Carlos Arturo Espinosa, presidente de THX Energy / Photo: El Espectador
With the resignations of three close associates of President Laura Chinchilla, one might think the July 3 trip to Peru of the Presidenta in a corporate jet owned by the THX Energy company was a dead issue. But it was revived this week by an interview with THX president Carlos Arturo Espinoza in the Colombian newspaper El Espectador.
In the article titles “Laura Chinchilla actuó vanidosamente“, the corporate president depicted his company as an innocent victim of the bad press, unflatteringly characterized Chinchilla as “vain” and charged that she herself had asked for loan of the plane for the ill advised trip.
This latter statement most certainly contradicts the official Casa Presidencial version of the trip in the plane linked with Colombian Gabriel Morales who is under investigation for possible narco-traffic figures in South America. The official word is that it was a snafu on the part of the President’s staff in not checking into the source of the lease on the jet which Morales offered.
The country has never had a private jet for its President to use. Past presidents have used private aircraft lent to them before without stirring up the hornet’s nest that the Peru trip did. Ironically, few have even mentioned a March Presidential excursion to Venezuela to attend the funeral of that country’s President Hugo Chavez, in the same THX jet.
The airplane at the centre of the political storm.
The Peru excursion cost the resignations of Communications Minister Francisco Chacon, presidential aide Irene Pacheco and National Intelligence and Security director Mauricio Boraschi. The wife of Chacon, Foreign Trade Minister Anabel Gonzalez, was also on the Peru trip but avoided the axe.
Public Ethics prosecutor Gilberth Calderon says his agency issued a strong criticism of the trip which, he says, Vice President Alfio Piva filed away in a drawer after publicly criticizing it. At any rate, the three resignations should cover the main points of the condemnation.
Chacon’s replacement at the communications post, Carlos Roverssi, told La Nacion that the President would not trade “insults” with the THX president. Espinoza had charged that Chinchilla had claimed to be fooled by the THX company but Roverssi denied the President had said any such thing.
As Costa Rica prepares to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the abolition of her armed forces on December 1st, her Central American neighbours are allocating more resources to their military forces. This situation is being closely monitored by the Chancellery of the Republic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
US and Honduran troops in Tegucigalpa,
The latest move in the Central American arms race that Costa Rica has expressed grave concerns about is Nicaragua’s plan to acquire six gunboats from Russia. According to defensa.com, a Spanish language Web site dedicated to the global defense industry, the Fair-Nevsky shipyard in St. Petersburg is currently busy with Project 12418, from which two Lightning-class small missile frigates will be given to Nicaragua. Another four Mirage-class gunboats will follow. These are not Coast Guard vessels used for search-and-rescue or maritime law enforcement missions; they are heavily armed as you can see below:
“The reaction from the Chancellery is one of deep concern because Nicaragua continues to build up the military. We doubt their need to have this type of weaponry.”
We believe this is connected to Nicaragua’s expansionist policy.
Chancellor Castillo is likely referring to the infamous incursions by Nicaraguan soldiers into Costa Rica in recent years, particularly the embarrassing Google Maps invasion led by former guerrilla leader Eden Pastora. There is also the controversial and seemingly quixotic proposal entertained by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to build a ship canal from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean using the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua.
Geopolitical observers think that Russia’s potential interest in the Nicaragua canal is the motivation behind the magnanimous offer of missile frigates and gunboats. These six vessels will leave Russian shipyards complete with sophisticated navigation radar systems, GPS units, sensors, and other instruments and features that are unlike anything the National Coast Guard Service in Costa Rica has. With these vessel acquisitions, Nicaragua’s naval firepower is getting a significant upgrade in terms of range and supremacy in the Central American region.
Should Shark Finning Crews Be Afraid?
As it stands now, the National Coast Guard Service in Costa Rica is far more successful than Nicaragua’s Naval Force in catching shark fin poachers and other illegal fishermen in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Now that Russia is effectively starting a new era for Nicaragua’s military in terms of maritime operations, could it be reasonable to think that shark finning crews should fear one day finding themselves in the sights of an AK-306 30 mm cannon manned by a Nicaraguan sailor with an itchy trigger finger?
In the past, Russia has taken the side of China and Japan with regard to shark finning –although shark fin soup and other products are not part of Russian culture. With President Vladimir Putin in charge, however, things are different. Russian border guards and maritime security forces have been known to fire at Japanese whaling vessels. President Putin may not be an active endorser of Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, but he supported the ban on hunting baby harp seals. President Putin may be a hunter, but he also has an environmental streak in him. Only time will tell if Russia’s military contributions to Nicaragua will have an effect on shark finning.
The Militarization Continues
Over the last few years, Honduras and Panama have received considerable aid from the United States in cash, weapons, military equipment, and training. By the end of fiscal year 2014, Panama will have received $141 million from the United States in funds destined to militarize the Panamanian Public Forces since 1996. This is despite Panama’s abolishment of her standing army in 1990, although the scope of military aid and training of her security forces by the U.S. has actually increased since. In other words, Panama has moved to demilitarize but the U.S. has moved in the opposite direction. Many observers, including Chairmen of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, question why so much training, weapons, equipment, and cash is being delivered to a country that abolished her army.
