An Interpol alert led Costa Rican authorities to the arrest Monday of American Kirk William Owen, a man with past convictions of child molestation in the United States.
A 2011 photo of Kirk Owen from the state of Florida’s sexual offenders registry. Costa Rican authorities apprehended Owen on Monday in Jacó. In the U.S. and many other countries, sex offenders must report regularly to authorities. Photo courtesy of state of Florida
According to immigration records, Owen arrived in Costa Rica for the first time in November 14, 2006, since recorded 25 migratory movements at the Paso Canoas border with Panama. This was in order to maintain his tourist visa.
“The thought right now is that we will revoke his tourist visa and deport him back to the U.S.,” said Freddy Montero, deputy minister of Gobernación (Ministry of the Interior).
The most recent trip Owen took to Panama, was on July 15 of this year, leaving at 6:53am and returning to Costa Rica at 9:36am.
On July 30, Interpol issued a “red alert” for Owen, leading Costa Rican immigration police to locate him near Playa Jacó, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
Montero explains that such alerts are received almost every week by authorities of the United States Embassy and others. Considering the issue a sensitive one, the minister would only say that the alerts are “warnings of persons of interest on the chance that someone enters Costa Rica or is already in the country”.
The press office of the Attorney General (Ministerio Público) also confirmed that Owen is also facing charges of possessing a firearm while in Costa Rica. It is illegal for someone on a tourist visa to possess a gun while in Costa Rica.
The gun charge may cause the alleged Pedophile to not be immediately deported from Costa Rica to the United States. Montero explained that it will now be up to the judge’s order if the man will go to trial in Costa Rica for the gun charge or be deported.
The Tico Times reports that Doug Smith, a private investigator from the U.S. living and working in Costa Rica, said a nonprofit group paid him to track Owen when they learned he had entered the country.
“I was worried about him getting another victim over there in Jacó,” Smith told The Tico Times in a phone interview.
Smith said he had no trouble getting reports from Jacó on Owen, who weighs 400 pounds according to U.S. authorities, and drove around Jacó in a Porsche.
Owen was living in the U.S. state of Florida prior to coming to Costa Rica. He has one conviction for child molestation from Oklahoma in 2002, according to the state of Florida. He has a previous sex crime conviction from 1987 from his home state of Kansas.
According to Oklahoma court records, Owen was sentenced to 20 years for the offense he committed in 2000, after pleading guilty to two charges of sexual molestation of a minor. The judge ruled Owen had completed his probation in 2006.
The mission of the Fire Department in Costa Rica is to protect life in situations when property or the environment are threatened by fire or other emergencies. In many occasions, the protection of life includes saving animals from burning flames or from dangerous situations. In two recent instances, firefighters in Costa Rica have filled the life of families with joy and relief by rescuing household pets.
Mangui the Cat Has But Four (Or Six) Lives Remaining
In the Los Angeles neighborhood of Cartago, there is a curious and playful cat that has been close to losing its life in three different times. Mangui is a male adult cat; he is a companion to the family of Pablo Zuniga, and he has been close the meeting the feline grim reaper on the following occasions:
In 2009 Mangui caught a stray bullet in the head
In 2011 he suffered a severe bite from a large dog
Just a few days ago, Mangui spent theee days trapped inside the crawl space of a ceiling
Like many other household cats in Costa Rica, Mangui spends quite a bit of time exploring the outdoors and eliminating rodents and snakes from the neighborhoods they live in. Still, most cats check in once or twice in a 48 hour period. When the Zuniga family noticed that Mangui was missing, they began to search for him. They finally figured out that he had entered the ceiling of the neighbor’s house, but there was no way to get him out.
Firefighters arrived to liberate Mangui from his ordeal. They are trained to get into confined spaces and figure their way out, and that is how they got the cat out from under the hot tin roof. It is important to note that the colloquial belief of a cat having nine lives applies to English-speaking cultures, whereas in Latin America they only have seven.
Chester the Dog Rescued from Burning Guest House
In Bajo Piuses de Tibas, a working-class neighborhood north of San Jose, an electrical fire quickly engulfed an add-on shack that almost claimed the life of a canine companion animal.
Yamileth Diaz heard a loud crack, but she was not aware of fire until she saw black smoke billowing out of the guest house. She actually attempted to put out some the flames, which were quickly spreading. She called the Fire Department when she realized that it was a significant fire.
Fire Captain William Hernandez explained that initial reports indicated that Mrs. Diaz may have been trapped because she went back to get Chester, her brother’s dog. Firefighters rushed in and evacuated the woman, who already had Chester in her arms. They completely extinguished the fire in just 11 minutes.
Firefighters in Costa Rica value animal life and certainly understand the deep connection between humans and their pet companions. Rescue K-9 officers are part of the firefighting crews in Costa Rica, and just about every fire department has a resident pet.
TMZ – Terrence Howard’s ex-wife Michelle Ghent is claiming the actor brutally beat her while vacationing in Costa Rica… TMZ has learned.
Michelle Ghent — who divorced Terrence in May but hooked up with him again recently … took a trip with Terrence and several of his family members to Costa Rica last week. Sources say an argument erupted and she claims Terrence beat her up.
We’ve learned Terrence claims Michelle maced him, his adult daughter and another family member. Police were called and reports were taken.
Sources say Terrence made up the mace story to cover his brutality. Other sources connected to Terrence say Michelle is lying about the actor physically abusing her.
We’ve learned Michelle is going to court in an attempt to get a restraining order … forcing Terrence to stay clear of her.
TMZ previously reported … Michelle has accused Terrence of slugging her in the face and neck. She also claimed the brutality started just 7 days after they were married.
er
By: Henry Morales Navarro, Vozdeguanacaste – If you are bored of the same flavor of chicken, prepare your tastebuds for a more legitimate and nutritional flavor than farm-fattened chicken.
A group of families, mainly female entrepreneurs from La Virginia of Nicoya, have organized to develop a project to raise and market local criollo chickens to offer a more attractive and unusual product since the chicken that are commercialized in supermarkets are normally farm-fattened. While farm-fattened chicken have a more artificial flavor because they are fed concentrated pellets, the criollo chicken eat vegetation, insects and corn and therefore have a better, more original flavor.
