.”
Posters such as these demonstrate Lalonde’s profile as a successful prize fighter in the 1980s. His name recognition proved a valuable asset in his later business ventures. (YouTube and Winnipeg Free Press)
By July 2007, Lalonde was riding the boom and Dirk Brauer, of Mossfon Asset Management (an arm of Mossack Fonseca), wrote an email to MF lawyer Jennifer Mossack, valuing Lalonde’s net worth at $3 million (U.S.), mostly tied to his real estate developments.
“So far, he invested some USD 500k in Costa Rica. Some USD 600k, he is holding in a local account in Panama on a savings account. Since he is starting to get worried that he may spend the funds in Costa Rica he chose to give Mossfon Asset management a discretionary mandate on those funds obliging him to start producing income in Costa Rica and saving funds for the future,” Brauer wrote, also noting that the couple’s two children were in boarding school in Canada.
Sue Lindstrom, a former flight attendant, bought into the El Escape dream in 2007.
Lindstrom, 69, said in an interview from her home in Florida that she visited Lalonde’s office in Tamarindo, where she said he wanted $80,000 U.S. for two 4,000-square-metre lots in a development that would include serviced lots, a hotel and a spa. If she waited a day, the price would increase to $145,000.
“I have a list of all the things he told me that day of his project. I feel those are all lies. He said the land was completely paid for and he had $3 million in financing for infrastructure, that he had permits for all three wells and all the permits were in place,” she said.
“In my contract, it said if after two years the infrastructure and title weren’t done, I could get my money back,” she said.
But $80,000 was too steep for Lindstrom — “I just sold my condo and had $30,000 to invest” — so she turned to friends in Denver, Colo., to invest from $5,000 to $20,000 each.
Three years later, Lindstrom started to receive emails from Lalonde explaining problems at El Escape. Permits were taking longer than expected and the $3 million earmarked for infrastructure seemed to have disappeared.
The house of Canadian boxer Donny Lalonde in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Getty Images.
“Suddenly everyone had to do their own water and electricity. The lot I had picked out suddenly disappeared,” said Lindstrom.
Lindstrom asked for her money back in 2011. Lalonde told her that her name was on a list to be refunded and that she would receive 10-per-cent interest on her investment.
Instead, Lindstrom said she hired a lawyer who put a lien on the development. That worked. In April 2014 she received $41,500. She gave 20 per cent to her lawyer. Her friends were given one-third of their investments and Lindstrom received $10,600.
The rest was to be paid in instalments, with interest, but it never came, she said. “He destroyed my dream of paradise.”
Lalonde said Lindstrom was told of the risks of investing versus buying retail. “She, like the rest of us, took that risk. She is fortunate to have her investment returned to her. I’m happy for her.”
The Star visited the El Escape property in April and found it resembles a sprawling dust bowl with no signs of construction or development. Thin, dried-out trees snap like tinder. Construction on roads appears to have been abandoned and what remains is pocked with giant ridges and potholes. A huge tree rises from the middle of what was to be the main road and the brush is as tall as a full-grown man.
Daphne Buhlert, 59, of Vernon, B.C., has never received a penny of the $55,000 she invested for a hectare of land in El Escape in 2007, just three days after she heard about the “country town.”
“We were all completely enamoured with him,” said Buhlert, who met the Lalondes in 2004 and considered them close friends. “He was the champ. Everyone got involved in this development because of his past celebrity.”
But by 2010, an anxious Buhlert asked for her money back and in 2011 was told she was second on the list of investors who would be refunded.
Canada’s CBC news in its report says it visited some of Lalonde’s Costa Rican projects in April 2016. The land is dusty, dry and undeveloped. Investors expected electricity and water hook-ups as part of the original deal, but 10 years later, there doesn’t seem to have been much progress at El Escape or Howler Ridge, save for a pothole-ridden dirt road. Undeveloped property at El Escape in Costa Rica. (Courtesy Daphne Buhlert)
“I feel so naive and I hate admitting it. He no longer is a champ. He is a has-been. It makes me angry they are gallivanting around Europe,” she said.
Lalonde remembers Buhlert well. “Daphne’s a sweetheart,” said Lalonde. “She just doesn’t get it. Her money went there, she gets a piece of land.”
In all, Lalonde said, 40 per cent of El Escape investors who asked got their money back. “That’s all the money that was able to be paid back so far. So when more people want their money back and there’s more money available, they’ll get it.”
