The pictures say it all!
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Paseo Colon and Avenida 2 Closed Starting Sunday Night
Paseo Colon and Avenida Segunda will be closed starting 11pm Sunday night and remain closed until 9pm Monday for the visit of China’s president, Xi Jinping, confirms Juan José Andrade, director of the Fuerza Publica.
All the details and implemented security are coordinated by Costa Rican authorities said Andrade. This is in total contrast to the US President Barack Obama visit, whose protection was led by the U.S. Secret Service.
Security Minister, Mario Zamora, said that the security detail will be limited to the president’s inner circle. “We want it to be a civic holiday and political activity, not security”, said Zamora.
The details of the security measures and the number of police officers involved is being kept confidential.
Unlike the hours leading up to the Obama visit, all is normal in Costa Rica Sunday night.
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Chinese Tsunami!
Once again Presidenta Laura Chinchilla plays host to a world power with the visit of China’s president Xi Jinping, who is set to arrive tonight at the Juan Santamaría international airport.
Costa Rica is the only Central American country with an embassy in China.
The visit, at the heels of the U.S. President Barack Obama visit on May 3, is for Costa Rica and China to sign financial and cooperation agreements.
One of those agreements is China’s loan for the reconstruction of the Ruta 32 (the San José – Limón road) and the modernization of the state oil refinery, among other items of mutual benefit to both countries.
Xi’s visit is expected to result in an important donation of computers to Costa Rica schools and a commitment for the construction of a police academy.
This is a “very strong recognition of the major world powers, especially the two most dynamic economies whose presidents have visited us in a month,” Chinchilla said Friday in a meeting with foreign correspondents.
Costa Rica is the only Central American country that has diplomatic ties with China, while the rest – including the Sandinista Nicaragua – still recognizes Taiwan.
The break with Taiwan in 2007 by the Arias administration was handled in Costa Rica so quietly diplomatically that Puente de la Amistad con Taiwan (Friendship Bridge), built by Taiwan over the Tempisque river at a cost US$15 million, became popularly known as the “bridge of betrayal”.
But for tiny Costa Rica the ‘bet’ on Beijing seems to have paid off.
During this administration, for example, China has pumped US$160 million dollars in the local economy in the way of donations, more than the combined contributions of Spain and the United States.
Medical equipment, grants for social programs, a fleet of 400 cars used by police and the ultra-modern stadium are a few examples of China’s generosity towards Costa Rica.
Xi, who is coming from Trinidad and Tobago, will head off to Casa Presidencial Monday morning to officially meet with Presidenta Chinchilla and her government.
During the meeting the two countries are expected to ink accords that include a joint venture for the modernization and expansion of the RECOPE (state oil company) refinery in Limón, a project that is expected to cost some U$1.5 billion dollars.
The refinery expansion requires a reconstruction of the Ruta 32, a cost that the Chinese are willing to lend the country US$400 million dollars with the caveat that a Chinese contractor be hired for the work.
Xi is also expected to open up China’s state coffers to finance the renewal of Costa Rica’s public transport fleet to the tune of US$100 million dollars.
The two leaders will also likely ink trade deals to increase commerce between the two countries.
The Chinchilla administration is also discussing the development of a Special Economic Zone for Chinese companies to settle in Costa Rica and take advantage of several free trade agreements.
“There is no doubt that the economies of the U.S. and Europe are going move forward (… we already) have privileged access to the U.S. market, we have privileged access to Europe and we have taken important steps with China. Diversification of markets, alliances and partnerships will be vital”, said Chinchilla.
“For a small country that only 30 years ago exported three or four products (coffee, pineapple and banana), this is a huge leap”, said the Presidenta.
Another important point of discussion is tourism. Costa Rica is very serious about opening the country to Chinese tourists. The country expected of a wave of Asian tourists after 2007, but the promised surge never materialized.
“When we talk about a wave of Chinese tourism, for us is a tsunami,” Chinchilla said humorously, explaining that the tourism sector has asked the government to proceed carefully.
Although the Xi visit will have a tight security, like the closing of roads, it will not be as overpowering to the local economy as that of the Obama visit that practically paralyzed the country for 22 hours.
Tonight, major roads like the autopista General Cañas and Ruta 27 will be completely closed for 30 minutes before and 15 minutes after the Chinese delegation moves about, Paseo Colon and Avenida Segunda will be closed the entire day starting in the morning and all public sector employees will have the day off on Monday.
Part of Xi’s agenda includes a visit to the Legislative Assembly, a visit to a “campesino” (typical farming) family, and a banquet. No official word if Xi will visit Chinatown, a project party financed by Xi’s government.
On Tuesday, Xi heads for Mexico, after which he will meet up with Obama on Saturday, in California.
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Presidenta Chinchilla “Skates” On Plane Scandal Investigation
Costa Rica’s Attorney General, Jorge Chavarría, will not investigate presidenta Laura Chinchilla for her asking THX Energy for the use of their private jet to travel to Peru to attend the wedding of the son of vice-president Luis Liberman. Chinchilla also briefly met with Peru’s president Ollanta Humala before returning to Costa Rica.
