Filling up at the wrong gasoline station could leave you shortchanged on the amount of fuel you are actually paying for and/or the quality.
According to the Autoridad Raeguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep), 5% of the country’s gasoline station do not pump the amount of fuel customers are being charged for. The information is based on an inspection of 348 gasoline stations across the country during the first quarter of 2013.
The results indicate that 12 stations were shortchanging customers, while 5 were found with quality problems, that includes sediment and low octane.
Aresep spokesperson, Carolina Mora, said that the gas stations face fines from ¢1.9 to ¢7.7 million colones and the rescinding of their concession.
The gasoline station with dispensing problems are:
For one, living in Costa Rica, I am sick and tired of being lured into some kind of news story with video and only to see my enemy, this crummy Robot along with one of two explanations: “We’re sorry this video is currently unavailable” or, “We’re sorry but this video is only available in the United States,”…….”and you are not”
The worst offender of my rant is Yahoo.
Not literally, but a lot) of digital news and semi-news outlets. Inevitably, a light story, a song, a movie trailer, a new T.V. show pops up and when trying to see or hear the video sample as promoted ,I get some sort of signal that it cannot be seen nor heard in my country, Costa Rica. And there is always this crummy blue Robot offering some apology: who I want to shoot.
Robot, if you are so damn sorry then show me the video because I just wasted my time trying to see whatever it is you are trying to hide.
Give us some respect!
This is especially frustrating with the Pura Vida download speeds which are slower than slugs at midnight. However after what seems like endless waiting, only to get to you, Robot, telling us “No way Jose,” is a real bummer. I sometimes think Kate Middleton will already have her baby, and put in Kinder while I wait for our Internet providers to open up and make the announcement. Of course the video of the ecstatic parents will be blocked out in Costa Rica because a royal event might be copied and sold in a parking lot across from the National Stadium which is truly owned by the Chinese at 4:00PM, just before the Saprissa soccer match. And, …”if you don’t want to buy a pirated CD of Kate, perhaps a national T-shirt, local flag…how about a bottle of honey?”
Who is responsible for this atrocity? I have no idea and the more I ask the more the fingers point. It is strictly a judgment call by some 22 year old acne laden kid who has never left Northern California and thinks Costa Rica is the southern tip of Puerto Rico.
He works at Yahoo, by the way.
We are not China, we do not copy and resell videos of Madonna playing a guitar on stage, or Psy (Korea) performing his 160th thousand version of “Gangmen.” (Even he said he is tired of it as he dragged himself all the way to the to make those big deposits.)
We are, admittedly, intellectual pirates in Costa Rica with very little enforcement of the law. But, then again we rarely enforce too much of too many laws. However, news items, no matter how “light” and commercial advertisement to be blocked is simply absurd.
But, Robot if you are going to block us from trailers and three minute downloads, what and the hell are we supposed to do with it in the first place? Can you see someone in the local gas station selling CDs which are 30 second demos of U2’s new album or the trailer of “Superman”.
Hell no!
We are going to soon be a member of OECD. You know Robot, the developed countries and as a member of that club I demand to see and hear what they get to see and hear long before my vote.
Robot, transparency is one of the few rights of passage
If you are like me and love a great cup of coffee there is nothing better that a fresh brewed espresso. Finding a great espresso in Costa Rica can be an adventure.
Espresso coffee machines are everywhere now. But a good espresso is not guaranteed.
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by is forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Espresso often has a thicker consistency than coffee brewed by other methods, a higher concentration of suspended and dissolved solids, and crema (meaning cream, but being a reference to the foam with a creamy texture that forms as a result of the pressure).
As a result of the pressurized brewing process the flavours and chemicals in a typical cup of espresso are very concentrated. Espresso is the base for other drinks, such as a latte, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha, or americano. Espresso has more caffeine per unit volume than most beverages, but the usual serving size is smaller – a typical 60 ml of espresso has 80 to 150 mg of caffeine, a little less than the 95 to 200 mg of a standard 240 ml cup of drip-brewed coffee.
So, where can you get a good espresso in Costa Rica? The answer lies on your trial and patience. You will have to invest sometime in getting out, visiting different coffee shops and trying their coffee. When you find that great espresso you will know it.
For me, I have several spots. There’s Fred’s in Plaza Mayor and Illy in Multiplaza. But the best espresso is right in my own kitchen. And it can be in yours.
First you will have to invest in a good espresso maker. A cheapie wil run about ¢50.000 colones (US$100). Don’t waste your money. A decent espresso maker will run about ¢150.000 (US$300). You can spend more, but are just overdoing it.
Next comes the coffee. An Italian espresso coffee blend is the best. But it an set you back some ¢7.500 colones (US$15) for a 250g tin of coffee. I use Café Rey, the espresso blend. Costs about ¢3.000 colones (US$6) for 500g and makes a great coffee. You can try Britt, more expensive, same result.
The important here is to buy an espresso blend or at least “dark roast” and is an espresso grind. Very important the grind!
Storing the unused coffee is also very important. I keep on hand one or two day’s worth of coffee, the rest in the unopened bag is kept in the freezer. Yes, the freezer.
Then there is the coffee. I use Café Rey Espresso. It comes in ground and bean. I am too lazy to grind it myself. There are others, like Britt at almost twice the price. Whatever, make sure it is “espresso” or at the very least “dark roast”. And if you grind it yourself, the right grind is very important. Hence, my buying it ground.
There there’s storage. To keep that fresh grind going for days I keep a small amount (usually two day’s worth) in a coffee container, the rest in the freezer. Yes, the freezer. There are popular misconceptions on the way roasted coffee should be stored and maintained. The enemies of roasted coffee are moisture, air, light, and heat. Storing your coffee away from them will keep it fresher longer. Therefore, an airtight container stored in a cool, dry, dark place is the best environment for your coffee. I have yet to find a cool, dry place in Costa Rica.
So, the freezer is the next best thing as long as one, you don’t keep the coffee there for too long, a few days at most, and two, never, ever put it back in the freezer. What I usually do is take out what I will use for the day or next, making sure it totally is brought back to room temperature before putting in the coffee machine. Using cold coffee won’t hurt your machine, but you can say goodbye to that great espresso.