Architect’s plans for the El Escape development included a large equestrian club. (El Escape/Facebook)
THE RISKS OF HOWLER RIDGE
The Howler Ridge development sits on nearly 1,000 acres of lush, green jungle where troops of black Howler monkeys cling to treetops.
According to a January 2015, investors’ overview report, Howler Ridge promised to build two fully serviced residential communities, a restaurant and microbrewery.
“With consistent funding, and a continually employed roster of contractors, including earth movers, architects and legal support, Howler Mountain is undergoing daily improvement,” the brochure reads.
Today, on Howler Ridge, there are a few houses, including one partially built home, high on a vista, owned by Lalonde. There was an old fridge inside but no walls. Bats occupy some roughed-out closets or bathrooms. The fridge is being used by the Costa Rican family paid to take care of the property, previously by Lalonde and now by one of the investors. Their tiny house has no electricity, so they parked their fridge in Lalonde’s abandoned lot.
“It’s a mountain ridge. It’s like a beautiful … what the heck do you call it … a bowl facing the ocean,” Lalonde said.
By 2006, Lalonde and his partners had to raise $4 million to buy the land and more investors were lining up. Lagartillo Developments Limitada, the Costa Rican holding company for Howler Ridge, took out a line of credit for $8.5 million to pay for design and infrastructure, said William Belanger, Lalonde’s childhood friend and one of the partners of Howler Ridge and El Escape. (Belanger said he has absorbed the outstanding balance on the line of credit.)
St. Julian’s is where Malta comes to play – restaurants, bars and strip clubs line the roads. (Shutterstock)
Lalonde’s lots were a deal — similar developments in the area were selling lots for $275,000 to $325,000.
“We were pre-selling starting at $40,000 — up as high as $80,000. So people had the choice — they can go buy a registered titled lot for $325,000 or they can make an investment in a company that’s offering investment packages to possibly end up with one at a way cheaper price. They chose what we did,” Lalonde said.
When the global financial crisis hit Costa Rica in 2008, Lalonde, who owns 46 hectares of Howler Ridge, said the world changed and the boom times slowed right down. Lalonde said a neighbour, a “very smart New York businessman,” told him he was going to lay low and “not move a rock” until the crisis passed.
But Lalonde chose to “keep moving forward” because that’s what his investors wanted.
Lalonde denies allegations from investors that he was conducting a Ponzi scheme — bringing in investor money to repay the investors who wanted out.
“There’s no Ponzi scheme about it. You have to raise money, you borrow money. And then if you finish the project with the money, great. If not, you borrow more money,” he said. “It is real-estate development. You win some, you lose some.”
Suki and Joel Hahn feel like they lost some.
The couple first heard about Howler Ridge in 2006 and invested nearly $150,000 (U.S.) , along with a group of 20 Long Beach, Calif., firefighters and friends. In total, the group invested $1.7 million.
Lalonde said some of the money was used to buy land and the rest went to Lagartillo Investment Limited Company, one of his companies, to pay bills.
“I was very skeptical from the beginning,” Suki says. “For many years, we received no documentation. I started getting nervous. I said we wanted our money back.”
In 2008, Lalonde sent an email: “Things are moving along in the project, it is actually going GREAT.”
That August, Lalonde went to Long Beach to meet with the group.
“He talked about all these grandiose things. He said, ‘I’m going to bring in more investors and build this and that,’ ” Suki recalls.
In January 2011, about a year after the World Bank said Costa Rica had rebounded from the crisis, the Hahns travelled to Howler Ridge with several others to see their investment.
“Donny guided us down these jungle roads you could barely get through,” says Suki. “We get to this spot where we have to hike up a mountain for hours and look at this completely undeveloped land that we’d given $1.7 million to. Nothing had been done.”
They wanted out. But there were no refunds.
The Hahns received their land a long while ago, Lalonde said. “She wanted to sell it, so she must have owned it … After that crash happened, nobody bought land for five years. I’ve sold two pieces of land personally since 2008.
As of May 13, Lalonde said “16 lots were delivered since you were here. Water infrastructure is ongoing on site now. The projects are still moving forward — 90 per cent or so of investors in Howler Ridge have been delivered titled and, most of them, serviced land.”
Belanger said in an interview that all 16 lots are individually titled — they went to the Californian firefighters — and that after extensive negotiations water from one of the biggest sources in Costa Rica is on its way to the ridge.