Honduras has received more than $90 million in military aid from the U.S. since 1996, particularly in support of the War on Drugs. One of the most odious results of this intervention has been the Cobras, a fearsome special unit made up of highly-trained Honduran security forces, who have been at the center of violent, bloody raids that have claimed the lives of innocent people –including indigenous pregnant women. It is not easy to forget that the Army of Honduras was at the center of the 2009 coup d’etat executed by masked gunmen and forced President Manuel Zelaya to take refuge in Costa Rica.
For Nicaragua, it’s almost as if the ghost of Cold War past is coming to visit. The U.S. has been providing military aid to that country despite President Daniel Ortega’s allegiance with leftist regimes in Latin America such as Bolivia and Venezuela, which in turn are supported by Russia. President Ortega, however, supports the U.S.-led War on Drugs and is opposed to legalization of marijuana and other drugs for personal consumption, which is something that President Laura Chinchilla has supported along with other Central American leaders.
In an effort to prevent American one-upmanship, Russia is providing these heavily armed vessels to Nicaragua at a time when Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama are not talking to each other due to the Edward Snowden leaks on the Orwellian web of international surveillance conducted by the U.S. With Russia and the U.S. providing military aid to Nicaragua, it’s like a proxy arms race in Central America -a flashback to the Cold War.
Costa Rica may be worried about the increased militarization of her Central American neighbors, but she is not completely innocent in this regard. The Joint Patrol Agreement and the participation of a select group of Fuerza Publica (the national police force) officers in training exercises such as Fuerzas Commando 2012 belie her peaceful, unarmed ways.
Still, military aid by the U.S. to Costa Rica is but a tiny fraction of what Panama and Honduras receive, much to the chagrin of the North American nation. U.S. efforts to militarize Costa Rica are often thwarted by legislators and the people they represent. Central America is certainly a tough neighborhood, but Costa Rica has no immediate plans to join the ongoing arms race and please the lucrative military-industrial complex. Left up to the people of Costa Rica, her motto “More Teachers Than Soldiers” will prevail.
One of the strangest cases in the history of Costa Rica’s judiciary recently came to an end in the Central Pacific city of Puntarenas. It is not everyday that judges in Costa Rica preside over prosecutions involving frozen shark carcasses filled with cocaine, but after four years of legal wrangling and a considerable expenditure by prosecutors and investigators, the defendants were cleared of all charges.
The story begins in 2009, when the Mexican Navy intercepted a shipment of cocaine-filled frozen sharks in the port of Progreso near the Yucatan Peninsula. Anti-narcotics agents were called in to examine the frozen sharks, which were heavier than usual. At first sight, customs and fishery agents thought the sharks were overstuffed with a substance that would preserve their freshness, but in the end it was cocaine hydrochloride in powder form.
According to BBC Mundo, there were more than 90 frozen sharks about to burst with nearly a ton of cocaine in total. The sharks were in a Maersk 40-foot container destined for Jalisco, which was loaded at the port of Caldera in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. The ship carrying that curious cargo was the Dover Strait, registered in the Marshall Islands and based in Houston. Mexican law enforcement and drug control authorities reached inside the frozen sharks and pulled out 876 packets of cocaine. It is believed that the United States were the final destination of the drugs.
An Expensive Fishing Expedition by Prosecutors
There were two shipments intercepted by Mexican agents: One in February and the other one in May of 2009. By June of that year, four people in Costa Rica were detained in connection with the incident. Authorities in Costa Rica arrested four people connected to a company dedicated to catching sharks for commercial purposes. It is important to note that these defendants are not connected to the nefarious shark fin poaching trade; they rather catch sharks and gut them for steak, filet and other parts of their selachian anatomy that often end up in recipes such as ceviche (seafood cocktail) and arroz con mariscos, a Tico version of Spanish paella.
After sharks are gutted for their meat, their skin is often used to manufactured products such as footwear, wallets, and purses. This is what the four Tico defendants stated they were doing when they shipped the frozen sharks to the Mexican firm Teneria del Caribe Manufacturera, located in the state of Jalisco. After their arrest, legal experts in Costa Rica who followed the case were concerned about prosecutorial intent since it was apparently clear that the shark-catching firm had nothing to do with stuffing the sharks with cocaine and Mexican authorities had already made arrests on their end.
Other legal analysts were concerned that the facts surrounding the case against the Tico defendants were weak, and that prosecutors would end up getting embarrassed in court. This is pretty much what happened in criminal court in Puntarenas in late July. Three defendants were thoroughly exonerated, and a fourth was cleared based on the doctrine of in dubio pro reo, which means that after four years and 550 million colones spent (about a million dollars), prosecutors in Costa Rica could not get a conviction on the cocaine sharks case. To add to the consternation, judges noted that prosecutors were reaching and that their investigation was riddled with errors.
Analysts who spoke to Diario Extra in Costa Rica stated that the Carcharhinidae blue sharks sold to Mexican clients are too small to be stuffed with so much cocaine, which was basically spilling out of them when Mexican authorities spotted them. This is something that the defendants, who are shark experts, would have known. Unreasonable prosecution and overspending are side effects of the War on Drugs; in this case, however, they did not prevail.
Some P&G customer service jobs will be moving to Latin America. This year, Procter & Gamble will begin to transition most of their Customer Service Accounts Receivable work from current North America sites to existing P&G offices in San José, Costa Rica.
