Former Liberatarian legislator Ovidio Agüero (sitting on his vehicle) refusing a breathalyzer test. Photo: Reiner Montero/La Nacion
“He only had two beers”, when he was stopped by Tránsito officials, said lawyer Wilberth Picado Portuguez, of his client, former legislator Ovidio Agüero Acuña.
Former Liberatarian legislator Ovidio Agüero (sitting on his vehicle) refusing a breathalyzer test. Photo: Reiner Montero/La NacionForm
Agüero as detained at 6:40pm Tuesday in a road block by traffic officials between Cariari and Guapiles for failing to submit to a breathalyzer test to determine is he was driving under the influence of alcohol.
By order of the Ministerio Público de Pococí, Agüero was taken to the Guapiles hospital for a blood test and then set free by the prosecutor, with an appeareance date of September 2.
Agüero’s lawyer called the police action “political persecution”.
In 2008, Agüero was arrested for the death of a cyclist he ran over. On that occasion he was allged to be driving under the influence. However, last January Agüero was acquitted because it was proven that the accident was caused by the cyclist.
The deputy district attonery in Pococí, Erna González Zamora, said, “Agüero was detained because he showed all the signs of a person driving under the influence of alcohol, but he would not submit to a breathalyzer. Thus we asked for a blood sample”.
Agüero’s lawyer had a different version. According to the lawyer, his client after lunch left his home for Cariari on business and the back to Guapiles, where we was detained at the checkpoint.
“They told him he had booze on his breath, he was asked to blow, he did two times and resulted negative…”. Picado assures that the blood test will also be negative and his client will then have to aqcuitted.
Legislator Justo Orozco has proven he will do anything within his power to deny gay couples their rights in marriage but he sees nothing wrong with performing traditional marriages (and divorces) in his office at the Legislative Assembly, despite this being explicitly illegal.
He described this work to La Nacion as being “humanitarian labour.” He righteously told the paper that his notary license gives him the ability to perform weddings in any place in the country.
But article 7 of the Notary Code states clearly a prohibition for a notary public to “attend professional functions on the premises of a public administration office, decentralized state institutions or public institutions.”
As a “defender of marriage,” the lawmaker told the paper, he only reluctantly witnesses a divorce proceedings and will do so only in cases where a couple has lived together for some time although one or both are married to another person.
He declined to tell La Nacion how many marriages or divorces he had witnessed but said he had officiated at no more than 10 marriages. He added that he did so only during during recesses or in the evening after a congressional floor session.
“The minimum a notary can charge is ¢50,000 colones. One can’t bill less than the Lawyer’s Association fixed charge ¢100,000 for a marriage or ¢150,000 for a divorce,” Orozco told the paper.
Orozco is an Evangelical and a Presidential candidate for the Costa Rican Renovation Party. He is blocked by law to succeed himself as legislator, which gay groups in the country view as a relief.
In 2011, when the opposition wrestled control of the Legislative Assembly from President Laura Chinchilla’s National Liberation Party, he was named a chairman of the congressional Civil Rights Committee.
As such, he quickly disposed of the gay couple’s rights bill without debate. (See previous articles: Rights Committee Scuttles Gay Marriage Bill, President Shuns Gay Marriage Issue) His chairmanship of that committee was viewed as, at best, an unfortunate irony until he was replaced as chairman after a year. He frequently explains his actions as following the will of God.
In the ongoing border spat with Costa Rica, Nicaragua’s president Daniel Ortega in Managua said yesterday that his country would claim the province of Guanacaste, threatening to file a claim with the Internationa Court of Justice in The Hague.
The extravagant claim was made during the 33rd anniversary of Nicaragua’s Navy.
In the same breath Ortega said wants to resolve the existing differences with Costa Rica over the disputed wetlands known as Isla Calero (known as Harbour Head in Nicaragua), in the Caribbean coast.
The statement by Ortega follows a recent complaint filed by Costa Rica before the United Nations over Nicaragua’s alleged violation of a ruling by the ICJ in 2012, blocking Nicaragua from the disputed area. The ICJ has still to rule on the accusation by Costa Rica of Nicaragua’s invasion of the territory in October 2010.
Costa Rca’s Foreign Minister, Enrique Castillo, called Ortega’s comments as “bravado and that it does not intimidate us as a country”.
Castillo added that the comments by Ortega are a “lack of respect for Costa Rica and international law”.
This is the not the first time Ortega has made such a claim publicly.
“We are always willing to hold talks to search for an agreement, but as long as Costa Rica does not consider it a possibility, there is no other choice but to resort to the International Court”, said Ortega on Tuesday.
“This will allow Nicaragua to recover an immense territoty, if the judgement favours Nicaragua”, said Ortega. He added that there are historical grounds to the claim that the province was ceded to Costa Rica “when the country was facing Yankee expansionism” in the early nineteenth century.
Recently Costa Rica has protested Nicaragua for attempting to offer oil exploration concession in both the Caribbean and Pacific in areas that Costa Rica claims as its territory. Colombia has made similar protestations with respect to their Caribbean border with Nicaragua.
The Ministerio de Hacienda (Ministry of Finance) wants you to use your credit card. And to promote its use it is holding its first “raffle” of the year, “Lotería Fiscal del 2013” with a total prize package of ¢50 million colones to those who have charged more than ¢3.000 colones with their credit or debit card.
The draw will be held today, according to an announcement made Tuesday afternoon by the Dirección General de Tributación Directa (Directorate of General Taxation).
For each payment of ¢3.000 colones or more during July, the issuingbank has assigned the customer a point to participate in the lottery. If payment with the card was made for professional services, each purchase is worth two points for every ¢3.000 colones.
For the draw, a total of 1.746.977 people stand to win the top prizes, an increase of 25% over the raffle held in June 2012.
There are six raffle prizes: one of ¢25 million colones, one ¢10 million, two of ¢5 million each, one of ¢3 million and one of ¢2 million, which will deposited directly into the cardholder’s account.
In the past year I have heard over and over and confirmed by emails and entry stamps how Costa Rica’s immigration service is cutting short the visit of many U.S. citizens, allowing them a “visitor” stay of only 10 or 15 days instead of the customary 90.
Many of them have been visiting Costa Rica on and off for years.
What was even more disturbing, U.S. citizens are being asked to produce their return ticket out of the country. Americans do not need a visa to enter Costa Rica. However, they, like all other visitors must have a current valid passport and a return ticket out of Costa Rica. (Either to return to your country or to go to another country).
Entering Costa Rica or any other country for that matter on a one way ticket is not generally accepted. Airlines are required to ensure that the traveller has a return ticket out (most airlines will not accept a bus ticket), demand that you produce and airline ticket, many will not sell you a one way ticket or allow you to board a flight into Costa Rica unless you can prove residency in country.
On several occasions I have received emails from readers (U.S. citizens) who say they were asked to “produce their return ticket out of Costa Rica”. I also found on several boards/forums for Americans travelling to Costa Rica, advising them to have their return “eticket” printed out for handy reference, or spend time with an airline representative to print it out at the airport.
However, that does not seem to be the case with Europeans and Canadians, for example.
I consulted with several Europeans and Canadians who recently arrived in Costa Rica and they tell me of no problems at the immigration counter in San José.
The consulted were men arriving in Costa Rica alone. No third degree, they say. Nor where they asked to produce a return ticket. They got the customary questions of how long will you be in the country, the purpose of their trip, where they will be staying, etc.
Not one reported getting short of the customary 90 days visitor stay.
Not being an American I do not have first hand experience of the problems I am hearing more and more often.
By Christopher Howard – I moved to Costa Rica in 1980 and never owned an automobile until 1997. As retirees will find out, public transportation is both plentiful and affordable here and one does not really need a car.