The use of the plane, whose owners are alleged to have ties to drug trafficking, resulted in resignation of three government officials and investigation into those representing the company that owns the plane, including former Costa Rican soccer player Rolando Fonseca and the Colombian Grabriel Morales.
CRHoy.com reports that it has received a formal written response from the Attorney General press office.
The Attorney General says, so far, “there is not enough to fill the necessary elements of a crime, in accordance with Articles 28 and 39 of the Constitution”.
However, the Presidenta is not completely clear of everything, there is still the investigation against her for not informing the Legislative Assembly of her “away” trip, as the president is required to do.
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Chinatown “Domes” Will Be Thing Of The Past
The Chief at the city of San José’s Works Department, Rodolfo Sancho, confirms that the “domes” or speed bumps of Avenidas 10, 12, 14 and Calle 8 in the Paseo de los Estudiantes, also known as Chinatown, will be gone this week.
Sancho said work crews will be out this week – presumably after the visit by China’s president on Monday – to remove the domes that have caused headaches for drivers for months.
The speed bumps force traffic to go around them and have been the subject of controversy from the first day.
Among the complaints is that buses have to mount the sidewalk in their maneuvre of the speed bumps, creating a risk for pedestrians.
According to the Works chief work has already begun on Avenida 14. Next is Avenidas 12 and 10 as crews move north.
“The domes will be entirely gone. The intersections have traffic lighs, thus no need for the domes”, said Sancho.
The statement resounds the sentiments by many who have driven (or walked) by them, shaking their head as to why. The only reasonable answer is, besides looking good from a design point of view, needless municipal spending!
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Ready The Umbrella And The Wallet If You Plan On Taking The “Cirque du Soleil”
So you found out how to get ot Hacienda Espinal. You got the info on the buses, taxi services or the road if going by private car. Now, make sure the umbrella is working properly and your wallet is full of cash.
The “Cirque du Soleil” will be playing in Costa Rica the entire month of June. The cost is from ¢31.000 to ¢134.000 colones and tickets are going fast.
Oh, yeah, don’t forget the galoshes!
Hacienda Espinal is one giant field in the middle of, well nothing. The circus tents will keep you dry, but outside you will need the umbrella and dry footwear to deal with the mud.
Enjoy!
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China Conditions US$400 Million Loan For Expansion of Ruta 32
China is willing to lend Costa Rica US$400 million dollars for the extension and improvements to the Ruta 32, the San José – Limón road, but with conditions.
One of the conditions, according to the minister of Public Words and Transport (MOPT), Pedro Castro, is that there be no competing bids or tender, in order to give the contract unilaterally to a Chinese company.
According to Castro, who spoke in live radio Friday, the Chinese are also demanding that the cost of construction will not be inflated, such as adding extra expenses after the contract is signed.
The minister added that another condition of the contract is that government assume the cost – not to come from the loan – of relocating utilities and land expropriations.
If the conditions are accepted by Costa Rica the agreement for the loan would be signed during China’s president visit to Costa Rica on Monday.
The Ruta 32 is a major route between the Caribbean ports of Limón an Moín – and the future fuel refinery – to San José and the rest of the country.
The construction work will see the expansion of 100 kilometres of the Ruta 32 between Rio Frio and Limón centre, that includes the building or reconditioning of five bridges, the construction of a 25 km bicycle path, 170 bus bays and 30 pedestrian overpasses.
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¢8 Million The Tally on No Smoking Fines
More than a year after the Ley de Control del Tabaco (Anti-Tobacco Law) went into effect, the Ministry of Health has been able to collect some ¢8 million colones in fines from those who insist on smoking or allow smoking in public places.
The law was approved and went in to effect in March 2012.
The ban on smoking in all public places has taken effect. Smoking in bars, for example is almost non-existent.
The Ministra de Salud (Health Minister), Sissy Castillo, said that the ¢8 million colones is from 23 fines and that the Health ministry has received 151 complaints, 90 of which have been investigated. Of the investigated, 20 were dismissed without cause.
The minister explained that in the ¢8 million are penalties and collection fees for those with outstanding fines of more than 30 days and a ¢3.6 million colones fine against a Heredia company to promoting tobacco use.
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DIS Officials Makes Deal Avoids Jail In Drunk Driving Accident
After pleading guilty to a drunk driving charge, the second in command at the police intelligence division, Jorge Torres, got off easy by donating 400,000 colonies to four charitable groups and a sentence to community service.
Torres was arrested May 19 in San Antonio de Escazu after an auto accident. He could have drawn jail time — he tested almost three times the alcohol blood content than is permitted while driving.
Prosecutor Elena Abarca told Judge Hugo Vargas that Torres tested out 2.04 grams per liter of blood when the legal limit is .75 grams of alcolhol. Torres, 46, did not lose his license but must not drive while drinking.
