Facing tough competition from IP telephony and cellular, the Instituto Costarricense de Electriciad (ICE) is offering free installation and no deposit, new and existing commercial and residential fixed line service.
Marketed under the Kölbi Hogar brand, ICE is waiving the usual ¢20.905 installation fee and ¢9.000 deposit for residential and ¢20.905 and ¢19.300 deposit for commercial, until September 13. The sale, according to the ICE website, stared on July 19, but appears to have been the best kept secret in the country.
For residential customers, the “basic” service cost is ¢2.090 monthly that includes up to 500 minutes a month of calls (up from 160). The commercial rate is ¢2.429 monthly and no minutes.
The per minute cost (over the 500 for residential) is ¢4.63 during prime time (Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm) and ¢2.26 evenings, weekends and legal holidays.
All rates are in colones and includes sales tax (ivi).
As a condition of the promotion, customers have to be current with all their ICE services and if requesting 5 lines or more, an internal switch is required and to be installed by the customer. Requesting a special number costs a one time fee of ¢8.542.
U.S. President Barak Obama and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias have much in common. Both are winners of the Nobel Peace Prize and, as such have been critical of war as foreign policy and as a solution for problems.
So why is Arias taking Obama to task without mincing words? Arias reacted on Facebook(comments below) Thursday to President Obama’s speech promising armed retaliation against the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Five cruise missile destroyers are now in the eastern Mediterranean as are two U.S. submarines.
Friday’s statements by Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden left no doubt that this time the three most powerful leaders of the United States had no doubts about intelligence and that Assad had used poison gas against his own populace.
This was the “red line” Obama had demanded that Assad not cross, that would cause the reluctant President to order retaliation. For about a year, the press has reported about 35 small gas attacks, charged by reliable sources, but they were not confirmed.
But Thursday, President Arias blasted Obama like this: “It appears that the United States has not learned from its errors in the past: The unilateral invasion of Iraq that President George W. Bush embarked on was an enormous error and was repudiated by an immense majority of governments in the world.”
Ironically, this could have been the words spoken by Obama when he was in the Senate and an opponent of the Bush foreign policy. He had always been suspicious of the intelligence reports that said Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was building and storing weapons of mass destruction. After the invasion, none were found, of course.
But Arias does not even mention intelligence, accurate or flawed. Instead, he was targeting collateral damage. “To bomb Syria from warships in the Mediterranean implies the deaths of hundreds or thousands of innocent men, women and children,” Arias thundered.
Arias considers it “inconceivable that President Obama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is disposed to follow in the footsteps of ex-President Bush.” Arias made it clear that he is no admirer of Assad who runs a “dictatorial and criminal” government.
The Costa Rican expressed deep disappointment in Obama: “I was confident that, with the failure of the ‘preponente’ invasion of Iraq, that the White House would back multilateralism in the future to confront despotic and bloody regimes.”
Since Obama promised a “limited action” against Assad and no prolonged military action nor “boots on the ground,” Aria noted that this would not bring down the regime and so “was not the best path to choose.”
But the U.S. President has been measured in his responses — and has received much pressure to act more quickly and decisively by Sen. John McCain, among others. “How is it that no one is thinking of a negotiated an exit to the Syrian conflict that would lead to free elections in the shortest time possible as we did in Central America in 1987 with the signing of my peace plan?” he asks.
However much this blog would like to agree with Arias whose success is not to be denied, the Middle East is not Central America during the Cold War. At that time, Arias had the backing of presidents who knew that their countries could not continue with constant civil wars.
Instead, Assad has made it clear that he will remain in power if he has to kill every Syrian in his country. We must remember that Middle Eastern despots think of their countries much as we think of the house and lot that we own. Each is under the illusion of permanence.
Nor is Obama, the reluctant warrior, George W. Bush. He engineered a way out of Iraq and, although that country may be headed to the abyss, he is under no illusions of building republics. Nor is he bent on seeking every pretext to invade.
To this day, many on the left in the United States feel that the Bush Administration lied to them about weapons of mass destruction and stampeded Congress. We at this blog suspect that instead, with Bush and his cabinet hell-bent on invasion, the intelligence community skewed their findings to please the boss.
A much different climate exists in Washington D.C. today. Rather, Assad by his ruthless miscalculation, has pushed a U.S. President against the wall. Negotiations take two to tango and Assad is not dancing.
It is true that approval of Obama’s retaliation is not coming from the United Nations, blocked in the Security Council by Russia’s veto power. Nor is NATO on board, nor the Arab League and stunningly, the British Parliament voted down a proposal to intervene. The only important national in Europe that is with him is France.
We are sorry, Sr. Arias, but the lessons of the Peace Plan are not applicable to today’s dangerous Middle East. Sometimes peace cannot be negotiated.
A PROPÓSITO DE LA POSIBLE INVASIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS A SIRIA
Considero que sería un enorme error si el presidente Barack Obama finalmente se decide por bombardear Siria sin el apoyo del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas, ni el respaldo de la OTAN y la Liga Árabe. Parece que Estados Unidos no aprende de los errores del pasado: la invasión unilateral a Irak que llevó a cabo el gobierno del presidente George W. Bush fue un enorme error y fue repudiada por la inmensa mayoría de los gobiernos del mundo.
Me parece inconcebible que el presidente Obama, Premio Nobel de la Paz, esté dispuesto a seguir los pasos del expresidente Bush. Bombardear Siria desde barcos en el mediterráneo implica la muerte de cientos o miles de hombres, mujeres, niños y niñas inocentes.
Que diez años después de la invasión a Irak Washington quiera, de manera unilateral, una vez más, asestarle unos cuantos golpes al régimen dictatorial y criminal de Bashar al Assad para debilitarlo, a sabiendas de que con eso no cae el gobierno, no me parece el mejor camino a seguir.
Confiaba en que, con el fracaso de la prepotente invasión a Irak, la Casa Blanca en adelante iba a auspiciar el multilateralismo para enfrentar regímenes despóticos y sanguinarios.
Finalmente, cómo es posible que nadie esté pensando en una salida negociada al conflicto sirio que lo lleve a celebrar elecciones libres en el menor plazo posible, como lo hicimos los centroamericanos en 1987, con la firma de mi Plan de Paz?
Longing to be supermen under the covers, Costa Rican men, like many men around the world, are on a journey of which may have no return and even lead to death.
Believing the advertisements, men who experience problems in the bedroom can pop a pill once a day and instantly enjoy more passionate, longer-lasting satisfying sexual experiences and leave the feeling confident about their manliness.
But health care professionals caution men to think about what marketers fail to tell you. These “miracle” enhancement drugs can lead to physically and emotionally painful side effects, including erectile dysfunction (ED).
We’ve entered an era where talking about sex isn’t taboo. People aren’t afraid to discuss ways to improve their sexual function, and companies are flooding the market with over-the-counter drugs they claim will solve a couple’s problems in the bedroom and make men the tigers their wives supposedly want them to be.
In Costa Rica, CRhoy.com reports the “descontrol” (uncontrol) of Costa Rican men becoming vulnerable to cunning merchants to consume allowed (and not allowed) pills.
