The World Games 2013 in the city of Cali, Colombia get underway tonight at 7:00 pm with the official declaration by President Juan Manuel Santos at the Pascual Guerrero Stadium.

The Games, which are held under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and whose President Jacques Rogge. The Opening Ceremony which will be attended by a crowd of 35,000 (sold out) will see more than 4,500 athletes and officials from 101 nations taking part in the event which runs through until August 4.

Ron Froehlich, President of the IGWA, said: “The World Games have undergone an enormous development as a multi-sport event in the new millennium.

“The ninth edition will prove itself as an important milestone.”

The first ever edition of the Games – the main international multi-sport event for sports or disciplines that are not contested at the Olympics but which aspire to be on the program – was held in Santa Clara, California, in 1981 and this year’s event will see 201 medal events in 26 official and five invitational sports contested across 25 venues.

In 2011, Cali – the third largest city in Colombia with a population of just under four million – was a host city for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and also staged the 1971 Pan American Games.

Rodrigo Otoya, President of Cali 2013, said: “We want to present ourselves as good hosts and welcome the world of sport to Colombia.”

Otoya went on to thank the more than 3,500 volunteers who will be on hand during the Games describing them as “the smiling face of our city and our country.”

Source: QColombia

The metropolitan intervention unit of the National Animal Health Service (SENASA in Spanish) in Costa Rica recently confiscated 179 gamecocks used by a clandestine fighting ring in San Jeronimo of Moravia, in the northeastern outskirts of San Jose. This action was supported by members of Fuerza Publica, the national police force in Costa Rica.

Assorted cockfighting paraphernalia and other implements of this illegal activity were also seized at the scene; this included: Medications such as antibiotics and stimulants, and the sharp spurs -also known as gaffs- and blades that the roosters are fitted with so that they can engage in torturous and deadly fighting matches that often culminate in their violent demise.

An order to immediately demolish the fighting ring establishment was issued on the spot, and SENASA will bring charges against the humans responsible for this ghastly ring. The charges will result in sanctions issued by SENASA’s own sentencing tribunal.

A Rural Tradition Against the Law

Chapter IX of Costa Rica’s Public Law number 8495 sets forth the infractions and sanctions against those who do not procure animal welfare according to technical and ethical rules. This general law gives authority to SENASA to crack down on cockfighting rings, which are considered an illicit activity in Costa Rica that endangers animal welfare.

Although cockfights date back to Costa Rica’s Spanish colonial days, the fact is that the activity has been deemed illegal and prohibited for several years. It is considered an unlawful and intentional affront to harm animals that has little to do with heritage.

The reason cockfighting and raising gamecocks is often practiced in rural communities is tactical more than traditional. In rural and remote areas of Costa Rica, it is easier for cockfighting organizers to ply their wicked trade in concealment, stay one step ahead of the law. This is a lucrative clandestine activity that is based on gambling and has nothing to do with rural traditions.

SENASA and Fuerza Publica mostly depend on tips from the community and from confidential informants to identify new cockfighting rings and take them down.

After a series of previous snubs in 2013 and delayed legislative review, a committee of 42 legislators in Costa Rica gave the green light to vessels from the United States Navy and Coast Guard to dock in the country. These ships, which are part of the Joint Patrol Agreement between the U.S. and Costa Rica to combat drug trafficking in the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts, will be able to dock from now until the end of 2013.

The bilateral maritime accord between the U.S. and Costa Rica has been the subject of much debate in the National Assembly. The administration of President Laura Chinchilla has been supportive of the Joint Patrol Agreement, but legislative approval is still needed for such matters in a country that has enjoyed life without a military force since 1949. Case in point: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman, which planned to dock in Golfito but was turned away since it lacked the permit to do so.

The snubbing of the USCGC Sherman was lamented by both the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica and President Laura Chinchilla, and it was exacerbated by the fact that a Colombian Navy vessel, the ARC Valle del Cauca, was docked in Puntarenas while training members of the National Coast Guard Service in our country. The ARC Valle del Cauca had permission to dock, the USCGC Sherman did not -even though it was part of the Joint Patrol Agreement. The problem was that legislators in Costa Rica dragged their feet to extend the approval of U.S. military vessels to dock.