One of the criollo chicken varieties is known as “pata larga,” which means long foot. This type of chicken has long yellow feet and a larger size than the traditional chicken. Fully developed, it can weigh between 3 and 4 kilograms (6.6 to 8.8 pounds), with a plumper breast, which makes it more economically viable.
Evelyn Aguilar, who initiated the project, hopes it will be successful. “The first years are hard but afterward we’ll be seeing the result,” she commented.
The idea was well-received by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), who will offer them assessments and a market study, and through the Japanese Agency of International Cooperation will give them training on management, investment and development of the project.
According to Oscar Vasquez, director of MAG for the Chorotega region, this is an innovative project since nothing similar exists in the region. “In Japan, they have a system that each town has a product that identifies it,” he commented. “They have been selling us the idea that in the case of La Virginia, the culture of criollo chicken stands out, so when consumers look for this type of product, they’ll already know where to find it.”
Another of the aspects they look for, according to the Japanese experts, is that the project is in harmony with the environment, in this case that the waste products of the slaughtering are reused in two forms: producing feed for pigs and by producing energy through a bio-digester that can be utilized in the process.
The women are now receiving local orders for chicken while MAG is doing a market study to determine the best places to sell the product. If you would like to buy criollo chicken, call 2684-9102.
This photo was taken on July 19, 2013 from the Cassini spacecraft. The wide-angle camera has captured Saturn rings along with our planet Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image and appears as a blue dot at center right. You can notice the moon as a fainter protrusion off Earth’s right side. The other bright dots nearby are stars. According to NASA this is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system.
According to an official press release from the Organization of Judicial Investigations (OIJ in Spanish), Costa Rica will no longer send cocaine or other controlled substances to the United States, at least for the time being. The announcement comes in the wake of news reports about nearly 24 tons of cocaine transported by the U.S. Air Force to Miami on Saturday, July 27th 2013.
Photo courtesy OIJ
The OIJ further explained that officials in Costa Rica had spoken to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about the temporary lack of an incinerator to destroy seized powder cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs. Prior to the massive airlift of cocaine to Miami in late July, the OIJ had managed to destroy almost 23 tons of drugs over the years at a cement factory in Cartago, but a couple of unfortunate incidents resulted in the stockpiling of confiscated drugs, and the OIJ ended up with too much coke.
A Warehouse Full of Yeyo
Before a Boeing C-17 Globemaster from the U.S. Air Force landed at the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR) in late July to transport pallets upon pallets of cocaine to Miami, the OIJ evidence warehouse in San Joaquin de Flores, province of Heredia, was ready to burst from all the drugs contained therein -particularly cocaine hydrochloride in powder form. The only incinerator in Costa Rica to handle the destruction of tons of drugs, routinely seized by the OIJ, Fuerza Publica (the national police force), the Border Police, and the National Coast Guard Service is currently out of commission.
At one time, the OIJ entrusted a cement and concrete factory in Cartago to handle the destruction of seized drugs in its massive incinerators. In 2009, however, a bag holding 20 kilograms of flake was stolen by employees of the cement factory during the destruction of 4,300 kilos. The individuals responsible for the theft were caught, tried and given prison sentences between 6 and 7 years, and the OIJ stopped using that factory altogether.
By 2011, OIJ employees complained that they could not even walk around the warehouse because of all the cocaine stuffed inside. The cement factory agreed to donate an incinerator the size of a jacuzzi to the OIJ, and agents got busy destroying up to 300 kilograms per hour. By February of 2012, however, agents had burned so much coke that the incinerator began to malfunction. Fumes were escaping the incinerator’s chambers and those involved in the destruction -who included judges in charge of supervision- were basically getting high, and thus the OIJ went back to stockpiling seized drugs.
The U.S. Air Force to the Rescue
The OIJ has acknowledged that storing that much cocaine in Costa Rica is an inherent risk, and thus the DEA was called in to help. This is when things start to get a bit murky. Apparently the OIJ took the matter to the Judicial Branch and the Ministry of Public Safety (MSP in Spanish); but, according to online news daily CRHoy, which broke the story, at least two magistrates at the Judicial Branch were in the dark about the U.S. Air Force arriving in Costa Rica to pick up a massive amount of cocaine.
One of the magistrates who did not know about the operation, which was shrouded in secrecy until CRHoy’s Alvaro Sanchez investigated, is Carlos Chinchilla, President of the Criminal Affairs Committee of the Supreme Court in Costa Rica. Magistrate Chinchilla explained that the OIJ and DEA were supposed to file a request for a legislative permit that would grant permission for a foreign military aircraft to land in Costa Rica.
The OIJ assured CRHoy that the C-17 Globemaster was not armed and had legislative permission to enter Costa Rica’s airspace, land and fly away loaded with cocaine with Miami as its ultimate destination. The problem is that no legislator recalls seeing such request or permission come through the docket at the National Assembly. When questioned about the type of aircraft, the OIJ repeated that it was “from the U.S. Air Force with a legislative permit.” The Minister of Public Safety, Mario Zamora, said that he was thankful that the United States arrived to transport cocaine away from Costa Rica, but he was quick to mention that the OIJ was responsible for obtaining all permits.
Passing the Buck
Even the identification of the C-17 from the U.S. Air Force remained a mystery until recently. CRHoy obtained a series of documents related to the ongoing investigation, which apparently include a letter signed on July 10th by a U.S. Coast Guard Commander named B.J. Ripkey requesting permission for a military aircraft from the U.S. to land in Costa Rica with 12 individuals aboard. According to that letter, the aircraft would not fly directly to Miami after takeoff: it would first stop in Nicaragua and later in Honduras while carrying all that cocaine.
The letter was addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the MSP and the Director of Air Surveillance -a special police unit in Costa Rica that is known for their presence at our airports. According to a 2011 Coast Guard document, there is a Commander Bradley Ripkey assigned to DDE-COSTA RICA SEC ASST. Somehow his request ended up in the hands of Gerardo Masis Delgado, who is apparently in charge of Aeronautical Operations of Costa Rica’s Civil Aviation Directorate. Mr. Masis issued an interesting letter that authorizes:
“aircraft type C-17 with registration 00534, or alternatively 10186, 66165, 66167, 66168, 77169, 77170, 77173, 77174, 77175, 77176, or 7717”
to enter Costa Rica’s airspace and land between the 26th and 28th of July. Mr. Masis also ordered reminded that no airport costs should be assessed to any of the aircraft above. It is interesting to note that the number 77178 corresponds to the “Spirit of Delaware,” which is the C-17 Globemaster III out of Dover Air Force Base pictured in this article, and that number happens to have been underlined with an ink pen on the letter above.
