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Chinchilla Disturbed By US Spying On Costa Rica
Presidenta Laura Chinchilla was fuming Tuesday, saying publicly “no me gusta” (I don’t like it) following reports by the Brazilian newspaper O Globo that Costa Rica is among the countries spied on by the United States.
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“I as a Costa Rican of a disarmed democracy, as is Costa Rica, I am disturbed by this, I don’t like it…” was among the comments by Chinchila during a press conference on the subject.
Amid the scandal sparked by allegations of Edward Snowden, the newspaper said that according to documents from the National Security Agency (NSA) spying actions were performed also on Latin American countries.
The newspaper said Costa Rica was under constant surveillance by the Americans.
The news of the US spying activity was taken hard by Costa Rica officials Tuesday morning, learning that the “Switzerland of the Americas” was the target of US electronic surveillance.
According to O Globo, the spying on several Latin American countries has been ongoing since 2008 to present day.
“It undermines the right to privacy”, said Chinchilla.
Erdward Snowden, a former technical contractor for NSA and a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) leaked the information, primarily to Glenn Greenwald of London’s The Guardian, in spring 2013 while employed as an “infrastructure analyst” at NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. The Guardian in turn published a series of exposés in June–July 2013 and revealed programs such as the interception of US and European telephone metadata and the PRISM and Tempora Internet surveillance programs.
Prism supposedly allowed the NSA access to emails, telephone calls, and online conversations via Facebook, Google and Microsoft, among others.
According to O Globo, the NSA targeted most Latin American countries in its spying programs, with Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico ranking among those of highest priority for the U.S. intelligence agency. The newspaper said the NSA programs went beyond military affairs to what it termed “commercial secrets”, that included petroleum in Venezuela and energy in Mexico.
Also swept up in what O Globo termed as U.S. spying were Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
O Globo also reported this week that the CIA and the NSA jointly ran monitoring stations to gather information from foreign satellites in 65 countries, including five in Latin America, citing documents dating from 2002 leaked by Snowden.
The so-called Special Collection Service operated from the capitals of Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and Brazil.
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Fiscal Promises To Results “Soon” in Jairo Mora Murder
Jorge Chavarria, Fiscal General de la Republica (Chief Prosecutor) said on Tuesday that judicial agents have “identified the suspects” in the murder of environmentalist Jairo Mora, in Limón last month.
The Fiscal would not elaborate on the details of the investigation, just promising to announce results “soon”.
Speaking on live radio Tuesday morning, Chavarria reiterated his promise to environmental groups of action in the case, and responsing to pressure by Europeaon legislators and the International media to quickly resolve the case.
Moira was killed while working in a turtle nesting area and refuge in the country’s Caribbean coast.
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Costa Rica Had No Problem With Cuba
Costa Rica wasn’t especially good in their Gold Cup opener, but they didn’t have to be. As sloppy as they were in front of goal and in the midfield, Cuba could never make them pay because as poor as the Ticos were, the Cubans were five times worse.
So in the end, when Costa Rica walked away with a 3-0 win, it wasn’t so much worth celebrating for the Ticos as it was three points earned and a match needing to be forgotten.
The first half was a series of Costa Rica misses, be it on passes or shots, and a energetic, but disorganized Cuba team doing their best to pressure. Unsurprisingly, that combination led to an awful opening 45 minutes and halftime was welcomed by the dozens of fans in attendance and thousands of empty seats waiting to be filled by Americans for the second match of the doubleheader.
Michael Barrantes finally gave the match just after the break when he notched his first goal of the match. It broke Cuba and put them on cruise control to a win, no matter how sloppy it was. Jairo Arrieta doubled their lead in the 71st minute and Barrantes added another in the 77th minute to cap the match.
With the win, Costa Rica jumped to the top of Group C with three points.
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1.700 Jobs Up For Grabs At UH Job Fair
The Universidad Hispanoamericana in Llorente de Tibás will be holding a job fair Wednesday (July 10) and Thursday (July 11), looking to fill 1.700 new job positions.
Originally the university had said 1.100 jobs were up for grabs, but a last minute announcement increased the number by 600.
Companies that will be taking part in the job fair are: Pizza hut, ITS, Grupo Belén, Unilever, Banco Lafise, Bank of América, Amazon, Tims, Is corporación, Café Orgánico, HP, Mckency & Co, Deloitte, Strena, Epa, IBM, GAP, Lenguaje and 360 Joven, among others.
The fair opens at 11am and runs until 7pm each day, entrance is free.
For more information call 2241 9090, extension 103 and 818, their website at: http://www.uhispanoamericana.ac.cr/content/NuevasSecciones/Eventos/FeriadeEMPLEOUH2013.aspx and their Facebook page.
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3.284 Drivers Fined During First Week of Vacation
For a few thousand this has been an expensive mid-year vacation due to their bad driving habits. The Policía de Tránsito reports that they have issued more than 3.000 (3.284 to be exact) traffic tickets in the first seven days of the two week vacation period that ends on July 14.
German Marín, director of the Policía de Tránsito, said with the increased traffic flow so will there be an increase in the roadside checks and patrols.