Right now, 70 employees work in Customer Accounts Receivable in the Cincinnati office; after the transition, that number will go down to 15.
P&G says they expect that the this transition will be fully completed by June of 2015.
Small and medium sized supermarket chains are expanding in the greater metropolitan area.
One example is Super Mora, a mini chain of supermarkets from Puriscal which in 2014 will be expanding into Santa Ana, where there are plans to invest $3.7 million in the construction of a 7000 m² square which will include a main supermarket, commercial stores and parking areas. Super Mora is known to be competing with Auto Mercado, which recently opened a 2,600 m² store in Escazu.
Other shops of this type which are also growing are ASUN, Uscosa, Luperon, Coopeagri, and the convenience stores Deli Mart and Quickstop. “It’s an industry that is just beginning to unfold, there is still enough room for new competitors,” said Flavia Loeb, responsible for publicity and marketing at Deli Mart.
“Data from the research firm Euromonitor International reveals that, in 2012, supermarkets generated $1.5951 billion in sales and convenience stores $78.7 million,” noted an article in Elfinancierocr.com.
Source: Central American Data and Elfinancierocr.com
Costa Rica’s chief prosecutor Jorge Chavarria has filed charges against three political party “money men” who applied to the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) for reimbursement for election expenses that were allegedly fraudulent. The billings to the TSE would have had taxpayers reimbursing political parties.
TSE filed a complaint regarding the 2010 general election in three blatant cases involving three of the major political parties.
The first such case to come to light was that of the Libertarian Movement vice president Rolando Alfaro and two ex-officials who filed for TSE reimbursement of 240 million colones for 190 internal education seminars to make minor official function better.
When TSE dug further, that watchdog body found that the informational chats simply were the products of someone’s fertile imagination. Most of the attendees cited by the party denied having attended any such session and one turned out to be a La Nacion reporter who was investigating the fraud story. He immediately recused himself from the report.
Alfaro was then treasurer of the Libertarian party. Prosecutors accuse him of fraud, attempted fraud and use of a false document. Also accused of complicity are Carlos Solano, ex-secretary of the training unit and Roger Segura, ex-party accountant.
The prosecutor also filed formal charges against San Jose lawmaker Oscar Alfaro for filing false claims for transportation expenses during the 2009-2010 campaign for the National Liberation Party. And a charge was filed against the Citizen Action Party for filing for reimbursement for payment of members who worked for free during the campaign.
Commentary: These charges probably will not be the last ones stemming from the 2010 campaigns. Costa Rica prides itself on its democratic system and certainly TSE’s holding the parties accountable justifies that pride. But a bill has been filed with the Legislative Assembly to take that function away from TSE.
This will leave the parties free to grope around in taxpayers’ pockets for any amount of false charges. Payment by the government for campaign expenses is to give smaller, less well heeled, parties a chance to compete with the big boys.
Instead, some party members, perhaps with the complicity of higher officials, have used this as a piñata, a windfall of found money. So far we have yet to hear a cry of outrage and this is worrisome. That noxious bill in the Legislative Assembly should have raised a firestorm.
If any of the parties feel a shred of shame over this betrayal of public trust, they should kick out for life any member convicted of wrongdoing. Is it any wonder that polls show a declining confidence in public officials and the political system?
Are we very far from the political aspirant who runs on the platform, “Vote por Fulano de Tal. He won’t steal very much.”
Walmart in Costa Rica was fined ¢4.395.000 colones (US$8.900 dollars) for “lack of information and misleading advertising” in a promotion of flat screen televisions.
The Comisión Nacional del Consumidor (CNC) – National Consumer Commission – said it fined the giant retailer following an investigaton into complaints by 58 consumers, for price differences in the retailer’s promotion “Día más barato del año” (lowest price day of the year) on December 1, 2012, a sale where consumers were enticed with prices so low never seen before.
The complaints filed by customers say that the price at the “gondola” (shelf) was ¢17.800 colones, but ¢178.000 at check out. At the time of the incident, Walmart argued that someone, other than an employee, changed the price tag on the 32″ flat screen and refused to honour the tag price at checkout.
The Commission, in a majority vote, felt the consumers were duped by the pricing and the lack of information by the company was regarded as misleading advertising.
Copos (literally, “flakes” – as in “snow flakes”) are sold on the street and many of the popular beaches of Costa Rica by Copos vendors, pushing two-wheeled carts with insulated compartments that house a large block of ice (maqueta de hielo).
The carts are also outfitted with holders for flavored syrups (“blue”/chicle/bubble-gum, “red”/kolita/kolita, “white”/coco/coconut, “purple”/uva/grape, “green”/limón/lime, “orange”/naranja/orange), paper cups, spoons and straws.
The vendor has a cool shaving contraption that probably has a name, but I don’t know it.
It holds an inverted cup and directs the ice shavings up into it as the block is shaved. There’s some technique involved and it’s fun to take part in the spectacle of the “production” of the copo. Copos have been the cool, rich, sickeningly-sweet favorites of non-diabetic kids and adults alike for generations.
Wanna see how it’s done? Here’s a video I took recently while walking the dogs on the beach, this will give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), I can’t share with you the sugar rush and the snow cone headache that these things pack.
Notice for parents: the sugar buzz you get from these streetwise delicacies is intense, even for an adult. Give one to a three or four-year old and you’d better get your catcher’s mit or goalie gloves ready, they will be playing all afternoon.