Anyway in 1996 I decided to import a 1990 Mitsubishi SUV. A friend, who is a car dealer, got it for me at a car auction in Florida for a rock bottom price. So, I imported it and ended up paying more in taxes than the initial cost of the car, but at least I knew what I was getting.
In 2006 I purchased a 2003 Toyota Prado land cruiser because my son was nearing the age to drive and I knew that I would eventually need a second vehicle. I also liked the first model of the Prado and had always wanted to buy one.
Both of my cars had manual transmission. I had always had stick-shift vehicles and after over forty years of using a clutch my left knee started to bother me each time I drove either of my cars. I had arthroscopic surgery on both knees as a result of being involved in running, martial arts, tennis and cycling most of my life. I told my orthopedic surgeon that my left knee hurt each time I used a manual transmission. He bluntly told me to buy a car with an automatic transmission so as to not exacerbate the problem I was having and cause further damage to my knee.
I had really become attached to my two cars but had no other choice but to take my specialist’s advice. First, I thought I wanted to purchase a new Toyota Fortuner SUV. You may view the car at this link newcarenginereview.com/toyota-fortuner-2013-model.html. I contacted the salesman who had sold me my Toyota Prado and asked him if he could locate a Fortuner. A few days later he sent me a picture of a car that he had found. I had a three week vacation scheduled to the U.S., so I left him a deposit to hold the car for me and told him I would buy it when I returned. The story doesn’t end here.
While is was visiting my sister in Washington state I noticed a lot of Toyota FJ Cruisers on the road. I talked to a couple people who owned them and they had nothing but good things to say about their vehicles. So, one day I went to a local Toyota dealership and test-drove one. It was a case of “love at first drive.” I just new I had to have one. The climate in Washington is similar in a way to Costa Rica’s weather in that it rains a lot. Granted Costa Rica is tropical but the road conditions can be almost the same. I knew the FJ Cruiser would be the perfect vehicle for Costa Rica. See this link to get an idea of what these cool vehicles are like: http://www.toyota.com/fjcruiser/?srchid=bing%7CSUV%2FVan_FJ_Cruiser%7C#!/Welcome
I basically had two choices, buy the vehicle in the States, have it sent by truck to a port and then ship it to Costa Rica. The car was a lot cheaper than it would be in Costa Rica. However, after adding up the transportation costs to port, taxes in the U.S., the cost of shipping the car to Costa Rica by boat and the taxes and license fees I’d have pay here, I opted to purchase the same car here. On top of that, I found out that I would have problems with Toyota honoring the warranty for a vehicle purchased abroad and that the version of the FJ Cruiser in the U.S. was calibrated for a different mixture of gasoline which could possible cause me headaches down the road.
I told the salesman at Toyota in San José, to forget the Fortuner and to try and get me an FJ Cruiser. Within a day he found me one that was slightly used with low millage and in such good condition that it still had the smell of a brand new car. I ended up pay cash for the vehicle as I had done with my other cars because I don’t like payments.
Needless to say I purchased a great vehicle and feel like a kid with a new toy. I know I will have fun driving it and that my FJ Cruiser will last me many years.
By Wilberth Villalobos, Vozdeguanacaste – The options are varied when it comes to taking Mom out to eat this coming August 15.
Different bars and restaurants in Nicoya, Nosara and Samara will provide mothers with their best dishes and promotions, live music and even gifts.
Starting on Wednesday, August 14, the School of Music, in conjunction with the July 25 Symphony Orchestra of Nicoya and the Nicoya Symphonic Band, will give a concert in honor of mothers at 7 p.m. in the Casa de la Culture.
That same day, the Bar and Restaurant Mas Coyol, located in Llano, 6 kilometers from the main entrance of Nicoya, will have a karaoke dance with artist Roony Baltodano. Anais Miranda, manager, highlighted that they will have promotions on the popular “baldazos” (buckets), which includes 6 beers at 5000 colones ($10). There will also be casados, chifrijos, pork ribs, nachos and raffles for mothers.
For August 15 in Nosara Il Basilico Restaurant and Bar, located 150 meters south of the Yoga Institute, will host a dinner buffet and live music with the artist Lucho Calavera, the specialties are seafood, pizza and pasta. For reservations please call 2682-1472.
If you prefer the taste of roasted rib or baked chicken, La Casona restaurant, located at the junction of the Los Arenales neighborhood in Nosara, will have those dishes and a promotion of two medium pizzas for 10,000 colones ($20). Also Freddy Sandoval, owner of the place, said that there will be live music by the musician “Gaviota Norteña”, who is from San Carlos and will perform mariachi and tex-mex music. For more information, call 2682-0442.
In Samara on August 15, Cafe Carola will offer coffees at no cost to mothers. Carola Kurth, owner, said her specialty is German food, so you can also enjoy pretzels, strudels and fresh German bread. You can call her at 2656-2411.
If you want to take Mom to dance, Chari’s Bar and Restaurant in Nicoya, located at the entrance of the city, opposite the Barrantes gas station, will have a dance with the group Simba Musical from Mexico and the national group Corporacion. The presale tickets cost 5000 colones ($10) and can be bought at the restaurant. For more information, call 2685-6248.
Always in Nicoya, Spazio restaurant, 200 meters north and 25 meters west of the Banco de Costa Rica, will have a unique menu for mothers. Fernando Obando, owner, said the daily special is crispy stuffed chicken, along with raffles of dinners and bottles of wine. Reservations can be made at 2686-5858.
Two days of ahead of Mother’s Day, presidenta Laura Chinchilla granted pardon to three female inmates at the Buen Pastor women’s prison in San Rafael Arriba de Desamparados (San José).
The ceremony was held at 1pm Tuesday in the prison’s gymnasium, where Olga Virginia Bonilla Gómez, Martha Isabel Chávez Benavides and Inés Virginia Quesada Aguilar, were the beneficiaries of clemency.
The three women were in prison for illegal drug related offences.
The pardon was granted on humanitarian grounds, as the three women suffer from some type of disease which was not disclosed to the press.
The Presidenta and the Ministro de Seguridad Publica, Mario Zamora, also took the opportunity to sign reforms to Ley 8204, that lowers prison sentence to women who introduce drugs into prisons.
According to Ministerio de Justicia, women represent less than 10% of the total prison population.
Such pardons are traditional on Mother’s Day that is celebrated every August 15th.
PRESS RELEASE – Michael Kerry Deevy, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced today in connection with a series of business opportunity fraud ventures based in Costa Rica, the Justice Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service announced.
Beginning in 2006, Deevy and his co-conspirators in Costa Rica are alleged to have fraudulently induced purchasers in the United States to buy business opportunities from companies known as Cards-R-Us Inc., Premier Cards Inc. and Nation West. The business opportunities cost purchasers thousands of dollars each, with most paying at least US$10,000.
Today’s sentencing forms part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.
“Business opportunity fraud schemes such as this one can crush the dreams – and wipe out the savings – of Americans who simply want to operate their own small businesses,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who engage in these schemes, whether they set up shop here or abroad.”
“Business opportunity schemes target believers in a system that rewards those who are willing to sacrifice and work hard in the hope of getting ahead,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo Ferrer. “In this particular case, the business opportunity fraud ventures were based in Costa Rica and targeted purchasers in the United States, including South Florida. Today’s sentence will hopefully send a message to those who are contemplating engaging in schemes such as this that, no matter where you are, we will pursue and prosecute you and bring you to justice for these illegal schemes.”
Deevy was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz in Miami to 60 months in prison and 5 years’ supervised release. Deevy also was ordered to pay $4,541,914 in restitution. Prior to Deevy’s sentencing today, 11 other individuals were charged in connection with related business opportunity fraud ventures based in Costa Rica. Deevy is the ninth of those individuals to be convicted and sentenced in the U.S.