He must serve 200 hours community service with Red Cross in Escazu, must attend a weekly session for persons with alcohol problems and pay 400,000 colones to four institutions attending to children’s health.
Judge Vargas said that if all the punishments were carried out in two years, he was prepared to expunge the record. Torres was arrested after his Kia rear ended a parked car.
Eduardo Araya, Torres’s lawyer, told the judge at the hearing that his client had already paid 1.7 million colones for repair to the other car’s damage. La Nacion reported that a look at public accident records shows Torres with seven infractions since 1999.
Comment: Why does this reporter get the feeling that, if such a thing came to pass with one of his middle class neighbors, said neighbor would be looking at the world through a set of iron bars right now?
Source: iNews.co.cr
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Costa Rica retirement not always tropical paradise
Bill Peace sees his new home in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica for the first time. He moves in next January.
As many as 50,000 Americans live in Costa Rica, according to the U.S. State Department. And many of them are Baby Boomers flocking to the country’s tropical beaches to retire. They’re drawn to Costa Rica’s biodiversity, the political stability, and its cheap health care.
For one Phoenix man, who is about to embark on the journey, Costa Rica is all about adventure.
“It’s sort of like my last big hurrah, my bucket list,” Bill Peace says.
Peace, 64, is single and counting the days until next January when he’ll leave his management job in higher education. From his office in Phoenix, Peace pulls up photos of his life-to-be in Costa Rica. He’s bought land on the Pacific coast in a development specifically marketed to gringos. He’s building a 720-square foot house. Peace said he’s also leaving behind the days of 24-hour television and constant connectivity.
“I’m looking forward to settling down, and living life for the sake of living life,” he says.
Peace is jumping in headfirst. The land and the house cost $85,000 — that’s more than his entire life savings. Americans still mainly go to Mexico and Canada to retire, but Central America is quickly becoming the next big deal. The number of Americans who collect their Social Security checks in Costa Rica has jumped 67 percent since 2002.
“Costa Rica has the economic and political stability that a lot of people crave,” says Erin Van Rheenen, the author of Living Abroad in Costa Rica. “People who go to a place like Costa Rica thinking their life will be the same, only cheaper and warmer, those are the people are who are going to have a little bit of trouble.”
People like John Dungan. “What went wrong?” he asks. “Oh God, there were so many things that went wrong.”
Back in 2009, Dungan and his wife spent their life savings on a house in Costa Rica. He was happy for a while. But then Dungan discovered someone had been stealing electricity from his meter, and the power company wouldn’t help. When an ATM stole his money, the bank didn’t help either. When the electricity surged during tropical storms, his appliances blew out, “I mean just smoke, and bam!” he says.
The refrigerator, the microwave, a printer — they were all destroyed. As the troubles added up, Costa Rica lost its charm, and Dungan had a revelation: “We shouldn’t be here.”
But they couldn’t go home to Texas just yet, because no one would buy their house. A year later — fed up, and $100,000 in the hole — they simply walked away.
Now Dungan offers this advice: “Don’t buy property. Don’t build a house. Don’t buy a house. The recommendation is rent.” For Americans visiting Costa Rica, however, it’s hard to resist all the advertisements in English that sell the dream of cheap land.
That includes Americans like Bill Peace, who visited his new house for the first time in May. The first phase of Los Tucanes is a development of a dozen or so colorful casitas cast against the deep green of the surrounding jungle. Peace’s casita is simple as can be. It’s made of concrete. It has two small bedrooms. As he pulls up to the driveway, the developer, Rhonda Berg, is there to greet him. The Minnesota native caters mostly to middle-class Americans who are demanding basic accommodations after the U.S. economic crisis.
“People will complain about the type of building we do. We build in the price range people can afford. We are not building high buck. That’s not us,” Berg says.
Still, the second and third phase of Los Tucanes have struggled to sell, Berg says.
When Peace moves in, he’ll be one of two full-time residents. Most of his neighbors go home for months at a time during the rainy season. He knows those who succeed here learn to live like the locals do, with tolerance for heat, bureaucracy and a host of unknowns.
“There’s a lot of anxiety,” Peace says.
He plans to live on $2,000 a month, which he’ll start collecting next year on Social Security. To cut back, Peace will leave almost everything behind, except his grandmother’s Dutch oven and half a dozen suitcases.
“I don’t want to say ‘gosh, I wish I had done this’ 10 years from now if I’m still alive. I don’t want that to be my legacy to myself,” he said.
By Peter O’Dowd, MarketPlace.org
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Is It Time To Worry Yet?
For so many years Costa Rica was laid back, pleasant, one could walk in the streets and almost always nod or gave a verbal salutation to someone coming in the opposite direction. A lomng established tradition, a friendly tradition, a nonthreatening tradition.
Now we keep an eye out for a hidden knife, a gang robbery or a mugging.