Next is brewing. It takes some skill to brew that great cup of espresso. Just turning on the machine and waiting for the ready light to go on or off (depending on your machine) is not enough. Make sure the water is hot. Touching the outside of the machine will tell you, not too hot to burn you, but hot enough to brew.
Use the right amount of coffee, pack the grinds into the portafilter and tamper it to compress the grounds to a density that will create just the right amount of resistance for the water being forced through the grind. This is a skill that takes time to acquire and a VERY IMPORTANT part of espresso coffee making. Tamper to tight and the coffee is bitter. Not enough and too watery.
Filling the cup just right is another key. If your are making an espresso shot, fill the demitasse (you know that small cup) half way. Never to the top.
A perfect cup is one that not only tastes great, but looks great. The crema does the trick.
Knowing how to drink an espresso is part of the experience. So, how do you drink and espresso? Carefully. It’s hot.
Me, I like my espresso without sugar. Some, pile in the sugar. Reminds me of the joke, a guy goes into a coffee shop and asks the price of coffee and the sugar. The coffee shop keeper replies, the coffee is a dollar, the sugar is free. Ok, a cup of coffee and two kilos of sugar, please.
One last note, in some coffee shops they will offer an “Americano” (English: American coffee). This is an espresso with hot water added to fill the big cup. It is stronger than regular brewed coffee. Me, in my espresso coffee maker, I squeeze out more water to fill the large cup and get the same results as adding hot water to my espresso.
Accompanying a great espresso is a great cookie. That is a story for another day.
Costa Rica’s lawmakers have decided to fast-track a bill that would govern organ transplants following the arrest of a physician and a policeman in connection with alleged traffic in organs. The arrests came on the heels of an article in Mexican newspaper charging that this country is a prime player in surgeries using unauthorized organs.
Before the El Universal article appeared, the lawmakers had not considered the bill to be high priority but essentially a routine “housekeeping measure.” In medical circles, it had been recognized that the country had few controls regarding use of organs for transplants.
But the appearance of the article and the arrests of Calderon Guardia Hospital’s kidney disease chief Dr. Francisco Jose Mora and Security Ministry official Maureen Patricia Cordero Tuesday, has spurred the passage of the bill out of committee. (A kidney is the organ most in demand and a donor kidney can cost $125,000.)
The bill would make it illegal to profit from the donation of an organ for transplant purposes. It would also make it illegal to make public an appeal for donor organs or tissue needed by a patient. National Liberation party lawmaker Elibeth Venegas who chairs he Social Affairs Committee admitted to La Nacion that the arrests had sparked action.
“This is a subject that has impacted lawmakers strongly,” she told the paper, “regarding the urgency to approve this bill soonest…This kind of situation (the arrests) are painful because they have to do with a medic who is a person in whom the public places trust.”
Since rules about organ transplants are as scarce as the organs themselves, it is unclear under what law the two public officials will be charged. The Mexican newspaper reported that two highly respected private hospitals in this country receive black market organs for surgeries in their operating rooms.
Although no public hospital under the Social Security (Caja) universal health care system was named in the Mexican article, Caja chief Ileana Balmaceda told the leading Spanish language newspaper La Nacion that she would not be certain that no illicit traffic of organs had occurred on her watch.
However, she did say that it was unlikely under the Caja’s intensive protocols in place. But she decried the fact that a public hospital specialist had been arrested and repudiated categorically the illicit traffic in donor organs.
La Nacion reporter Luis Eduardo Diaz asked the Caja chief if equipment from public hospitals could have been used in the highly sensitive transplant operations in a private clinic, pointing out that last year a nurse went public with an accusation that Caja instruments had been used in a private clinic and that the whistleblower had received pressure to keep silent on the subject.
“No, she was supported and was very courageous to present her accusation,” responded Balmaceda, “I can’t say she didn’t suffer threats because I don’t know.” But Balmaceda repeated that illegal use of Caja instruments, supplies or equipment was unlikely.
But a colleague of the arrested physician says that blame for opening the door to organ traffic in this country began when an old law was repealed and a new one instituted. Dr. Clive Montalberth-Smith repeated to the paper what he had told lawmakers during hearings before the law was changed.
The previous law, the doctor says, No. 5560, prohibited transplants that came from non-related donors. But when law 7409 was passed, it opened the door to organs belonging to those who had no relationship — in other words, purchased organs.
However, Montalberth-Smith denied ever having told El Universal that he knew of two Irsraelis who received organs from a Costa Rican and a Nicaraguan. He was, he said, misquoted.
The three day Gay Pride Festival in San José, was cancelled for the lack of funds.
Organizers say the lack of a main sponsor and disinterest from the municipality led to the suspension of the festival that was to take place June 28-30.
Javier Umaña, one of the organizers, said the activity of sexual minorities is not a priority for the municipality, unlike events like the Festival de Luz and other parades.
Umaña added that despite the no-go for the festival, the march on Paseo Colon scheduled for Sunday, June 30, still stands.
Starting next month the more than 1.2 million vehicles in the country will begin the conversion to the new license plates. The date was announced by the director of the Registro Nacional, Dagoberto Sibaja.
The conversion program will be phased in over the next 30 months, starting in July with plates ending in 1, continuing in October with plates ending in 2.
For clarity, all plates ending in 1 must be converted during July, August and September 2013; plates ending in 2, during October, November and December 2013; plates ending in 3, during January, February and March 2014; plates ending in 4, during April, May and June 2014; plates ending in 5, during July, August and September 2014; plated ending in 6, during October, November and December 2014; plates ending in 7, during January, February and March 2015; plates ending in 8, during April, May and June 2015; plates ending in 9, during July, August and September 2015; and finally, plates ending in 0 during October, November and December 2015.
The conversion is of all “numbers only” plates and commercial vehicles that have not been replaced in the last couple of months. All new passenger vehicle plates are issued with a three letter and three number combination and are of the new plates, thus not requiring conversion.
Sibaja explained that the new plates are more secure and difficult to counterfeit.
Besides the metal plate, the new plates also come with a corresponding sticker that must be placed on the windshield. The metal plate and sticker include a number series that corresponds to the vehicle’s registration card.
The cost of the new plates is ¢15.000 colones. THE CONVERSION IS MANDATORY.