How Much Military Help Does Costa Rica Need?

Approval of U.S. vessels to dock in Costa Rica includes disembarkation rights for military personnel to come ashore, and it comes at a time when the Constitutional Chamber (called Sala Cuarta, the country’s highest court) declared that the U.S. Blackhawk helicopters that were part of the massive security operation ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to our country lacked permission to fly over San Jose and actually disturbed the peace. It is also important to consider that, in 2013 the National Coast Service of Costa Rica and national law enforcement elements have been able to intercept tons of narcotics outside of scope of the Joint Patrol Agreement.

Those who oppose the presence of foreign military forces in Costa Rica also point out that old-fashioned, non-military police work also works in the fight against drug cartels; to wit: the displacement of the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) Mexican drug cartel. Others point to the extensive militarization of Panama’s security forces by the U.S., which does not seem to have the desired effect in curbing the flow of drugs into Costa Rica. Like Alex Sanchez of the Eurasia Review explained in his comprehensive analysis of Costa Rica: An Army-Less Nation In A Problem-Prone Region, our country does a lot better in matters of national security than its militarized neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean.

Source: La Prensa Libre (Costa Rica)

Before World War II, almost 75 percent of Costa Rica was covered by forest land. What happened in the next four decades was particularly damaging to the national ecosystem: The national forest coverage decreased to 21 percent.

In just 33 years, from 1950 to 1983, more than 46 percent of forest land in Costa Rica was lost due to lack of reforestation efforts. In the next 27 years, however, tree planting and forest conservation activities have managed to reclaim 26.3 percent of the lost forest areas. This amounts to a 52.3 percent forest density in Costa Rica as of 2010.

The figures above, cited by Cristina Mora Jiliuta of Amelia Rueda’s online news and discussion site Nuestra Voz (Our Voice), come from research performed by Ministry of the Environment (MINAE in Spanish) and the National Forestry Financial Fund (FONAFIFO) in Costa Rica.  The deep deforestation during the World War II and Cold War periods coincided with mass farming of coffee, sugar cane, and Africanized palm for cooking oil purposes.  These cash crops are quite lucrative; in fact, they are routinely traded as commodities on Wall Street.

Another cause of deforestation in Costa Rica was the lumber industry and the irresponsible clearing of acres upon acres of primary forest by logging interests. By 1987, it was clear that without decisive government intervention, Costa Rica’s forest would suffer the destructive fates dealt to countries such as Haiti and Nicaragua.

These days, however, MINAE and FONAFIFO have managed to reclaim a good portion of the forest land lost thanks to programs such as Payment for Environmental Services Program (PSE in Spanish) and the Strategy to Reduce Carbon Emissions Caused by Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+ in Spanish).  The PSE program has been particularly effective in this regard since it encourages participation of land owners.  The Costa Rica Star has previously written about this program, which can put cash in the pockets of land ownerswhose properties have portions of forest land.

Figures recently released by MINAE and FONAFIFO include a forecast for reclaiming up to 70,000 annual hectares in the next few years, with the ultimate goal of seeing Costa Rica’s forest coverage up to 60 percent.  This is in line with the Costa Rica – Carbon Neutral initiative that is expected to take effect in the year 2021. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, reforestation is the easiest way to combat climate change.

Public surveys commissioned by La Nacion and performed by UNIMER, as well as crime statistics compiled by the Ministry of Public Safety (MSP in Spanish), indicate that security has increased in Costa Rica in the last few years.

Although President Laura Chinchilla’s approval rate has plunged to the lowest levels in Latin America – a sad fact she shares with her Brazilian counterpart, President Dilma Rousseff- the current public opinion regarding crime and the statistics presented by the MSP show that the security efforts by the current administration have paid off.