Central America has had its share of violent violent issues, especially in the 70s and 80s and to a lesser extent the early 90s. To the north was the perennial battles of Nicaragua and to the south a power struggles between the right and left resulting in a new and brutal dictator, Manuel Noriega.
But then something happened, peace broke out. The question for Costa Rica is if it can remain in that state or do we have our own violence to fear.
Costa Rica is not a leader, a well known fact that has very few original ideas to avoid or even solve problems. And we don’t consider much until after the fact. For example: The bridge gets maintenance only after it falls down and someone has been accused of a pay off.
We do adore the United States although never admitting to it out loud. We want the phone, the clothes, the cars, and the flat screen 3D television…Mostly for show.
However for the last five years Costa Rica has had blinders on not to mention the country has been and remains one rife, embellished in hate, home grown as well as foreign terrorism, unexplained mass killings such as the Columbine School shootings, the Aura Colorado shootings, Times Square bombing, the infamous Boston bombings even an attack on marching mothers parading with joy to celebrate their day in New Orleans. There have even been three ricin attempts to kill a senator, mayor and Barack Obama.
This does not even count the young man who was discovered with pounds of pipe bombs, grenades and Molotov cocktails under the floor boards in his bedroom last week because he wanted to surpass the Columbine High School massacre.
To the north of us it seems as if the most peaceful country around and perhaps even a valuable buffer preventing what we could be important from Honduras, etc. is Nicaragua.
Lying in wait which s tacit impunity resulting in the largest collective homicide statistics in the world according to the United Nations organized crime data, neighbor country gangs and foreign narco trafficantes have resulted in 7.3 homicides per 1,000 in Costa Rica compared to, for example 32.2, 57.5 and 36.8 in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Yet in recent years Costa Rica has not gone unscathed. In fact the one institution we cherish the most, democracy, has fallen out of favor to only a 60% approval and a national government approved by just 13% of the population. That is 28 points less than Assad of Syria.
Like the other Central American countries we have runaway and unabated corruption from top to bottom, violent criminals that have been set free time after time, small, but still armed gangs that patrol neighborhoods collecting protection money from residents. We are seeing more and more physical demonstrations against government both local and national and all this is only a matter headed towards a dangerous escalation if it goes on unabated.
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Xi’s Visit To Enhance China’s Ties With Costa Rica
Relations between Costa Rica and China will be strengthened thanks to the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Latin American country, said Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo.
“For us, the fact that Costa Rica has had the opportunity to twice host the president of the People’s Republic of China, shows the importance that China gives to its ties with a small country, which makes us pleased, proud and grateful for the acknowledgement,” said Castillo.
Xi will travel to Costa Rica from Trinidad and Tobago for a state visit on Sunday, before visiting Mexico and meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in the United States later next week.
The Chinese president is schedule to arrive in Costa Rica Sunday night. His departure is set for Tuesday morning.
The Chinese president is scheduled to hold talks with his Costa Rican counterpart Laura Chinchilla, visit the Legislative Assembly and meet with a farming family, Castillo said.
With Xi’s visit, Costa Rica hopes to make concrete progress towards the building of a joint oil refinery along its Caribbean coast, the extension of a highway between San Jose and eastern city of Limon and the construction of a new headquarter building for the National School of Police, the minister said.
China has been a “generous partner,” Castillo said, citing the multiple projects in which the Asian giant has cooperated with Costa Rica. It is also a “business partner” with which Costa Rica has launched numerous mutually beneficial initiatives, he added.
“At the cultural level, we have also been receiving China’s support for the teaching of Mandarin through the Confucius Institute, which has been working very well for several years now. At the cultural level, we are also very satisfied,” Castillo said.
However, there is still room for growth in some areas, such as attracting more Chinese tourists and tapping the full potential of the free trade agreement between the two countries, he said.
When looking back after six years of diplomatic relations, Castillo said “it has been a very positive association in every way.”
“In the first place, because it is a very cordial friendly relationship, of good will, where the two countries have been finding points of common interest,” he said.
“For Costa Rica, the cooperation with China has been very rewarding,” he said.
Despite the differences in their political systems and occasionally in the way they do things, the good will between China and Costa Rica has allowed them to jointly overcome obstacles that have arisen in their cooperation projects, said Castillo.
With the two countries’ bilateral relations developing in a healthy way, China’s presence in Costa Rica has awakened the interest of other Central American countries, which have expressed their intention to draw closer to the Asian powerhouse, the minister said.
It could be “comforting” for China to know that it can count on Costa Rica to facilitate its approximation to Latin America, he said.
“The other countries have observed that the relationship with China is positive and something similar is taking place in the rest of the continent,” the minister said, adding “several countries in Latin America have very important economic ties with China.”
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Costa Rican Environmentalist Found Dead
An environmentalist who worked to protect leatherback turtles on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast was found dead Friday on a beach used by drug traffickers, authorities said.
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Police said in a statement that a motive in the killing of Jairo Mora Sandoval has not been determined.
Mora Sandoval was a volunteer with the nonprofit group Widecast, which protects turtle nests from poachers in Moin beach in Limon province.