Of primary focus by traffic officials is the Ruta 32 (San José – Limón), the Ruta 27 (San José – Caldera), Interamericana Norte (Ruta 1), the Inteamericana Sur (Ruta 2) and the Costanera (the Pacific coast highway).
The majority are for speeding, careless driving, not wearing seat belts and talking on a cellular phone.
Drunk driving is a major concern for traffic officials, especially in the last days of the partying.
Traffic flow back into the Central Valley is expected to be high this weekend. The Ruta 27 will be using reversible lanes into San José Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
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Presidenta Freezes Pay Hike Of High Ranking Officials
For the fourth year in a row, presidenta Laura Chinchilla, froze the salaries of high ranking officials.
The letter, signed on Monday by the presidenta, keeps the salaries at the same level when she took office in 2010.
Casa Presidencial said that the pay freeze applies to the Presidenta, the two vice-presidents, all ministers and vice-ministers and chief executives of the autonomous institutions like the INS, ICE, AyA, etc.
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Six Same-Sex Couples Ready To Get Hitched
On Monday the amendments to the Ley General de la Persona Joven (Law of the Young Person) became effective upon publication in the official government newsletter, La Gaceta.
One of the amendents is the allowing of same-sex unions.
The Movimiento Diversidad will present on Wednesday six legal actions before the family courts to recognize domestic partnerships.
Of the six couples, four are unions between men and two between women
Article 242 of the Codigo de Familia (Family Code), which was not modified directly, gives legal status to unions between men and women only.
The argument of the detractors of the possible loophole argue that in the absence of a direct modification, civil unions between same-sex couples is a matter of interpretation.
Same-sex couples are ready to go to court, arguing that the new law (Ley General de la Persona Joven), overrides the former. Opponents, on their side, say they will present their case before the Constitutional Court.
Marco Castillo, president of the Movimiento Diversidad, said the couples have the full backing of his organization,
The Ley de la Persona Joven was approved by Legislators on June 24, 2013, was subsequently signed by Presidenta Laura Chinchilla last Monday and as of today is in full effect following yesterday’s publication in La Gaceta.
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Costa Rica aims to expand tropical fruit portfolio in Chile
Costa Rican commercial export promotion agency PROCOMER has its sights set on opening up the Chilean market for rambutan shippers,building on success in the South American country with pineapples and passionfruit.
In Costa Rica the rambutan is also known as “mamon”.
PROCOMER Southern Cone director Marcial Cheverri told www.freshfruitportal.com the Chilean market was very “interesting and attractive”, with room for diversification since the first Costa Rican pineapples arrived in September 2012.
“Currently, we have about six or seven Costa Rica companies active in the market, which up until April had achieved around US$1.5 million in pineapple sales,” Cheverri said.
“Markets took a step and now pineapples are delivered peeled and packaged. They can also be used to make jams, utilize the shells, make jelly, and for different processes in the kitched such as marinating – there are many uses for pineapples and we want to support this in the Chilean market.
“We have also started the entry process for fresh rambutans a – project that is pending – and we hope soon to have the first Chilean rambutan exports.”
Cheverri highlights that rambutans are currently in the Chilean market in conserved form.
“The rambutan is a small fruit with a lot of sweetness. Here in Chile I’ve seen it in syrup, of Asian origin. However, being canned and with syrup, the flavor and texture of the fruit vary a lot.
“What we want is to promote the fresh fruit as the rambutan is a very exotic fruit and with it we expect to settle in the Chilean market.”
Source: FreshFruitPortal.com
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Arias Criticizes Presidenta Chinchilla, “Not Even A Call From Her”
Emphatic, sure of his words and knowing what he is talking about, former president Oscar Arias Sanchez, strongly criticized the way presidenta Laura Chinchilla is managing the country’s direction.
Chinchilla was Vice-President and minister of Justice during the Arias 2006-2010 administration. Arias, a two time president and Nobel Peace Prize winner considered Chinchilla, for some years, his right hand.
Click here for the video: http://www.repretel.com/sites/default/files/23_VTR_LAURA_MD_qtp.mp4
Speaking on Repretel news television, Arias now says that Chinchilla does not know how to govern and said he regrets having supported and “pushing” her to the presidency.
Just a few years back, Aria had nothing but praise for doña Laura.
The former president said he had good advice for her, based on his experience, but she never took him up on it, not even a call from her,
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QTips: Chicken Proofing Your Garden
If you live in the city of San José, you may think it unlikely you will need to chicken proof your garden. But, don’t take that to the bank.
If you live areas like Pavas, Sabana or Escazú, for example, chickens to do run loose. In rural areas, you will see chickens by the side of the road. So, whatever the case, if you are into gardening you should chicken proof it.
And why you say?
Aggressive beaks and scratching feet can decimate a garden quickly. If there are chickens running loose in your area, they are going to destroy your garden.
Chicken wire is your friend. A simple collar of chicken wire around a small plant will discourage chickens if they have enough to eat. To give the chicken wire structure, use a tomato cage or a couple of stakes.