The United States Consular will be giving a talk on preventing fraud of U.S. Visas. The idea is to inform American citizens living or visiting Limón on the different services that the Federal Benefits Unit offers to Americans in Costa Rica.
For instance:
• Issuing Social Security Numbers
• Completing applications for retirement, disability, and survivors benefits
• Handling post-entitlement related issues (i.e., establish direct deposit, change of address, etc.)
• Applications for retirement, disability or survivor benefits.
• Applications for new, replacement of Social Security cards.
• Applications for enrollment or cancellation of Medicare (please note that Medicare does not cover outside the USA). Applications for selection of a representative payee (i.e., when the beneficiary is not capable of managing his/her own benefits)
• Changes/corrections to the record for beneficiaries already receiving SSA payments.
• Information about the Direct Deposit (DD) program.
• Missing or delayed payments.
Important Note for Department of Defense Retirees: Department of Defense retirees must deal directly with their Defense Finance and Accounting Service Center office in the United States.
• For Veterans issues FBU acts as the liaison between the veteran and the Veterans Affairs Office.
WHEN: Today, Wednesday August 7, 2013
WHERE: Salón Multiusos del Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), Limón
WHAT TIME: 10:00 a.m.
The Permanent Committee on Women’s Affairs at the National Assembly in Costa Rica recently approved two motions that take a strong look at how women are perceived and treated with regard to political participation and their image in the media.
On July 30th, the 64th anniversary of the women’s right to suffrage was celebrated with a motion to investigate why political parties in Costa Rica are not incorporating enough women in their ballots for the 2014 elections. This is not just a matter of equality in general terms; it is actually promulgated by the Electoral Code of Costa Rica. According to Irina Grajales Navarrete, a journalist assigned to legislative matters, the Committee approved the motion unanimously.
The motion calls for the matter to be widely investigated starting in August, which should include summoning magistrates from the Superior Tribunal of Elections to testify at the National Assembly about the low participation by women in the political parties -at least when it comes to leadership positions in the ballots.
The height of female political participation in Costa Rica was seen during the last presidential election, when President Laura Chinchilla became the first woman elected to the highest leadership role in Costa Rica. Since then, many women have also become legislators and public officials around the country, but that momentum seems to have subsided since. At least one political party has paid attention to this matter and is now rushing to find women to put on their Vice Presidential ballots.
Respecting the Image of a Woman in the Media
A legislative proposal being considered by the Committee would impose penalties for individuals and business entities in Costa Rica that use female images in gratuitous and self-serving manners. Essentially, the proposal seeks to reform three articles of an existing law that regulates how a woman’s body is used in advertising and marketing campaigns. The specific action to be penalized would be the use of female figures to promote products or services that have nothing to do with a woman’s body.
This initiative is being led by legislator Pilar Porras of the National Liberation Party (PLN in Spanish), a long-standing political powerhouse in Costa Rica. On an official press release, legislator Porras explained that the proposal seeks dignity for women by empowering the government to act in cases when their body images are exploited.
A previous article in the Costa Rica Star compared the image of women in national media with the situation in Italy, where media analysts believe that many years of influence by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi created significant objectification of females in that European nation. Berlusconi was eventually given a vote of no confidence, which was influenced by powerful bond traders, but not before his involvement in the Bunga-Bunga scandal gained international notoriety.
On that article, an observation was made on how the sexist media era in Italy was coming to an end, but it is just getting started in Costa Rica. That article specifically mentioned television shows such as A Todo Dar in the past, as well as Intrusos and the wildly popular Combate on Repretel. Imported telenovelas (soap operas) from Colombia and Mexico are becoming favorites in Costa Rica, and they are known to feature risque scenes of curvy Latin American actresses wearing skimpy attire. It is important to note, however, that male bodies are equally on display in Combate.
What the PLN proposal aims to avoid is Costa Rica’s descent into a “bimbo era” as it happened in Italy during the Berlusconi era.
An Interpol alert led Costa Rican authorities to the arrest Monday of American Kirk William Owen, a man with past convictions of child molestation in the United States.
A 2011 photo of Kirk Owen from the state of Florida’s sexual offenders registry. Costa Rican authorities apprehended Owen on Monday in Jacó. In the U.S. and many other countries, sex offenders must report regularly to authorities. Photo courtesy of state of Florida
According to immigration records, Owen arrived in Costa Rica for the first time in November 14, 2006, since recorded 25 migratory movements at the Paso Canoas border with Panama. This was in order to maintain his tourist visa.
“The thought right now is that we will revoke his tourist visa and deport him back to the U.S.,” said Freddy Montero, deputy minister of Gobernación (Ministry of the Interior).
The most recent trip Owen took to Panama, was on July 15 of this year, leaving at 6:53am and returning to Costa Rica at 9:36am.
On July 30, Interpol issued a “red alert” for Owen, leading Costa Rican immigration police to locate him near Playa Jacó, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
Montero explains that such alerts are received almost every week by authorities of the United States Embassy and others. Considering the issue a sensitive one, the minister would only say that the alerts are “warnings of persons of interest on the chance that someone enters Costa Rica or is already in the country”.
The press office of the Attorney General (Ministerio Público) also confirmed that Owen is also facing charges of possessing a firearm while in Costa Rica. It is illegal for someone on a tourist visa to possess a gun while in Costa Rica.