His beaten body was found Friday. He had had his hands tied behind his back and had been shot in the head, said Widecast director Didiher Chacon.
Mora Sandoval, 26, had been patrolling the beach along with four other female volunteers Thursday night when masked men kidnapped them. The women escaped their attackers and went to police, Chacon said.
Chacon said he suspects drug traffickers are behind the killing. He said Moin beach is used to bring in drugs.
“There are several drug dealers who are known to authorities and who need the beach totally deserted,” Chacon said.
Chacon said he has decided to remove all of his volunteers from Moin, leaving the turtle eggs exposed to poachers, who sell each egg for $1.
In a message posted on its Facebook page, The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica called Mora Sandoval’s killing “senseless.”
Mora Sandoval was “a committed Costa Rican environmentalist who was sounding the alarms about threats received from anti-wildlife criminal groups and drug traffickers,” it said.
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Today’s Photo: Hauling Off The Spoils!
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Spectacular Noon Collision Between Bus and Vehicle
It was around 1pm Thursday when a bus decides to make an illegal left turn, a common practice, on Paseo Colon as an oncoming vehicle slams into the bus.
Click here to watch the video.
Fortunately one person suffered minor injuries in what you can clearly see in the video captured by the San José municipal police cameras, could have had been disastrous.
For the most part Paseo Colon is divided by a double yello line – no left turns. However, many drivers, of types of vehicles, take the shot, perhaps frustrated by the volume of traffic and many one ways that can easily result in circling blocks to get a destination.
The bus, license plate SJB 1960 and clearly at fault, is owned by the public transport Periferica that provides regular service into and from downtown San Jose.
The small vehicle was an Audi driven by Marlon Evans Salazar, who was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries.
The Policía de Tránsito report no injuries to the bus passengers and that the bus driver’s breathalyzer test was negative.
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Cirque de Soleil Opens in Costa Rica
The wait is over. Three months ago Cirque de Soleil announced shows in Costa Rica, the first for the Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a “dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment.”
Recognized over the world, Cirque du Soleil has constantly sought to evoke imagination, invoke senses and provoke emotions.
Cirque du Soleil will be offering shows daily for the entire month of June. Tickets are priced from ¢28.000 to ¢134.000 colones (US$56 to US$265) and are going fast.
The show is in Alajuela in Hacienda Espinal.
Parking is limited to 900 vehicles and at a cost ¢7.000.
You can purchase tickets for the show (and parking) at www.eticket.cr
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Authorities Urging Extradition of Costa Ricans
There is a saying that many foreigners in Costa Rica are either “wanted” or not wanted. And nothing could be more true when authorities uncover activities, like that of Liberty Reserve, headed by foreigners taking refuge or advantage of Costa Rica’s lax laws.
Presidenta Laura Chinchilla and including U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, Anne S. Andrew, are among those raising their voices demanding a change in the a law, to allow the extradition of Costa Ricans related to offences abroad.
A bill to that effect was introduced in the Legislative Assembly in November 2o12.
The bill would amend Article 32 of the Constitution, which, as proposed, would read: “No Costa Rican may be compelled to abandon the country, except for extradition ordered by a Court of the Republic subject to the limits, guarantees and procedures defined by law”.
Such limits would include, for example, no extradition to a territory or country that has capital punishment since Costa Rica has no such penalty.
The push to have the bill approved gained momentum in the past week, when the United States dismantled supposedly the largest money laundering operation in the world and based right here in the little tiny country of Costa Rica.
Among the accused is one national (Costa Rican) and three foreigners who managed to obtain their Costa Rican nationality.
For many foreigners desiring nationality in the country, the quickest and simplest form is by way of marriage. Although in the recent years authorities have clamped down on “marriages of convenience”, the practice of hiring a Costa Rican woman or man to enter into a marriage agreement and then divorce after naturalization, is alive and well.
Mario Zamora, Costa Rica’s minister of Seguridad Publica and former director of the immigration service, is another advocate to the change in the law, saying “we are facing a criminal phenomenon in which foreigners obtain nationality to evade justice for crimes committed in other countries”.
Jorge Chavarria, the Attorney General, was emphatic in saying “we have no justification to shelter any person, be it Costa Rican or not, so as not to be tried in another country in the world”.
U.S. Ambassador Andrew said in a press conference Wednesday that extradition would send a clear message to criminals that “Costa Rica will not shelter them”.
The “proyecto de ley 18.659 (bill) is being driven by the government. But it is a slow process. The bill made it to the legislative agenda on May 8 as item number 29. Required, however, are three readings before it can be submitted to the Legislative Commission on Narcotics and Security for study
Slowing the process even further is that the bill, being a Constitutional Amendment, requires the approval of two legislative terms.
While the Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN) or ruling party legislators fully support the bill, the opposition is not as determined.
Carmen María Muñoz, head of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) legislators, for instance, says she and her party are not against tbe bill but it requires discussion, first being necessary to use the laws and agreements already in place to combat criminal activity and prevention of crime.