As in other parts of the world, Tico men are no exception in seeking out options that include counterfeit products and in some cases turn to the drug smuggling world to improve their sexual performance.
On the one hand, Costa Rican men have been one of the largest consumers of treatments for erectile dysfunction. This has also led to a black market that is becoming more popular, catering to the needs of “invisible” patients, who experts say, do not know the long term consequences.
Only last week the Agentes de la Policía de Control de Drogas (PCD) – Costa Rica’s drug enforcement agency – seized 3.308 illegal pills, among them including pills for erectile dysfunction.
This year, 99 countries participated in Operation Pangea by Interpol, combating the sale of illegal medicines online. Pangea VI, an international week of action that ran June 18 to 28 resulted in the confiscation of 10.1 million illicit an counterfeit pills valued at US$36 million dollars, more tha 13.700 websites shutdown, 41.000 packags confiscated by customs authorities and 213 people under investigation or under arrest for a range of offences including: illegal internet activity; illegal sale of medicines and supplying unlicensed medicines.
Despite the efforts, Costa Rica health and finance authorities and leading pharmaceuticals like Pfizer, say they find it difficult to win the battle on national soil.
The Director of Corporate Affairs at Pfizer Central America and Caribbean, Federico Valerio, estimates that the increase of sale of counterfeit drugs increase 13% every year.
Although there is no precise data on how many men suffer, it said that about half of the male population suffers from sexual dysfunction at some point in their lives. The strange thing is that is happening to young adults, who for fun ignore the ordeal hat can start with the use of such drugs.
“In Costa Rica we dot not have specific data and world data is not completely reliable because the men who have the problem do not tell anyone. It was long believed that erection problems were associated with two things that are not true: old age and psychological problems,” medical doctor and sexologist, Mauro Fernandez, told CRHoy.
Erectile dysfunction, also known as impotence, is a condition in which a man is consistently unable to get or maintain an erection sufficient enough to have sexual intercourse. The condition is more common in older men, and certain medical conditions, like high blood pressure or diabetes, can increase a man’s risk.
Things You Should Know. There are several things every man should understand about male enhancement drugs before popping a pill in the hopes of revving up his sex life:
Most men have problems with sexual satisfaction, not a medical dysfunction.
Most men have complaints related to sexual satisfaction (a desire for longer-lasting erections or more stamina, for example) versus a physical dysfunction like premature ejaculation or the inability to get an erection and maintain it for his partner’s sexual pleasure.
Naturally, these issues can lead to sexual misunderstandings and stress between couples, but you have to identify the problem before you can fix it, and pills will not solve this problem. Understanding how your sexual brain works usually will.
In most cases, the problem is the man’s lack of understanding about overall sexuality and how to interpret his partner’s body signals.
Most people choose to address the problem with a quick fix, like an over-the-counter drug, because talking to a doctor or their partner about it is too embarrassing.
Talk With Your Doctor. Erectile dysfunction can be treated when the underlying cause for the problem is diagnosed by your urologist, and almost everyone will have some form of sexual dysfunction as they age, whether it manifests as a decrease in arousal, ability to maintain an erection or ejaculation timing. But problems with sexual function don’t necessarily mean disease.
Misuse or abuse of male enhancement drugs that contain herbal substances can cause serious side effects. The most serious side effect is priapism, a persistent, painful erection that lasts for hours. Priapism, which can occur without sexual stimulation, requires surgical intervention and can eventually lead to erectile dysfunction.
In the early 21st century, the bed & breakfast (B&B) lodging trend became a cottage industry in Costa Rica and gave hope to families whose properties had the potential to attract tourists looking for cozy, alternative accommodations.
More than a decade later, many B&B operators are closing their doors in Costa Rica, and the rest are weighing their options in the midst of a protracted crisis.
According to a recent article by Ana Cristina Camacho Sandoval of business weekly El Financiero, at least ten B&B locations in San Jose have ceased operations in the last four years. Although the entire tourism industry in Costa Rica has suffered since the global financial crisis became clearly manifest in 2008, B&B operators have had a particularly hard time trying to keep their businesses afloat.
When Competition Becomes a Problem
The B&B sector in Costa Rica is difficult to quantify since the National Board of Tourism (Spanish initials: ICT) does not keep track of this cottage industry. The National Network of Small Hotels (Spanish acronym: Renaph) believes that B&B operators have been the most affected by the tourism downturn. One of the problems is the fierce competition between B&B lodges and hotels.
B&B facilities in Costa Rica typically offer between two and five rooms for guests. Their main competitors are small hotels of up to 50 rooms. A B&B administrator in La Fortuna de San Carlos told El Financiero that the problem is not so much a drop in visitors, but what competitors are willing to do to capture their business. For example, the Tres Gatos Vegetarian B&B charges between $20 and $30 per person for locals and adds a $10 surcharge to foreign visitors. Some small hotels can charge as low as $8 per night during the slow season.
B&B Fire Sale
Quite a few B&B operators in Costa Rica are putting up For Sale signs. How would you like to acquire a 10-bedroom mansion in the pristine Palo Seco Island, province of Puntarenas? It’s yours for $1,350,000. A five-bedroom, 874 square meter B&B in Escazu is listed at $500,000. If you prefer the beach, there’s the B&B Dominical listed at $699,000; this 10-bedroom property, which is less than 200 meters from the sand, was built in 2007 -not the best time to enter the B&B market in Costa Rica.
One of the reasons B&B operators are calling it quits is legislative proposal 18.251, which will charge a very high tax to all providers of accommodations in Costa Rica -including hostels and love motels. This revenue currently goes to the ICT’s coffers; some politicians would like to see some of it be dedicated to nature conservation projects. Many hotels and B&B operations do not collect taxes for fear that doing so will drive guests away. With ICT pushing for revenue collection enforcement, many small hotel owners in Costa Rica are contemplating exiting the business.
“The Food Truck” is the first restaurant on wheels to ride through the streets of Costa Rica.
The project is an investment and risk by the Salas Barboza family, the first to bring to Costa Rica the popular style of eatery in the U.S. and Canada, but almost unknown in Costa Rica.
Since the beginning, the family has faced all the limitations and tribulations of building in Costa Rica a company from scratch: especially when there is no existing legislation for food trucks. For now, they have a catering service permit and can operate only on private premises, where hired.
In an interview with Amelia Rueda, Yorly Barboza explains her plans for her business, the curiosity of customs workers who ha never seen this type of vehicle up close and the steps taken to protect the food truck brand in the country.
The goal one day, of this enterprising family, is to be able to roll the streets deliering food wherever there is a crave.
The plan by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) to build the Red Abierta de Nueva Generación (RANGE) towards the convergence of internet services and bailing out the Radiográfica Costarricense (RACSA) has crashed against a wall, after the Contraloría (Comptroller) cancelled the entire project.
RANGE, a high speed communications netwokd, had several years on paper. However, earlier this year it was revived during the discussion of a similar project being planned by RACSA, as way of solving its infrastructure problems.