On April 11, Deevy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in connection with the business opportunity scheme. Deevy was arrested in Costa Rica in 2011 and extradited to the U.S. in 2012 following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami on Nov. 29, 2011. The indictment alleged that Deevy and his co-conspirators purported to sell greeting card and vending machine business opportunities, including assistance in establishing, maintaining and operating these businesses. Each company operated for several months, and after one company closed, another one opened.
Co-conspirators at the companies made numerous false statements to potential purchasers of the business opportunities. They indicated that purchasers likely would earn substantial profits; prior purchasers of the business opportunities were earning substantial profits; purchasers would sell a guaranteed minimum amount of merchandise, such as greeting cards and beverages; and that the companies worked with third party “locators” familiar with the potential purchasers’ areas who would secure, or had already secured, high-traffic locations for the prospective buyers’ merchandise display racks or machines.
In addition to these “locators,” the companies also employed various other types of sales representatives, including fronters, references and closers. Fronters spoke to prospective purchasers when they initially contacted the company in response to an advertisement. References told potential buyers that they had purchased one of the business opportunities and were making a profit. Closers subsequently spoke to potential purchasers to finalize deals. In pleading guilty, Deevy admitted that he was a fronter and reference for Cards-R-Us Inc., Premier Cards Inc. and Nation West.
“This investigation shows the resolve of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to protect the American public from predatory business opportunity frauds,” said Ronald Verrochio, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge, Miami Division. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in the United States and overseas to root out these schemes.”
Assistant Attorney General Delery commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Director Jeffrey Steger and Trial Attorney Alan Phelps with the Consumer Protection Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division.
A key employee in Bogotá (Colombia) of the Canadian oil company owners of the drug plane flown by Costa Rica’s Presidenta Laura Chinchilla was at the heart of the Contra Cocaine pipeline profiled by the late author Gary Webb in his 1996 best-seller “Dark Alliance.”
David Scott Weekly was both a CIA agent and drug trafficker, according to Webb’s book. His nickname was “Dr. Death.”
Today that same man is in Bogotá, reports Colombian newspaper “El Tiempo,” lobbying the Colombian government for oil leases for an oil company exploring in the jungles of the Amazon Basin, with ties to alleged drug trafficker Gabriel Morales, whose drug plane took Laura Chinchilla for a ride.
In Colombia today, there is a a brand new type of oil venture: the narco-energy play.
El Tiempo reported, “Nobody has explained how a man with a past as singular ends litigation on behalf of a company whose promoters have ties to the oil Ricardo Morales, star of judicial scandals in Colombia.”
“Why does a Vietnam veteran, an expert on weapons and the training of mercenaries, so frequently visit the offices of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) in Bogota?” asked El Tiempo.
The question may have been rhetorical. The answer is anything but.
A spy novel come to life The scandal embroiling Costa Rica’s Presidenta Laura Chinchilla for flying aboard an American-registered (N93CW) luxury Citation 3 jet continues with surprising new disclosures.
Costa Rica’s Presidenta, sounding defensive and shrill, sacked three officials of her Aministration for what she conceded had been a “mistake.”
But many seem convinced the coziness they saw between major drug traffickers and their elected officials was evidence of far more than a lapse in judgment. And despite being Central America’s first elected woman leader, Doña Laura Chinchilla is not beloved by her people.
Polls consistently show her to be the most unpopular President in modern Costa Rican history, perhaps because populations in third world countries have grown increasingly wary of the type of neo-liberal NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) based in Washington DC, for whom Chinchilla has worked for much of her career.
The Latin American press dubbed the aircraft in question the “Plane of Shame,” and focused on identifying the powerful government officials who, like Laura Chinchilla, had availed themselves of its use, pointing out that the sheer number of senior Colombian and Costa Rican officials who had rubbed elbows on the plane with lieutenants for one of the worlds biggest drug lords was a measure of the corruption and hypocrisy of their ruling Latin American elites.
Gary Webb, American hero According to Gary Webb’s Dark Alliance, David Scott Weekly was a crucial component in the major cocaine-trafficking ring headed up by Danilo Blandon in Southern California to support the Contras.
When federal and local law enforcement officials executed warrants on a dozen locations in October of 1986, a major focus was the home to a former Laguna Beach police officer named Ron Lister.
In an official report, a detective on the raid wrote: “Lister … told me he had dealings in South America and worked with the CIA and added that his friends in Washington weren’t going to like what was going on. I told Mr. Lister that we were not interested in his business in South America. Mr. Lister replied that he would call Mr. Weekly of the CIA and report me.”
After the controversy erupted, the CIA conducted an internal investigation, which cleared itself of wrongdoing, an act so audacious as to render satire useless.
In seeming contradiction to its own report, however, the OIG’s report also stated that Weekly was heard on tape saying that he was “tied into the CIA and (Eugene) Hasenfus” and reported to the “people reporting to Bush.”
“Hasenfus” of course, is Eugene Hasenfus, who was wearing a parachute and survived—he wasn’t supposed to—when his military cargo plane (Barry Seal’s old C123) was shot down over Nicaragua. His capture, as well as documents found on the plane, set off the Iran Contra Scandal.
“Shell” oil companies without the “Royal Dutch” in front
Today the Contras are nothing more than a long-forgotten nightmare. But David Scott Weekly is very much alive, and working in Bogotá, for an outfit called Montco Energy.
Even though the drug plane was controlled by Gabriel Morales Fallan, a man of many aliases, none of them truly convincing, the Citation 3 is leased in the name of Thorneoloe, the predecessor to THX Energy. (See FAA registration pdf here.)
So David Scott Weekly’s Montco Energy and THX Energy would be competitors, seeking the same prize: oil leases granted by the government of Colombia.
In theory, perhaps. In real life, not so much. The reason: Montco Energy and THX Energy are owned by the same people, or perhaps even the same person: Andy Defrancesco.
How did that happen? Let’s take a look.
In Panama in 1995 Fallan incorporated a company called Thorneloe, which is the name the plane is listed under in official FAA documents.
Thorneloe, a Panamanian-registered company, has since changed its names three times. It has been listed variously as Thorneloe Corp, Thorneloe Energy, THX Energy, and, currently, THX Oil & Gas SA.
Birch Island, itself, in turn, is owned by Delavaco Capital, a US firm located in—of all places—Fort Lauderdale, Florida, America’s long-standing drug smuggling capital.
Finally, Delavaco Capital is owned by Andy DeFrancesco.
Where the drugs come in In 2003, Gabriel Morales was fingered by officials as a lieutenant of Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, alias el Chupeta, who ran Colombia’s largest remaining drug cartel, the Norte del Valle Cartel. While on the run he apparently had plastic surgery to hide his identity. The result looks a little like a cross between Michael Jackson and a chupacabra.
El Chupeta, from one of Columba’s wealthiest and most prestigious families, was trained as an economist, but despite his fine manners and careful elegance, he ended up as the boss of the Norte Valle Cartel.
While Fallan, also Colombian, spent much of the past decade pretending to look for oil—incorporating a dozen companies in Panama with names implying brawny men in hard hats facing down the elements—he was not-so-secretly working, according to numerous published reports, as a lieutenant of El Chupeta, who became almost by default one of Colombia’s biggest drug traffickers when the last Cali Cartel boss went down in the 1990’s.
Fallan left Colombia in 2002. He was afraid, he said, of retaliation from the FARC for snitching on their evil commie drug trafficking ways. In exile, he spent several years in, of all places, Texas. Little is known about his stay there (but much is suspected.) Finally he settled in Costa Rica, where he changed his name, married a local girl and became a citizen.