Need something more? Check out hardware cloth. Sturdier than chicken wire, this wire mesh can be used to protect newly planted seeds. Cut out a square, and cut in a few inches at each corner. Bend the flaps bent down so it stands up off the ground, and weigh it down with bricks. This piece is protecting a bed of newly planted perennial onions. The chickens are unlikely to eat the onions, but they could hurt the new plantings by scratching in the freshly dug soil.
Get serious with bricks and stones. An aggressive chicken can scratch smaller stones out of the way, but a ring of bricks or larger stones around the base of a plant can discourage scratching. This method is especially important in newly planted containers, because the chickens love nothing better than to kick the loose soil out of a pot.
Get weeds to do the work. Yes, even weeds can help protect your plants. When you pull out weeds, you make patches of bare dirt that draw chickens like a magnet. Once they’ve stripped out worms and bugs, they lie in the dirt and pack it down to make dust baths.
With notes from Modern Farmer
Plants just for the chickens. Bushes and low-growing trees can provide shelter for chickens to escape from predators. On hot days, they spend a lot of time scratching and dozing in the deep shade under the bushes. It helps to plant at least one evergreen so the chickens have cover
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Pagan Festival Virgin of the Sea Celebrated in Puntarenas
Every July devoted Catholic Costa Ricans gather in Puntarenas to take part in the celebretations of the pagan festival, Virgen del Mar (Virgin of the Sea).
This year marked the 100 years since the miracle of the virgin of the sea in Puntarenas was recorded. The centenary was commemorated with a special church mass and the tradicional procession by ferry, along the coast of Puntarenas, the image of the virgin.
Throughout the month there are activities in Puntarenas led by the Catholic church.
This popular celebration, first held in 1913, consists of fishing boats and yachts decorated with lights and flags and sail around the harbour. Thousands of locals flock to celebrate and witness the blessing of commercial fishing boats by the local priest.
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Crisis in Presidenta’s Image is Responsibility of All Cabinet Ministers: Minister of Communications
The minister of Communications, Carlos Roverssi, speaking on national radio Monday morning on the image of Presidenta Laura Chinchilla, said that the crisis of the image of the government, described as the worst in the last six governments by a public opinion poll, is the responsibility of “each and every one of us (the ministers)”.
The poll was taken by Unimer for the Spanish language daily La Nacion.
Roverssi said it is unfair that “it all falls on the Presidenta”.
The minister said that the Governing Council (Cabinet) will discuss on Tuesday “rectifying the mistakes we’re making”.
The spokesperson for the Presidenta assures that the government will meet almost everything promised and that anyone who cheers the survey results “is not a good Costa Rican”.
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End of pineapple production this year faster than expected
Costa Rica knows the so-called ‘natural phenomenon of fruit’. From May to the end of July there is an uncontrollable growth spurt in fruit crops. The production of pineapple doubles, followed by a decrease in production in the months of August and September.
“During this period of abundance, prices fall and traders try to sell the fruit to households with special offers and discounts. The phenomenon of the growth spurt this year was very short; only 4 to 5 weeks. The decline in production started in week 23 and will likely last until week 28,” explains Ileana Chaves, of Frucori Comercializadora SA.”
Comercializadora Frucori S.A. is a manufacturing and exporting company in Costa Rica, trading in fresh pineapples from the Golden brand (MD2). The company has a production area of 170 hectares (and wants to expand to 200 hectares). 95% of its production is exported to Europe and 5% to the US. The price in Europe is more stable than in recent years, with between 8.5 and 11 Euro per box. In week 25, the highest price is expected.
The fruit produced by Frucori S.A. is GlobalGAP and Tesco Nurture’s Choice certified. The company is currently gunning for a Huella the Carbono Neutro Certificate.
Source: Frucori.com/\
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Have We Been Abandoned By Government?
We know that we have been duped. The question now is if we have been abandoned?
Here we go again, the season of “It’s all about me politics.” The hunting season where the wanna be are grouped together for more of the same macro disenfranchisement that has permeated this country since 1954.
What is going to make me nausea and lost is one more time all the worn out battle cries of no more dictators, freedom of speech, transparency, an open democracy, no weapons of any kind and a country of free expression, justice for all and we lead the world in sustainable environment. (Sounds like Shangri-La with an edge.)
And, that is the hook that brought the Quakers here in 1954 as well as tourists in 2013. Albeit far less than expected.
As we now see our country, no wonder the Quakers are hunkered down in the cloud forest of Monteverde as it might be one of the few bastions of civilized locals in Costa Rica.
Contemporary Costa Rica argues the evils of gun ownership, while members of the congress are busy voting themselves the right to have three guns each and the Lord only knows what the ministers and why the president needs to holster and shoot.
When our elected officials are allowed to carry guns and fire; that scares me, especially since many of them only learned how to send email a few years ago. What do they fear? Another Pepe Figueres 1948 revolution, an uprising of the people perhaps, an invasion from Nicaragua, the U.S. Costa Guard or…homegrown violent crime? But the mystery is why three guns.?