The ICE plan was to provide the country with a faster internet by way of a fibre optical cable to various parts of the country, improving current capacity and speed.
Currently ICE has 300.000 copper wire connections, another 100.00o mixed (copper and fibre) and 20.000 optical fibre connections.
According to Claudio Bermudez, ICE’s manager for telecommunications, RANGE is not simply a triple-play (TV, internet and telephone), it is voice, data, video, etc. whatever we want.
Financed through a Fidecomiso (Trust), ICE awarded the project to the Chinese firm, Huawei, rejecting a cheaper proposal by Lucent.
Lucent’s offer was financially and tecnically superior to the proposal by Huawei. Rejected at the political level, Lucent appealed to the Contraloria General de la Republica (Comptroller).
“The Fidecomiso had pointed out that our offer had been accepted and awarded…our offer had the lowest price”, according to statements made by Lizbeth Ulett, Lucent’s manager of communications.
In reviewing the process, the Contaloria said ICE could not award the contract to any compay, withouth its permission, which apparently was not sought.
“In all cases were an act or contract legally requires approval of the Contraloria, the absence or denial of approval will prevent the legal efficacy of the act or contract and its execution shall be prohibited and will become nullified”, said the Contraloria in its decision.
The decision is a serious blow to ICE, since other firms in the market are moving faster in the internet networking sector.
September comes loaded with deals of up to 50% or more on merchandise that can be enjoyed by consumers with the start of the “fiscal year*” month.
September is also a close out month for many retailers in Costa Rica to make room for arriving Christmas merchandise.
Either way consumers benefit and the sales start thi weekend.
According to Francisco Llobet, president of the Cámara de Comercio de Costa Rica (Chamber of Commerce) says September offers consumers a great opportunity to make purchases at discounts.
However, Llobet warns that consumers should not neglect their family’s economy since, unlike December when workers get their “aguinaldo” (annual bonus by law), there is no additional income in September. And borrowing to take advantage of promotions could turn out to be a bad deal in the end.
The September promotions also coincide with the Dia del Niño (Children’s Day) that is celebrated in Costa Rica on September 9. Children’s Day is recognized on various days in many places around the world, to honorr children globally. It was first proclaimed by the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in 1925 and then established universally in 1954 to protect an “appropriate” day.
Consumer Rights
In Costa Rica consumers have rights. Among the main rights of every consumer, Erick Ulate of Consumidores de Costa Rica, highlights the top three:
1. ALL items new, used or rebuilt must have a 30 day warrantee, this in accordance with Article 43 of Ley 7472,
2. Retailers must indicate the benefit to the consumer of any special pricing, that it is it must show the before sale and current price.
3. Under no circumstances should a retailer not provide an invoice or sales receipt
For any consumer questions you can call the Comisión Nacional del Consumidor of the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio (MEIC) at 2549 1400 ext. 888 or visit the MEIC website.
* The fiscal year in Costa Rica runs from October 1st to September 30th The Fiscal year in Costa Rican ends on September 30. All Costa Rican tax returns are due by December 15.
Apparently tourist do not believe the cute slogan since hotel occupancy is down ,way down by more than 12%,as well as are surf centers, bungee jumps, rain forest tours, etc.
The “happiest” theme is a tag line of public relations and government sponsored advertising to which we have paid million of colons
We, who live the life here, are not at all that happy with the new increases in electricity, water and gasoline. It is hard to roll over in joy when paying more than any other Central American country in day-to-day essential expenses and with the threat of unemployment.
Food is outrageous, especially imported finished foods. After all, Costa Rica is famed for exporting the tomato and then importing the same little red devil in a can from Guatemala at two times the original price. Campbell’s Soup is no exception and neither is cat food at $1.00+ per can.
If you want to live here, be prepared to pay double, even triple your home country costs of water and electricity. Recently, the department that authorizes pay hikes, ARESEP, has granted gasoline to increase another 20%.
In telephones, expect an immediate 20% increase and a proposed 83% increase in the near future by the one and only land line monopoly, ICE.
Every poll made by Unimer and the Spanish language newspaper, La Nación has concluded a profound lack of confidence in Costa Rica by Costa Ricans in both the economy as well as government.
According to La Nación and recent articles written in Spanish, the annual increase in hospital emergency care for those on antidepressants is 17%. Unimer, a polling company alleges 24% of the population, of all ages, is on antidepressants and 32% require sleep medication.
Now, that does not sound so “happy” to me.
Before you jump off the depressing developed world of the U.S., Canada, and Europe to “paradise”…. think twice and do a lot of homework.
We are a country of hypocrites! “That’s a fact Jack”- (Movie: “Stripes”.)
Today, a local bank teller turned out as a thief of some $200,000. Both the Spanish language newspapers and digital news ran 1st page article, “Pessimism and hope is prevalent among the young.”
As a side bar: the bank teller was set free on his own recognizance.
When youth relinquishes hope, we do have a serious issue, a serious problem that permeates society for many years into the future and that is what is happening.
Hope of what?
Further studies indicate Costa Rican youth have little if any faith in “honesty” by government or business and indeed peers.
They have “little faith” in their future except on a limited basis. Only 20% of university graduates dream of their own business. The other 80% will work with private enterprise and most of that group have hopes of working with the State.
The premise is not socialism in itself but rather the attractiveness and access to “corruption”, pseudo democracy, and greed.
We are, what we are and cannot change that. What we can change is what we do not wish to become.
Costa Rica is losing foreign investors, tourists and retirees because there is not, absolutely no evidence that these spenders are “welcome” other than in the advertisements, as well as the Pura Vida myth.
However, if you keep repeating “Pura Vida” long enough and repeatedly, it becomes a mantra.
While doing a small interview at RIU, the resort (not hotel only) which was loaded down with people from all sorts of countries the guests all spoke highly of Costa Rica. But, and this is a big but, they never learned nor explored Costa Rica except by Riu guides and conditions.
In the end, the all inclusive resort tourists know nothing of Costa Rica and are limited to the opulent hotel grounds, special events, teachings of language, art and tradition, excellent non-traditional foods, local activities and pristine beaches and that is not our country.
Costa Rica, much like Mexico, who also markets “happiness”, when in reality poverty is rampant. Here, in “Pura Vida” those who clean, construct and struggle for economic survival are mostly imported from Nicaragua. Meanwhile, those locals with “money” have little faith in the economy and I find it hard to believe that we are anywhere near to the “Happiest Country on the Planet”.
Let reality prevail and be addressed for what it is, says Q
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) most recent liveability ranking shows cities in Australia, Canada, Austria, Finland and New Zealand as the ideal destinations, thanks to a widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk, and an effective infrastructure.
It does not take into account the cost of living as a factor in ‘liveability.’
The August 2013 report placed Melbourne, Australia as the most liveable city in the world, with Vienna, Austria taking second place, followed by Vancouver, Canada. A third Canadian city, Toronto was among the top ten, holding the 4th spot. Toronto is the largest city by population among the top ten cities, with nearly six million inhabitants within its metropolitan area. The Top 10 ranking order remains unchanged compared with 2012.