What is also interesting about the above is that Civil Aviation has been admonished by the Constitutional Chamber Court (Sala Cuarta), the highest court in Costa Rica, of having illegally approved the arrival of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters prior to President Barack Obama’s historic visit to our country earlier this year. Civil Aviation seems to the the go-to guy, or maybe the fall guy, in these matters; but, many legislators in Costa Rica are not amused. The Constitution clearly requires legislative permission for foreign military forces to enter Costa Rica, and the U.S. has a history of being snubbed in this regard.
So What Happened to All That Cocaine?
The OIJ’s official press release assures that the controversial payload left Costa Rica on Saturday July 27th, at 2:00 in the afternoon. The C-17 presumably stopped in Nicaragua and Honduras before landing in Miami, this is in accordance to the letter signed by USCG Commander B.J. Ripkey. A judge from Costa Rica supposedly flew with all the blow and met with the Consul in Miami, who was the last link in the chain of command to certify the arrival and destruction of the drugs.
The Consulate usually answers to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, but in this case that entity has not published anything on the matter. The OIJ, however, assures that the destruction process started at 6:00 am on Monday, July 29th, and that it lasted five hours until the last bag was incinerated. The OIJ also mentioned that U.S. and Costa Rican officials were present during the process, although there are no local media reports to corroborate.
As to the matter of legislative permit for this operation, some legislators interviewed by CRHoy indicated that everything was fine as long as the military aircraft did not land with bellicose intent. The OIJ mentioned that the C-17 was not armed, but a legal expert interviewed by CRHoy mentioned:
“Do you really think that the U.S. Air Force would risk picking 24 tons of cocaine in Costa Rica and then land in Nicaragua and Honduras without some sort of armed escort or weaponry to defend the aircraft and crew?”
The Need for Legislative Permits
News about this incident have prompted debate on the requirement of legislative permits for U.S. military forces to enter Costa Rica. Many people think that such permits add a layer of bureaucracy to worthy causes such as drug interdiction. No one is questioning the value of the assistance by the U.S. Air Force and other authorities from that country in taking away a prodigious amount of drugs that our country could not destroy; the problem is one of transparency and sovereignty.
The original story by Alvaro Sanchez of CRHoy and the English language version by The Costa Rica Star were picked up by various international media outlets, and many of the comments left by readers indicate a significant level of skepticism about the operation. Allowing foreign military forces to enter a country to transport narcotics in bulk calls for a certain amount of transparency that can be achieved with legislative permits.
History has shown that nothing good happens when you the U.S. government interests transport controlled substances from Central America. When such operations take place in a shadowy manner, you end up with Colonel Oliver North of the U.S. Marine Corps, the late American pilot Barry Seal smuggling for the CIA, shady companies such as DIASCA and Frigorificos de Puntarenas, and other kinds of malfeasance. The people of Costa Rica have a right to know about these things; this can be accomplished with legislative permits.
The short answer as to why that U.S. Air Force C-17 should have had permission to land in Costa Rica is: Because our Constitution requires it. The rationale is simple: As a country who abolished her military more than six decades ago, Costa Rica can’t afford to have foreign military or forces entering the country at their pleasure or with a permit issued by a mid-level government official. We have enough problems with Nicaraguan Army invasions and paramilitaries entering the country. As a peace-loving representative democracy, Costa Rica must discuss and decide these matters at the legislative level.
A female sloth that was victimized by two heartless men in the Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica has improved enough to be transferred to a new habitat.
Officials at Zoo Ave, one of the best-known wildlife rescue centers in Costa Rica, confirmed that the sloth lost her sight as a result of being hit by rocks thrown at her head. Still, she has recovered well from her multiple injuries and is now a new resident of Zoo Ave’s own forest habitat for abused and injured wildlife species.
The sloth was named Sansita after Sansa, the domestic airline that agreed to medevac her from Golfito, close to the southern border with Panama, to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela. Upon landing, Sansita was rushed to Zoo Ave in La Garita, also in the province of Alajuela. She spent a couple weeks in a recovery space measuring about 20 meters in length, where wildlife rescue technicians and veterinarians changed her dressings and applied topical antibiotic every two hours.
As previously published in the Costa Rica Star, Sansita was subjected to a brutal attack by two execrable men in their thirties as she helplessly clung from her favorite tree. This odious aggression included punches and rocks thrown by the unidentified men, who were reportedly in their 30s.
Had it not been for the brave intervention by an unidentified farmer who confronted the men and rescued the sloth, Sansita would have perished. The farmer got in touch with local wildlife protection contacts and coordinated Sansita’s transfer to Zoo Ave.
As reported by daily tabloid newspaper La Teja, Sansita seems happy in her new arboreal home in La Garita, where she is negotiating tree branches quite well despite her blindness. She is two years old.
The Consejo Superior del Poder Judicial (High Judicial Council) is being asked to rule whether prisoners being transferred must expose their genitals during searches.
The Council is being asked to make a decision on whether prisoners, while in the custody of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) must only drop their pants/skirts and keep on their underwear, or that officials can make a “thorough review”, including a cavity search.
The process is part of the proposed amendment to the OIJ Procedural Handbook relating to bodily interventions of the arrested.
The deputy director of the OIJ, Gustavo Mata, asked “vehemently” the adoption of the search proposal in order to ensure that those arrested are not carrying weapons in their genitals.
Of concern is the that a full body search could violate the constitutional right of detainees, in that “no one shall be subjected to cruel and degrading treatement”.
The crisis of agriculture in Costa Rica deepened a bit more in 2012, when the sector’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) fell 3.38%, reported experts of the newspaper El Financiero.
According to the latest report of the Agricultural Statistical Bulletin, since 2009 the influence of agriculture in the GDP has decreased 16 percent.
Total exports grew by almost 10 percentage points more than the farm since 2009, 35% versus 27%, while only last year, the difference was three percentage points to 6.5% to 3.5%.
Similarly, the area planted in the country fell by 1.3% in 2012, while the credit for the sector fell by 4.5% and its weight in the total credit fell by more than one 20%.
So, not surprising that agricultural labour to wither, the paper said, according to which it decreased by 3.8% in 2012, representing the loss of nearly 14,000 jobs.