After years and years of money in the bank, (Millions but millions of USD) the ministry of roads is building only one, not two or three or four, actual roads. With all those funds only one. All this is critical to the tourism industry which has been replaced by mega – mega deals such as a new refinery, and gold mines; oh yeah, let’s not forget the oil exploration idea. The rest of the money is in the bank and is used for……I have no idea and neither does anyone else.
A lawyer representing doña Laura has made it pretty clear that she will not tolerate being criticized or defamed on “social media” which covers a lot of territory. (Defamation was never defined, but whatever it is, we cannot do it.) And, the lady has fallen back on her promise of press freedom’s sword. So let’s have a Chinchilla Day and celebrate all of her lustrous achievements. A homage, as one would say, with a 30% popularity rate. (Maybe an hour or so of gallo pinto and my favorite, cold Imperial beer will we cover it and she will lighten up?)
Meanwhile 11,000 + people in Guanacaste drink public water laced with arsenic and that goes unabated. (Really, arsenic in the water and not so little.) That and running over pedestrians seems to be Costa Rica’s answer to the birth control problem while also meeting Catholic liturgy.
We have a public, a highly touted public healthcare system known as the CAJA which is like James Bond 007; a license to kill. And third, behind politics, corruption and soccer, it is the national sport to cheat that system by and avoid the premiums rendering healthiness impotent.
For a shock, go to Ticoblogger.com and learn who have paid into the CAJA and the companies or government organizations that have elected not to pay in to it. Some are enormous sums of money in any country. The employees pay (9%), but the empresarios from all sorts of businesses have forgotten t5o pony up.
A presidential candidate Dr. Hernandez who was the director of the children’s hospital and when asked why so many and unusual mortality’s occurred in post natal cardiology in babies, he smiled and replied, “Everyone must die some time.” (Hell of an answer!)
Doctor, “Not my child.”
Actually, in the sometimes seedy world of call centers, sports books, casinos and even some recognized industry, Johny Araya lamented that the trend is to contract employees rather than put them on the payroll so the the worker only pay 9% of salary or the minimum called (Voluntario) while the government and corporations are exempt of their 21% contributions to good health. The government has never said pay up. The right to health, good healthcare is a developed country “thing” but not Costa Rica and not even the United States.
A side bar: Most call centres, sports books, casinos, etc. pay no taxes and keep earned income offshore while importing only funds for payroll. That is unless they are laundering millions under the noses or with the assistance of the government.
In La Nación there was a photo of people, all of lower income working class attempting to obtain scholarships for their Children. (These are not like scholarships to Harvard or Stanford) but rather for school uniforms, books and transportation.
These are families who want education, who are verified by seven different agencies to qualify, who believed doña Laura when she said, “FONABE cannot fail us this year, “Well it has turned into few if any so called scholarships for the poor and then with great fanfare the government laments, “what must we do to bring this country to an acceptable standard of education for all?”
More than ever youngsters are dropping out of schools no matter how hard parents and indeed communities try to change the tide. But again, another government failure!
It is the local level that elects presidents and while Liberación most certainly has the lead and Johnny Araya is the candidate of choice, if elected, he runs the highest risk of street protest, perhaps violence and the worst of all, a perception of a “king”.
Doña Laura, as the government, has alienated a large segment of citizens because she never really took care of them but rather took care of her determined political separation of Oscar Arias, apparently not so qualified cronies of which 70% have left their posts for one reason or another, and an overwhelming poor report card of ministers, autonomous ministers and slow, incomprehensible decision making which has mystified all of us…the people.
Shame on me, shame on us, shame on those who live here who remain passive as the government simply abandons or most basic needs.
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Network of High Profile Women Sell Sex To Prisoners in La Reforma
- Adaptación Social is investigating a powerful network that operates in La Reforma prison
Well known entrepreneurs, television personalities and models are part of the “pre-pagos” (paid sex workers) for inmates at the La Reforma prison.
These women provide sexual services for a variety of prisoners, some well off, able to afford “top shelf”, while others more modest, have to do with less quality.
The prison system is said to be investigating this group of women who “take care” the needs of the men, who depending on their wallet in addition to sexual services on the inside, manage their affairs on the outside that can include collecting rents on rental properties and business affairs.
Costa Rica’s (self billed) best selling newspaper , the Diario Extra, claims to have a list of women among which are TV presenters, models, professionals and dancers who regularly visit prisoners in exchange for hefty sums of money.
Although mostly wives, mothers, sisters and girlfriends of the inmates visit on visiting day, the rules allow anyone to visit.
The newspaper says it has records that among the women, posing as relatives, who visit on Saturdays and Sundays are prostitutes who charge ¢50.000 (US$100) to have sex with prisoners. Some waive the cash payment in return for protection and whatever.
The “business partnership” is apparently known to prison authorities. La Reforma prison manager, Manrique Sibaja, confirms that there is an ongoing investigation, of what is not a secret.
“We have suspicions but have to yet prove anything or identify the group(s) behind it”, says Sibaja.
Presumed is that the inmates can choose from a “catalogue” consisting of photographs of women who allegedly work in real estate, and charge a fee for the prison visit, which is arranged through intermediaries.