The gun charge may cause the alleged Pedophile to not be immediately deported from Costa Rica to the United States. Montero explained that it will now be up to the judge’s order if the man will go to trial in Costa Rica for the gun charge or be deported.
The Tico Times reports that Doug Smith, a private investigator from the U.S. living and working in Costa Rica, said a nonprofit group paid him to track Owen when they learned he had entered the country.
“I was worried about him getting another victim over there in Jacó,” Smith told The Tico Times in a phone interview.
Smith said he had no trouble getting reports from Jacó on Owen, who weighs 400 pounds according to U.S. authorities, and drove around Jacó in a Porsche.
Owen was living in the U.S. state of Florida prior to coming to Costa Rica. He has one conviction for child molestation from Oklahoma in 2002, according to the state of Florida. He has a previous sex crime conviction from 1987 from his home state of Kansas.
According to Oklahoma court records, Owen was sentenced to 20 years for the offense he committed in 2000, after pleading guilty to two charges of sexual molestation of a minor. The judge ruled Owen had completed his probation in 2006.
The mission of the Fire Department in Costa Rica is to protect life in situations when property or the environment are threatened by fire or other emergencies. In many occasions, the protection of life includes saving animals from burning flames or from dangerous situations. In two recent instances, firefighters in Costa Rica have filled the life of families with joy and relief by rescuing household pets.
Mangui the Cat Has But Four (Or Six) Lives Remaining
In the Los Angeles neighborhood of Cartago, there is a curious and playful cat that has been close to losing its life in three different times. Mangui is a male adult cat; he is a companion to the family of Pablo Zuniga, and he has been close the meeting the feline grim reaper on the following occasions:
In 2009 Mangui caught a stray bullet in the head
In 2011 he suffered a severe bite from a large dog
Just a few days ago, Mangui spent theee days trapped inside the crawl space of a ceiling
Like many other household cats in Costa Rica, Mangui spends quite a bit of time exploring the outdoors and eliminating rodents and snakes from the neighborhoods they live in. Still, most cats check in once or twice in a 48 hour period. When the Zuniga family noticed that Mangui was missing, they began to search for him. They finally figured out that he had entered the ceiling of the neighbor’s house, but there was no way to get him out.
Firefighters arrived to liberate Mangui from his ordeal. They are trained to get into confined spaces and figure their way out, and that is how they got the cat out from under the hot tin roof. It is important to note that the colloquial belief of a cat having nine lives applies to English-speaking cultures, whereas in Latin America they only have seven.
Chester the Dog Rescued from Burning Guest House
In Bajo Piuses de Tibas, a working-class neighborhood north of San Jose, an electrical fire quickly engulfed an add-on shack that almost claimed the life of a canine companion animal.
Yamileth Diaz heard a loud crack, but she was not aware of fire until she saw black smoke billowing out of the guest house. She actually attempted to put out some the flames, which were quickly spreading. She called the Fire Department when she realized that it was a significant fire.
Fire Captain William Hernandez explained that initial reports indicated that Mrs. Diaz may have been trapped because she went back to get Chester, her brother’s dog. Firefighters rushed in and evacuated the woman, who already had Chester in her arms. They completely extinguished the fire in just 11 minutes.
Firefighters in Costa Rica value animal life and certainly understand the deep connection between humans and their pet companions. Rescue K-9 officers are part of the firefighting crews in Costa Rica, and just about every fire department has a resident pet.
TMZ – Terrence Howard’s ex-wife Michelle Ghent is claiming the actor brutally beat her while vacationing in Costa Rica… TMZ has learned.
Michelle Ghent — who divorced Terrence in May but hooked up with him again recently … took a trip with Terrence and several of his family members to Costa Rica last week. Sources say an argument erupted and she claims Terrence beat her up.
We’ve learned Terrence claims Michelle maced him, his adult daughter and another family member. Police were called and reports were taken.
Sources say Terrence made up the mace story to cover his brutality. Other sources connected to Terrence say Michelle is lying about the actor physically abusing her.
We’ve learned Michelle is going to court in an attempt to get a restraining order … forcing Terrence to stay clear of her.
TMZ previously reported … Michelle has accused Terrence of slugging her in the face and neck. She also claimed the brutality started just 7 days after they were married.
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By: Henry Morales Navarro, Vozdeguanacaste – If you are bored of the same flavor of chicken, prepare your tastebuds for a more legitimate and nutritional flavor than farm-fattened chicken.
A group of families, mainly female entrepreneurs from La Virginia of Nicoya, have organized to develop a project to raise and market local criollo chickens to offer a more attractive and unusual product since the chicken that are commercialized in supermarkets are normally farm-fattened. While farm-fattened chicken have a more artificial flavor because they are fed concentrated pellets, the criollo chicken eat vegetation, insects and corn and therefore have a better, more original flavor.
One of the criollo chicken varieties is known as “pata larga,” which means long foot. This type of chicken has long yellow feet and a larger size than the traditional chicken. Fully developed, it can weigh between 3 and 4 kilograms (6.6 to 8.8 pounds), with a plumper breast, which makes it more economically viable.
Evelyn Aguilar, who initiated the project, hopes it will be successful. “The first years are hard but afterward we’ll be seeing the result,” she commented.