The year was not a catastrophe, but it is part of a continuing slowdown, a steady erosion, said Alvaro Saenz, president of the Chamber of Agriculture.
For his part, Roberto Obando, executive director of the Chamber of Agricultural Inputs, said there is a contradiction, because on the outside the country is projected to new markets.
However, internally we lack a state policy and are losing competitiveness because technologies and inputs advantage that other countries do use in the region, he said.
For Saenz, the problem is that it is not an isolated situation, because they have 20 years of disappointments, of politicians who do not understand that the free zones and the services are not sufficient for development.
According to El Financiero, the next general election in Costa Rica scheduled for February 2, 2014 – may provide an opportunity to correct this potential crisis with a change of government, but it will take more than speeches.
China wants to have a business summit in Central America and what better place for them to have it that their newly acquired territory Costa Rica. I wonder how many under the table deals will be happening with the Costa Rican government officials?
The Chinese Business Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean will take place in Costa Rica between November 26th and 27th, 2013. The invited include entrepreneurs, investors, and government officials. This is going to be the seventh conference of its type.
Anabel Gonzalez, Costa Rica’s Minister of Foreign Trade believes it will be the single most important of all business events scheduled this year between China and the Latin American and Caribbean region. “This meeting will strengthen Costa Rica’s position as China’s gateway to the Americas,” said Gonzalez.
The purpose of this meeting is to hold conferences on such topics like strategic trade sectors, investment relationships, and issues experienced in the past year. There is a presentation scheduled about the progress of the Chinese Special Economic Zone in Costa Rica. New businesses, investment opportunities, and cooperational projects should arise as a result of the conference.
Jorge Sequeira, the General Manager of the Procomer, described that the country is looking for ways “to extend its range of exports.” He also announced that the interests of the Chinese are specifically industrial, food, construction, beef, and technology. Agribusiness and distribution centers are also on the itinerary of ideas and facets of the industry to discuss.
Half of Costa Rica’s population does not have a savings account at a financial institution. In addition, 80% don’t keep their money in banks and 90% have no bank loans, leading them to be excluded in one way or another from the country’s formal financial system.
That is the result of the most recent survey by the Encuesta de Inclusión Financiera en Costa Rica, conducted in late 2011 and included in the published report this year by the World Bank.
Financial inclusion is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to various segments of society. Savings, investment options, credit and insurance, among others, are accessible services offered by financial institutions.
Costa Rica is ranked 59th among the 148 countries included in the survey, in bank account penetration.
50% of Costa Ricans have an account at a formal institution
13% of the population have an account to receive government payments
10% of the population have a loan from a financial institution in the past year
9% use an account to receive remittances
20% have a savings account at a financial institution
28% have accounts to receive wages
12% of the population have credit cards and 44% debit cards
The survey reveals that the population with some kind of exclusion is mostly female, low income and with little education. For their part, men who save and borrow in financial institutions doubles that of women. The report shows that only 40% of women have bank accounts, while 60% of men.
Among those with only a primary education, they are six times unlikely not to have a bank account compared to those who went to college.
The two main reasons for not having a bank account are lack of money (33%) or because a relative already has (21%). Also, lack of trust in financial institutions, lack of documentation and the distance to institutions are among other reasons.
People that are financially excluded might;
Not be able to access affordable credit
Not want or have difficulty obtaining a bank account
Be financially at risk through not having home insurance
Struggle to budget and manage money or plan for the unexpected
Not know how to make the most of their money
Anyone can be financially excluded, as a result of the economic downturn we believe many more people then usual are struggling financially.
In Costa Rica, the salaried segment of the population are among the highest users of banking services, largely because they receive their wages from private companies and governments through direct deposit to their bank account. The typical salaried employee in Costa Rica must have a bank account to receive wages, accounts specifically tied to their employer relationship.
Self-employees, low-income earners and houeswives are among the most who do not have a bank account.
The term “financial inclusion” has gained importance since the early 2000’s, a result of findings about financial exclusion and its direct correlation to poverty.
The survey takes in the response of 150.000 people over the age of 15 in 148 countries, in 2011 by Gallup Inc. In Costa Rica, the sample included 1.000 people and weighted to ensure national representativeness.
By: Henry Morales Navarro, VozdeGuanacaste – After 12 years of housing producers of local foods and products from the region, the agricultural market El Guayabo or La Guayabita market, located in the center of Nicoya, is going to receive a facelift.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) will transfer 70 million colones ($140,000) in funds to remodel it. The funds will be channeled through the municipality.
The director of MAG for the Chorotega region, Oscar Vasquez, highlighted the importance of the El Guayabo market. “This is a project that we started developing 12 years ago,” he said. “The idea is to improve the added value of the products and the competitiveness and to maintain the tradition of local products, especially foods and drinks native to the area.”
Jose Segundo Montiel, a producer from Tierra Blanca of Nicoya, said they only offer local products like rosquillas, cuajadas (a variety of cheese), cheese, roastedcorn tamales, corn-based beverages, corn tortillas, carao syrup and wild bee honey.
The market was created in 2001 by an initiative of the Municipality of Nicoya. In order to avoid street vendors, a group of producers were given a location to carry on their activity as normal.
The producers of the El Guayabo market come from different parts of Nicoya, including Casitas, Tierra Blanca, La Granja, Copal and Dulce Nombre, among others.
Jacinta Garcia, member of the pro-market Association of Producers, related that it has been a struggle from the beginning. They held activities like raffles and bingos to raise funds to fix the roof and little by little have done other repairs to the building, which is in poor condition, until they received the news that they are going to get external help.
According to Vasquez, they anticipate that the work will be finished by October.
Fiji Islands is an island country in the South Pacific, it has stunning beaches
Fiji Islands is an island country in the South Pacific, it has stunning beaches
Fiji and Costa Rica have formalized diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Fiji Mission to the United Nations in New York, the Fijian government announced Saturday.
The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN, Ambassador Eduardo Ulibarri and his Fiji counterpart, Ambassador Peter Thomson, signed a joint communique establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries on Saturday.
According to Fiji’s Ministry of Information, the communique expresses the desire of both countries to establish their diplomatic relations in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, guided by the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and international law. The communique calls for the promotion and strengthening of bonds of friendship and cooperation between Costa Rica and Fiji in political, economic, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.