The Diario Extra says it was contacted by an inmate, an alleged drug trafficker, who confirms he has a network of women providing sexual services to inmates and that the cost depends on the inmate and their needs.
The publication said it is withholding the name of the drug trafficker, nor did it publish the name of a “famous and well known model” that is a regular visitor.
Prison authorities say that up 1.300 visitors are admitted between Saturday and Sunday each week to visit a loved one. And that some women arrive dressed very provocatively. Women dressed “too provocative” are asked to change.
“Many women arrive for the visit in skimpy clothes. Our job is to ensure that there are no minors”, said Sibaja.
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Budovksy’s Proxy Wife Called By FBI To Declare
The long arm of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reaching out to the Costa Rican wife of Arthur Budovsky, the alleged mastermind behind the US$6 billion dollar money laundering operation that was Liberty Reserve.
The woman, a vendor outside the immigration offices in La Uruca, San José, who was paid ¢200.000 colones (US$400) by Budovsky so that he could obtain Costa Rican citizenship, has been asked to appear in the Unites States to answer questions by FBI agents.
“I got a called in by the Fiscalia (Costa Rica’s prosecutor’s office), never did I imagine FBI agents would be present to talk to me”, Yessenia Valerio told the media.
Valerio explains that despite all the controversy surrounding her being Budovsky’s “official” wife, her life remains as before and has no qualms on divorcing the foreigner.
“This is all done and over. I have to continue working, nobody has given me anything. I have to work to support my family, and I am clear I am not going to get anything of being his wife, something for him to become a Costa Rican citizen, Valerio told Diario Extra.
Javier Vargas, the lawyer representing the vendor of “empanadas”, said “we will be in the U.S. in the coming days in order to give a full declaration, but will continue to fight for any assets that my client has a right to”.
The lawyer added that U.S. authorities will be paying for travel expenses.
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Traffic Cameras Will Be Back Soon…
With the ability to notify drivers of traffic infractions, the Consejo de Seguridad Vial (COSEVI) can now set their eyes on reviving the highway traffic camera program.
The Ley de Transito that went into effect on October 2012 allowed the creation of a Dirección Electrónica Vial (DEV) – a database of email contacts – that can be used to “officially” notify speeding drivers picked off by the traffic cameras. The DEV will also be used for all “official” notifications.
If you will recall, it was two years ago when the COSEVI installed and put into operation a series of traffic cameras to control speeding on the major routes. The program was suspended within weeks, when drivers caught speeding questioned the legality of the fine.
Earlier this year, on two separate occasions, the COSEVI announced the cameras were coming back in March and the April.
Some – thousands – paid their fines promptly, many more didn’t. Nor did they heed the notices published in the local papers. Finally, all was forgiven, awaiting a new law. Those who paid reinforced that in Costa Rica it does not pay to be first in anything or obey laws. See It Doesn’t Pay To Be The First in Costa Rica In Anything.
The new Ley de Transito requires every licensed driver to register their email with the COSEVI. The email will then be used for notification by the COSEVI. Drivers who don’t register their email by October 26, for simplicity sake, will be assigned one. The assignation will mean that COSEVI will have duly notified the driver, even though the driver never got any notification.
According to German Valverde, director of the COSEVI, all that is missing now is a proposal from the state telecom, Radiográfica Costarricense (RACSA).
Valverde did not give a date when the cameras will begin operating again.
To register you email with the COSEVI see this post.
Source: Traffic Law Costa Rica
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Not A Good Time For Araya To Have Married, Says Astrologer
According to famous astrologer Mario vannucci, who currently lives in Mexico, it would have been better for former San José mayor, Johnny Araya and his belovd Sandra Leon, to wait to marry.
Vannucci says these are not good days for the couple to be marrying, the astrologer say it would have been better after Saturday July 20.
The couple married on Friday, July 5.
“The only thing I do not like is that Mercury is in retrograde, which is the planet of communication, thus it is not recommended until July 20 to you sign a contract of any kind. I hope that’s not going to hinder the marriage, ” he La Teja by telephone.
In the experience of the astrologer, couples who marry during this period have very little miscommunication.
“I hope your marriage is based on love and not on political interests,” he added, referring to rumours that marriage took place so that Johnny can have a First Lady when he is elected president.
As to the elections, Vannucci has no doubt that Johnny will be the next president.
“She is more sentimental than he. He is an entrepreneur and she will be an emotional support”, says Vannucci.
He added that men always working with the power have a need for a person to help them with their spiritual balance and that will be the main role of Sandra in the relationship, especially now at the start of the election campaign.
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Cargo Hijacking Leads to Major Losses in Latin America
The hijacking of cargo moved over land causes serious economic damage to countries across Latin America, according to a new report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), which shines a light on the impact of “terrestrial piracy.”
The report found that Mexico and Brazil are among the countries where overland cargo transport was most at risk, reported EFE. Most criminal hijackings of cargo transport occur on highways, although attacks on trains are also common. In both cases, attacks occur predominantly in urban areas, during the daytime, and on weekends.