And here is the kicker, for Registro to issue the new plates, the vehicle (to which the plate is registered to) must be current with the Riteve vehicular inspection, be current with the Marchamo (the annual circulation permit) and not have any outstanding traffic fines.
Costa Rica has halted the US$1.5 billion China-funded refinery modernization plan due to a contractual violation, paralyzing the country’s largest investment project.
Earlier this week the Contraloria General de la Republica (CGR) – Comprtoller’s office – questioned the contract signed with China, that would modernize the Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo (RECOPE) – Costa Rica’s state refinery – plant in the province of Limón.
The deal as for the Chinese company, HQCEC, with ties to China National Petroleum Corp (CPNC), to fund the RECOPE project. According to the CGR, the contract would basically make HQCEC a partner in the deal, and give China control over the country’s refinery.
“We found the project breached one of the clauses in the joint company agreement because the feasibility study … was done by a firm associated with the Chinese state-run oil company, something expressly forbidden in the same agreement signed by both companies”, said Navil Campos, head of the investigations department at the comptroller’s office.
Campos said other deficiencies were found in the feasibility study, including its failure to include an estimate of the overall cost of the upgrade or risk analysis.
A few hours after the announcement, RECOPE’s president, Jorge Villalobos resigned.
Energy minister, Rene Castro, confirmed the Villalobos resignation and said the Costa Rican government has instructed RECOPE to find another company to undertake the feasibility analysis. Castro said that “it was still a possibility” for the project to go ahead jointly with CNPC.
The original deal for the Chinese involvement in the refinery project was primarily a US$900 million dollar loan from the China Development Bank Corp.
The refinery’s modernization objective was increase in fuel production to 65,000 barrels per day from the current rate of 18,000 and end RECOPE’s reliance on imported finished fuel products.
The controversy now turns to the US$50 million dollars spent on environmental studies. Opponents like former presidential candidate, Otton Solís, questions that the money was properly spent.
“I don’t believe Villalobos to be a stupid man…” said Solís, questioning that some of the payments went to items not related to the feasibility study and with the RECOPE president’s knowledge.
Legislator José María Villalta, chimed in, saying “the country signs deals, then backs out of them and the people have to pay the cost”, referring to the more than US$40 million that the government is now facing to pay the Brazilian company OAS to back out of the San José – San Ramón road reconstruction project.
As an expat Canadian lawyer living in Costa Rica for fifteen years and practicing law as a Costa Rican lawyer for ten of those years (it took five years to re-qualify in Costa Rica), I have had a very good opportunity to observe, particularly expat Canadians and Americans, who form the majority of my client base, as to the manner in which they approach business transactions in Costa Rica.
It goes without saying, that business transactions in both Canada and the U.S., particularly as they relate to real estate matters, are heavily regulated by a plethora of Government Agencies, which tend to exert, in an effective and efficient manner, an onerous set of reporting and other compliance requirements on businesses such as Developers, Contractors and Realtors.
In short, in Canada, or the U.S., a Developer, Contractor, or Realtor would not be able to carry-on business in a particular manner, related to the development and sale of land, because if it were illegal, some Government Agency would have intervened and shut the business down.
The misconception by expats is that this notion holds true in Costa Rica. Essentially, such matters of business in Costa Rica, particularly as related to the development and sale of land remain largely unregulated as to consumer protection issues. There is no similar group of Government Agencies which exists in Costa Rica to protect your rights as a consumer. Many expats have run-a-foul of unscrupulous Developers, Contractors, and Realtors, who have exploited this common misconception to their personal benefit and to the detriment of the expat.
I would strongly advise all expats to engage a competent Costa Rican lawyer to conduct the appropriate legal due diligence, prior to embarking on any business transaction in Costa Rica.
To contact Attorney Rick Philps about hiring him as your Costa Rican Attorney, please use the following information: Lic. Rick Philps – Attorney at Law, Petersen & Philps, San Jose, Costa Rica Tel: 506-2288-4381, Ext. 102; Email: rphilps@plawcr.com Website: www.plawcr.com
A ‘soda’ in Costa Rica is a small restaurant that offers ‘tipico’ (typical) Costa Rican food at modest prices. More often than not there will be nothing on the menu over $4.
If you are hungry and short of cash, you can get something for under $2. Let’s take a look at a ‘tipico’ menu from ‘Soda Y Taqueria Erika’ which is run by a friend of mine.
Starting us off are… ta da! Hamburgesas! The basic burger and fries, a bit less than $2. The ‘special’ burger and fries will run you a little under $3. The special probably includes cheese and possibly bacon… I haven’t tried it yet. Next are hot dogs and fries, regular and special, for the same prices. Sadly, I can not report what the difference is, though cheese is once again a likely addition. You can order just the fries, regular or large, for 1 to 2 dollars. Gallo pinto, the national dish of rice and beans, runs under $2. You can also get tacos and patacones (fried plantain cakes).
But before you EVER order a taco in Costa Rica (Taco Bell excepted) be aware that YOUR idea of a taco will probably not coincide with the Costa Rican version. I recall my dismay when I ordered two tacos from a place that called itself ‘Tacos Mexicanos.’ What I got were two uncooked corn tortillas with some chicken at the bottom, topped off with cabbage and thousand island dressing. ‘Ick’ would about describe my reaction. But maybe you love cabbage and thousand island dressing. Just be aware.
Some more entrees include nachos, burritos, chalupas, fried chicken, fajitas, and empanadas. It’s kind of a crap shoot here as to whether what you order will resemble what you think you are ordering. The fried chicken will be what you expect, I have to admit, and the fajitas are usually pretty decent and recognizable as such to gringos, though not as fancy as the Mexican or US versions.
Turning to the other side of the menu, we have some of the more substantial meals. Casados are meals with a meat or fish main course, salad and maybe fried plantain or yucca. They are called ‘casados’ because this is typically what’s served at home when you are ‘casado’ (married). You can choose ‘bistec’ (beef steak, bring you best teeth), pork chop (chuleta), chicken or fish. All run under $4. Then there are the rice dishes (Arroz). You can get it with chicken, pork, shrimp, beef, or ‘cantones’ (Chinese). All run under $4.