Following the formalization ceremony, Ulibarri and Thomson held talks on areas of common interest between their two countries. Thomson reported on the progress of the Fiji Roadmap towards the achievement of sustainable democracy with parliamentary elections to be held in Fiji in 2014. In concluding the meeting, the ambassadors assured each other of the mutual support of their missions in the furtherance of common causes in multilateral affairs.
While Superman flew above us earthlings and saved Gotham City from true evil, Costa Rica flies off to raise essential prices and taxes. And, in so doing exposes a deep sense of government ignorance; which is a better word than “stupidity”.
It is hard to accept that more borrowing is the only answer that Costa Rica has considered during the process of a slowing economy and a larger, even much larger debt structure much like that of Detroit who declared bankruptcy?
And, while not being very attractive to foreign business, nationals and expatriates alike, according to CRhoy.com, SUTEL , the government regulator of national telecommunications, has proposed a 83% hike on domestic telephone users, or better expressed , land lines and only a 58% increase for businesses.
WOW! What a great way to encourage new investments. And, to think about it is also a new way to collect more tax money that was turned down in 2012.
But, as a side kick, the amount of cell phone rates would decrease.
OOPS! There is only one and only one landline phone company in our piece of paradise and that is ICE which all love to hate because this company or institution is a 100% monopoly.
At the same time, the national water company AyA instead of repairing the arsenic laced drinking water to about 11,000 people living in Guanacaste has elected double rates and install 4,453 fire hydrants per the Spanish language newspaper, La Nación.
That’s a good idea but for years and years I have been paying from 192 to 2020 colones each month for those same damn hydrants which have never been built nor repaired.
Where did the money go?
ANOTHER TOPIC:
How is it Possible that Costa Rica, the land of higher education has never defined its maritime boundaries? Again we are in another quagmire with Nicaragua over who has the right to drill for oil in the Caribbean waters?
Why? Such a dispute? Who knows?
Spying: The reason Costa Rica has not made a big issue about the U.S. (Snowden) spying allegations is simple. We would if we could do it and keep a straight face. We do something similar all the time. And now for lack of an original concept, it is proposed that we expand spying on certain, targeted foreign embassies such as Mexico and Colombia.
This smacks of the Tico guest law which allows only nationals (Locals) to holster and harbor weapons but not foreigners. A sort of trust your brother only concept.
In Costa Rica, no one is immune to home robberies, not even if you are one of the most recognizable faces in the country, like that of Public Education minister, Leonardo Garnier.
The Fuerza Publica and Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), report responding to call from the Garnier home in Zapote.
According to the police report, the minister and his wife, Maria Marta Ortiz, were not at home at the time. At home was Garnier’s daugther and a domestic employee, who were locked up in one of the bathrooms while the assailants made off with a number of undisclosed items.
Last Friday, three men broke into the home of legislator Patricia Pérez, located in La Uruca. The legislator described he ordeal as a “born again” experience.
According to the legislator, the assailants took advantage of the moment her daughter was coming into the house, to force their way in. Pérez said that the men stormed the house once the remote garage door began to open.
Authorities discard an increase in home robberies, but recommend taking care when arriving or leaving home.
The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – national weather service – reports the fall of 142 lightning bolts in the greater San José area, from noon to 2:30pm on Saturday.
The IMN rated the actitivy as “intense”.
Experts say the phenomeon was due to various weather conditions converging, including the high temperature experienced in the morning.
The weather service is forecasting a repeat of the conditions for today, Sunday and recommends the taking of precautionay measures.
During the rainy season, sunny and hot temperatures lead to thunderstorms, that can include intense lightning storms and torrential rains.
Costa Rica Star – We set out down the beach under a leaden sky stuffed with clouds. It was 8:00 at night, and at first it was hard to see, with the nearly full moon sliding in and out of clouds; but soon our eyes adjusted to the dimness. A light mist began to dust us, and not a soul stirred nearby.
We were on sea turtle patrol.
Five of us were decked out in dark colors to blend with the night. Sea turtles don’t like bright lights – and, ergo, light-colored clothes – which distract and possibly dissuade them from coming ashore to lay their eggs. Cell phones on low ring, and backpacks and water bottles in hand, we started along the smooth, dark sand for a 6 km reconnaissance of Matapalo Beach.
Matapalo Beach, south of Manuel Antonio, Costa RicaThe long, tree-lined Matapalo Beach is halfway between Manuel Antonio to the north and Dominical to the south on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast. There is nothing here but a small community, unspoiled beach, and the Matapalo Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Project. Run by the non-governmental, not-for-profit Association of Volunteers for Service in Protected Areas in Costa Rica (ASVO), the project protects Matapalo Beach for the three species of endangered sea turtles that come here to lay their eggs.
Turtle – olive ridleyBeing in the tropics, Costa Rica’s Caribbean and Pacific Coasts are a major breeding, nesting and hatching ground for five of the world’s sea turtle species, all of which are endangered – Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas), Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Pacific Black Turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizi), and Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea).
The Sea Turtle Conservation Project began in Matapalo in the 1990s. In 2005, ASVO took over and used its large volunteer base, in the form of college students from both Costa Rica and abroad, to grow the project.
Every year from June 1 to the beginning of December, several hundred Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and Pacific Black turtles come to Matapalo Beach to nest. The peak arrival time is from August to October. Only female sea turtles return to the beaches where they hatched; male turtles never return to shore.
Turtle eggs are protected in a hatcheryOn patrol, we were watching for any movement or tell-tale tracks across the sand that signal the presence of a sea turtle laying her eggs. We also were watching for the possibility of poachers coming to steal turtle eggs or kill the turtles, though that isn’t as frequent at Matapalo as it is on Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast, assured Daniel Segura, head of the Matapalo Sea Turtle Conservation Project. “Here people don’t kill turtles for meat. Sometimes people steal eggs, but we have excellent relations with the Coast Guard and the community here,” Segura said. Turtle eggs are thought to be an aphrodisiac and are stolen for consumption and sale.
Sea turtles in the world are threatened by poachers, pollution in the water including plastics, fishing lines (causing entanglement and drowning) from shrimp nets and long-line fishing, the loss of habitat due to beach development, and global warming causing the sea water temperature to rise. Last year, volunteers at Matapalo found 20 dead turtles.