Then El Chupeta was captured, in Brazil in 2007, and extradited to the United States a year later.
On learning this, Fallon, no dummy, didn’t wait for the DEA to come for him. He went to the U.S. looking for them, and came to an arrangement, according to published reports, that in exchange for information about drug trafficking and money laundering the DEA would allow him to relocate in Costa Rica without molestation.
For her part, the details of this agreement were kept from her, sniffs Laura Chinchilla.
Back to the budding Petro-Coke Mergers Several years ago the government of Colombia launched an ambitious program to bring foreign investment into the country’s oil sector. Called Round Colombia 2010, the government let exploration and exploitation contracts on 76 blocks. For whatever reasons—and surely they were plenty and various—CIA Contra Cocaine veteran Scott Weekly’s Montco Energy, the darkest of dark horses, won big.
Hearing whispers from the wings of Mob involvement, the Colombian government experienced a relatively rare phenomenon called seller’s remorse, got cold feet, and nixed the Montco contract, citing several reasons: Montco’s records weren’t in order. Montco’s offices in Texas and Canada were just post office boxes. And an oil well Montco claimed to own in the west African nation of Gabon doesn’t exist.
Proving it’s a small world, after all Riding to the rescue to attempt to salvage the situation for Montco came Andy DeFrancesco (who owns Delavaco Capital, and THX Energy, remember?)
Given his colorful history, if Scott Weekly is today working for an oil company which owns a drug plane, then things all seem to fit, do they not? David Scott Weekly’s presence in Bogotá now becomes understandable.
And once again, and unsurprisingly, Gary Webb’s reporting is verified.
Talk about shades of Iran Contra.
One big question remains: Authorities said the Gabriel Morales-THX Energy-David Scott Weekly drug plane flown by Laura Chinchilla was being watched and suspected of moving drugs for more than three years… Why, then, was it allowed to continue flying? And also… is it still flying?
Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva. Photo: ANDINA/Norman Córdova
Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva held talks on Monday with Costa Rica’s Minister of Foreign Trade Anabel Gonzalez to discuss issues related to bilateral trade development during ExpoPeru Central America, which kicked off today in Costa Rica.
Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva. Photo: ANDINA/Norman Córdova
The gathering is aimed at increasing facilities for bilateral trade, foreign investment promotion and showing Peru as an alternative for entrepreneurs in Costa Rica.
The meeting was attended by costa Rica’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Fernando Ocampo; Director General of Foreign Trade, Marcela Chavarria; General Manager of the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer), Jorge Sequeira; Director General of Costa Rican Coalition for Development of Initiatives (Cinde), Gabriela Llobet; and President of Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica, Monica Segnini.
The Peruvian delegation was made up of Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Carlos Posada; Director of Peru’s export and tourism promotion board (Promperu), Luis Torres; and National Director of Trade Development, Daniel Espinosa.
ExpoPeru will feature business roundtables, forums, Peru Moda fashion show, and many more, where Peruvian entrepreneurs will seize the opportunity to meet over 160 importers from Costa Rica and Panama on August 13-16.
Starting next month, outdoor parking at Multiplaza Escazú will no longer be free, as the owners of the upscale mall will start charging for outdoor parking after the first hour.
The mall already charges for covered (indoor) parking.
The general manager of parking for the Grupo Roble, the owners of the shopping centre, Mario González, said that the main reason for the charge is to increase security measure and ensure that the parking lot is used only by patrons.
“Visitors will be offered one hour totally free, validated at any point of sale, located at the entrances of the shopping centre”, said Gonzalez.
The social media has been abuzz with comments, mostly expressing dissatisfaction at the new measure.
González said that the parking rates will be avialble next week, on Wednesday, when Grupo Roble will hold a press conference. That day, the mall will begin a pilot program of the new system for mall visitors to know about and be familiar with the paid new parking system, although it will not be until September 1 when charges will begin to apply.
Grupo Roble also owns Multiplaza Este, located in Zapote across from the Registro Nacional. Gonzalez said that the same plan – paid outdoor parking – will be applied starting in 2014.
Street racers in Costa Rica, known as “picones” in the local slang vernacular, are staying one step ahead of the law with a tactic typically used by the police offers that attempt to put an end to their reckless driving. According to a recent article written by Roberto Portuguez for news daily La Prensa Libre, picones in Costa Rica have snitches planted inside law enforcement agencies.
While authorities are planning the road blocks, roving patrols and raids they will conduct to break up illegal drag races, speed demons are being notified of the plans and passing the word around. In some cases, officers on patrol will spend an entire night watching a known meeting point and not a single street racer will even bother to drive by.
Picones in Costa Rica are an organized bunch. They use radar detectors, two-way radios, smartphones and online social networking to communicate, organize their illegal races and evade the police. They feel the need for speed, but the cops assigned to the street racing beat feel the need to confiscate their vehicles. Anti-street racing operations are a multi-agency effort that usually involves members of the Transit Police and the Judicial Investigations Organization (OIJ), although support from Fuerza Publica -Costa Rica’s national police- is sometimes requested.
According to a Tico street racer that spoke to La Prensa Libre, some members of the police in Costa Rica are picones when they are off-duty, and they become willing “sapos” -literally “toads” but also slang for snitches. These sapos are both drivers and gearheads (auto technicians) who ostensibly have an arrangement with the street racing community: “I will be your informant, but don’t tell anyone I am a cop.”
Some of the typical meeting points for street racers in Costa Rica include Curridabat in the eastern suburbs of San Jose, Caldera near Puntarenas, La Lima in Cartago, and Santa Ana to the west of the capital city. In some cases, police officers will monitor these sites and notice zero drag racing activity, only to turn to Facebook or Twitter and find that their operational planning is being leaked in real-time. Law enforcement in Costa Rica cannot allocate undercover resources in these street racing rings since these cases must meet the criteria of in flagrante delicto doctrine, which means that the crimes must happen spontaneously and in plain view in order to be brought to trial.
The contentious Transit Law in Costa Rica considers picones to be reckless drivers, and thus no tickets are issued when they are caught. Instead, they are cited to appear in court and their vehicles are impounded. The Director of Transit Police considers these snitches a blessing in disguise to an extent, since they accomplish the ultimate goal: They end up discouraging picones from participating in illegal drag races to begin with. The Director told La Prensa Libre:
“In the end, we don’t want to run into picones or book them. We just want then to respect the law and not get into illegal drag races. If they stop racing due to leaked information, then we are obtaining the desired effect.”
Central American truckers are complaining about the differentiation in Customs taxes in the region, which is due, in particular, to the taxes imposed by each country.
In this situation, the American Federation of Chambers of Transportation (Fecatrans) will hold a meeting on a date to be determined in August, to agree on measures against countries that have this practice.
“We believe that it could even get to a blockade of regional Customs,” said Marvin Altamirano, of Nicaragua, the current president of Fecatrans.
The latest incident took place last March, when Panama wanted to establish a comprehensive revision of trucks, and in April, when Nicaragua attempted to charge $15 for each vehicle to finance a system of scanners, Altamirano said.
He also pointed out that they are against the tax of $25 per truck and $5 per person that Costa Rica wants to charge at its border. This fee is included in the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union to fund improvements at border posts. The agreement was to go into effect on August 1 for Costa Rica, but it has been delayed for two months.
An article published in February this year on the website of the World Bank, makes a reminder that it’s more expensive to send a load of tomatoes from San Jose, Costa Rica to Managua, Nicaragua that from the Costa Rican capital to San Jose, California. The report is entitled “Logistics and Transportation: long way to go in Central America”.
It affirms that for a tomato exporter of Costa Rica, transportation costs and Customs charges may represent over 30% of the final cost of the product.