Lalonde is no longer involved with either project and has given control to Belanger. “I’ve resigned from it three years ago, due to these threats and extortion attempts. And so I have stepped away,” he said.
Belanger said both the El Escape and Howler Ridge developments are progressing.
Rick Philps, a Canadian lawyer not connected to this affair but who has practised in Costa Rica for 14 years, said lawsuits over failed land deals are common. But claims can take eight years and have a “zero-to-one-per-cent chance of being successful.”
Philps said Costa Rica is the “Wild West” because the real estate industry is unregulated and developers aren’t bonded, so they aren’t required to show they have the means to complete a project.
“You pay your money and you take your chances.”
***
Lalonde left Costa Rica on April 15, 2015, and hasn’t returned, but swears he’ll defend himself in court.
“In a heartbeat. I’ll be going back there anyway. I’ve got stuff there, I’ve got my land, my dog is still there. My son is still there and I’ve got my Toyota Land Cruiser there,” he said.
But, for now, Malta is home and life is simple.
“My wife and I have been humbled. We were — she was a dancer for the Beach Boys, you know — flying around the world … five-star hotels, private jets. I was a very wealthy person. I hung out with very wonderful, interesting people. And then I did all these things, went bankrupt, went through the struggle with the developments. Now, our priorities are very clear. Very simple.”
Tanya Talaga and Robert Cribb Foreign Affairs Reporters and Alejandra Fernandez DataBaseAR (Costa Rica)
In the opinion of the constitutionalist attorney, “suspension of guarantees” does not exist in the Venezuelan Constitution
In the opinion of the constitutionalist attorney, “suspension of guarantees” does not exist in the Venezuelan Constitution
TODAY VENEZUELA – José Vicente Haro, a constitutionalist attorney and professor of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) warned that a decree on state of economic emergency signed last Friday by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will result in constrained political liberties.
“This decree is stretching out to ambits beyond the economic field, the political ambit, the ambit of what the president has termed as ‘foreign threats,” coup attempts, public order matters, which could put the Venezuelan State in jeopardy,” the lawyer told El Universal.
He added that the new legal instrument –that expired last Wednesday- could be extended only once. In view of it, “the president has opted to take another way, the way of a new decree, which is much ampler than the previous one.”
“What the president would be doing, to begin with, is restricting guarantees (…) that have to do with internal order, exercise of civilian and political rights,” said the professor of Constitutional Law.
Furthermore, the lawyer insisted on saying that the document should be endorsed by both the National Assembly (AN) and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). “The decree does not enter into full force and effect until the approval of the AN and the TSJ, as laid down in the Constitution,” he emphasized.
Governmenr of Costa Rica says it will not block any app, be it Uber, Cabidy or any other
QCOSTARICA – Both Uber and Cabify are assured operations in Costa Rica with the statement by the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT), Marcelo Jenkins, that “blocking any app is equivalent to censoring the Internet”.
“The policy of the government of Costa Rica is not to censor the Internet in any way. Blocking an app(lication) be it Uber or Cabify or any other, is to start censoring the Internet because there is a group interested in this being done, for whatever reason. This is a road Costa Rica is not willing to take,” said Jenkins.
The minister’s words were directed at groups lobbying the government to stop Uber, which has been operating in the country since last August and the soon to arrive, Cabify – companies that provide the private transport of people without any government regulation.
Against the requests of groups like the “fuerza roja” (red force) – the legal taxis, the government has made it clear “it will not censor the internet in any way”.
So, despite being deemed to operate illegally in the country, Uber and Cabify can work freely. For the moment.
View of the first EV electric carts CNFL on its roster of Anonos (Escazu). The transport sector is responsible for two thirds of oil consumption and 34% of emissions in Costa Rica, according to the Ministry of Environment and Energy. | MARCELA BERTOZZI.
QCOSTARICA – Costa Rica wants to stimulate the sale and use of electric or hybrid vehicles in the country with proposed tax incentives, but only if they are a plug-in electric vehicle (PEV).
The “Proyecto de Ley de Incentivo y Promoción para el Transporte Eléctrico” (Bill of Incentive and Promotion for Electric Transport), currently pending in the Legislature, provides for tax incentives for vehicles 100% electric. The objective is to reduce consumption of oil and polluting gases.
Plug-in cars have several benefits compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, they have lower operating and maintenance costs, and produce little or no local air pollution.
The “Proyecto de Ley” approved in Committee two weeks ago with the support of all parliamentary factions, is soon to hit the legislative floor for debate and vote.