Turtle baby hatchingProject volunteers patrol 5.4km of Matapalo Beach every night during turtle season; they monitor the turtle hatchery 24 hours a day, and do beach clean-up. When a nest is found, volunteers wait for the sea turtle to return to the ocean, and then recover the eggs carefully in plastic bags to bring them to the hatchery to be safe from predators. Incubation lasts from 45 to 60 days and a nest will have from 80 to 150 eggs. Female turtles lay two to three nests per season.
Around 80 to 100 baby turtles hatch from the average nest. However, only one in 1,000 sea turtles survives to adulthood. On average, turtles live to about 50 or 60 years. According to ASVO data, they have freed tens of thousands of baby turtles over the years. To celebrate the turtle project and baby hatching, an annual Turtle Festival is held on Matapalo Beach in late November with music, food, parades, surfing contests and a small fair.
Volunteering:
Volunteers come from all over the world to help at the Matapalo Beach Turtle Conservation Project. The night I was visiting, there were 46 volunteers in house – from the USA, Canada, England, Spain, New Zealand, Belgium, Colombia, Venezuela, and Costa Rica. There is space for 60 volunteers. Help is needed in the turtle nursery, patrolling the beach, beach clean-up, and teaching turtle conservation to schoolchildren and the community. Volunteers stay from one week to six months (or longer). Corporate groups from Costa Rica are welcome for weekend volunteer projects.
Turtle babies heading to the seaTurtle Tours:
There are two tours. One involves an educational talk and turtle release, depending on whether there are births in the nursery. The other is an educational talk and patrol, where visitors walk a sector of the beach with a guide to hopefully see a turtle nesting. Tour groups can be from two to seven persons.
Tour cost is $25 per person; three or more in a group and the price lowers to $20 each. All funds go directly to the turtle project.
What to bring: Wear dark-colored clothes apt for walking the beach at night and comfortable shoes. Bring a water bottle, small flashlight (can only be used on the road to get to the beach and not out on the sand), and camera (no flash allowed). No smoking or perfumes allowed – turtles have a sensitive sense of smell and can be repelled by strong scents.
Where to stay in the area:
Portasol Rainforest Community entranceStay 5 minutes away from Matapalo Beach in pristine rainforest at Portasol Rainforest and Ocean View Community. The sustainable residential community has vacation rentals and properties for sale. Its 1,300 acres offer private trails in the jungle, rivers, waterfalls with natural pools, comfortable lodging, and spa services.
Portasol is a key supporter of the Matapalo Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Project. Said Portasol owner Guillermo Piedra about the project’s tour: “Offering this tour is very important for our guests, to inform them about the importance of preserving endangered species and their significance to the environment. The Matapalo Project is aligned with our community work and our mission and vision to work toward a better world.”
– See more at: http://news.co.cr/sea-turtles-arrive-on-costa-ricas-matapalo-beach/24086/#sthash.kskNg6vb.dpuf
This year “romeros” had the option of taking the train to get back to San José, however, lines to board the train it took some up to five hours before they could head home.
The Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer), the national railway, said that more than 15.000 people opted for the train for their return home, a number way beyond expectations.
The train service began operating at 10pm Thursday, where in minutes users could get a seat and head back after walking to the Basilica de los Angeles in Cartago.
But as the morning hours neared, the sheer volume of users made lines grow and users had to wait hours – up to 5 – before they could board the next train.
Many opted to the traditional bus service rather than wait.
This is the first year since 1995 that there has been train service between San José and Cartago. Miguel Carabaguíaz, Incofer president, told the press on Friday that they never imagined so many would be wanting to use the train.
For many it was a novelty.
Gerardo Carballo, inspector for the Consejo de Transporte Público (CTP), said, “the Incofer must prepare better for next year as more people prefer the train to the bus”.
Danish professor, Henrik Scharge, announced that his Geminoid-DK robot creation will visit Costa Rica on August 16 and 17, as part of the National Robotics Olympiad.
Geminoid-DK is a tele-operated Android in the geminoid series, it is made to appear as an exact copy of its master, Asc. Professor Henrik Scharfe of Aalborg University. Dr. Scharfe is also the principal investigator of the Geminoid-DK research project.
According to the website Geminoid-DK the robot is a teleoperated android and does not possess any intelligence of its own. The robot’s movement is restricted to the head and upper torso of the robot and executed by means of pneumatic actuators inside the robot. The robot is controlled by pre-programmed sequences of movements and by a system that relays movement of the operator to the robot and speech of the operator is transmitted to a speaker behind the robot.
Geminoid-DK is build and designed by Kokoro Inc., Tokyo with the design process supervised by Henrik Scharfe.
During a visit to Peru, Scharfe referred to the robot as “his alter ego.
The Geminoid-Dk will be in Costa Rica on August 16 and will be officially presented to the public on Saturday August 17, from 3pm to 5pm, at the Club Cariair in San Antonio de Belén.
The increased in the cost of mobile services announced by the Institutio Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) scheduled to take effect on August 1 hit a road block, the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel), the telecom regulator.
According to Sutel president, Maryelena Méndez, operators are to give the regulator one month notice of any pricing changes.
Méndez explained that users have the right to terminate their service contract without penalty if they do not accept the new conditions (prices and terms of service).
ICE announced on July 31 a price increase in text messaging and internet services for prepaid users, with prices taking effect the following day.
Notwithstanding the Sutel, ICE says it will continue to charge the new rates until the regulator renders a decision and suspends the increase.
ICE’s manager of client services, Jaime Palermo, said “we are not going to suspend the increase and will continue with the new rates announced on Wednesday”.
The major change that affects only pre-paid mobile services is the charge per minute to download files.
Despite the advice to leave pets at home, many romeros decided to take them for a walk, forcing the National Animal Health Service (Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal – Senasa) to attend 16 dogs during pilgrimage fro Thursday morning to Friday afternoon.
Of therse, one was unfortunate to have to be detained, abandonded and unable to walk, the rest of the animal attended to were able to complete the walk with their owners.
Animal Rescue say they found walking the side of the road, abandoned by its owne and with an injury to a leg.
Last year, Senaa said it had attended at least 40 animals abandonded during the pilgrimage.
After a meeting with the American-Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for the Western Hemisphere Walter Bastian confessed to being “fascinated by the subject of an inter-ocean canal in Nicaragua.
After the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry had said the proposed project was dead, a feasibility study is still in its preliminary stages. The canal would use the San Juan River that forms the border with Costa Rica as its waterway.