Ana Cristina Sierra, an investigator at the Federation of Colombian Insurers’s Transportation Chamber, indicated that cargo hijacking interrupts supply chains within Colombia, and that 60 percent of shipping accidents were caused by criminal activity, reported El Colombiano. According to the police, cars are the most frequently stolen goods, followed by electronic devices, home appliances, and textiles.
While police registered 318 cases of freight hijacking during 2012, which amounts to a 7.7 percent drop from 2011, insurance companies have recorded much higher incident rates, with one firm recording 500 cases of theft or failed arrival in one year.
Cargo robbery is a lucrative business in Latin America and is strongly connected to organized crime. In addition to causing heavy losses to affected businesses, the theft and smuggling networks that engage in “terrestrial piracy” are also frequently involved in the trafficking of other illicit products, such as drugs, weapons, and counterfeit currency.
In Mexico, attacks on cargo trucks resulted in the loss of around US$380 million between 2008 and 2011, forcing trucking businesses to try and adapt and outsmart the thieves through tactics such as travelling in convoy. Large criminal organization such as the Zetas and the Familia Michoacana have been linked to the practice.
The goods stolen from cargo trucks, ports, or railroads are usually fenced on the black market. In countries like Brazil, where consumer demand is booming but taxes and tariffs on many goods remain prohibitively high, the black market has grown substantially as many people turn to the plentiful supply of stolen and counterfeit goods.
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How Hammocks Can Save The World
- Indigenous Central Americans made them out of tree bark and plant fibres
- In a hammock in Costa Rica and had a revelation that led him to start a global movement
By Sarah Hampson, The Globe and Mail – I am sorry to break the news, but the hammock, that iconic symbol of summer relaxation, in which you’re not supposed to be thinking deeply about anything at all, except maybe when your favourite beer will be handed to you, has become loaded with meaning. You might even say it has gone highbrow.
If you can manage sex in one, for instance, you’re more balanced and inventive than those who attempt coitus in a canoe. (Check out, on YouTube, the Hammock Sutra, which gives a whole new meaning to the notion of a swinging sex life.)
When it comes to design semiotics, the kind of hammock you choose can speak about your character. (Sling any old canvas one between two maples and you’re a backyard Thoreau. Purchase a Tuuci Air Lounge, which sells for approximately CA$400, and you’re among those who believe that everything, even items that are meant be simple and utilitarian, should be subject to capital-D design; these are the same people who can be identified by their Hermès bath towels and their crustless PB&Js.)
The hammock is a proven sleep aid, as documented by a recent Swiss study that shows how the swinging motion synchronizes brain waves, promoting the faster onset of a deeper state of slumber. Last but not least, it’s a gateway to enlightenment, a philosophy unto itself and a possible facilitator of community engagement.
Oh, I know, you might need to find a hammock and have a sip of beer to decompress after that weighty paragraph. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Such meta-thinking is what happens when something that anthropologists say dates back more than 1,000 years is still popular. We find new meaning in it.
The reasons it first became popular remain, of course. Indigenous Central Americans made them out of tree bark and plant fibres to create a convenient sling that lifted the sleeper off the dirty floor of a hut or a forest, protecting them from snakes and other creatures. It was Christopher Columbus who reportedly first took them to Europe, where, by the mid-16th century, the English and Spanish fleets had adopted the hammock as an easy, cost-efficient way to accommodate a shipload of men.
But now, in a complex world, they have become symbols of an existential longing. They’re a return to the womb. In one, you’re enveloped, suspended and cradled, rocked gently by Mother Nature. That was the feeling that Eoin Finn got in 2005, when he was lying in a hammock in Costa Rica and had a revelation that led him to start a global movement he calls “hammock enlightenment.”
“As humans, we make things so complicated,” he tells me on the phone from Vancouver, where he lives when he’s not leading yoga retreats in other parts of the world. “I was sitting in a hammock every day and one day I thought, ‘Oh, this is the feeling of enlightenment that gurus speak of. I feel happy. I am present. My breath is relaxed. I am calm. I am connected to the Earth. I was looking at the light poking through the leaves of the trees. The hammock represents all the values that we need to reinstate in our society to make this not just a sustainable place but a thriving one.”
Finn had had a similarly cosmic experience as a child, lying in a hammock one summer near Haliburton, Ont., where he was born and raised.
“It was a summer night and I looked up at the stars and got lost in the mystery of life,” he recalls. After graduating from Halifax’s Dalhousie University with a degree in philosophy, he went on to make his passion for yoga and hammocks into a lifestyle brand called Blissology. (I must break it to you that there’s a “Blissology Prana-Meter,” which enables you to find a balanced diet.)
After his hammock revelation in 2005, he had another one. If he couldn’t bring the world to Costa Rica to experience “hammock enlightenment” at his retreat, he could bring the hammocks to the world – and not just to some out-of-town field. No, he would bring them to the heart of what he feels is so wrong with modern culture – to the business districts of major cities, the places where people never relax, not even at lunch hour.
His first foray, a kind of “art installation project,” was in Vancouver in 2006. Finn and his “Bliss army” strung up 20 hammocks on Robson Street near the Vancouver Art Gallery.