Foreigners can easily evade tough immigration laws, laws that are complex and severe, opting for the “loos” naturalization law.
For example, to become a Costa Rican citizen there is no requirement of a criminal record, either from the local authorities (the OIJ) or the country of origin or even the International Police (Interpol).
Rodrigo Fallas, senior clerk of the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) confirms that “the registry only has the power to validate documents submitted”.
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Costa Rica Formally Invited To Join OECD
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Thursday officially invited Costa Rica to join the organization, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said.
“To open the way for Costa Rica to become an OECD member, is one of the most important achievements of my administration,” Chinchilla said at a press conference, adding it has been a goal of her government since 2011.
Chinchilla said she was pleased her country can now begin to outline a roadmap for negotiating its entry to the group in 2015 when applications from new members will be accepted.
Joining the OECD will allow Costa Rica to consolidate its development, she said, noting Costa Rica already participates in some OECD committees.
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Chinese President Visit Will Cause Road Closures
Road closures for the visit of China’s president, Xi Jinping, will be 30 minutes before and 15 minutes after the movement of the presidential motorcade.
Jinping arrives in Costa Rica on Sunday June 2 at 8pm and will affect the autopista General Cañas and Ruta 27 as the Chinese delegation moves from the San José airport to the Intercontinental hotel in Escazú.
Monday, June 3 road closures will affect routes to Casa Presidencial in Zapote in the morning. Avenida Segunda and Paseo Colon will be closed Monday from 6am to 11pm.
Oldemar Magrigal, director of Vigilancia Aerea, said that airport operations will not be suspended during the arrival and departure of Jinping, in the way during the Barack Obama visit.
Monday all government employees will have the day off work. The private sector may also be affected by the public holiday, which the government justifies as one of “public interest”.
Jinping will end his Costa Rica visit on Tuesday June 4.
Costa Rica is the only Central American country with official diplomatic ties to China, established in 2007 following the termination of a decades-long diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.
Costa Rica has received significant donations from China, including a US$80 million national stadium in San José, automobiles and other equipment for the Ministerio Publico (police) and National Police Academy, and a Chinese arch for the Chinatown.
Xi Jinping also will visit Mexico and Venezuela during the trip.
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[Video] “Soy”, Debi Nova’s New Album
Costa Rican singer Debi Nova has just released her new album, “Soy”.
Differing from her last commercial work, “Luna Nueva”, which included songs in English, the new album is totally in Spanish.
[youtube id=”cfhdMI0RW8o” width=”620″ height=”360″]
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Contraband Cattle, Medecines From Nicaragua
Two kinds of contraband are crossing the border from Nicaragua — one is new (smuggled medicines) and the other is as old as Bat Masterson or Wyatt Earp (stolen cattle.)
Medicines are cheap in Nicaragua, so smugglers can make a nice profit selling them in Costa Rica — especially if they don’t pay import duties. And Border Police have confiscated 188 head of cattle driven over the border.
Just in the first quarter of this year, police have confiscated nine times the amount of medicines they nabbed in all of last year. For the past three years this illicit traffic has been brisk but growing tremendously.
In 2010, for example, police caught only 618 units crossing the border, but it rose the next year to 4,315, increased to 7,323 in 2012 and from January to Aoril this year has exploded to 67,381.
The range of captured medicines is bewilderingly broad — prescription antibiotics, analgesics, macrobiotic or alternative medicine, anabolics and even energy medication.
But the danger is not just fiscal (tax evasion). These medicines do not come with any purity guarantees such as the customer of a legitimate pharmacy has come to expect.
Freddy Guillen, chief of border patrol operations, told La Nacion, “A lot of this medicine is macrobiotic or alternative and went through no studies for effectiveness. Others may come from recognized pharmaceutical houses but in transit to this country could have been adulterated and be useless.”
La Nacion pointed out that in five years there has been a 180 degree shift in this smuggling — once Costa Rica “exported” smuggled medicines to fulfill a scarcity in Nicaragua. But the imbalance in prices has turned the traffic on its head.
In 2008, pointed out the paper, it was not rare to see local Social Security prescription medicine sold in southern Nicaragua. Today, Nicaraguan medicines are found for sale in local city parks, clandestine stores and — suspects the Druggist Association here — even in licensed pharmacies.
Many of this illegal products enter in the baggage compartments of buses and, since the market is not just along the border, this raises another danger. Some medicines should be refrigerated, but the long, slow trip causes deterioration.
Says Lorena Quiros, director of the Druggist Association, “They’re exposed to the direct sunlight and high temperatures for hours. This removes the security and effectiveness and can affect people’s health.”
Quiros worries that the traffic leaves the door open for falsification and high risks to people’s health. Let the buyer beware.
The paper reported that competition among various licensed drug stores is fierce, which leads to the temptation for some of them to cut corners in a price war. Thus, the contraband enters the legitimate market.