For 2013, San José ranked globally at 72 – dropping one point from last year’s rank of 73 – and fourth in Latin America.
Among the Latin American cities, the top positions are Buenos Aires, Argentina in first place with a global ranking of 62, followed by Santiago (Chile), Montivideo (Uruguay), San José (Costa Rica), Lima (Peru), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Asunción (Paraguay), Panama City (Panama) and Mexico City (Mexico), rounding out the top ten.
At the bottom end of the scale, the 2013 report lists Damascus (Syria) as worst, followed by Tehran (Iran), Douala (Cameroon), Tripoli (Libya), Karachi (Pakistan), Algiers (Algeria), Harare (Zimbabwe), Lagos (Nigeria)Port Moresby (PNG) and Dhaka (Bangladesh)
The Economist Intelligence Unit has been criticized by the New York Times for being overly anglocentric, stating that “The Economist clearly equates livability with speaking English.
Melbourne, Australia Tops the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Most Liveable Cities of 2013. The list ranks 140 cities on five categories: culture and environment, stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure.
Major cities in Canada and Australia dominate the top 10 spots.
How “livable” is your city? Moreover, what exactly makes one city more livable than another? These are the questions at the heart of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual survey of the world’s 140 major metropolises.
More than 140.000 will be without water today (Saturday) with the notice by the Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) – water and sewer utility – that it will be shutting down the Puente Mulas pumps number one and two.
Affected will be the areas of Santa Ana, Escazú, Alajuelita and parts of Desamparados.
The water cut will be between 9am an 11pm.
The AyA recommends taking measures to store water to meet basic necessities.
The image of a traffic official travelling on a motorcycle without wearing a helmet has caused discomfort in the social networks, where dozens of comments criticize the actions of the woman and the driver.
It cannot be determined if the photo is recent, but under the current traffic law, the fine for not using a helmet is ¢94.000 colones plus costs.
The comments ranged from sarcasm to indignation.
“The law is for everyone”, writes one user.
On the El Infierno en Costa Rica wall, the critical comments were forceful, with the general consensus that when it comes to “ordinary citizens” the fines are executed precisely.
Officials del Ministerio Público seized documents from the Movimiento Libertaio headquarters in San Pedro in May 2011.
Officials of the Ministerio Público seized documents from the Movimiento Libertaio headquarters in San Pedro in May 2011
Costa Rica’s attorney-general, Jorge Chavarría, has brought charges against the Movimiento Libertario (ML) party for defrauding US$480,000 from the Tribunal Suprema de Elecciones (TSE, the electoral authority) by charging for 190 training courses that never happened and submitting false documents.
The Código Electoral (the electoral law) provides for campaign financing equivalent to 0.19% of the GDP using public funds. Political parties have the right to request loans and to charge the TSE for amounts spent during the campaign.
After the 2010 campaign, the TSE received 12 complaints and opened 31 official investigations into anomalies in the handling and settling of campaign-financing debt. All political parties are involved, but with differing degrees of seriousness. Although the TSE has already forwarded the results of several of its investigations to the attorney-general, to date only the investigation related to the ML has been concluded.
This is the first time in the history of the country that a political party has been accused of this type of crime. There could be substantial political repercussions with less than two months until the 2014 presidential election campaign officially starts and because a reform of the electoral law, which calls for a reduction in the limit on campaign financing from 0.19% to 0.11% of GDP, is currently being debated in Congress.
Chavarría announced that the results of pending investigations into the ruling Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) and the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) will be disclosed before the campaign starts so that they may be factored into citizens’ voting decisions.
Like the ML, both of these parties are being investigated for alleged fraud against the TSE in charging for expenses not incurred and for anomalous documentation. Trials are not expected to start until the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015.
The campaign-financing scandal will be a serious issue during the election campaign and introduces substantial uncertainty into our forecast for a PLN victory.
The consequences will depend on the perceived seriousness of the crimes; on the ability of each party to convince voters that there was no bad faith, but simply a lack of experience in rendering accounts; and on whether parties can demonstrate that they are capable of fixing the problems.
A communiqué by the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry said that both countries agreed on the importance of strengthening integration authorities as the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the System of Central American Integration (SICA).
After two days of talks, the 2nd Uruguay-Costa Rica Meeting for Political Consultations agreed several initiatives for bilateral collaboration and created a Mix Commission of Technical and Scientific Cooperation.
In the sessions, presided over by Voce Foreign Ministers of Uruguay and Costa Rica, Luis Porto and Gioconda Ubeda, respectively, they agreed to support each other in international forums.
San Jose will support Uruguay as candidate for Non Permanent Member of the UN Security Council (2016-2017), and Montevideo will back the Costa Rican candidates for the UN Human Rights Council (2015-2017) and the Executive Committee of the Pan-American health Organization (2013-2016).
Both countries verified their agreement regarding issues as trade, investments, human rights and drugs.
Work on the installation of two Baily bridges on Circunvalación continues. Photo La Nacion | RAFAEL PACHECO.
The first of the two Bailey bridges to be erected on the Circunalación is almost complete, as work crews work feverishly to erect the second and the construction the on and off ramps.
Meanwhile, not only drivers face constant traffic congestion, but users of buses and taxis, in the end costing us all.
Bus companies serving the west end of San José report delays of up to 30 minutes on routes like Pavas, Sabana and Escazú. On other routes, like Tibás and Santo Domingo de Heredia, with service to downtown San José are reporting delays of up to 15 minutes.
Taking a taxi through the area can mean the usual fare to be almost double in some cases, as alternate routes through the Hatillos and Alajuelita are totally collapsed.
The congestion in traffic can be also be left in the area of Barrio Cuba, Los Anonos, Sagrada Familia and San Sebastián, especially in peak morning an afternoon rush hours.
Adding to the complete chaos is “pay weekend”, when Ticos take out their cars instead of using public transport, having money to fill the gas tank.
According to MOPT officials, the two Bailey bridges should be completely installed by Monday morning.
Work to repair the problem will then continue for the coming months, but it should not affect traffic through the area.
The Catedral Metropolitana in downtown San José was packed on Thursday as some 3.000 Catholic faithful gathered to inaugurate the new Archbishop of San José, Monseñor José Rafael Quirós Quirós.
Quirós was named the new archbishop of San José by Pope Francisco last month to lead the almost 1.8 million Catholics in the country, becoming the seventh bishop to hold that office, replacing Monseñor Hugo Barrantes Ureña who resigned two years ago.
In his speech Thursday morning, Quirós said Catholics in Costa Rica live a “religion of varnish” and proposed a dynamic church under his leadership.
For the new Archbishop the Church needs to attract the young. “Young people are still that portion of our people we have to worry over”.
The Thursday morning mass was officiated by the Archbishop of Managua (Nicaragua), Leopoldo Brenes, who displayed a show of frienship he shares with Monseñor Quirós. “This appointment is not the product of a political campaign , not a product of contests and competition. It is a moment of grace,” said Brenes.