“We weren’t selling anything. We were promoting relaxation,” he explains. “The philosophy behind it is that, if we didn’t have such a busy society, we would be more connected. People don’t have time to connect to themselves, to others, to nature, to the community and even to their bodies. What I do is not just yoga. Blissology is about connection, the opposite of isolation. You put a bunch of hammocks up, and there’s a little village where people will start talking to one another.”
The 44-year-old married father of one has done annual hammock installations ever since, in venues such as New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and Toronto. “Some people are reluctant at first. But a lot of business people told us later that, after spending just 10 minutes in a hammock, they were more productive at work. In Vancouver, a Supreme Court judge told us he was much more focused afterward. What baseball player plays a full game? We are expected to have coffee and keep going.”
Finn is a backyard Thoreau. “I try to get into one every day,” he tells me.
But isn’t it a bit much to load such a simple thing with so much expectation and meaning?
“The hammock is an instrument,” he murmurs soothingly. “People could get into one and not have this experience. That’s fine. Different people will pick up a guitar and one will play something classical while another will play Celine Dion.”
There you go. You can stop thinking now. Sip your beer in your hammock. There’s no need to feel inadequate if you have failed to achieve spiritual orgasm. A nap will suffice.
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Smoking “Allowed” On Boulevards
Despite their best intention to prohibit smoking everywhere, Health authorities cannot stop smoking in public spaces like the Boulevards (pedestrian walkways) and other “pubilc roads”.
Health Minister, Sissy Castillo, confirmed that public roads – the boulevards of Avenida Central, Avenida 4 and Calle 4, for example – are public roads convered to pedestrain walkways and thus out of reach of the mosking ban, like in parks and other open public open spaces.
The boulevards in places like Avenida Escazú and Multiplaza or the pathways of the Sabana Park are not public roads and as such smoking is prohibited.
However, Castillo was quick to add that this rule (public road) does not allow restaurants and bars fronting on the boulevards to create smoking areas. The area of the restaurant does not include the street and as such are subject to the Ley General de Control del Tabaco.
The Health Ministry – more than a year after the anti-tobacco law went into effect – has begin training for Fuerza Publica (police) officers and officers of the Municipal Police to apply the anti-tobacco law rigorously.
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Stewardess Nabbed Trafficking Cash
A stewardess for a Mexican airline, identified by her last name Rodriguez, was arrested outside the San José airport during a routine spot check, found carrying hidden on her body US$160.000 in cash.
Authorities say the woman was intercept by the Fuerza Publica (police) and the Policía de Control de Drogas (PCD) – drug police – in a routine roadside check to curb theft of tourist luggage and drug trafficking.
Police officers suspected something wrong when they say the woman, dressed in a stewardess uniform, travelling alone in a public taxi. Airline staff usually are transferred in groups and by private transportation arranged by the airline.
Authorities say the woman appeared nervous, prompting a closer inspection, finding she had attached to her body the large sum of cash.
The Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) – Judicial Police – say the money was being delivered to the Caballeros Templarios (Knight Templar) cartel. Costa Rican authorities suspect that the recipients are Victoriano and Jorge Alvarado Carrillo brothers, who were arrested last week with charges of money laundering and double murder.
The director de la Fuerza Pública, Juan José Andrade, confirmed that the 28-year-old woman carried the bills taped to her body and she was heading to a hotel in San José on Wednesday night.
The woman was remanded to three months preventive detention while authorities continue their investigation.
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Tribunal Absolves Presienta On Private Jet Trip To Peru
The office of prosecutors has absolved President Laura Chinchilla of the charge of violation of ethics surrounding her air transport to Peru May 11 aboard a private jet apparently leased by a Colombian suspected of links with drug cartels.
Head of the judicial section on governmental ethics Gilberth Calderon said no laws covered a president in such circumstances. But the President has been punished by having to accept the resignations of two of her closest advisors — former Communications Minister Francisco Chacon and personal assistant Irene Pacheco, who were with her on the flight.
Also resigning was Mauricio Boraschi who was in charge of the personal security of the President and head of the police intelligence agency DIS. After the ownership of the plane was revealed Boraschi said he would never have let the President board the corporate jet if he had been aware of the ownership.
Flying with the President was her husband as well as the Foreign Trade Minister, Anabel Gonzalez and her husband. The plane had been leased by the THX petroleum company and was lent to the President by Gabriel Morales. The trip had been a private one to attend the wedding of the son of Vice President Luis Liberman.
The trip was given an official veneer by a brief get-together of Chinchilla and Peruvian President Ollanta Humala the day after the wedding. Still stinging from the firestorm of criticism surrounding the trip, the President issued a decree forbidding her Administration’s officials to use private aircraft for official business.
In an interview with La Nacion, Chinchilla grumbled about the blunder of not investigating the aircraft loan and Morales’s background, noting that it was impossible for a chief executive to arrange trips and tend to other duties.(President Says She Paid Peru Trip)
Chacon and Pacheco were both notified by the ethics court of the decisions regarding their cases but did not release to the press other details.