The idea was well-received by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), who will offer them assessments and a market study, and through the Japanese Agency of International Cooperation will give them training on management, investment and development of the project.
According to Oscar Vasquez, director of MAG for the Chorotega region, this is an innovative project since nothing similar exists in the region. “In Japan, they have a system that each town has a product that identifies it,” he commented. “They have been selling us the idea that in the case of La Virginia, the culture of criollo chicken stands out, so when consumers look for this type of product, they’ll already know where to find it.”
Another of the aspects they look for, according to the Japanese experts, is that the project is in harmony with the environment, in this case that the waste products of the slaughtering are reused in two forms: producing feed for pigs and by producing energy through a bio-digester that can be utilized in the process.
The women are now receiving local orders for chicken while MAG is doing a market study to determine the best places to sell the product. If you would like to buy criollo chicken, call 2684-9102.
This photo was taken on July 19, 2013 from the Cassini spacecraft. The wide-angle camera has captured Saturn rings along with our planet Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image and appears as a blue dot at center right. You can notice the moon as a fainter protrusion off Earth’s right side. The other bright dots nearby are stars. According to NASA this is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system.
According to an official press release from the Organization of Judicial Investigations (OIJ in Spanish), Costa Rica will no longer send cocaine or other controlled substances to the United States, at least for the time being. The announcement comes in the wake of news reports about nearly 24 tons of cocaine transported by the U.S. Air Force to Miami on Saturday, July 27th 2013.
Photo courtesy OIJ
The OIJ further explained that officials in Costa Rica had spoken to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about the temporary lack of an incinerator to destroy seized powder cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs. Prior to the massive airlift of cocaine to Miami in late July, the OIJ had managed to destroy almost 23 tons of drugs over the years at a cement factory in Cartago, but a couple of unfortunate incidents resulted in the stockpiling of confiscated drugs, and the OIJ ended up with too much coke.
A Warehouse Full of Yeyo
Before a Boeing C-17 Globemaster from the U.S. Air Force landed at the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR) in late July to transport pallets upon pallets of cocaine to Miami, the OIJ evidence warehouse in San Joaquin de Flores, province of Heredia, was ready to burst from all the drugs contained therein -particularly cocaine hydrochloride in powder form. The only incinerator in Costa Rica to handle the destruction of tons of drugs, routinely seized by the OIJ, Fuerza Publica (the national police force), the Border Police, and the National Coast Guard Service is currently out of commission.
At one time, the OIJ entrusted a cement and concrete factory in Cartago to handle the destruction of seized drugs in its massive incinerators. In 2009, however, a bag holding 20 kilograms of flake was stolen by employees of the cement factory during the destruction of 4,300 kilos. The individuals responsible for the theft were caught, tried and given prison sentences between 6 and 7 years, and the OIJ stopped using that factory altogether.
By 2011, OIJ employees complained that they could not even walk around the warehouse because of all the cocaine stuffed inside. The cement factory agreed to donate an incinerator the size of a jacuzzi to the OIJ, and agents got busy destroying up to 300 kilograms per hour. By February of 2012, however, agents had burned so much coke that the incinerator began to malfunction. Fumes were escaping the incinerator’s chambers and those involved in the destruction -who included judges in charge of supervision- were basically getting high, and thus the OIJ went back to stockpiling seized drugs.
The U.S. Air Force to the Rescue
The OIJ has acknowledged that storing that much cocaine in Costa Rica is an inherent risk, and thus the DEA was called in to help. This is when things start to get a bit murky. Apparently the OIJ took the matter to the Judicial Branch and the Ministry of Public Safety (MSP in Spanish); but, according to online news daily CRHoy, which broke the story, at least two magistrates at the Judicial Branch were in the dark about the U.S. Air Force arriving in Costa Rica to pick up a massive amount of cocaine.
One of the magistrates who did not know about the operation, which was shrouded in secrecy until CRHoy’s Alvaro Sanchez investigated, is Carlos Chinchilla, President of the Criminal Affairs Committee of the Supreme Court in Costa Rica. Magistrate Chinchilla explained that the OIJ and DEA were supposed to file a request for a legislative permit that would grant permission for a foreign military aircraft to land in Costa Rica.
The OIJ assured CRHoy that the C-17 Globemaster was not armed and had legislative permission to enter Costa Rica’s airspace, land and fly away loaded with cocaine with Miami as its ultimate destination. The problem is that no legislator recalls seeing such request or permission come through the docket at the National Assembly. When questioned about the type of aircraft, the OIJ repeated that it was “from the U.S. Air Force with a legislative permit.” The Minister of Public Safety, Mario Zamora, said that he was thankful that the United States arrived to transport cocaine away from Costa Rica, but he was quick to mention that the OIJ was responsible for obtaining all permits.
Passing the Buck
Even the identification of the C-17 from the U.S. Air Force remained a mystery until recently. CRHoy obtained a series of documents related to the ongoing investigation, which apparently include a letter signed on July 10th by a U.S. Coast Guard Commander named B.J. Ripkey requesting permission for a military aircraft from the U.S. to land in Costa Rica with 12 individuals aboard. According to that letter, the aircraft would not fly directly to Miami after takeoff: it would first stop in Nicaragua and later in Honduras while carrying all that cocaine.