Almost 300 seminarians dressed in immaculate white walked in rows on the street and up the steps of the Catedral Metropolitana in the heart of San José.
In the front were presidenta Laura Chinchilla, the president of the Legislative Assembly, Luis Fernando Mendoza, Costa Rica’s first vice-president, Alfio Piva and the minister of Communications, Carlos Roverssi. In the second row, former presidents Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and Rafael Ángel Calderón sat with their wives.
Once he finished the speech, Monseños Quiros offered a prayer to Virgen de los Ángeles.
It wasn’t long ago that the people of Costa Rica gave President Laura Chinchilla the lowest public opinion of a Latin American country leader. In fact, the Costa Rica Star compared her track record to that of President Dilma Rouseff of Brazil, another political leader whose term in office has been decidedly rocky.
One of the lowest points in the administration of President Laura Chinchilla has been, without a doubt, the unsolicited, scathing put-down delivered by her mentor, former President Oscar Arias. Interestingly, President Rouseff of Brazil has also been on the receiving end of excoriation by her mentor, former President Inacio Lula da Silva.
In Costa Rica, politics and public opinion tend to move quite fast. Although President Laura Chinchilla still has plenty of haters, she has been quite busy in the last month rebuilding her image -and she has been quite successful. She has not quite taken full advantage of the nonsense being spewed by her colorful Nicaraguan counterpart, President Daniel Ortega, either; President Chinchilla’s comeback to the good graces of her people in Costa Rica deserves a closer look -because it has been masterful.
The best way to assess what President Chinchilla has been up to with regard to her re-emergence as leader of Ticos is by following her Twitter account. She is one of the most active political leaders in terms of social media activity, which she personally handles on her Apple MacBook Pro. Let’s take a look at some of her Twitter highlights during the first two weeks of August and how they are contributing to her image:
Hoy, al igual que cada año, seré una más en ese hermoso peregrinar lleno de fe y devoción de nuestro pueblo, hacia la Virgen de los Angeles
President Chinchilla began the month of August with a pilgrimage to Cartago in observance of the celebration of the Virgin of the Angels, Costa Rica’s religious patron. She had prepared for the long walk with the expert advice of mountaineer Warner Rojas, the only Tico to summit Mount Everest. As expected, people who support amending Costa Rica’s Constitution so that she is no longer a Roman Catholic nation criticized the President’s exercise of her religion, to which she responded along the lines of: Look, our Constitution also supports freedom of religion, and I am celebrating a holiday, so please excuse me. Then in August we see a series of retweets by President Chinchilla, highlighting her participation in matters related to Internet freedom and governance. She also tweeted this:
Costa Rica impulsó el Tratado de Comercio de Armas; con el voto hoy de diputados (as) somos una de las primeras naciones en ratificarlo.
Which exalts Costa Rica’s role in helping curb the illegal arms trade. Then she reminded us about Hewlett Packard’s tenth anniversary in Costa Rica. By August 9th, she is supporting Costa Rica’s controversial decision to close state-funded zoos and free the animals from their cages. Then we have this in commemoration of the Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples:
En región Cabecar adonde entregamos Centro de Salud y albergue. Nos recibieron con sus niños y tradiciones.pic.twitter.com/Jr2K10blvf
A shelter and a clinic in an indigenous territory. So far, so good. Then she casually reminds us of a CNN report that puts Costa Rica as the highest exporter of technology in Latin America.
President Chinchilla did not just celebrate Mother’s Day this year. She went all out and made it a Mother’s Week in Costa Rica. She was in top charismatic form all week, visiting correctional institutions and granting early releases to imprisoned mothers and reminding us that she supports reduced sentences for non-violent drug offenders. She then went to EARTH University and announced a micro-loan program for female entrepreneurs. By August 14th, the President was on a roll:
En Sarapiqui, adonde entregaremos dos nuevos centros de cuido infantil y un albergue para adulto mayor. La Red de Cuido avanza y crece.
She opened two child care centers and a home for the elderly in Sarapiqui. She then briefly addressed the weird statements by President Daniel Ortega, but only briefly. Mother’s Day was more important:
Celebrando con Sara Ortiz, sus 6 hijos y nietos. La mujer policía que con heroísmo supo cumplir su deber.pic.twitter.com/vPT0BuP4NW
She recognized the heroic work by Fuerza Publica Officer Sara Ortiz, a mom who displayed poise under fire and protected the life of a man during a shootout. President Chinchilla then gave press interviews and headed home to cook for her mom. She is up to about three tweets per day by now, and she has not stopped. She has reminded us that La Caja (Costa Rica’s venerable public health system) has climbed out of the deficit hole during her administration.
It is safe to say that President Chinchilla’s agenda during the first two weeks of August has helped regain a good portion of positive public opinion that she desperately needed. Others may say that she has taken advantage of the zeitgeist by being up on Twitter to get lucky at a time of great significance for people in Costa Rica; but, isn’t that what politics is about?
Costa Rica’s ongoing fight to keep genetically modified organisms (GMOs) bio-engineered by agro-industrial leviathan Monsanto away from her land has been justified once again.
Researchers from the University of Illinois are Pnvestigating an outbreak of western corn rootworm in two Prairie State counties where Monsanto’s bacillus thurigiensis (BT) corn is failing to do what it’s supposed to do.
According to online news reports published by AGProfessional Magazine and Saint Louis Today, pests are thwarting Monsanto’s crack team of geneticists who have worked hard to develop a pest-resistant GMO strain of corn seed. Farmers in Kankakee and Livingston Counties were puzzled to see their Monsanto crops plagued by rootworm, so they called in entomologists.
The University of Illinois researchers are testing the proteins released by BT corn to see if rootworms have become resistant to it. This pest is particularly damaging to the economy of the Corn Belt, which is an important source of food to the United States -which also happens to Monsanto’s top client nation.
AGProfessional Magazine quoted entomologist Joe Spencer on the matter:
“The number of beetles in the soybean fields was reminiscent of densities in the late 1990s and early 2000s—very impressive,” Gray noted. “The density of western corn rootworm adults in both crops, along with the severe pruning and lodging, was additional evidence that the Bt hybrids (VT Triple PRO RIB) had failed to offer the necessary root protection.”
Georgina Gustin of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch included an e-mail response from a Monsanto scientist:
“The corn rootworm is one of the most devastating pests to the U.S. corn yield,”
“Similar to years past, we’ve seen pockets of heavy corn rootworm pressure in isolated areas of Illinois and have been closely working with those farmers to address those issues through a series of best management practices.”
News reports such as the above are often used in Costa Rica by anti-Monsanto activists opposed to the spread of dangerous genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our country. Costa Rica’s resistance against Monsanto is decades-long, and the most effective weapon has been to pursue cantonal municipalities to enact declarations as transgenic-free territories. About 80 percent of the country has adopted these measures.