Rounding out the menu are desserts and drinks. Among the drinks, the cheapest and my favorite are the ‘refrescos naturales.’ These are fruit drinks, basically fruit juice, often as not something that will seem exotic to a North American or European. We’ll cover local fruit in a separate blog. You also have soft drinks and ‘batidos’ which are something like ‘smoothies’ made with local fruit and sometimes milk. Most of the drinks run around $1. Desserts include ice cream, fruit salad and banana splits. They run from 2 to 3 dollars.
The locals love this food, visitors give it mixed reviews. One irritating habit the local cooks have is the overuse of cilantro. I can’t really tolerate the stuff, and they seem to think it belongs in everything except (maybe) dessert.
There are some other ‘tipico’ options that you will not find at every soda, but are pretty common. One is ‘pollo a la lena,’ which is chicken roasted over coffee wood. It is delicious and can be bought by itself or in combination with rice, beans, salad and whatnot. There are also the ‘Chino’ places. Full menu Chinese restaurants also exist, but these places are more limited in scope, menu and waiting time. Some will have pollo a la lena, but most of the food is either stir fried or deep fried. Fried chicken, taco chino (like an egg roll but just cabbage inside), chicharron (deep fried pork), French fries, chop suey, rice dishes and the like are available to eat onsite or to go, usually from a window in front. The food tends to be heavy on the grease, so take an extra lipitor.
There are plenty of other eating options, but we’ll save that for another blog. Bon apetit!
About the author: Phil Taylor, retired building contractor from Chicago Illinois. Phil lives with his wife of 35 years, two mongrel dogs they adopted locally and a parrot named Socrates. Phil enjoys working on his tree house and writing about his adopted country.
Authorities report that environmentalist Angel Leiva Martínez was shot dead Wednesday night in Puerto Viejo de Limón, on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast.
Details are sketchy this morning. Depending on the version of witnesses, Livawas riding his bicycle when he was attacked, impact by at least two gunshots to the chest.
This is the second murder of an environmentalist in Limón. Earlier this month, Jairo Mora Sandoval was was found dead Friday on a beach used by drug traffickers.
Authorities would not say if the two murders are related or the murder of Leiva is an isolated incident.
Costa Rica police arrest Dr. Francisco Mora Palma. Photo courtesy OIJ
With the arrest of Dr. Francisco José Mora Palma and a security official, Maureen Patricia Cordero Solano,the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) says that they had broken up an international organ trafficking ring that worked with Israeli doctors and specialized in selling kidneys to patients in Israel and East Europe.
Costa Rican authorities said Israeli doctors had performed kidney-removal operations on some Costa Rican “donors” who sold their organs. Authorities also said Mora, head of the Nephrology Unit of the Hospital Calderon Guardia, had been in touch with Israeli doctors to match up Costa Rican kidney donors with Israeli recipients.
Following the raid and detention of Mora on Tuesday, authorities in Costa Rica revealed the death of a Costa Rican woman, who had travelled to Israel to donate her kidney. Costa Rica’s Fiscal General (chief prosecutor), Jorge Chavarria, said the woman died on her way home to Costa Rica.
Judicial officials arrest of Mora in halls of Calderon Guardia hospital. Photo courtesy OIJ
According to the the OIJ and Chavarria, the arrests on Tuesday are the “tip” of the iceberg” of the organ trafficking network.
Sources involved in the investigation said they know of cases in which Israeli patients had been flown to Costa Rica to undergo surgery, without reporting to the health authorities.
Haaretz.com reports that Israel’s Health Ministry said in response that “the (Costa Rican) cases mentioned are not familiar and the Health Ministry does not know of them.”
It added: “Since 2008, when the New Organ Transplant Law was enacted, the health maintenance organizations and insurance companies stopped funding organ transplants (which could be suspected of organ trafficking) for Israelis abroad. If Israelis did have transplants, as reported by the Costa Rica media, then they were funded privately, illegally and without the ministry’s agreement.”
About a year ago an Israeli organ-trafficking network was exposed in Israel. Its members used to fly Israeli patients for transplants in Kosovo and Sri Lanka. Other states suspected of having organ trafficking networks are Ecuador and Kazakhstan.
In a news conference, Chavarria explained how Mora and his associates used the public hospital’s data bank to find suitable kidney harvesting candidates. Typical donors were usually needy men and women, who received from ¢8 to ¢10 million colones for the organ.
On Wednesday, a Costa Rican court remanded Mora and Cordero, each to six months preventive detention.
Finally, Facebook is making a change that everyone can agree is an improvement. On Wednesday, the social network added a little camera button on its comment boxes, allowing users to insert photos directly into comments. Before, users were forced to copy and paste links to photos into comments.
The feature is being gradually and globally rolled out starting today, so if you don’t have it yet, don’t panic. The new tool was built at one of Facebook’s many hackathons.
As far as we can tell, the new photo tool doesn’t support the use of GIFs, some Facebook users’ favorite mode of communication. GIFs take up much more bandwidth than photos, and supporting GIFs could slow the site down considerably. We both dream of, and dread, the day when GIFs are embeddable into Facebook comments.
You’d think this would be a no-brainer, but, apparently, quite a few Facebook users have no problem adding strangers as friends. According to a study released late last year, about one in five users were willing to add a complete stranger as a friend on Facebook.
If you’d really like to interact with people you don’t actually know without exposing your personal information, consider adding Facebook’s “Subscribe” button to your Timeline; that way, you can let others view your public updates without having to add them as Facebook friends.
According to the Banco Central (Central Bank), Costa Rica’s economy will grow less than the 4% forcasted earlier this year.
Rodrigo Bolaños, president of the Central Bank, says the forecasts have not been met due party to falling exports, with industrial exports dropping in April.
The slower growth of the economy also causes a larger deficit.
Bolaños added that the new forecasts will be announced at the end of July.
On June 26, severe regulations of the anti-tobacco law will go into effect, drastically restricting how cigarettes are sold and even delivered to retailers. The new rules are some of the strictest outside Islamic countries.
Not only are packs of 10 and 15 cigarettes banned from the market but even trucks and panels delivering the legal packs of 20 are barred from being marked and the colorful signs advertising tobacco will disappear from bars and neighborhood convenience stores (pulperias.)