The Chamber of Exporters of Costa Rica (Cadexco) and the Costa Rican Food Industry Chamber (Cacia) supported the move to create the rate on trucks and people to expedite border traffic.
In its most recent statement, the president of Cadexco, Monica Segnini, said the supply of informal freight services is increasing in the region, as well as the practice of transport unions in each country defending their niches. Some governments, she said, are strict in enforcing the rules on the Isthmus.
She noted that transporting a container through the region can cost $1,500 but informal truckers do it for up to $800.
The executive director of the National Freight Carriers (Canatrac), Francisco Quiros, complained that truckers from other countries fight for cargo with lower rates, because in their countries they have lower operating costs.
Research for the updating of Costa Rica’s National Biodiversity Strategy has detected roughly 5,000 new species in the country, officials said.
The number of documented species grew from 87,000 in 2009 to around 92,000 this year, according to the executive director of the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio) – National Commission for Biodiversity Management – Marta Jimenez.
But the study also highlighted threats to biodiversity, including the expansion of human settlement, pollution, over-exploitation of resources, invasive species and climate change.
The updated strategy will focus on ways to identify and combat the causes of loss of biodiversity and on how ecosystems and natural resources can best be managed.
Costa Rica, with a population of 4.5 million people, accounts for 4.5% of the world’s biodiversity and has set aside nearly 30% of its territory for national parks and nature reserves.
Boat with drugs is detained in high seas for the second time in eight months.
Costa Rican Security Minister Mario Zamora announced Monday the seizure of a Costa Rican-flagged boat by United States authorities, with 963 kilos (2,121 lbs.) of cocaine aboard, intercepted some 260 miles off of Costa Rica’s Isla del Coco.
This is the second time in the last eight months that the boat named Capitán Erson, flying a Costa Rica flag, has been found to be carrying illegal drugs. The boat was previously seized last November when the U.S. Coast Guard discovered in its hold 1,081 kilos (2,381 lbs.) of cocaine, the minister said.
On Monday Capitán Erson was crewed by two Costa Ricans and a Nicaraguan, Minister Zamora said.
The vessel was detected Sunday between Costa Rica’s Isla del Coco (Cocos Island) and the Ecuadorian archipelago in the Pacific. Zamora said he had no idea why the Costa Rican court returned the boat to its owners.
The illegal drugs were tightly packed in 80 bales, say authorities.
The two Costa Ricans, identified by the last names Piedra Quesada and Guzmán, will be turned over to Costa Rican authorities to be judged by our laws, according to Zamora, who is hopeful this time around Costa Rica’s courts will permanently seize the boat so that it may not serve again as a medium for this type of crime.
Costa Rica and the United States maintain in force a joint surveillance accord in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
This optical illusion might be pretty tough to handle for someone that is afraid of heights. The view from the ledge is beautiful but that’s a long way to fall.
A legislator in Costa Rica brought up explosive accusations against two political parties during a debate on campaign reform. Jeanette Ruiz from the Citizen Action Party (PAC in Spanish) has insinuated that Liberty Reserve, a controversial money transmitter based in Costa Rica, donated money to fund the electoral campaigns of the Libertarian Movement and the powerhouse National Liberation Party (PLN in Spanish).
Liberty Reserve and its principals are currently facing an indictment that the United States categorizes as the largest money laundering operation in the world. The company’s operations were based in Costa Rica, but two of its principals were arrested in Spain as they landed in a flight from Morocco. Liberty Reserve was formed by two foreign businessmen who became naturalized citizens of Costa Rica.
Although Liberty Reserve became active circa 2006, the company had been around since before then. By 2009, the company was moving millions of dollars each year in a system that involved the exchange of digital currency in an online platform. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York claims that Liberty Reserve laundered more than $6 billion by operating as a sort of PayPal for crooks. Hackers, multilevel marketing swindlers, drug traffickers and other law breakers allegedly flocked to Liberty Reserve due to their implied anonymity and lax “Know Your Customer” practices.
During a debate session on limiting contributions by the government of Costa Rica towards a common fund that political parties can use in their campaigns, legislator Maria Jeanette Ruiz made her accusation against the social democratic PLN party and the Libertarian Movement.
“These parties received campaign donations given by a law firm that has since disappeared. They made donations to these parties… So, is that what you want? To keep creating these loopholes?”
Legislator Ruiz referred to the loopholes that could emerge by reducing the government’s contribution to all political parties from 0.19 percent of the country’s gross domestic product down to 0.11 percent. Powerhouse parties such as the PLN are well-heeled thanks to their strong connections to powerful people in Costa Rica who share the social democratic ideals of the party; thus, the PLN does not need to tap into the general campaign fund too much. Several other political parties in Costa Rica, however, are tiny and need all the help they can get.
Legislators who argue against lowering the government’s general contribution to electoral campaigns fear that limiting these funds could push political parties to seek alternative, and not altogether ethical, form of financing. Legislator Ruiz says that she has hard evidence that Liberty Reserve made these donations at a time when authorities in Costa Rica demanded that the company obtain a money transmitter’s license. The company’s main office was once located in the Forum II corporate park near Lindora.
Liberty Reserve did not want to open their books the way money transmitters in Costa Rica are required to, and thus they changed their corporate structure to remain a digital currency facilitator. The company allegedly obtained profits of about $100 million, which were kept in several accounts -many of them in the Agrarian Credit Bank of Cartago. These funds were eventually transferred to Cyprus prior to the 2012-2013 banking crisis in that nation.
Prosecutors and the Supreme Tribunal of the Electorate will investigate the allegations made by legislator Ruiz.
A 5.0 earthquake shook the province of Guanacaste at 11:19pm Sunday night. The quake, termed “mild” by experts, was also felt in many parts of the Central Valley.
According to a preliminary report by the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica (OVSICORI), the quake’s epicentre was located 2 kilometres west of Pargos de Santa Cruz, Guanacaste and at a depth of 5 kilometres.
Areas like Playa Grande, Santa Cruz, Tamarindo and Brasilito were hardest hit. In San José, reports of the quake were posted on the social media from areas like Corondao, Hatillo, La Sabana, Escazú and Cartago, among others.
Earlier Sunday, at 5:56pm the OVSICORI recorded a 3.6 quake, also in the province of Guanacaste, with an epicentre some 38 kilometres southwest of Manzaninoo de Santa Cruz.
In both cases, there were no reports of property damage or personal injury.
Former Libertarian deputy Federico Malavassi announced this week that he intends to back Social Christian Unity Presidential candidate Rodolfo Hernandez, the director of the National Children’s Hospital.
The endorsement of Hernandez comes as a real feather in the cap of Dr. Hernandez who is a political novice. Malavassi is a respected intellectual, a lawyer and university educator linked with UACA, one of the oldest private higher education instutution in the country.
Malavassi said that he had waited until Wednesday to announce his support so as not to incur jealousy in the ranks of Unity. He said he would not only support Hernandez but would, should the latter win the 2014 election, aid a Unity government in any capacity where he might be useful.
The academic did say, however, that he preferred to aid the Unity candidate in economic affairs, especially in creation of employment. But he emphasized that he did not ally himself with Unity to edge one of the party faithful from his future job.
The academic is the son of longtime Unity adherent Guillermo Malavassi, also an academic. The son said he made his decision to defect from Libertarianism after talking to Unity with an eye toward forming an opposition coalition. That movement did not prosper.
“Dr. Hernandez brings to Unity a clean flag,” said Malavassi, “We have known each other for a long time in a family setting and he is the best alternative to end the continuum (of National Liberation Party) in power.” He added that polls showed Unity’s chances improving while Liberation’s are declining.