Still, Monsanto has attempted to underhandedly plant MON-603 and two other GMO corn seeds in Costa Rica by playing a corporate shell game. The company succeeded in getting an approval to begin trial cultivation, but activists and legislators detected the scoundrelly plot, which is now under review by the Constitutional Chamber of Costa Rica, the country’s highest court.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro said it derailed a plot to kill him, arresting two hitmen it said wanted to assassinate the leftist leader on orders from a Colombian conservative ex-president in a plot involving U.S. President Barack Obama and Costa Rica.
In other statements Maduro charged that “extreme international right wing elements” were behind the alleged plot.
Despite the reports by AFP of Maduro’s statements, Venezuela has offered no evidence to verify the existence of such a plot, which Maduro charged was hatched in a meeting in Costa Rica.
According to the TicoTimes, Maduro challenged Obama to clarify if he ordered or knew of the ‘conspiracy.” He attributed the alleged plot to political enemies with ties to Miami and Colombia and added that the “epicenter” of the plot was in Costa Rica at a meeting in May.
Costa Rican Communications Minister Carlos Roverssi told the daily La Nación that the Costa Rican government’s official position is to not respond to the accusations, first reported by the AFP. He said Costa Rica has received no official communications about the accusations from the Venezuelan government.
Roverssi added that Costa Rica always has enjoyed a “cordial relationship” with Maduro and Venezuela, citing Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla’s visit to Chávez’s funeral in March, and the country’s sending a special delegation to Maduro’s inauguration.
“We will have to follow up on this matter, but in principle it seems absurd,” Roverssi told La Nación.
According to the Huffington Post, Maduro himself called on US President Barack Obama to say if he ordered or knew of the alleged assassination plan.
“Is President Obama so weak that they made decisions for him in the United States to kill a Latin American head of state without his knowledge? Or is he so weak that if he knew there are powerful forces in the United States that have decided to kill me he can’t stop them? Or is it that he tried to physically eliminate me?” he asked the Venezuelan media.
According to AFP Maduro not only incriminated Costa Rica and the U.S. President but also political groups supporting the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe. The latter refused to comment on the “infamy” to a Colombian TV station, likening the accusation to similar statements made by Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Chavez himself.
Maduro charged that he “has proof” that the plot was hatched by “a terrorist group led by (Cubam anti-communist Luis) Posado.” In 1976, Posado was accused by Venezuela and Cuba of being the brains behind the bombing of Cubana Airlines commercial flight that killed all 73 persons aboard.
Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles dismissed the plot with, “Due to their inability to govern, they look for distractions and talk of assassination.” Capriles, who still disputes the results of the April election to replace Chavez, lost by 1.49%.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said at a briefing that Caracas arrested the alleged hitmen, two Colombians, on August 13.
The pair, Victor Johan Guache Mosquera and Erick Leonardo Huertas Rios, were part of “a group of 10 men who were coming to carry out the murder of the president,” working with former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, Rodriguez charged.
The pair detained were part of a support team for a “highly experienced hitman” identified by the alias David, whom they reported to directly and who was to personally carry out the assassination, the minister said.
“We have no doubt that Alvaro Uribe Velez has knowledge of all these things … And we are not the least bit surprised that he is the one giving orders through operatives,” Rodriguez alleged.
The Colombian ex-president, who held office from 2002-2010, vehemently denied the plot, branding the allegations “slurs.”
In an interview with Colombian television, Uribe said he would rather talk about “important issues and not the slurs of the dictatorship.”
By Valerie Aguilar, BellaOnline’s Hispanic Culture Editor – The people of Costa Rica have a great passion for music. Classical music is a very important segment of the Costa Rican musical cache. Costa Rica has claimed one of the world’s most impressive National Orchestras for over a century.
The Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional has performed for kings and presidents and been exalted internationally. A common old saying of unknown source among Costa Ricans is, “We do not have an army, but we do have violins.”
Among many bands from Costa Rica, one band that has made an impressive impact around the world is Editus. The band is made up of the violinist, Ricardo Ramirez, the percussionist, Carlos Vargas, and the guitarist Edin Solis. These famous artists are extremely talented.
Carlos Vargas graduated from the Conservatorio Castella and also has studied photography and alternative medicine. He is certified for therapy with acutonics (vibrational therapy with fingerboards). Vargas currently offers talks about the power of sound and of the importance of music in the collective history and individuality of the human being.
Ricardo Ramirez studied with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica and graduated from the music program at University of Costa Rica. He is a producer and a member of various groups: Strings Latin Ensemble, Akustic Ensemble, Violectronic, Violche and CRES Ensemble.
Edin Solis graduated in classical guitar from the Conservatory of the University of Costa Rica. He also studied and toured in Europe as a solo guitarist. Solis was awarded two Grammy awards as a Producer/Engineer Best World Music Album 2002 by the disk WORLD and as a producer and Mix Engineer Best Contemporary Tropical Album 2003 by WORLD.
The compositions of Editus are quintessentially Costa Rican music. This vibrant yet gentle music is part of the heart and soul of Costa Rican culture. Their songs are a melding of modern music with classic jazz, classical and new age. The trio is often accompanied by the famous Panamanian salsa singer Ruben Blades, bassist Marco Navarro and Costa Rican keyboardist Walter Flores.
Their exquisitely beautiful and highly esteemed music led them to be the only band in the history of Costa Rica to secure three Grammys. Editus’ Grammys were for Best Latin Pop Presentation for the song called Tiempos with Ruben Blade, for their album Mundo in Best World Music Album and Best Contemporary Album categories. They have earned numerous other awards in Costa Rica and internationally.
Their albums include Ilusiones (1994), Siempre Vol. I (1995), Inéditus (1996), Dibujando Memorias (1997), Calle del Viento (1998), De cada uno (2001), Poética (2002), Siempre Vol. II (2003), Lo mas “ New Age” (2004), Editus Clásico (2005) and 360 (2009).
I wrote this while listening to Editus’ elegant album, Siempre.
From The Boston Globe / NOSARA, Costa Rica — To get to Joe and Helena Wygal’s home in this surfing outpost on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, put your vehicle into four-wheel drive and prepare for a bumpy ride. Cross the gurgling waters of the Rio Nosara — there’s no bridge — and make your way, very carefully, up a near-vertical ascent to the whitewashed hilltop retreat the former Somerville natives now call home. When you arrive, captivating vistas of rolling hills, mountaintops, and expansive ocean greet you.
Also waiting: a cold pint of ale.
The Wygals, who packed up their Massachusetts lives and relocated to Costa Rica in 2005, are among the more than 1 million Americans who have found their piece of retirement heaven abroad. Lured not only by the prospect of sunnier skies and palm-lined beaches, the chance to live a life of comfort — or even luxury — for less is enticing many retirees to take a look at foreign locales.
The Wygals, for example, live in Costa Rica on a budget of around $2,000 a month — including a gardener and housekeeper. They bought their custom-built home and its 2-acre lot for just under $100,000. Their furniture, handmade from native hardwoods by a local artisan, cost half of what it might have stateside, they said.
But the best thing about life in Costa Rica, the Wygals say, isn’t the low cost of living, but the spectacular natural setting. “Instead of the traffic in the morning, I wake up to the sound of howling monkeys,’’ said Joe Wygal. “It’s like a little symphony.’’