The letter was addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the MSP and the Director of Air Surveillance -a special police unit in Costa Rica that is known for their presence at our airports. According to a 2011 Coast Guard document, there is a Commander Bradley Ripkey assigned to DDE-COSTA RICA SEC ASST. Somehow his request ended up in the hands of Gerardo Masis Delgado, who is apparently in charge of Aeronautical Operations of Costa Rica’s Civil Aviation Directorate. Mr. Masis issued an interesting letter that authorizes:
“aircraft type C-17 with registration 00534, or alternatively 10186, 66165, 66167, 66168, 77169, 77170, 77173, 77174, 77175, 77176, or 7717”
to enter Costa Rica’s airspace and land between the 26th and 28th of July. Mr. Masis also ordered reminded that no airport costs should be assessed to any of the aircraft above. It is interesting to note that the number 77178 corresponds to the “Spirit of Delaware,” which is the C-17 Globemaster III out of Dover Air Force Base pictured in this article, and that number happens to have been underlined with an ink pen on the letter above.
What is also interesting about the above is that Civil Aviation has been admonished by the Constitutional Chamber Court (Sala Cuarta), the highest court in Costa Rica, of having illegally approved the arrival of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters prior to President Barack Obama’s historic visit to our country earlier this year. Civil Aviation seems to the the go-to guy, or maybe the fall guy, in these matters; but, many legislators in Costa Rica are not amused. The Constitution clearly requires legislative permission for foreign military forces to enter Costa Rica, and the U.S. has a history of being snubbed in this regard.
So What Happened to All That Cocaine?
The OIJ’s official press release assures that the controversial payload left Costa Rica on Saturday July 27th, at 2:00 in the afternoon. The C-17 presumably stopped in Nicaragua and Honduras before landing in Miami, this is in accordance to the letter signed by USCG Commander B.J. Ripkey. A judge from Costa Rica supposedly flew with all the blow and met with the Consul in Miami, who was the last link in the chain of command to certify the arrival and destruction of the drugs.
The Consulate usually answers to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, but in this case that entity has not published anything on the matter. The OIJ, however, assures that the destruction process started at 6:00 am on Monday, July 29th, and that it lasted five hours until the last bag was incinerated. The OIJ also mentioned that U.S. and Costa Rican officials were present during the process, although there are no local media reports to corroborate.
As to the matter of legislative permit for this operation, some legislators interviewed by CRHoy indicated that everything was fine as long as the military aircraft did not land with bellicose intent. The OIJ mentioned that the C-17 was not armed, but a legal expert interviewed by CRHoy mentioned:
“Do you really think that the U.S. Air Force would risk picking 24 tons of cocaine in Costa Rica and then land in Nicaragua and Honduras without some sort of armed escort or weaponry to defend the aircraft and crew?”
The Need for Legislative Permits
News about this incident have prompted debate on the requirement of legislative permits for U.S. military forces to enter Costa Rica. Many people think that such permits add a layer of bureaucracy to worthy causes such as drug interdiction. No one is questioning the value of the assistance by the U.S. Air Force and other authorities from that country in taking away a prodigious amount of drugs that our country could not destroy; the problem is one of transparency and sovereignty.
The original story by Alvaro Sanchez of CRHoy and the English language version by The Costa Rica Star were picked up by various international media outlets, and many of the comments left by readers indicate a significant level of skepticism about the operation. Allowing foreign military forces to enter a country to transport narcotics in bulk calls for a certain amount of transparency that can be achieved with legislative permits.
History has shown that nothing good happens when you the U.S. government interests transport controlled substances from Central America. When such operations take place in a shadowy manner, you end up with Colonel Oliver North of the U.S. Marine Corps, the late American pilot Barry Seal smuggling for the CIA, shady companies such as DIASCA and Frigorificos de Puntarenas, and other kinds of malfeasance. The people of Costa Rica have a right to know about these things; this can be accomplished with legislative permits.
The short answer as to why that U.S. Air Force C-17 should have had permission to land in Costa Rica is: Because our Constitution requires it. The rationale is simple: As a country who abolished her military more than six decades ago, Costa Rica can’t afford to have foreign military or forces entering the country at their pleasure or with a permit issued by a mid-level government official. We have enough problems with Nicaraguan Army invasions and paramilitaries entering the country. As a peace-loving representative democracy, Costa Rica must discuss and decide these matters at the legislative level.
A female sloth that was victimized by two heartless men in the Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica has improved enough to be transferred to a new habitat.
Officials at Zoo Ave, one of the best-known wildlife rescue centers in Costa Rica, confirmed that the sloth lost her sight as a result of being hit by rocks thrown at her head. Still, she has recovered well from her multiple injuries and is now a new resident of Zoo Ave’s own forest habitat for abused and injured wildlife species.
The sloth was named Sansita after Sansa, the domestic airline that agreed to medevac her from Golfito, close to the southern border with Panama, to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela. Upon landing, Sansita was rushed to Zoo Ave in La Garita, also in the province of Alajuela. She spent a couple weeks in a recovery space measuring about 20 meters in length, where wildlife rescue technicians and veterinarians changed her dressings and applied topical antibiotic every two hours.
As previously published in the Costa Rica Star, Sansita was subjected to a brutal attack by two execrable men in their thirties as she helplessly clung from her favorite tree. This odious aggression included punches and rocks thrown by the unidentified men, who were reportedly in their 30s.