But there is nothing new about cattle rustling, as any farmer along the border with Nicaragua can attest. The herd of 188 head that was captured by police here last week carried several brands — including that of a Costa Rican ranch.
When surprised by Costa Rican border police, the illicit herd was being tended by four mounted men who, when police approached, promptly rode off into the sunset. At this writing, no farmers have come forward to claim their stolen cattle.
Source: iNews.co.cr
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Did Budovsky Contribute to 2010 Presidential Elections?
Movimiento Libertario legislator, Patricia Pérez, is asking to know from the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) if Arthur Budovsky, alleged founder of Liberty Resere, contributed to the 2010 presidential elections.
Having obtained his Costa Rican citizenship in 2009, Budovsky was within his right to contribute and participate in Costa Rica’s presidential elections.
Pérez says she is concerned that man who is alleged to be at the centre of the world’s largest money laundering operation may have made financial contributions to political parties during the last presidential elections.
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Orozco Aks For Recusal Of Fellow Legislator For Being Lesbian
Legislator and lawyer Justo Orozco could lose his license to practice law for statements against the sexual preferences of persons of the same sex and the request that fellow legislator, Carmen Muñoz, be removed from the Legislative Committee on Legal Affairs for stating publicly that she is a lesbian.
The Orozco statement provoked different reactions from both the straight and gay communities.
Orozco, a legislator for the Partido Renovación Costarricense filed a motion for recusal, because according to him, Muñoz ( a legislator for the PAC party), would legislate for her own benefit and that of her lesbian partner in the drafting of the Sociedades de Convivencia, a law that would allow same sex marriage.
The recusal was filed on Wendesday, drawing the legislative assembly in defense of Muñoz, who says she will take the case to the Court of Human Rights.
According to the Colegio de Abogados (Law Society), the words by Orozco are offensive and possibly breach Articles 379 of the Criminal Code, that would result in the legisaltor losing his license to practic law.
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Costa Rica’s Bancrédito Key To Take Down Of Liberty Reserve
It was the agreement by the Banco Crédito Agricola de Cartago (Bancrédito) to transfer US$12 million to the Hellenic Bank Limited in Cyprus, in late 2011, and allowed authorities to take down the largest money laundering operation in the world.
The funds came from a Liberty Reserve corporate account, deposited on behalf of the Ediago Holding Limited, notes a report by La Nacion.
Through a press released on Wednesday, Bancrédito reported that it agree to transfer of US$4 million dollars on November 30, 2011 and another US$8 million on December 5, 2011, as that of an “inside the process of investigation and coordination by competent authorities”, said the bank statement.
The Costa Rican bank also noted that they detected “transactions that drew attention” in the Liberty Reserve account starting a year earlier, for such the bank reported it to authorities that decided to make it a “facilitator in the investigation process… while keeping the account operating”.
According to the Costa Rican bank it was at the centre of the United States Attorney in Manhattan investigation to break up the network that operated from Costa Rica and over a period of six years was responsible for laundering billions of dollars, conducting 55 million transactions that involved millions of customers around the world, including about 200,000 in the United States, according to prosecutors.
“If Al Capone were alive today, this is how he would be hiding his money,” said Richard Weber who heads the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation division in Washington. “Our efforts today shatter the belief among high-tech money launderers that what happens in cyberspace stays in cyberspace.”
Javier Cascante, head of Costa Rica’s Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (Sugef) – Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras (Sugef) – said Wednesday that Liberty Reserve began in 2008 the process to register as an authorized financial entity to manage third-party resources.
Cascante added that the company had to comply with Article 15 of the Ley de Narcotráfico (drug trafficking law). “They started the paperworkd, but they could never prove what they did. They say they managed third-party resources. We began asking for more information to be clear how they would manage and move the funds but withdrew their application in November 2011”, said Cascante.
The Sugef officials declined to elaborate on the case based on legal barriers.
Photos: Seized vehicles and one of the “cows” from the San José Cow Parade
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Come to Costa Rica: Whatever You Want We Got It!
Costa Rica is replete with everything from unscathed beaches, warm water, volcanoes, fine dining, and hotels in just about all possible price ranges and then there is the underbelly which gives new meaning to adventure tourism.
Sex tourism is popular and seems to be growing according to the police. Lots of under age kids can be found for a price and some are even recruited and pimped by elected government officials. This not just a San Jose phenomena, no it pretty much goes from sea to shinny sea.
Regardless of a lot of publicity and posters, human trafficking pretty well goes unchecked. The tired traveler might rent a slave for a week or so.
Rent a car and head for the magnificent rural areas. Just make sure you have a really good spare tire and paid up insurance. And one more thing. Be careful of the traffic police because they just love to see a rental car come around the bend with cameras shooting wildlife. The tourist is almost always good for paying a handsome fine right on the spot and no record of a ticket is ever made and this is called “mordita”, the bite.