The changes fostered by the law are so extreme that they went into effect in increments. Cigarette advertising in the media has been banned for years but the so-called Reglamiento de la Ley General del Control de Tobacco y sus Efectos Nocivos para la Salud has made even marking of cigarette dispensers illegal.
Just how rigid the law is can be measured by the alleged violation of a supermarket in Perez Zeledon in the southern part of the country. That business faces a 30 billion colon fine but an appeal is in the works. Violating the advertising restrictions can net a fine up to 3.8 million colones.
As the country’s two major tobacco companies scrambled to sell off their inventory of smaller packs of cigarettes, the familiar packs of 20 all but disappeared.
But the anti-tobacco lobby is still pushing harder, with the scent of victory in their nostrils. The National Anti Tobacco Network (RENATA) accused the tobacco companies to hedging on the restrictions and noted that the warnings on cigarette packs are still not as strong as the new law requires.
Commentary: We share a worry with Leopoldo Sanz of Tabacalera Costarricense, one of the major cigarette companies, that the severe restrictions are merely going to plague police with the smuggling of cheaper smokes from abroad.
In New York City, with some of the most punitive cigarette taxes in the United States, police have to waste their time tracking down smugglers bringing in cheaper brands from other states, often as close as New Jersey. This country doesn’t need a black market.
We also think that the banning of the mini-packs is counterproductive. The idea is that the smaller packs, cheaper, would keep teenagers and the poor from indulging in the tobacco habit. The fact is, that the non-addicted smoker who buys smaller packs because the last cigarettes become stale in the larger ones, is penalized by the new regulations as are those who buy smaller packs to cut down or quit.
Unfortunately, not all crusades to benefit people “for their own good,” despite the fact that they are opposed, work out for the best. (Check out the Volstead Act and Savonarola if you don’t believe us.) As with the traffic law in the past, we believe that the giant fines decreed by the law will not stand the test of Constitutionality.
We fear that the lawmakers once again have overreached.
The words “Carbon Neutral”, certainly melds with the newest darling of ecology in any combination of words. Especially those of Costa Rica in her effort to sell something to someone for more than its worth.
The reduction of carbon in Costa Rica is a mythical story similar to “Lord of the Rings”. While sending out sleepy sloth and Pura Vida campaigns, the bottom line is just about any place within the greater metropolitan area which constitutes 70% – 80% of the national population, the smell of diesel, the smoke from tail pipes and the “do nothing” traffic police collectively create an Armageddon of emphysema.
Yet, by an act of nature, Costa Rica has lucked out in that if we go outside of the Central Valley, it immediately starts to become more and more rural with more and more trees translating to more and more green which are indeed carbon free. However, the roadsides and rivers are lined with trash, garbage and “yes”, feces all running to the beaches.
But that contamination of nature does not count. It’s only carbon emissions that count, like the big busses that must have skipped over the inspection of carbon dioxide (Black Smoke) as part of the yearly exam, or the even newer cars who borrowed a cheap-ass catalytic converter (Which many locals think it is a gizzmo from Star Trek) to pass the annual test. (In Europe, I bought one for a little over $500. Here I was offered one for rent just to get through the inspection for $5.00. But, along with the passing tires, I would have had to return both within one hour of the exam.) Once I would get my sticker of approval, it was back to normal for twelve more months.
Is there a remote connection between abusing carbon neutral and the massive corruption of la Trocha, the north border road that is but a mud hole and has evidenced massive pay-offs but very little construction.
I think so.
It is a false promotion of national pride, a false sense that the world will go on accepting Costa Rica as the haven of ecology even after learning the brutal death of the 26 year old environmentalist, Jairo Mora Sandoval.
Interestingly, many national articles bring into the story narco-trafficantes as if they are the source of it all. Very easy to do and easilly accepted. It is difficult if not imposible, to connect the dots between turtle eggs, drug dealers and the brutal execution of Jairo Mora Sandoval, a volunteer environmentalist.
If anyone reading articles thinks that the illegal and deplorable acts of shark fining (Cutting of the fin and tossing the remains back into the ocean to be eaten alive) and the profits gained from killing the environment along with those who wish to protect it are related to drug dealing, then you live on another planet with its own rule of decency.
As Costa Rice strives, even begs, to become a member of the developed world; we should not.
Right now the developed world is not trading carbon neutral credits in turn for acceptable pollution, but is focusing both effort and billions of dollars to defend against “Climate Change.”
Western Europe, New York City, New Jersey. Oklahoma, etc. are each launching expensive defenses against climate change. In short, it is too late to keep yakking about “warming” and debate because “showtime” is here. it is now! Such events as hurricane Sandy the recent plethora of tornados are not anomalies but rather to be expected as a new way of life.
Even the Keys in Florida are putting homes on stilts, New York City is proposing to purchase property near the beach areas and move residents back beyond the current threat as is the case in New Jersey, even London.
Costa Rica?
We have done very little to defend against climate change. Not even the practical, like moving homes, and business out of harm’s way and fortifying breakers from the foretelling truth of so many minor tremblers which must surely soon translate into a major quake. In the mean time, we will have on both coasts torrential winds and rains that will prove our Pura Vida public relations mantra all wrong.
The doctor suspected of coordinating a group that trafficked in organs in Costa Rica promoted his services to transplant kidneys through the internet.
A screen shot of the WeLoveCostaRica.com website as published by AmeliaRueda.com
In a video posted on the website WeLoveCostaRica.com, the head of the Nephrology Unit of the Hospital Calderon Guardia, Francisco José Mora Palma, tells website owner Scott Oliver, that a kidney transplant in our country can cost-about-third of the US$25.000 in the United States.
According to Morea, if the patient has a donor, one would have spend between 3 and 4 weeks in Costa Rica to recover from the procedure.
In the interview, on the website that promotes Costa Rica as retreat for foreigners, Mora says he has performed over 550 kidney transplants in his 35 years of experience.
Mora, who was arrested on Tuesday, also said that the transplants were performed at the Hospital La Católica because, he says, is cheaper and has all the necessary equipment and personnel.
The arrest of Mora followed an investigation by the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) into alleged trafficking of organs in Costa Rica, as published by the Mexican newspaper, El Universal, last month.
Judicial officials also arrested a woman, a police official with the Ministry of Security, who worked with Mora.