President Chinchilla recently went on national television to highlight her administration’s work in improving public safety in Costa Rica. This has been one of the few high points of her mandate –another one is a national child care network for working-class families, which is incidentally very similar to a government initiative in Brazil. One of the first things Ticos, the people of Costa Rica, noticed when President Chinchilla took office was the number of Fuerza Publica (the national police force) officers that were deployed in the streets of Downtown San Jose, in busy bus terminals, crowded public spaces, and schools across the country. The visibility of these officers, who often walk the beat in pairs, contributed to an immediate reduction of crimes committed in flagrante delicto –common street crimes such as retail drug dealing, purse snatching, harassment, assaults, and others.

Positive Crime Figures in Costa Rica

Law-abiding Ticos love to see Fuerza Publica cops walking the beat, and they have also noticed the number of women joining the force; in fact, this was one of the highlights of President Chinchilla’s recent message to the people of Costa Rica. At the beginning of her term, analysts and observers in Costa  Rica wondered home much this increased police presence will cost, and they had every reason to be worried: The national deficit has increased considerably, and the country has gotten in debt for the purpose of funding national security effort.

In a recent interview with Diario Extra, MSP Minister Mario Zamora explained that the murder rate in Costa Rica has decreased to 8.9 from 11.5 per 100,000 people, which means that there are 150 less murders per year compared to 2010. Another figure he highlighted is the fact that more than 80 percent of Fuerza Publica officers patrolling on foot earn more than 400,000 colones per month (about $800), a sharp improvement from nearly three years ago. All officers, including those who belong to special units such as the Tourism Police, have access to Kevlar gear and service weapons.

The National Coast Guard Service has also experienced strengthening during this administration, and there is a revival of old-fashioned police work tactics that seem to have a great effect in the 21st century, and they are even helping to disrupt Mexican drug cartels.  Activities such as walking the beat and reaching out to the community with charitable work are fostering good relations between Ticos, Fuerza Publica and other police units.

Monsanto, the global agro-industrial corporate giant that is used to having its way around farming operations around the world in the name of big profits, is experiencing one setback after another. The next disappointment for Monsanto in the near future could arrive in Costa Rica via the country’s Constitutional Chamber (informally known as Sala Cuarta).

A few weeks ago, Costa Rica’s highest court accepted a request for judicial review by several concerned parties over the gains Monsanto had made in the country with the approval of some of their transgenic corn seeds for cultivation. It all started in early July, when the acting Head of General Procurement of Costa Rica, Ana Lorena Brenes, issued a report that echoed the sentiments of citizens’ groups and organizations opposed to the spread of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our country.

Pulling a Fast One

The report by General Procurement Officer Brenes indicated the strong doubt cast by the decision of Costa Rica’s National Technical Committee on Bio-security (CTNBio in Spanish), which essentially approved a request by an agricultural company to plant several hectares with the GMOs MON-603, MON-88017 and MON-89034. It is important to note that the company in question, PL Semillas, is a subsidiary of Delta Pine Land, which itself is a shell company that acts a subsidiary of Monsanto. Using this corporate hodgepodge is part of Monsanto’s modus operandi since the company is not welcome in Costa Rica and therefore lacks an office here.

Although there is a strong possibility that Monsanto used corporate obfuscation and bastardy, as well as greasing of palms, to get the uncharacteristic CTNBio approval, the report by Brenes omitted such speculation and got straight to the heart of the matter: The people of Costa Rica were denied their fundamental right to access important administrative information about the nature of the request by PL Semillas. It is inconceivable that CTNBio would have so easily approved a request to plant MON-603, a transgenic corn strain that France has strongly opposed to due to concerns about what the crop does to the soil in the long run.

What Comes Next

Those who signed the appeal against Monsanto before Sala Cuarta, who include indigenous people of Costa Rica, environmental activists, farmers, and legislator Jose Maria Villalta from the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) political party -who is also a presidential candidate, are confident that their the court will rule in their favor. After all, they have legislation against transgenic crops on their side, as well as the fact that 59 out of 81 municipalities in Costa Rica have adopted ordinances to prevent cultivation of harmful GMOs on their jurisdictions.