Showing a very Latin tendency to base judgements on family, Malavassi noted that the candidate’s uncle is Alvaro Hernandez, Finance Minister in the administration of President Jose Jaoquin Trejos (1966-70) whose performance in the job impressed him. Malavassi said he was also impressed with Hernandez’s administration of the Children’s Hospital.
Malavassi said he was assured that the candidate of his choice would not fall victim to the forces of corruption that surround Unity, a clear reference to the indictments of former president Rafael Angel Calderon and Miguel Angel Rodriguez on celebrated corruption trials.
A former South Wales Argus paperboy is preparing to cycle 500km across Costa Rica to raise money for charity. Adam Ranford, of Brynderwen Road, will raise money for Alzheimer’s Society in November, alongside 32 of his Lloyds Banking Group colleagues from across the UK.
Ranford, who cycles to his work in Cardiff and is currently using the Llanwern cycle route as training, will attempt to raise £140,000 by cycling from the Pacific coast to the Caribbean coast in just seven days.
The 23-year-old said: “I have fond memories of cycling around the streets of Newport back when I was a paperboy.
“It’s been great to get some more pedalling practice around the city recently so I feel well prepared for what I think will definitely be the biggest cycling challenge of my life.
“A lot of my friends have loved ones with dementia and so I’ve seen how difficult it can be for families.
“As well as fundraising to help support people with dementia and their carers, I want to help raise awareness of the condition and why it’s an important health issue to address.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something challenging for such a worthwhile cause.”
Randford added: “I’d also like to thank all the staff at Sainsbury’s in Newport who raised over £600 in sponsors for my recent bike ride from Swansea to Newport.”
The money raised through November’s challenge will support Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group’s Live Well program, for people with dementia and their carers.
Dementia affects 800,000 people across the UK, with the figure expected to reach a million by 2021.
Costa Rica’s prized quality of life in the Central American region owes a lot to her focus on education. Since there is no military to spend money on, Costa Rica has had an opportunity to invest a greater portion of the national budget on academic affairs -particularly at the higher education level. As such, the number of colleges and universities in Costa Rica has increased along with the diversity and quality of educational offerings. The cost of tuition, however, is also on the rise.
According to a recent report by Central American business magazine Summa, Costa Rica ranks as the best country for higher education in Central America. These findings come from the 2013 QS Quacquarelli Symonds ranking of the best universities in Latin America, where the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil tops the list.
The two oldest and most prestigious universities in Costa Rica are considered the best in Central America: The University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the National University (UNA in Spanish); these are both public institutions. In third place is the Latin American University of Science and Technology (ULACIT in Spanish) is in third place; this is a private institution. UCR is ranked as the 26th most prestigious universities in Latin America.
Public Vs. Private
The seventh-ranked university in Central America is also a private institution in Costa Rica: Universidad Latina. The fact that public universities in Costa Rica rank higher than their private counterparts is consistent with public perception. Earlier this year, weekly business newspaper El Financiero published the results of a national survey about how Ticos feel about their beloved higher education system. More than 85 percent of people in Costa Rica feel that being a graduate of the Technology Institute of Costa Rica (TEC in Spanish) is the greatest honor.
TEC is one of the four major public universities, along with UCR, UNA and the distance-learning UNED. Merely getting into one of these universities, with the exception UNED, gives cachet to students who pass the rigorous admission exams and relief to their families who don’t have to worry about paying for private tuition. Herein lies the nature of the public vs. private debate in Costa Rica: Students who pass the admission test get a better education at a considerably lower cost than at private universities.
What is interesting about TEC’s perception among the people of Costa Rica is that it usually attracts students from working-class families in need of scholarships, which are plentiful in the public system -yet so popular that they often run out. TEC specializes in applied Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. It is important to note that the government of Costa Rica also subsidized private universities in some cases.
The Business of Higher Education
Completing a curriculum of higher education, complete with graduate school and course materials, at one of Costa Rica’s public universities costs about $10,000. This can be ameliorated with scholarships, subsidies and very reasonable student loans. In private universities, some financial aid is available; but, for the most part, cash is king.
In 2009, the average cost of tuition at private universities was about $1,800 per year, but it has been climbing at a pace higher than inflation since then. For example, a full load of six courses costs about $1,000 at many private universities, whereas it would only cost about $300 at a public institution of greater prestige.
Costa Rica is, by and large, a meritocracy with regard to career development. This means that individuals need to prove their academic advancement in order to advance in their careers or to make more money. This, in turn, means certificates, degrees and diplomas, which private universities are more than eager to issue -for a fee. This has caused a proliferation of dubious private universities in Costa Rica, and a few have been accused of churning graduates, but other have been accused of a more egregious activity, which is to act as diploma mills.
Sham Universities
Circa 2005, the growth of private universities in Costa Rica began to accelerate. By 2007, private universities were graduating students at double the rate than UCR, UNA, UNED, and TEC combined. One of the reasons behind this growth was the Free Trade Agreement and the sudden interest by foreign business investors in Costa Rica and her pool of talented and educated workers. There were plenty of jobs available for skilled workers, but these jobs also required a degree.
Many employers in Costa Rica, in both the private and public sectors, require their workers to obtain college degrees in order to get significant raises, advance in their career path, or get better jobs. For this reason, universities that offer night courses are experiencing even faster rates of growth since they are capitalizing on a higher number of Ticos who want to advance their careers and bring home a higher paycheck.
The demand for more university degrees among Costa Rica’s workforce has resulted in institutions such as the infamous Universidad Empresarial de Costa Rica (UNEM), which has been embroiled in a series of diploma mill scandals involving students that paid money for a degree that they did not earn through studies or academic competence. This is a school that has granted PhD degrees to professionals from the United States and Germany as well.
Aside from diploma mills, there are also the garage universities, which are dubious institutions of higher learning. These private universities are not diploma mills, but the quality of their curriculum and academic activities often comes into question. Critics of garage universities claim that they only exist to either indiscriminately collect tuition from students who know that they are far from getting a good education -but they are getting the coveted certificate of completion of studies that their jobs require.
Know-How Vs. Degrees
Technical and trade schools are part of a more promising learning sector that is also experiencing growth. The National Institute of Learning (INA in Spanish) is a public institution that graduates technicians who are ready to work. Their course catalog is extensive, and their focus is on teaching what students need to know to work at offices, free-trade zones, call centers, biomedical device manufacturing centers, tourism firms, banks, farms, laboratories, hospitals, public institutions, research centers, and more.
The focus of INA is on developing enough classroom and hands-on experience for students to easily get a job and advance by their own virtue as valuable workers. This runs counter to the meritocracy system, and it is part of a global revolution in the hiring of human resources. Several employers are now focusing on know-how and potential when they hire workers; case in point: former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who does not have a university degree.
Public and private learning institutes that get to the point and teach students how things are done in the modern workplace are beginning to emerge in Costa Rica (although INA has been serving the public for many decades). In the future, these burgeoning academies may give universities a run for their enrollment statistics since Ticos are warming up to the idea of learning a trade or skill, particularly related to the STEM fields, that will get them hired. Universities are already reacting to this looming competition by adding more hands-on learning. In the end, students will benefit with a more well-rounded education.
By Mary Serphos, Vozdeguanacaste.com – One of the reasons many are drawn to the Guanacaste coast is the lure of simplicity. After traveling for a full day or two, waiting in endless lines, sitting cramped for hours and spending their savings to leave the busy streets at home behind, visitors wind up falling in love with Costa Rica. And for good reason.