According to the Fiscal General (Chief Prosecutor), Jorge Chavarria, some of the procedures have been performed at the La Catolica and Clinica Biblica hospitals, both private hospitals in San José.
Banana workers in Costa Rica reached their eighth day of strikes against the US multinational Del Monte, which, along with four other companies, controls the worldwide market for the product, reported Telesur.
The National Union of workers (UNT) called the different unions in the country to join the strike and to protest on Thursday in front of the Ministry of Labour.
The labour-management conflict began in 2011 when a subsidiary of Del Monte, Banana Development Company (Bandeco), sought and obtained legal authorization to lay off 59 workers for participating in a strike in which they demanded better wages and social conditions.
Following the strike, the company was forced to negotiate a collective agreement that led to banana plantations workers having rights that they had never had before and, according to UNT, the agreement included a commitment from the employers not to retaliate against the workers who had exercised their right to strike.
The ruling, recently notified and carried out, aggravated tensions between the company and its 650 employees.
Bananas are Costa Rica’s main agricultural export product with earnings of $822 million in 2012. Half of their production was sold in the European Union (EU).
The first goal by Bryan Ruiz, putting La Sele ahead 1-0, sent the crowds wild, while the second goal by Celso Borges sealed the deal last night in the rain drenched game with Panama, at the Estadio Nacional in San José
Costa Rica now has 11 points with a 3-1-2 record from the last six games, trailing only the United States (4-1-1), which beat Honduras in Tuesday night play.
Panama has six points on a 1-2-3 record and is fifth of the six teams.
The top three finishers from the CONCACAF finals will qualify for Brazil 2014, with the fourth-place team entering a playoff against New Zealand.
It as around 5pm when the skies over La Sabana opened up with a torrential downpour that lasted more than a half hour. But that wasn’t enough to deter fans, who had been lining up outside the stadium since noon.
On Tuesday, judicial agents conducted a series of raids public and private hosptitals and clinics, as part of an investigation related to the trafficking of organs in Costa Rica.
The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) detained (arrested) a doctor, identified only by his last name, Mora Palma, who works at the Nephrology Department of public hospital Calderón Guardia.
The private hospitals raided were the Clinica Biblica and La Catolica hospital. A number of private clinics, providing various medical services including blood testing, were raided by judicial agents.
On May 27, the Mexican newspaper, El Universal, published a report in which it identified Costa Rica as a destination for organ trafficking, concealed in the form of medical tourism.
The raids Tuesday morning followed a formal complaint filed at the end of May by the Ministry of Health with the Fiscalía, alleging organ transplants having taken place in a private medical centre in downtown San José.
Jorge Chavarria, Fiscal General, confirmed to the press Tuesday that such operations took place at both the La Catolica and Clinica Biblica.
Arrested also was a woman working with the Ministerio de Seguridad, working with the medical doctor. The OIJ does not rule more arrests in the coming days.
In Cost Rica, only three private medical centres perform organ transplants. According to the Ministry of Health, 46 transplants were performed in 2011 and 34 in 2012.
In the El Universal report, two Israelis travelled to Costa Rica in 2012 and paid US$6.000 each to a Costa Rican and a Nicaraguan for two kidneys, an act that is illegal in Costa Rica. See report: No Evidence of Illegal Organ Transplands in Costa Rica Says OIJ
Judicial officials say that late last year a Costa Rican woman travelled to Isreal to donate (for payment) one of her kidneys, dying on the return trip home. The name of the woman has not been released.
If CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying ended ahead of tonight’s game, Costa Rica would be off to Brazil while Panama would be going on summer vacation.
Both sides have played five matches coming into Tuesday’s showdown in San José, and at the halfway point of the schedule, Costa Rica are second to the United States in The Hex with eight points — three places up on Panama, who are just two points adrift but second from bottom in the six-team table.
Panama have never progressed to a World Cup finals, but never before have they had a side quite as good as this. Already they have picked up a win against Honduras and a draw at home to Mexico, and their 2-0 defeat to the United States last week was their only loss of The Hex so far.
Costa Rica, meanwhile, partook in the World Cups of 1990 (where they made the Round of 16), 2002 and 2006 and, like Panama, have lost only to the United States in the fourth round of CONCACAF qualifying.
Tonight’s game will have all sorts of implications for both teams’ fortunes, and following are a few things you should know about the contest ahead of kickoff.
The Venue
Costa Rica will host Panama at San José’s Estadio Nacional. Built by China at a cost of just over US$80 million, and donated to Costa Rica, the ground was inaugurated just over two years ago and in a recent World Cup qualifier against Jamaica accommodated more than 30,000 spectators.
The temperature at kickoff will be 20 degrees Celsius and light rain is expected.
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Costa Rica’s national team, La Selección or La Sele is second in The Hex, having beaten Jamaica and Honduras, drawn Panama and Mexico and lost to the United States.
In two home games La Sele have taken the maximum six points while outscoring opponents Jamaica and Honduras by a combined 3-0 margin.
Panama’s Luis Tejada (right) celebrates a goal. Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Panama are fifth in the bracket, one point back of Honduras and the intercontinental playoff spot and two points back of both Costa Rica and Mexico. A win on Tuesday would see them leapfrog both.
In two gamess away from home, Panama have drawn Jamaica and lost to the United States.
Costa Rica’s defense is stingy, with just eight goals conceded in 11 qualification matches so far. Christopher Menezes and Jhonny Acosta were just plain miserly against Mexico at the Azteca, disturbing their hosts to the point that striker Javier Hernandez was booked out of frustration.
Up front Jorge Luis Pinto’s side is led by the duo of Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz, with Alvaro Saborio available from the bench. Influential midfielder Celso Borges will likely start Tuesday’s match after failing to make the first XI but impressing upon introduction in the second half.
On the other side of the ball Panama have in their ranks the top active goalscorer in CONCACAF qualifying.
Blas Perez has bagged 10 goals so far for Los Canaleros but has found the back of the net just once in The Hex.
Like Costa Rica, Panama have five goals to show from their five matches in the fourth round, although all of them came in their first three matches. They were blanked by both Mexico and the United States in their last two outings.