The Wygals first visited Costa Rica in 1989 and fell in love with its natural beauty and welcoming people. When the time came to buy property, they decided on Nosara, where surfer dudes, yoga enthusiasts, and a growing community of retirees mingle. An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Americans live in Costa Rica.
Once they were settled, Joe Wygal, 64, the former owner of the Arbor House Bed and Breakfast in Somerville and a craft beer enthusiast, got to work building a small, English-style pub on the property. The pub, called the Black Sheep, is open only on Saturdays for members and their guests.
Complete with a gleaming bar of local hardwoods, Tudor-style walls decorated floor-to-ceiling with European beer paraphernalia, and casks of hard-to-find brews, the pub has become a favorite watering hole of the expat community. With patrons spilling onto the outdoor patio, the Wygals can accommodate well over 100 people.
“I wanted to take what was important to me down here,’’ said Wygal, who operates the Black Sheep as a not-for-profit business. “We do it for fun. It’s one way to form your own community.’’
While the economic advantages of retiring abroad can be many, it’s best to investigate carefully. Cost of living can vary widely depending on location. The Wygals, who traveled back and forth to Costa Rica over the course of more than a decade, recommend that others seeking to retire abroad visit the country more than once — and visit often.
Another consideration: Medicare doesn’t cover US citizens once they’ve crossed the border. Nonetheless, savings on health care can be significant. Depending on where you settle, you may be able to join your adopted country’s national health care system, according to American Citizens Abroad, a Washington-based organization that advocates for expatriates.
Even if purchased out of pocket, health care in many of the countries where retirees tend to relocate tends to be very affordable. Doctor’s-office visits, hospitalization, and medications are often a fraction of the US cost.
But it isn’t all good news. US citizens are still required to file federal income taxes no matter where they reside — although there are exemptions for some income earned abroad. As for foreign taxes, specialists say, it’s best to check with a local tax attorney to be sure you understand what’s in store.
In addition, culture shock, language barriers, and estrangement from friends and family can all be factors that adventurous settlers never bargained for. The Wygals advise that if you’re not patient and ready to deal sensitively with differences in culture, cuisine, bureaucracy, and business, don’t move to a foreign country.
The Wygals are already looking ahead to the future. Helena Wygal, 60, still spends three months of the year working as a psychiatric nurse at Beth Israel Hospital in New York, but wants to completely retire from nursing within a year or two. And while they’ve enjoyed the seclusion of their hilltop paradise, they are planning to move closer to San Jose, the capital, for easier access to medical care, goods, and services as they get older. With their home — and the Black Sheep Pub — up for sale, the Wygals are enjoying what may well be their last season in Nosara. But after five years living abroad, they consider their adopted nation to be home.
“We’ll always be faithful American citizens. We’ll pay our taxes and keep our passports,’’ said Joe Wygal. “But we always plan to stay in Costa Rica.’’
1.200 students from 12 schools in the zona norte cannot get to school due to the “pésimo” (poor) state of the roads, including the trocha fronteriza or ruta 1856, La Nacion reports.
According to the publication, the situation worsened Monday morning when a school bus got stuck in the mud some 150 metres from the Medio Queso river bridge, later in the morning three other school buses did the same.
The poor condition of the roads has the communities of Hernández, Medio Queso, San Gerardo, Cuatro Esquinas, Isla Chica, Coquital, Pueblo Nuevo, Santa Fe, Combate, Cachito y las comunidades de La Trocha and La Primavera, isolated.
Gustavo Molina, del Comité de Caminos de Medio Queso, said that the communities were forgotten when work on the trocha project was suspended.
Molina said the road had a good gravel base, but deteriorated with the arrival of construction of the ruta 1856. And the heavy rains of the last week contributed to more deteriation.
The residents of the area are demanding the immediate intervention by the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi) – National Roads Authority, as these roads are national and not local.
The Conavi assures that equipment is on the way to repair “most” of the damage roads. Antonio Araya, director regional de la Región Huetar Norte del Conavi, told La Nacion that the Conavi last week awarded a contract worth ¢400 million colones to the Hermanos Brenes for a complete repair of all the roads in the area. The contract, however, still needs to be signed before the work can commence.
Costa Rica requested data on four occasions on six people
Facebook gives authorities user data in 62% of requests
Governments in 74 countries, including Costa Rica, demanded information on about 38.000 Facebook users in the first half of this year, with about half the orders coming from authorities in the United States, the company said Tuesday.
The social-networking giant is the latest technology company to release figures on how often governments seek information about its customers. Apple, Microsoft and Google have done the same.
The Ministro de Comunicación, Carlos Roverssi, said on Tuesday that there have been talks with the Facebook Public Policy office in Spain, which provied the Poder Ejecutivo (government) with the requested information.
Roverssi added that, it is presumed the information requested was related to judicial investigations and is making it publicly know in response to Presidenta Laura Chinchilla’s promise of “transparency” in her government.
According to Facebook data released Tuesday Costa Rica has asked for information on four occasions about six of its users.
Gustavo Mata, deputy director of the OIJ, when questioned, said the details on the requested information would be made public on Thursday.
Targets
Facebook and Twitter have become organizing platforms for activists and, as such, have become targets for governments.
“We fight many of these requests, pushing back when we find legal deficiencies and narrowing the scope of overly broad or vague requests,” Colin Stretch, Facebook’s general counsel company said in a blog post. “When we are required to comply with a particular request, we frequently share only basic user information, such as name.”
Criticized
Facebook and other technology companies have been criticized for helping the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States secretly collect data on customers. U.S. Federal law gives government the authority to demand data without specific warrants, and while companies can fight requests in secret court hearings, it’s an uphill battle.
Facebook turned over some data in response to about 60 percent of those requests.
It’s not clear from the Facebook data how many of the roughly 26,000 government requests on 38,000 users were for law-enforcement purposes and how many were for intelligence gathering.
Technology and government officials have said criminal investigations are far more common than national security matters as a justification for demanding information from companies.
The numbers are imprecise because the federal government forbids companies from revealing how many times they’ve been ordered to turn over information about their customers. Facebook released only a range of figures for the United States.
The company said it planned to start releasing these figures regularly.
Carolina Mora, ARESEP spokesperson, said that the cost of gasoline will increase by ¢17 colones for a litre of super, ¢21 for regular or plus and ¢10 for diesel fuel.
The increase will push prices up from the current ¢738 to ¢755 for super, from ¢708 to ¢739 for regular or plus and from ¢623 to ¢633 for diessel.
With respect to public transportation, the fare adjustment for taxis will see an additional ¢10 colones to the base rate and ¢10 for each additional kilometre.
Bus fares will increase 1.19%, however, that increase will not take effect until October, after a public hearing on the 10th of that month.
Mora explained that the increases on the recent increases are not affected by the recent increase in the international price for a barrel of crude oil, rather based on a methodology that is activated automatically, impacting local prices.