Source: iNews.co.cr
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[Video] Trailer Puerto Padre
[youtube id=”AzbUhpj2G6c” width=”620″ height=”360″]
Click here for Tico Film Narrates A Journey of Silence Between the Island and the Puntarenas Port
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Tico Film Narrates A Journey of Silence Between the Island and the Puntarenas Port
Puerto Padre tells the story of a young orphan in a small island in the Gulf of Nicoya, who embarks on a journey to Puntarenas in search of his godfather.
“It’s not the same watching a gringo movie that has nothing to do where we live and see for ourselves”, Adriana Álvarez posted on Twitter
The Tico film “has to do with masculinity, absence and silence, inspired by a Sauma Osvaldo poem about reconciliations with parents.
Click here for the movie trailer.
The film is directed by Gustavo Falls and features two Costa Rica actors, from Puntarenas, Leynar Gómez y Adriana Álvarez, where the film was shot.
The film opens in October at the Festival Internacional de Cine. You can follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Puerto-Padre/150536715037077
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Only Legislators Can Authorize U.S. Military Presence in Costa Rica
They couldn’t be missed. They flew low and slow over San José in the days prior to arrival of United States president Barack Obama. And they were also heard and seen the day after the Obama departure.
The Black Hawks were part of the Obama’s security while in Costa Rica.
However, at least one Costa Rican, identified by his last name Quirós Delgado, has questioned the “legality” of the chopper’s presence in Costa Rican airspace and filed a “recurso amparo” (appeal) with the Constitutional Court (Sala Constitucional or Sala IV).
The protocol is for the Poder Ejecutivo (executive branch of the government) to ask permission of the Legislative Assembly for any U.S. military presence in Costa Rican waters, ground and air.
Magistrate Fernando Castillo explained that authorization for such vessels rests with the Legislative Assembly and not the Poder Judicial.
According to the Court, the act violated the price of peace of the people by authorizing the military aircraft in Costa Rican airspace. As such the Court has cancelled such authorizations and ordered the Director Aviacion Civil to refrain from a repeat of similar conduct.
The appeal was filed against the President of the Republic, the Ministry of the Presidency and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
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Costa Rica Woman Cries Describing Miracle Cure
Floribeth Mora Diaz holds up a magazine featuring Pope John Paul II on the cover, as she gives her account of a miracle attributed to John Paul, during a press conference, at the Archbishop’s office in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday.
Floribeth Mora Diaz, the Costa Rican woman whose brain aneurysm reportedly disappeared after she prayed to Pope John Paul II broke down in tears Friday as she publicly spoke for the first time about the church-confirmed miracle underlying John Paul’s case for sainthood.
The Roman Catholic Church presented 50-year-old Mora and her doctor to reporters after Pope Francis approved the miracle needed to canonize John Paul II.
With tears in her eyes, Mora described how she was sent home with pain medicine but no apparent hope for treatment, thinking she was going to die after her 2011 aneurysm diagnosis.
She says a photograph of the pope seemed to speak to her during the deceased pontiff’s beatification, and her doctor says the aneurysm disappeared for no apparent reason.
Mora and her family kept silent as they awaited the signing of the papal decree recognizing her story as a miracle. On Friday, accompanied by her husband, doctors and Catholic officials, Mora told gathered reporters that she had gone from believing she was about to die to a state of perfect health.
Backdropped by a portrait of the late Pope John Paul II, Costa Rica’s Floribeth Mora is embraced by her husband Edwin Arce as she gives her account of a miracle attributed to John Paul, during a press conference at the Archbishop’s office in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday. The couple are accompanied by their children. (Photo/Enrigue Martinez)
Mora, who owns a private security business with her husband in the middle-class neighborhood of Dulce Nombre de Tres Rios, said she woke up on April 8, 2011, with a strong headache and went to a hospital in the nearby city of Cartago, where she was diagnosed with a severe migraine.
The pain lasted for three days and Mora returned to the hospital, where a series of tests revealed an aneurysm on the right side of her brain that had begun to hemorrhage, according to her attending physician, Alejandro Vargas.
Doctors were unable to stop the bleeding and Vargas consulted colleagues in other Latin American countries and Spain, who advised against operating because of the difficult access to the affected area.
“The risk for Floribeth was death, or ending up with significant neurological damage,” Dr. Vargas said Friday.
“I returned home with the horror of imminent death. Seeing my children walking by looking at me, standing beside my bed, seeing my husband making himself strong, taking my hand and crossing himself every night, it was very sad,” Mora said.
Her family built an altar to John Paul II outside her house, and while Mora was watching the late pope’s beatification on May 1, 2011, she picked up a magazine and, looking at a photo of the pope, starting to hear a voice.
“It said, ‘Get up, don’t be afraid,'” Mora said.
Mora said she stood up and felt instantly better, and a variety of medical exams revealed that her aneurysm had simply disappeared.
She showed reporters photos of her brain taken before and after the purported miracle.
After her recovery, Mora wrote her story on a blog dedicated to John Paul, where it was seen by people pushing for the pope’s canonization.
Later, she traveled to Rome, where she underwent further exams, and church officials began working to have her recovery classified as a miracle.
Francis will set the date for canonization at an upcoming meeting of cardinals.
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