Bastian said he would talk with U.S. businessmen about the proposed canal. That ambitious Nicaraguan project would include a railroad line, an oil pipeline, two deep-water ports, two airfields and free trade zones beside passage for cargo ships larger than now can be accommodated by the Panama Canal at a cost of $40 billion.
Amcham president Diego Vargas told La Nacion, “Today 70% of the ocean traffic that goes through the Panama Canal moves from the east coast to the west coast of the United States. We’ve had communication with businessmen who are preparing (for use of the projected canal).”
Bastian cautioned that “it’s a very long range project with many decisions to take” the route, the ecologicial impact, I think for us, as with North American businesses, interest will be dominated by the subject of transparency, the contracts to be let but it’s an extremely interesting project.”
Costa Rican foreign policy opposes the construction of the canal on environmental grounds. Some companies have backed away from considering the construction because of this opposition.
The hitherto unknown Chinese company, HK Nicaraga Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd. (HKND Group) has been granted a sweeping concession for the design, development, engineering, financial agreements construction, property possession, operation and maintenance of the canal.
The political opposition in the deeply polarized Nicaragua charges that the company has no track record in construction. HK Group has promised that their feasibility study is being conducted by “international experts.”
Fourteen individuals with a history of sexual offences were barred from entering Costa Rica due to a warning system by the International Police (Interpol), allowing immigration officers to detect the foreigners before landing on Costa Rican soil.
Immediately, the foreigners were returned to their country of origin, said Freddy Montero Mora, viceministeo de Gobernación (deputy minister of the Interior).
Montero explained that immigration agents, accessing the Interpol database, were able to reject their entry into the country. The Interpol information database is maintained in Lyon, France, and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
The deputy minister explained that when an immigration officer queries the database, the system will generate an alert, a sign that the individual has history with the international police agency.
Montero added that Costa Rica immigration has had access to the database since April 29, after signing an agreement with the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) as is in use at the Juan Santamaria (San José), the Daniel Oduber (Liberia) and Tobias Bolanos (Pavas) airports, as well at the land crossings at Peñas Blancas (Nicaragua), Paso Canoas (Panama) and Sixaola (Panama) and the ports of Puntarenas, Caldera and Limón.
In addition to the 14 “sexual predators“, the same system, says Montero, has resulted in the arrest of two Costa Ricans and two Nicaraguans with outstanding warrants. The same system also allowed Costa Rican immigration officials to reject Seldon Lady the former CIA agents wanted by Italy, on July 19.
Montero added that apart from sexual offenders, individuals with links to drug trafficking and money launderding can be detected and rejcted.
Gustavo Mata, deputy director of the OIJ, added that the system allows detection of possible entry of violent Central American gang members
Marcos Jiménez, Mayor de Nicoya Foto por Daniel Peraza / Photo by Daniel Peraza
Marcos Jiménez, Mayor de Nicoya Foto por Daniel Peraza / Photo by Daniel Peraza
By: Wilberth Villalobos Castrillo, VozdeGuanacaste.com – With categorical words, Marcos Jimenez, mayor of Nicoya, referred to his possible nomination as legislator for Guanacaste for the National Liberation Party (PLN) during the 2014-2018 term.
Jimenez plans to make his candidacy official, depending on the outcome of the PLN internal election in San Jose on August 25th when the party’s candidates for legislator for Guanacaste are defined.
Jimenez would resign his current position as mayor, and the current vice mayor, Adriana Rodriguez, would occupy the position instead.
At the same time, Juan Marin will also be in the race to fill a legislative seat after his resignation in late June as minister of decentralization.
Jimenez was optimistic facing elections within the party despite not having the support of President Laura Chinchilla. “Doña Laura has vetoed me; that’s my advantage,” he said.
He added the reason: “The public opinion is distrustful of the presidential work, nor does she have good recognition from Costa Ricans.”
Regarding his election rival, Juan Marin, the mayor said “I think he owes a debt to the country and especially to Guanacaste because as former minister he was not able to decentralize the country.”
The Voice tried to obtain the version of Juan Marin, but it was not possible to get ahold of him after several calls to his phone numbers.
Last April 12, Daniella was born after only five months gestation, weighing only 675 grams and only 32 centimeters long, an incredibly tiny creature with internal organs and veins still developing. A sign was placed on her crib, “No Viable,” warning nurses not to waste their time. The child was doomed.
The third day after birth, Daniela’s parents, Viviana Moreira, 20, and Evelio Jimenez, 31, had already said goodbye. In the past 12 years, only 62% (289) of the 623 babies born after only five months’ gestation survived. The the odds did not account for several guardian angels masquerading as nurses.
Nurse Kattia Ramos, chief of nurses in the newborn section, was just getting off her shift that Friday when she spied Daneila and her pitiful sign. “How can it be,” she remembers asking herself, “that she doesn’t have an intravenous feed or anything?”
But Daniella’s veins were so tiny that the 3 to 5 centimeter needles were so large that they soon broke through her tiny veins, leaving her black and blue inside her arms within three days. Moreover, with deficient immune system, she soon had infections.
But, on that fateful third day, another angel, nurse Guiselle Hernadez with 22 years of experience, came on duty at 10 p.m. and saw Daniela for the first time. At two in the morning, a nurse said to her, “What a shame about this baby! She hasn’t eaten anything since two o’clock this afternoon.”
Hernandez wasn’t about to see a patient die of hunger and grabbed a needle to see if she could find a vein. She made it the first try. “I always thought that God was using us as an instrument,” she told La Nacion.
But at day seven, more complications appeared and specialist Dr. Jorge Acuña was worried. “We started to treat her but it wasn’t easy,” he remembers, “It’s normal for babies to lose weight the first two weeks but her loss wasn’t normal. You estimate that babies lose 15% of birth weight but she lost 30% and weighed 434 grams.”
Losing 30 to 40 grams per day, her body appeared pale and emaciated. She faced 80 days in an incubator but began to gain weight, much to the relief of the staff. Today, after 107 days in the hospital, she weighs two kilos (almost five lbs.)
Daniela is restless and many times pulls the leads to the machines that still tether her to life from her body. She eats a great deal, as if trying to make up for lost time, and sleeps in her parents’ arms.
Against all prediction, Daniela does not suffer the complication that afflict many premature babies — no lesions in the brain or trouble with eyesight. Dr. Acuña foresees a normal development for her and only warns that she should beware of colds.