After landing, walking out into the sultry humid air and rambling along dusty roads backed by expansive rolling hills, bliss awaits around the corner on a sublime beach or atop a steep hilltop with panoramic views of the Pacific. Just the drive itself to the coast is like a meditation (except for the bumps!). Witnessing the pastoral countryside dotted with massive Guanacaste trees, rustic houses filled with few possessions, families walking together, older couples dancing and children running free leaves travelers awestruck with all that is opposite about life in their home countries.
Although they may not show it, deep down they crave simplicity. This is why so many foreigners move here, to get away from the mentality that bigger is better and that doing more and making more money equals happiness. It doesn’t, as research has shown time and time again.
Buying new things offers a quick satisfaction but doesn’t last. According to Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones and Thrive, after the basic necessities of life (food, shelter) are met, money provides only a short-term happiness. Strong social connections, meaningful life experiences and being part of a community are deeply satisfying ways to achieve happiness.
Research has been done on the effects of the brain after individuals have spent time in rural settings. The results showed that people exhibit a stronger capacity to focus their attention and improve their memory. When individuals slow down, the brain shows a heightened ability to become calmer and sharper. Also the character trait of empathy increases when we slow down.
In a nutshell, life in Guanacaste and in rural Costa Rica is alluring because of its simplicity. People here create more time to drop into conversation with family and friends and carve out time to connect with community. Life takes on a slower pace which allows more time for pleasure and relaxation, which in turn increases well-being. This trait is one of the reasons why Costa Rica consistently ranks as one of the happiest places on earth. The daily practice of siesta as a way to escape the midday heat and rest or sway peacefully in those ubiquitous Costa Rican rocking chairs, made ingeniously with string and rebar, is the ultimate act of self-care.
As technology grabs so much of our attention and the material world seems to expand daily, it’s becoming more and more evident that we all need a dose of the Pura Vida lifestyle. Here in Guanacaste, the urge to do less and just be is a direct path to happiness and success of a different kind. Of course, it goes without saying that life is not “pura vida” every moment; people here work hard and it shows, and like anywhere, there are ongoing struggles. Even here, with each passing year, the pace of life accelerates, but nonetheless, it’s admirable to witness so many Ticos gracefully balance hard work with the Pura Vida lifestyle, so thank you for setting an example with the simple way you live.
By Emiliana Garcia, Vozdeguanacaste.com – Costa Rica is the third most popular country for newlyweds to enjoy their honeymoon, according to Perfect Honeymoons & Holidays Travel. But the romance of the country, and in our case Nosara, isn’t just for honeymooners but also for those who want to celebrate their wedding in a different way.
The Central American country ranked third, just after Hawaii and Italy, and before places like Greece and Tahiti.
According to official figures released by the national weekly El Financiero, about 166,000 people or 10.7% of tourists who arrived in the country in 2012 did so on their honeymoon, and although the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) does not have the exact figure of how many foreigners come to the country for their wedding, they do affirm that it is a growing market, especially among couples from the United States.
The ICT marketing director, Ireth Rodriguez, told El Financiero that while North Americans like to have their wedding and honeymoon in Costa Rica, Europeans prefer to get married in their own country and later travel to Costa Rica for their honeymoon.
Saying “I Do” in Nosara
The beaches in Nosara, like Guiones, Garza and San Juanillo, haven’t been left out of this trend.
In addition to local hotels that offer wedding reception services, there are now other businesses that work exclusively in this market niche.
One of them is Nosara Wedding and Events, an agency that helps lovebirds with the entire process of organizing a wedding. The two business partners, Nina Arias and Heather Barbieri, take care of all the details needed for a wedding: finding the place to hold the ceremony, the type of decorations to use, how to select the menu, how to negotiate contracts with service providers and even have a eco-wedding with organic food and an altar made of vines and palm leaves.
According to Barbieri, since the agency opened its doors in February of 2011, they have organized 33 weddings.
Another option for holding a wedding in Nosara is renting the exclusive Bed and Breakfast Tierra Magnifica, which has a magnificent ocean view and five-star service. The owner, Steve Jacobus, bought hte property in 2006 and started to offer wedding services a year later. Jacobus said that back then, “the weddings were smaller and simpler.”
Now Tierra Magnifica hosts an average of seven weddings a year with an average cost ranging from $40,000 to $ 60,000 dollars per wedding, including the complete celebration, the hotel stay for a week, food, yoga classes, tours and other activities and services.
Jacobus said that having a similar wedding in the United States would cost twice what it costs in Costa Rica.
Both Barbieri and Jacobus agree that Costa Rica is positioning itself even better a a honeymoon and wedding destination since the country enjoys a good reputation of friendly people, a stable economy, international flights at accessible prices and abundant nature. Jacobus mentioned that another important factor is that Costa Rica is safer than Mexico, where many North Americans tend to hold their wedding.
For Jacobus, those who want to say “I do” in Nosara are people that “have been here and know Nosara. They fell in love with Nosara and want to come back.”
The Weddings and Their Effect on the Local Economy
With every wedding held in Nosara, about 25 people are employed directly to provide a service. However, the chain of benefits to the economy does not end there.
According to Jacobus, “It’s a large number for people involved in our weddings, which are likely to be the highest-end weddings in Costa Rica. You would have to factor in the jobs in San Jose with the rentals, wine and liquor distributors, food distributors and flowers, all things that we bring into Nosara. Also, because our clients must reserve Tierra Magnifica for the week, there are jobs that are covered in the hotels, transportation companies, tours, surf lessons, restaurants, etc.”
Oriana Fowler, professional photographer from Chicago, United States, arrived in Costa Rica to work and found herself taking photos of surf, but as time passed she started to photograph more and more weddings, especially in Nosara, where she lives.
“Wedding and family photography has become my primary occupation over the past two years,” said Fowler. “The weddings I’ve shot in Costa Rica are Nosara, Garza, Tamarindo area and Punta Islita.”
For Fowler, the country in general and Nosara in particular have much to offer for this emerging market.
“I feel blessed to photograph weddings here. You can have an amazing wedding with elegance in a stunning natural setting. And a destination wedding here also means you get a vacation in Costa Rica and can spend time with family and guests enjoying nature and laid-back pura vida time. Friends have time to meet, hang out and really relax for the week of the wedding.”
Stephen Wilkes‘ art and photography has been highly recognized around the world during past few decades. He’s been honored with numerous awards as well as appeared in many known magazines such as Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Time, Life Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine.
How would you like it if you wanted to marry the love of your life but found suddenly that you were already married without your knowledge or consent? This is the case of eight men and 23 women who were targets of an apparently crooked notary.
Legislative Assembly president Luis Fernando Mendoza has already talked with Presidenta Laura Chinchilla more than a week ago about reversing the fraudulent or “sham marriages” and has promised his help to the victims.
This is just one more chapter in the sorry story of this country’s refusal to police and control notary publics who often lend themselves to such frauds as false marriages to foreigners who wish to obtain Costa Rican citizenship and in a long series of land frauds.
The current Minister of Security Mario Zúñiga tried to curb the marriage scam when he was head of Immigration (2006-10) but was foiled at every turn. Often, women who want to earn extra money easily are paid to sign false marriage licenses but in this case even that step was ignored by the woman notary.
La Nacion profiled the case of Kattia Obaldia, now 27, in its Friday edition. She has been “married” to a Cuban she has never seen for almost eight years. She sent an open letter to the heads of all three branches of government to aid her in extricating herself from this farce.
Without freedom to marry without committing bigamy, the victims are prevented not only marrying who they wish but insuring their children with the national public health care system and even obtaining child support. Of Obaldia’s situation, Mendoza told La Nacion, “This case moves me, I identify myself completely with her, and can feel the impact of such a painful situation on her personal life.
“The first action we have decided to take is call her to indicate our solidarity with her.” he added, “and we will intercede to know more about it and try to correct her case as well as the others.”