Costa Rica is not the only nation that has proactively rejected Monsanto. In mid-July, the company confirmed that it will retreat its efforts of marketing new engineered seeds in Europe; this was confirmed by a press release from Greenpeace International. An investigative journalism report by Chris Parker in the Miami New Times, “How Monsanto is Terrifying the Farming World,” concludes that despite the company’s stronghold in the United States agricultural industry, things are turning around and opposition to transgenic crops is gaining momentum from Florida to California.

Legislators approved on Tuesday, in first debate, the Ley de Monitorio Arrendaticio, an initiative that streamlines the tenant eviction process for non-payment of rent.

The vote was 39 in favour and three against, with second and final reading set for next Monday.

The amendment provides that a landlord can take action against a payment for failure to pay rent, after two months of missed payments.

The changes also introduces the oral modality in such litigation, allowing an eviction resolution in months instead of a year or more.

Against the changes is José María Villalta, of the Frente Amplio party, who fears that the new rules will allow landlords to trample the rights of tenants, and force families out on the street.

Independent activist, Diego Grooscors, will begin today collecting the 160.000 signatures required to present to the Legislative Assembly a bill to legalize marijuana consumption.

Grooscors explained that the proposal is based on citizen initiatives presented in the past but never made to the Legislative floor for  discussion.

The text of the proposed bill, according to Grooscors, is to reform the law on narcotis, psychotropic substances, unauthorized drug and related activities, as well the general health law. The changes would remove the punishment for marijuana consumption if and when it is for recreational or therapeutic uses.

Grooscors will be explaining his proposal in detail  on Thursday at the auditorium of the Universidad Latina starting at 9:30am.

Another group, the Movimiento Cannabis Medicinal Costa Rica, is also preparing a bill that ais to regulature the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The mayor of Cartago, Ronaldo Rodríguez, announced on Monday that the use of tents outside the Basilica de los Angeles is prohibited during the “romeria”.

“Not enough space” was the reason given by Rodríguez who expects almost two million (depending on who is counting) people to descend onto his town between July 31 and August 2, to pay homage to the Virgen de los Angeles, an annual tradition in Costa Rica.

In addition, the mayor was clear that sale sale of alcoholic bevarages is stricly prohibited in Cartago’s Central District between 12:01am on August 1 and noon on August 2.

Good fences make good neighbours. It is easier to be friendly with your neighbor if neither of you trespasses upon the other’s property or privacy. For decades that hasn’t been the case between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, who at one time or another have been in a squabble over territory.

The latest is a claim by Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Enrique Castillo, who on Monday accused Nicaragua of offering oil concessions in Costa Rican territory.

Castillo, in his letter to his Nicaraguan counterpart, demands that “Nicaragua not grant concessions for the oil exploration of blocs of land or maritime areas in the Pacific Ocean nor the Caribbean that cross into Costa Rican waters”.

Costa Rica demands the “immediate withdrawl” of all promotional materials relating to concessions listed in the folder “Petroleum  Promotional  Folder  of  Nicaragua“, produced by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Energy and Mines.

According to Castillo, a total of 18 blocks in the Pacific and 55 in the Caribbean offered by Managua violate Costa Rica’s borders.

Costa Rica again describes the act one of arrogance and typical of “an expansion policy” by the Ortega government.

“This is another manifestation of the expansionist policy of Nicaragua, of arrogance in its relations with Costa Rica. A further act of hostility, and we are responding today (yesterday) with a note of protest”, Castillo said.

Costa Rica’s ambassador to Nicaragua, Harold Rivas, declined to offer his point of view, simply noting that he received the letter from his boss and was passing it on to Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Santos. Rivas added that his role is one of a “bridge” between San José and Managua.

In 2011,Costa Rica declared a three-year moratorium on oil exploration.

The two neighbours are still locked into battle over Nicaragua’s 2010 alleged invasion of the Isla Calero, an area on the Caribbean coast that both countries claim to be “in their” territory.

That case is before the International Court in The Hague. Both countries have agreed to honour the decision of the court when it is handed down.