“Much of the strenghth that we required was inspired by La Negrita”, said presidenta Laura Chinchilla Thursday afternoon, referring to the “force” required by her administration to govern in difficult and completes times.
Chinchilla said that despite the problems, in many areas they “making the grade”.
The statements were offered by the Presidenta Thursday afternoon, shortly before beginning her annual pilgrimae to the Basilica de los Angeles.
Costa Rica’s Irazú volcano is a bit of a hothead. New findings suggest that deep, hot magma can set off an eruption quickly, shooting through a “highway from hell.” The findings provide researchers with an extra tool for detecting an oncoming volcanic disaster.
Compared to the geologic timescales most volcanoes operate on, Costa Rica’s volcano Irazú has something of a short fuse. A new study, led by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, suggests the 1960′s eruption of Costa Rica’s largest stratovolcano was triggered by magma rising from the mantle over a few short months, rather than thousands of years or more, as many scientists have thought.
The new findings suggest that deep, hot magma can set off an eruption quickly, potentially providing researchers with an extra tool for detecting an oncoming volcanic disaster.
“If we had had seismic instruments in the area at the time we could have seen these deep magmas coming,” said Philipp Ruprecht, a volcanologist at Lamont-Doherty. “We could have had an early warning of months, instead of days or weeks.”
The Irazú towers more than 10,000 feet and covers almost 200 square miles, erupting approximately every 20 years with varying degrees of damage. The 1963 eruption lasted two years, killing 20 people, and burying hundreds of homes in mud and ash. The most recent eruption, in 1994, did almost no damage.
On March 19, 1963, the Costa Rican volcano Irazu began an eruption lasting into 1965. San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, was daily covered by additional ash. More photos from LA Times
The stratovolcano is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire. This is an area where oceanic crust is slowly sinking beneath the continents, producing some of the world’s most extreme volcanic activity. In the past, researchers believed that the mantle magma feeding these eruptions rose and lingered for long periods of time in a mixing chamber several miles below the volcano. In the case of Irazú, though, this magma may travel directly from the upper mantle, covering more than 20 miles in just a few months.
“There has to be a conduit from the mantle to the magma chamber,” said Terry Plank, the co-author of the new study, in a news release. “We like to call it the highway from hell.”
In order to learn a little bit more about this volcano, the researchers examined crystals of the mineral, olivine. These samples were found in the ashes of Irazú’s 1963 eruption. The crystals contained spikes of nickel. These particular spikes revealed that the erupted magma was so fresh that the nickel had not had a chance to diffuse. This showed that, in fact, it’s possible for magma to rise from the mantle to the surface extremely rapidly.
The findings could allow researchers to better predict volcanic eruptions. These forecasts are crucial for potentially saving lives. In fact, a mass evacuation in 2010 near Mount Merapi saved as many as 20,000 lives.
It’s likely that Irazú possesses a much shorter timespan for an eruption that both scientists and officials need to worry about. Seismographs could be placed along the flanks of volcanoes to help detect deep earthquakes, warning of an imminent eruption. For now, though, researchers and continuing to examine these volcanoes, discovering a little bit more about fast-rising magma.
Crystals of the mineral olivine provide the evidence for their findings. The crystals that separated from the ashes of Irazu’s 1963-1965 eruption were collected on a 2010 expedition to the volcano. Crystals are formed as the magma rising from the mantle cools. These crystals preserve the conditions in which they formed. Irazu’s crystals surprised the researchers by revealing spikes of nickel, a trace element found in the mantle. The presence of nickel in the crystals told the team some of the magma from Irazu was so fresh that the nickel had not had time to diffuse.
“The study provides one more piece of evidence that it’s possible to get magma from the mantle to the surface in very short order,” said John Pallister, who heads the US Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Disaster Assistance Program in Vancouver, Wash. “It tells us there’s a potentially shorter time span we need to worry about.”
Other large events have been linked to deep, fast-rising magma. For example, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in 1991, spewing so much gas and ash into the atmosphere that it cooled Earth’s climate. For weeks before the eruption, seismographs recorded hundreds of deep earthquakes that USGS geologist Randall White later attributed to magma rising from the mantle-crust boundary.
In another large event, a chain of eruptions at Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010 caused widespread flight cancellations across Europe. The eruptions also indicated some magma came from down deep. A 2012 study by University of Cambridge researcher Jon Tarasewicz examined small earthquakes set off by the eruptions, which suggested the magma in Eyjafjallajokull’s last two explosions originated 12 miles and 15 miles below the surface.
Before an eruption, volcanoes give off many warning signs. These signs include the cones bulging with magma, carbon dioxide and sulfur vent into the air, and enough heat is thrown off that satellites can detect their changing temperature. Tremors and other rumblings below ground can be detected by seismographs. In late October 2010, Indonesia’s Mount Merapi came to life, spurring officials to lead a mass evacuation credited with saving as many as 20,000 lives.
Predicting volcanic eruptions is not an exact science, however. It is unclear, even with more seismographs placed along the flanks of volcanoes to detect deep earthquakes, if scientists would be able to translate the rumblings into a projected eruption date. The biggest problem is many apparent warning signs do not lead to an eruption, putting officials in a bind over whether to evacuate nearby residents.
“[Several months] leaves a lot of room for error,” said Erik Klemetti, a volcanologist at Denison University who writes the “Eruptions” blog for Wired magazine. “In volcanic hazards you have very few shots to get people to leave.”
By looking for patterns between eruptions and the earthquakes that precede them, scientists may be able to narrow the window. The new study provides a real-world constraint for modeling how fast magma travels to the surface, as well. “If this interpretation is correct, you start having a speed limit that your models of magma transport have to catch,” said Tom Sisson, a USGS volcanologist based at Menlo Park, Calif.
In the ashes of arc volcanoes in Mexico, Siberia and the Cascades of the US Pacific Northwest, olivine minerals with nickel spikes similar to Irazu’s have been found, according to Lamont geochemist Susanne Straub. “It’s clearly not a local phenomenon,” she said.
The researchers are focusing their current efforts analyzing crystals from past volcanic eruptions in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Chile and Tonga. They are unsure, however, how many will bear Irazu’s fast-rising magma signature. “Some may be capable of producing highways from hell and some may not,” said Ruprecht.