The case of Obaldia is a heartrending one. In November of 2006 she herself made arrangements for her life’s dream, her wedding, the ring, the flowers, the dress and the center pieces. But when she went to the Civil Registry for the license, she was told to her astonishment that she was already married.
The young lady admits she lost it, collapsing into hysteria before finally calming herself. She told La Nacion that she felt cheapened, “used” by the system that allowed such a mistake.
But it was true — at least legally. She had been married, said the official record, to a Cuban since July, 2006, who had never even entered the country. She had been victimized by notary Kattia Salas who, in January of 2012 was to be sentenced to 186 years in prison (reduced to 18) for 31 counts of the fraud.
But in August of last year, the sentence was overturned and an appellate court ordered a new trial. Kattia Salas is now free but Kattia Obaldia’s nightmare continues.
Costa Rica’s former president, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría (1998-2002), is once again facing criminal charges. The Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) said it has filed on July 30 charges before the Juzgado Penal de Goicoechea, in San José (criminal court), according to the Spanish language daily, La Nacion.
The Prosecutor’s Office alleges Rodríguez, before becoming president, in May 1998, “planned to distract and steal goods, money and services from a broker fund” of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) – state insurance.
Also being charged are INS former president, Cristóbal Zawadzki Wojtasiak and INS former director of rei-nsurance, Álvaro Acuña Prado.
The three are linked to the crime of “pecolado” (embezzlement), punishable with improsonment of three to twelve years.
Now it is up to a judge to analyze the evidence submitted by the Ministerio Público and determine whether the case goes to trial or dismissed for lack of evidence.
In the court filing, prosecutor Gisele Rivera Chacón alleges Rodríguez to have met with Acuña and Zawadski on several occasions before he was sworn in as president of the Republic on May 8, 1998.
The prosector alleges that the soon to be president told his consipirators that “he could not appear or be tied to the commissions that they were to recevie…and that they should confide in Rafael Sequeira Garza and Donald Murillo Pizarro, his trusted right hands”.
As part of the plan, according to the prosecutor, the involved took control of a cooperation agreement to train INS officials and, in parallel, created a training fund with percentages paid by various re-insurers operating in the world market.
According to the investigation alleged payments of up to US$2.1 million dollars were received by Rodriguez and others, the payments coming from an insurance company with offices in England and Mexico.
Rodriguez has said publicly saying that the charges are “a gross persecution”.
Rodriguez was forced to resign in 2004 from his post as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) to stand trial for corruption charges linked to the ICE-Alcatel case.
At trial, the former president was found guilty of receiving US$800.000 in payments from the French telecom Alcatel in return for being granted a license to install and operate the country’s first GSM network for ICE, the state telecom.
He was sentenced in 2011 to five years in prison, but the sentence was overturned, the appeals court citing statute of limitations and errors in evidence handling during the investigation.
I have been told by more than one retiree that just by making the move they feel rejuvenated. This comes as no surprise to me since relocating to a warmer climate with less stress or just getting out of the “rat race” can make one feel a whole lot better.
However, there is more to it than just making the move to staying healthy. I have seen a lot of people come and go during the 34 years I have lived in Costa Rica and noticed that some retirees take their health for granted and adopt an unhealthy lifestyle.
There are a lot of things retirees and others can do to stay healthy while living in Costa Rica. Fresh fruits and vegetables abound here and are affordable. Those who live here should make an effort to included as many of them as possible in their diet. If you don’t like eating fruit then learn to enjoy the many fruit-based juices called frescos or naturals. There are several juice chains which I have written about in previous blogs where you can indulge in a variety of healthy fruit juice blends.
While I am on the subject of liquids hydration is very important to staying healthy in the tropics especially for those retirees who engage in exercise. A recent study demonstrated that nine out of ten people do not drink enough water during the day.
The quantity of water you need depends on if you are a man or woman. Men need three liters of water a day and women two. Tea other beverages can also met your daily need. It is important to remember that you shouldn’t wait until you are thirsty to consume water because thirst indicates that you are dehydrated. Seniors especially need to be conscious of keeping themselves hydrated.
A loss of hydration is one of the biggest factors that impacts how seniors look and feel. It is vital to remember that as we age, our thirst sensation decreases as does our overall body water. Therefore, dehydration occurs more frequently and much more quickly in the elderly. Fluid loss can be very serious affecting the heart, kidneys, brain, and in some severe cases can be life threatening.
Retirees should also be aware that after 60 years of age you require less calories and more nutrients.
That is to say you need to eat less but consume more nutritious foods. In addition, you should eat small portions six or times a day instead of three large meals. After 60 years of age you need about 500 calories a day less according to nutritionists. Believe or not adults over 80 years of age should eat eight small meals per day. Meals should be balanced and include carbohydrates, proteins vegetables and fruits.
Retirees should know that certain foods can increase stress and lead to maladies like gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia, high blood pressure, weakening of the immune system and skin diseases. Some of the foods that might contribute to an increase in stress and the diseases that go with it are: an excess of caffeine, spicy foods, salt, alcohol and sugar.
It is also of paramount importance that those over 60 years of age do moderate low impact exercise to counteract the effects of the loss of muscle mass. If not, they run the risk of contracting osteoporosis which can cause serious consequences and affect one’s independence. Exercise along with protein can help maintain important muscle mass. Walking, swimming and light weights are ideal forms of exercise for seniors.
Finally, it is important for retirees in Costa Rica to work at keeping themselves busy during their free time. Many who retiree get bored and depressed since they have a lot of free time on their hands. Taking Spanish classes, joining a club, dance classes, reading and doing volunteer work are just a few of the many options available in Costa Rica. Above all it is important to socialize and have a network of friends.
San José, Costa Rica’s capital, can be, like any other big city, crowded, noisy, and full of traffic.
But just 20 minutes away, and I’ve escaped.
I’m at a small hotel and spa set on a former coffee farm in the hills above in the small village of Santa Barbara de Heredia. At 4,000 feet the temperature is perfect, in the mid-70s. The sky is blue, the surrounding vegetation a lush green.
From our spot on the terrace, we can see San Jose in the distance in the valley below. It’s a clear view of the national stadium, the tall buildings of downtown, and the sprawl of urban development.
But we’re worlds away up here. A center of coffee production going back more than a century, the area retains its rural roots. Cars share the road with riders on horseback and farmers taking cows to pasture. Coffee plantations still carpet the hillsides. It’s quiet and peaceful.
No wonder many expats call the hills of Heredia, the province just north of the metro area, home.
But Heredia is not alone.
The hills and mountains throughout the Central Valley, the inland region surrounding San Jose, are dotted with these small towns and tiny villages. Grecia, Atenas, San Ramon, Sarchi, and Puriscal are just a few.
Seventy percent of the population of the country lives in this region. But get outside the city center and you don’t feel crowded. There are plenty of undeveloped areas, with farm and pasture land, as well as homes and natural areas like forest and river valleys.
When you live in one of these Central Valley communities, you have a quiet country lifestyle, with plenty of homes with breathtaking mountain or valley views. But you also have convenience and the access to the cultural heart of the country.
San Jose and its suburbs are a short drive away on modern highway. There you’ll find the country’s best shopping, including North American style malls with brands you know from home, as well as imported foods you can’t get anywhere else. (I’m partial to prosciutto and Asian spicy red chili sauce myself.)
If you want to catch a movie in English, play a round on a world-class championship golf course, see a ballet or classical orchestra performance, or enjoy a jazz concert … you can do it in San Jose.
The country’s best hospitals and most medical specialists—in both the public and private healthcare systems—are here too.
Then at the end of the day you can return to your rural retreat. No wonder so many expats call the Central Valley home.