Luis Tejada will be expected to start alone up top for Julio Dely Valdes’ side in San Jose but will be supported by the trio of Alberto Quintero, Anibal Godoy and Marcos Sanchez.
Starting today and for the next three months, the immigration service will facilitate the processing of work permits for foreigners.
The mechanism is aimed specifically at workers in the construction, agriculture and domestic services sectors.
The idea is to facilitae the procedures for foreigners, with the help of their employers, to work legally in the country.
To obtain a work permit under the program, employees have to prove they were hired prior to December 31 last year.
A call to 9000 767566 is set up to make an appointment to file documents, that include a birth certificate and a criminal record issued by the foreigner’s home country, the employment contract, and the employer’s identification.
The paperwork can be filed at the main immigration office in La Uruca, in San José and in all regional offices.
Fines for employers hiring illegal workers is up to twelve time the minimum wage. This special period by the immigration service ends on September 17.
For those heading out to the game tonight or live or just happen to be hanging out in La Sabana tonight, remember, it will be a traffic nightmare and complete zoo.
More than 700 police officials, a combination of members of the Fuerza Publica and the Policia de Transito, will be on hand tonight to control traffic and crowds.
The Policia de Transito say they will start regulating traffic around the stadium in the early afternoon, hours ahead of the 8:00pm start.
The Fuerza Publica will be setting up perimeters and station officers at key points, partly to maintain good crowd control and partly to keep the “hooligans” in check. If like past events, the SWAT and riot squads will be stationed nearby, out of sight, but within a quick striking distance.
The game is televised on local channel 7.
If you can avoid being in the area of La Sabana tonight, do so.
San José will celebrate sexual diversity with a three-day festival, starting Friday June 28. The “Festival de la Diversidad Sexual” will include activities for the entire family and a massive march.
The Festival will kick off at the movie theatre in the Plaza de las Garantías Sociales at 4pm Friday, will continue on Saturday with various activities in the downtown core and end on Sunday with a massive march along Paseo Colon.
Included in Sunday’s activities are a music concert with national artists and the participation of American Mary McBride, known for her “No One’s Gonna Love You Like Me”, from the soundtrack of “Brokeback Mountain”.
San José mayoral advisor, Rafael Arias, confirmed the activity has the full support of the Municipality. Arias added that the municipality will be facilitating permits, provide security and clean up after the event.
Organizers expect more than 10.000 people to attend the Festival this year, exceeding the 9.000 attending last year.
The repair to the “Platina” bridge will be delayed, informs the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi), due to a error in the bidding process.
The Conavi says it budgeted 5% more than the US$8 million authorized by the Contraloría General de República (CGR) – Comptroller’s office.
The Minister of Public Works and Transport, Pedro Castro, confirmed that CONAVI requires the approval of the CGR to spend the additional US$400.000 over the initial budget for road works.
According to Castro, the Platina contract cannot be awarded until the Comptroller’s office resolves the matter, which is expected by the end of this week.
The repair work of the Platina is schedule to start in July. The budgeting error may delay that start.
Three competing companies are bidding on the work: Constructora Hernán Solís is bidding ¢5.08 billion colones, Codocsa S.A is at ¢4.39 billion and Consorcio Meco-Puente Prefa at ¢6.32 billion.
The repair work is expected to take ten months to complete, nine of which will be working under the bridge deck, and one month to replace the slab.
The ministry of Transport expects the work of the last month will affect traffic.
We’ve lost count which repair attempt this is. It has been almost four years, it was on August 2009, when a gap between the spans was noticed.
Conservationist Jairo Mora Sandoval was murdered in Costa Rica on May 31. Photograph courtesy Christine Figgener, Baulas y Negras Ostional
Conservationist Jairo Mora Sandoval was murdered in Costa Rica on May 31. Photograph courtesy Christine Figgener, Baulas y Negras Ostional
National Geographic News – The murder of an environmental activist in Costa Rica has shaken the country’s ecology-minded public and has cast a light on what appears to be the growing overlap between animal poaching and drug trafficking on the country’s Caribbean coast.
Early on the morning of May 31, masked gunmen abducted 26-year-old Jairo Mora Sandoval from a vehicle he was using to patrol a desolate beach to protect nesting leatherback turtles from poachers. (See photos of Costa Rica.)
Four international volunteers who were accompanying Mora were bound and taken to a nearby shack, from which they eventually escaped. Mora’s body was found later the same day, facedown in the sand and exhibiting signs of torture, according to police and witnesses.
More than two weeks later, police continued to search for Mora’s killers.
The murder has triggered shock and revulsion throughout Costa Rica. At recent candlelight vigils for Mora across the country, protesters called on government officials to bring those responsible to justice and to make good on promises to strengthen protections for Costa Rica’s natural treasures and the people who defend them.
“The government has failed in its responsibilities,” said social psychologist Carolina Rizo, as she stood in the rain amid hundreds of other demonstrators at a vigil last week in San José, Costa Rica’s capital. (Ocean Views Blog: Mora’s Legacy)
“It’s been left to young volunteers to do what the state should do,” she said. “To be as ecological as our image suggests would require a commitment to laws and standards. People don’t do the jobs they’re supposed to do.”
“Low Presence of Authority”
With a history of political stability, a relatively low crime rate, and dozens of protected areas teeming with biodiversity, Costa Rica markets itself as an idyllic travel destination for eco-adventures and outdoor family fun.
But many officials share Rizo’s concerns that weak and ineffective enforcement of Costa Rica’s environmental laws belies the country’s image as an eco-friendly tropical paradise, especially on the sparsely populated, impoverished Atlantic Coast.
“It’s an area where there is an extremely low presence of authority,” said Juan Sánchez Ramírez, an investigator with the nation’s Environment Ministry. “The government has neglected the region. People must find a way to live by whatever means they can.”
For many people on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, Sánchez and other officials say, that means trafficking in protein-rich eggs ransacked from turtle nests. Turtle eggs flavored with hot sauce are served in popular restaurants and sold by street vendors along the Caribbean coast.
At the same time, the poachers have been drawn into the tightening grip of drug runners coming north up the coast from Panama and Colombia in souped-up speedboats designed to outrun authorities.
“The geographical position of the country makes it an ideal place for the transit and warehousing of drugs,” said Erick Calderón, commander of Costa Rica’s uniformed police, the Civil Guard, in the palm-fringed coastal city of Puerto Limón.