In parallel, the Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL) – national power and light utility – said it would be installing more slow recharge stations for public use in agreement with car dealers and private companies.
The first electrica car charing station (electrolinera) by the CNFL in La Sabana. Photo Marcela Bertozzi, La Nacion
Allan Blanco, director of Electric Transportion at the CNFL, said they will open two stations this year in San Jose and Heredia, this in addition to the La Sabana station currently operating.
Bavarian Motors Costa Rica, the BMW dealer, has recharge stations at its dealerships in Curridabat, Escazú and La Uruca. Rossella Mirabelli, Project manager for Bavarian Motors, said their stations would be open to other brands at no charge for recharging.
According to the La Nacion report, Grupo Roble (owners of Multiplaza), Portafolio Inmobiliario (Avenida Escazú) and Veinsa (the Mitsubishi dealer) have expressed interest in joining the alliance put forward by the CNFL.
If the Bill is approved it would mean a drastic reduction in the retail price of electric cars.
Mirabelli explained that the BMW X5 Hydrid that now sells for US$98,000 would drop to US$82,000 (US$16,000 less).
By September of this year, Bavarian Motors will start selling the I3 hatchback 100% electric car at between US$55,000 and US$60.000. If the law passes, the cost would come down by US$14,000.
At Viensa, Kenneth Gonzalez, manager of Bidding, estimates its hybrid Outlander PHEV (currently selling for US$48,000) would drop between US$6,000 and US$8,000 with the passing of the law.
The Nissan dealer (Agencia Datsun) says it will next year start selling the Nissan Leaf at about US$45,000.
The Nissan Leaf is the world’s all-time best selling highway-capable electric car. Global Leaf sales passed the 200,000 unit milestone in December 2015, five years after its introduction.
No word from the Toyota dealer, Purdy Motor, on its plans for the future of its electric vehicles. Toyota launched in Japan in January 2012 the Prius Plug-in Hybrid. As of December 2015, about 75,000 Prius PHVs had been sold worldwide. (In our report of Feburary 2015, Purdy Motors said it will be bringng in 2018 to Costa Rica the first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.)
Not thrilled on the government’s plans is the Cámara Costarricense Automotriz, criticizes that theses vehicles are for short distances, an average of 150 kilometres between charges, and for those with money.
On Monday, it issued a statement in which it described the plan as “a gift from the goverment for those people with a lot of money and sellers of new cars.”
Costa Rican business leaders have expressed their dismay at the government’s apparent contradictions regarding the proposed agreement on fiscal issues and the strike threats made by public unions.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
Private Sector puzzled by attitude of the Executive Branch.
Alliance’s proposal eliminates excuses in order to address issues of expenses.
Executive may call for dialogue, but not give in to threats.
The statements made today by President Luis Guillermo Solis, and the Minister of the Presidency, Mr. Sergio Alfaro, regarding the counter proposal submitted by the Alliance of opposition parties in relation to the issue of fiscal rules, has left the business sector completely baffled.
The Executive Branch could have immediately eliminated the unhealthy excuses that have been put forward by Frente Amplio party and unions on acquired rights of workers and the elimination of jobs; but instead, the Minister of the Presidency today was extremely shy with a response and the President of the Republic, is only just analyzing it “thoroughly” while others are using the time to misinform the population
doctor Rodrigo Marín, coordinador del programa de control de vectores del Ministerio de Salud,
Ministry of Health workers fumigating against mosquito breeding sites
QCOSTARICA – It started in Guanacaste, but the Zika virus is now also present in Alajuelita (San Jose) and Jacó.
The Health Ministry Vector Control Program coordinator, Dr.Rodrigo Marin, asserted Monday that they had been working hard for a week and a half to control a Zika virus outbreak in Playa Jaco, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
In statements to Telenoticias Channel 7 news, the official explained that fortunately the outbreak is currently located in the neighborhood Pueblo Nuevo and not in the centre of that town, in which tourism is the main economic activity.
Dr. Rodrigo Marín, coordinator of Vector Contorol of the Ministry of Health
“I hope the number of cases begins to decrease this week in Pueblo Nuevo,” said Marin, who assures that as with previous outbreaks in different areas of the country, this one will also be controlled.
In it’s weekly bulletin, Ministry of Health said 32 autochthonous cases of Zika had been reported up to Wednesday last week in the country, including the 19 in Jaco.