With the unusual vote – in effect a null vote – Pacheco is turning his back to Dr. Rodolfo Hernandez, the presidential candidate for the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), the same party that brought him to the presidency 11 years ago.
Pacheco said that he will not vote for Óscar López, presidential candidate for the Partido Accesibilidad Sin Exclusión (PASE), as he did back in 2006, when López an adviser in his administration, left the PUSC.
The former president said that the fact that he made it public his vote for López helped that group elect to legislators. But, Pacheco says, López has not proven to be a good legislator and as such does feel represented by López.
As to the other presidential candidates, Pacheco would not offer comment.
Pacheco is medical doctor graduated from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México with a degree in Psychiatry from Louisiana State University. During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s Pacheco was a popular presenter of short programs on Costa Rican television. He is also the author of a number of books, including both, fiction and non-fiction. Among other titles of the books that he penned are: Paso de tropa (1969), and Más abajo de la piel (1972). His work has been translated to more than 20 different languages, given its importance to Costa Rican cultural heritage.
Abel Pacheco was awarded with the prize “Citizen of the World” for his valuable contribution to culture and literature around the world.
In the seven years since Don Abel has left office, he has been practically absent from national politics. As a neighbour of QCostarica, Don Abel has shunned public life, maintaining a low profile while enjoying family life.
Pope Francis' Car Shows His Commitment To Humility: Catholic Leader Chooses Ford Focus
Priests and officials of the Roman Catholic Church in Costa Rica are ready to follow the example set by Pope Francis with regard to transportation, and this means downgrading their automobiles.
Now here’s a Pope who practices what he preaches. Pope Francis’ Car Shows His Commitment To Humility: Catholic Leader Chooses Ford Focus
It’s not that ordained Catholic priests in Costa Rica are driving around in vehicles manufactured by Mercedes Benz, BMW or Ferrari; but, the current papacy calls for a humble, non-indulgent approach to serving the Church, and this means trading down showy cars for economy models.
When the Senior Cardinal Deacon in the Vatican proclaimed “Habemus Papam,” earlier this year, he should have added “Habemus Parcus Papam Insumptuosus” (we have a thrifty and frugal Pope). The papacy of Pope Francis has been clearly marked by his adherence to a life of simplicity that eschews luxury, superfluousness and excess. To this end, Pope Francis’ choice of transportation when he arrived in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year made headlines.
Rather than being driven in the bulletproof Popemobile of yore, Pope Francis chose a Fiat Idea. In weeks prior to that visit, he toured an island off the coast of Italy in a Ford Focus. There should not be any doubt about the message the Pope is trying to convey to his subordinates and the Catholic faithful: Live simpler lives. Give up the opulence. Connect with people. This is the new Vatican.
Daily tabloid La Teja launched a brief investigation into the driving habits and vehicles of Catholic priests in Costa Rica. They chose five men of the cloth who serve congregations in the Great Metropolitan Area (GAM in Spanish) of San Jose. What they found is the following:
The models range from 2007 to 2012, and there is a certain preference for Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs).
The resale values of the vehicles range from $18,000 to $30,000 -assuming they are in perfect condition.
In most cases, the vehicles are personally owned by the priests, who paid out-of-pocket. Only one car was registered to the service of a Diocese.
The cars in question are:
Suzuki Grand Vitara
Hyundai Tucson
Toyota Fortuner
Mitsubishi Montero
Toyota Prius (this is surprising)
The investigation by La Teja also found out that there is no limit on how much the Catholic Church in Costa Rica should pay for a car, but all priests interviewed mentioned the same intention of abiding by Pope Francis example and downgrading.
A priest serving the Votive Temple of the suburban Francisco Peralta community in San Jose explained that:
“I am planning to downgrade from my Mitsubishi Montero Sport GLS. I should mention that this is my own car, which I purchased with savings I accumulated throughout 30 years of working for the Ministry of Public Education as a teacher. Still, I will downgrade because I admire the simplicity and sense of restraint that Pope Francis brings to the Church.”
Monsignor Oscar Fernandez of the Episcopalian Conference explained that sometimes the vehicles are donations made by private enterprises and benefactors of the Catholic Church in Costa Rica, but that he is considering implementing certain rules for donations that are in line with the Vatican’s current philosophy imposed by Pope Francis, who has mentioned that Bishops should be “men who embrace poverty with no princely psyches.”
Sentenced to 30 years for kidnapping but released by Nicaragua in 2011, it did not take long for Julio Cesar Vega to find himself behind bars again. Vega seems to have an affinity for breaking laws in Costa Rica.
But the case created its impact here in a photo taken the day before their release, showing Fleuchaus passionately kissing Vega, the first time Costa Ricans had seen evidence of the so-called Stockholm syndrome in which captives become emotionally attached to their captors.
Vega led a team of four other Nicaraguans, all ex-Contra guerrillas who had fought during the 1980s to wrest the Sandinistas from their control of the Nicaraguan government. After receiving 40 million colones ransom, they released their captives on the Costa Rican side of the San Juan River.
The ex-guerrilla did not remain free long. The ransom was paid March 12, 1996, and Vega was captured in San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua, in April and turned over to Costa Rican justice. The next year he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Under the Interamerican Convention of completion of sentences, he was released to Nicaragua in 2007 to serve the final part of his sentence which should have been up in 2020. But Nicaragua pardoned him in 2011 and it was not long before he was back in Costa Rica, working in construction in Curridabat.
In an interview here in prison in 2006, Vega, known as “Julio Loco,” he told the newspaper La Nacion that it was unlikely that the penal system could reform a prisoner. In his case, that appears to be true.
Now 50, Julio Loco was captured this week and accused of robbing at gunpoint cabins located at Esterilleros de Parrita, Puntarenas province, with two accomplices, both 48 years old and also Nicaraguans. The trio, pretending to be interested in renting a cabin, drew guns suddenly and held employees and guests captive, tying them up.
OIJ estimated their booty at 5 million colones in cell phones, computers and cash. After the assailants had left, an employee managed to loose himself and call the police who immediately closed off roads. When the assailant’s car reached on roadblock, there was an interchange of gunfire.
Vega and one accomplice were captured immediately but the third remained at large to be captured later. Some of the booty from the robbery was found in the car, police said. They were given four months of preventive prison.
Florida’s Syniverse opened its customer support centre in Costa Rica Wednesday.
The office will provide technical and support services to customers in and around Latin America and is expected to start off with a staff of 70, according to a statement.
“Establishing this office in Costa Rica was a strategic decision based on availability of qualified talent, proximity to Syniverse’s customer base in this region, and alignment with customer needs for multiple languages and time zones in Latin America,” said Jeff Gordon, president and CEO of Syniverse, in the statement.
The company invested US$2.3 million on the support centre.
Syniverse, headquartered in Tampa, provides business and technology services for the telecommunications industry.
Marketed under the Kölbi Hogar brand, ICE is waiving the usual ¢20.905 installation fee and ¢9.000 deposit for residential and ¢20.905 and ¢19.300 deposit for commercial, until September 13. The sale, according to the ICE website, stared on July 19, but appears to have been the best kept secret in the country.