“But it’s not all in transit,” he said. “Some of it stays here and, worse yet, traffickers are using drugs to pay local distributors. That means it has to be consumed here, which creates and sustains a local market.”
According to officials and residents of the Limón area, cash-strapped users are turning to turtle eggs to finance their addiction, even trading the eggs directly to drug dealers for powdered cocaine. A single nest can yield up to 90 fertile eggs, and egg poachers, known as hueveros, frequently dig up several nests in a single night’s work. The eggs are sold on the black market for $1 each.
Poachers now brandish high-powered weapons that were rarely seen before on Costa Rica’s shores, most notably AK-47s. “The police don’t even have AK-47s,” said Sánchez, the environmental investigator, “but the traffickers have them.”
His claim is borne out by colleagues who worked with Jairo Mora and have reported confrontations with heavily armed poachers while patrolling Moín Beach, a beautiful and desolate stretch of coastline just north of Puerto Limón.
Nowhere to Hide
The very conditions that have made the area’s beaches a favorite nesting spot for magnificent leatherbacks and other turtles—their remoteness and the lack of artificial light or human infrastructure—make them a haven of choice for smugglers and poachers.
And that makes them ever more dangerous for the environmentalists who are trying to save the critically endangered turtles.
“Sometimes the [drug] boats come directly onto the beach,” said one resident. “That’s why they don’t want anyone out there patrolling. They don’t want people to see what’s going on.”
There’s no comprehensive way to prevent turtle nests from being pillaged, advocates say, without a permanent police presence on every stretch of beach during the four-month nesting season.
“The poachers are always watching us from the trees,” said Vanessa Lizano, head of Moín’s Costa Rican Wildlife Sanctuary, who was a close friend of Mora’s. “So if we hide the nests or move the eggs to another place on the beach, they find them anyway.”
For Lizano and her colleagues, the preferred method is to gather eggs shortly after they’ve been laid—or even while the mother turtle is laying them—then bury them in a hatchery that’s guarded by volunteers.
But one night last year, masked assailants raided the hatchery at gunpoint, confiscating cell phones and walkie-talkies while making off with the entire trove of 1,500 eggs.
Activists have reduced their own nightly patrols along Moín since Mora’s death, even as police have stepped up their presence. Like NGO personnel and volunteers, the police typically employ foot patrols out on the sand, shadowed by a vehicle that must maneuver through dense palm groves along a narrow dirt track paralleling the beach.
It’s an assignment fraught with risk, said police commander Calderón, and also with frustration.
“The poachers can see our headlights from far off,” he said. “They hide their eggs and run into the forest. They pick up where they left off as soon as we’re gone.”
While much of Costa Rica’s Atlantic Coast is protected as part of the national park system, Moín Beach is not.
Supporters of Jairo Mora Sandoval are petitioning the government to make the 15-mile-long beach a national park to honor the memory of the valiant young man who gave his life to protect the nesting turtles.
This composite found on Facebook shows the reality of the work pace of Costa Rica’s Transport Ministry, the MOPT, in repairing the “Platina” Bridge on the autopista General Cañas.
Analysis:— Pity a poor president who wants to get his agenda past the opposition in congress when pesky controversies arise that distract both public and lawmakers.
This has come to pass with both U.S. President Barack Obama and Costa Rican chief executive Laura Chinchilla. It seems that sometimes the latter president is near giving up the battle.
The difference is that Chinchilla is mostly responsible for her problems while Obama appears to be a bystander caught up in the swirling maelstrom of events. But both can be accurately accused of a lack of transparency.
With the U.S. President, it all started with the terrorist attack on a poorly defended State Department consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Although he was not directly to blame — it was up to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s officials assign enough resources to protect the ambassador and three other officials murdered there.
Then camethe Internal Revenue Service mess where Tea Party organizations had to respond to some absurdly draconian questions to obtain tax-free status, with resulting delays in modifying their status. It was never clear if anyone in the White House was involved and probably will never be, but it looked bad.
The U.S. administration infuriated the press when reporters and editors at the Associated Press found their e-mail correspondence hacked by the Justice Department’s ham-handed investigators looking for leaks of supposedly classified material. That had not even begun to die down when National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden revealed the extent of NSA’s spying.
In all this, the questions revolved around transparency. In the case of the NSA, probably the debate on how much probing into its own citizens’ private correspondence and phone calls is overdue, anyway.
But most of this controversy appears to involve President Obama only as directly as his setting the tone for his administration. The doubts raised by these discussions seem to be set in the suspicion of much of the American public that their elected officials may be dealing from the bottom of the deck, a doubt raised in the White House of Richard Nixon and always in the back of the citizen mind.
With Chinchilla, instead of a number of small grassfires swirling around her, there have been two big ones and a small bonfire of embarrassment. The first came with the cabinet’s massive over-reaction to the Nicaraguan troop invasion.
The ink was just barely dry on her mandate and she allowed herself to be stampeded into hastily building the road along the southern bank of the San Juan River, throwing all the legal checks and balances having to do with construction contracting overboard.
The result was massive corruption and loss of public funds that will take years to recoup. Public confidence in the President and her cabinet eroded with blinding speed thereafter. Until the newspaper La Nacion broke the story, the public was in the dark. Again, transparency was at the heart of the sense of betrayal.
Just as public disgust with that debacle was beginning to fade, the widening of the San Ramon-San Jose resulted in wide public fury and forced her to withdraw the contract for the project. The concession by-passed legal checkpoints and proved that neither the Administration nor its Chief had learned anything from the border road (trocha) mess.
Just how much the cancellation of the contract will set the country back is not known but when it is litigated will likely raise another firestorm.
Then the intense embarrassment — the President’s use of a corporate jet apparently leased by a Colombian under suspicion of ties with narcotics cartels. In this, Chinchilla came off as a victim of a disordered Presidential office without anyone really in charge of such niceties as checking the background of someone offering free transportation.
But in both Obama’s and Chinchilla’s situations, they are hampered in getting legislation passed that will define them in the eyes of historians. Obama is impatient to get on with his second and last term. Chinchilla has less than a year left. In both cases, the clock is ticking…