As advertised, for some dental work or cosmetic surgery, Costa Rica is the place to come, or so it is being sold. However, keep in mind there is no malpractice law here and accreditation is sort of “iffy”. Only three hospitals have the JCI accreditation which is considered the gold standard.
There is a medical guild here that records medical graduates and also records complaints. It is important to note that physicians who actually get a degree that degree is always titled, “General Medicine and Surgery” meaning the pediatrician might well be doing facelifts on the side. Besides implanting about 1,000 defective breast implants from France (PIP) last year, we more recently have had one tourist with a butt enhancement which, according to the photos, became incredibly infected and looked like a couple of very sore cantaloupes. Another private patient had the same procedure, was transferred to the public health care hospital and subsequently died from infection.
Do you need a body part, like the most popular kidney? You Gotta come to Costa Rica. The Mexican daily newspaper el Universal suggests that Costa Rica is perfect for medical organ transplant being purchased from willing and able organ farms. The public health care system is very cautious about organ source so that leaves the private hospitals and clinics but all have denied the practice. This despite a physician who has turned documents over to the government for five years. No response at all!
Costa Rica’s Liberty Reserve company was just busted for laundering an estimated six billion dollars in illicit money. Never fret, with all the sports books, whamo finance companies and casinos, there are other ways that funds can be laundered. Perhaps not as extravagant, but good enough. After all, we have been reported as sort of a center of the drug trafficking universe connecting Latin America to Mexico.
Costa Rica can be a wonderful place to visit and offers many, many good things. It is, by no means a panacea and not even close to what the Quakers settled in 1954. From lush green fauna to the magic of the rain forests and back again to warm ocean waters not to mention with a land area of only 51.100 km2 (0.03% of the planet’s surface) and 589.000 km2 of territorial waters, Costa Rica is considered to be one of the 20 countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world.
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“Bought” Marriages Protect Foreigners From Being Extradited
Arthur Budovsky, the alleged founder of currency transfer firm Liberty Reserve, became naturalized in Costa Rica after marrying a Costa Rican woman.
Authorities are now looking into the possibility that Budovsky may have paid the woman to marry for the sole purpose of obtaining his Costa Rican citizenship.
A report by La Nacion says the woman has a food stand outside the immigration offices in La Uruca and some five years ago paid the woman ¢200.000 colones (US$400) for the marriage. (Budovsky se casó con una vendedora de empanadas que laboraba fuera de las oficinas de Migración y Extranjería hace cinco años, a quien le pagaron ¢200.000 para concretar esa unión. La Nación)
“Marriages of convenience” are not new and not uncommon in Costa Rica. A large number of foreigners marry Costa Ricans to obtain residency and citizenship, a practice that is frowned upon by authorities and the subject of investigation for many years.
Following the marriage, Budovsky renounced his U.S. citizenship after deciding to set up in Costa Rica. He and another man, identified as Azzeddine el Amine, were arrested Friday at a Madrid airport while trying to return to Costa Rica. They were ordered jailed while they await a hearing on extradition to the U.S.
U.S. federal prosecutors charged seven people Tuesday, including Budvosky and el Amine, with running what amounted to an online, underworld bank that handled US$6 billion for drug dealers, child pornographers, identity thieves and other criminals around the globe in what they called perhaps the biggest money laundering scheme in U.S. history.
U.S. authorities say Liberty Reserve, a currency transfer and payment processing company based in Costa Rica, allowed customers to move money anonymously from one account to another via the Internet with almost no questions asked.
They said the enterprise was staggering in scope: Over roughly seven years, Liberty Reserve processed 55 million illicit transactions worldwide for 1 million users, including 200,000 in the United States. The network charged a 1 percent fee on transactions through “exchangers” — middlemen who converted actual currency into virtual funds and then back into cash.
Costa Rica’s director of judicial investigations unit, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), Francisco Segura, acknowledged that Costa Rica is an attractive country for U.S. criminals because they can obtain Costa Rican citizenship easily and inexpensively.
Costa Rican citizens are protected from being extradited to the United States.
Public Security Minister and former director of the immigration service, Mario Zamora, said after a Wednesday meeting with U.S. Ambassador Anne Andrew that the two countries will start working on consolidating an extradition treaty for suspects in organized crime cases.
Supreme Court president Zarella Villanueva, however, said such a treaty would take a long time to materialize because it would require constitutional changes that have to be approved by the Legislature.
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Interactive Cell Coverage Map Now Available Online
Starting today you can check on cellular service in your area or any area in the country by way of an interactive map by the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel).
The map covers the entire country, it can be searched by province, district, canton and areas, showing the coverage by each of the three operators, Claro, Kolbi and Movistar.
The map can be found at: http://mapas.sutel.go.cr/
The blue, yellow and green represent levels of coverage, while red means no coverage.
According to the Director of Quality Sutel, Glenn Fallas, the new tool is provide more information to users when choosing an operator.
Fallas said the number of claims made by users has increased by 300% in recent years. This year is expected to receive and estimated 1,200 complaints.
The map will be updated periodically.
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