Had it not been for the brave intervention by an unidentified farmer who confronted the men and rescued the sloth, Sansita would have perished. The farmer got in touch with local wildlife protection contacts and coordinated Sansita’s transfer to Zoo Ave.
As reported by daily tabloid newspaper La Teja, Sansita seems happy in her new arboreal home in La Garita, where she is negotiating tree branches quite well despite her blindness. She is two years old.
The Consejo Superior del Poder Judicial (High Judicial Council) is being asked to rule whether prisoners being transferred must expose their genitals during searches.
The Council is being asked to make a decision on whether prisoners, while in the custody of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) must only drop their pants/skirts and keep on their underwear, or that officials can make a “thorough review”, including a cavity search.
The process is part of the proposed amendment to the OIJ Procedural Handbook relating to bodily interventions of the arrested.
The deputy director of the OIJ, Gustavo Mata, asked “vehemently” the adoption of the search proposal in order to ensure that those arrested are not carrying weapons in their genitals.
Of concern is the that a full body search could violate the constitutional right of detainees, in that “no one shall be subjected to cruel and degrading treatement”.
The crisis of agriculture in Costa Rica deepened a bit more in 2012, when the sector’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) fell 3.38%, reported experts of the newspaper El Financiero.
According to the latest report of the Agricultural Statistical Bulletin, since 2009 the influence of agriculture in the GDP has decreased 16 percent.
Total exports grew by almost 10 percentage points more than the farm since 2009, 35% versus 27%, while only last year, the difference was three percentage points to 6.5% to 3.5%.
Similarly, the area planted in the country fell by 1.3% in 2012, while the credit for the sector fell by 4.5% and its weight in the total credit fell by more than one 20%.
So, not surprising that agricultural labour to wither, the paper said, according to which it decreased by 3.8% in 2012, representing the loss of nearly 14,000 jobs.
The year was not a catastrophe, but it is part of a continuing slowdown, a steady erosion, said Alvaro Saenz, president of the Chamber of Agriculture.
For his part, Roberto Obando, executive director of the Chamber of Agricultural Inputs, said there is a contradiction, because on the outside the country is projected to new markets.
However, internally we lack a state policy and are losing competitiveness because technologies and inputs advantage that other countries do use in the region, he said.
For Saenz, the problem is that it is not an isolated situation, because they have 20 years of disappointments, of politicians who do not understand that the free zones and the services are not sufficient for development.
According to El Financiero, the next general election in Costa Rica scheduled for February 2, 2014 – may provide an opportunity to correct this potential crisis with a change of government, but it will take more than speeches.
China wants to have a business summit in Central America and what better place for them to have it that their newly acquired territory Costa Rica. I wonder how many under the table deals will be happening with the Costa Rican government officials?
The Chinese Business Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean will take place in Costa Rica between November 26th and 27th, 2013. The invited include entrepreneurs, investors, and government officials. This is going to be the seventh conference of its type.
Anabel Gonzalez, Costa Rica’s Minister of Foreign Trade believes it will be the single most important of all business events scheduled this year between China and the Latin American and Caribbean region. “This meeting will strengthen Costa Rica’s position as China’s gateway to the Americas,” said Gonzalez.
The purpose of this meeting is to hold conferences on such topics like strategic trade sectors, investment relationships, and issues experienced in the past year. There is a presentation scheduled about the progress of the Chinese Special Economic Zone in Costa Rica. New businesses, investment opportunities, and cooperational projects should arise as a result of the conference.
Jorge Sequeira, the General Manager of the Procomer, described that the country is looking for ways “to extend its range of exports.” He also announced that the interests of the Chinese are specifically industrial, food, construction, beef, and technology. Agribusiness and distribution centers are also on the itinerary of ideas and facets of the industry to discuss.
Half of Costa Rica’s population does not have a savings account at a financial institution. In addition, 80% don’t keep their money in banks and 90% have no bank loans, leading them to be excluded in one way or another from the country’s formal financial system.
That is the result of the most recent survey by the Encuesta de Inclusión Financiera en Costa Rica, conducted in late 2011 and included in the published report this year by the World Bank.
Financial inclusion is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to various segments of society. Savings, investment options, credit and insurance, among others, are accessible services offered by financial institutions.
Costa Rica is ranked 59th among the 148 countries included in the survey, in bank account penetration.
50% of Costa Ricans have an account at a formal institution
13% of the population have an account to receive government payments
10% of the population have a loan from a financial institution in the past year
9% use an account to receive remittances
20% have a savings account at a financial institution
28% have accounts to receive wages
12% of the population have credit cards and 44% debit cards
The survey reveals that the population with some kind of exclusion is mostly female, low income and with little education. For their part, men who save and borrow in financial institutions doubles that of women. The report shows that only 40% of women have bank accounts, while 60% of men.
Among those with only a primary education, they are six times unlikely not to have a bank account compared to those who went to college.
The two main reasons for not having a bank account are lack of money (33%) or because a relative already has (21%). Also, lack of trust in financial institutions, lack of documentation and the distance to institutions are among other reasons.
People that are financially excluded might;
Not be able to access affordable credit
Not want or have difficulty obtaining a bank account
Be financially at risk through not having home insurance
Struggle to budget and manage money or plan for the unexpected
Not know how to make the most of their money
Anyone can be financially excluded, as a result of the economic downturn we believe many more people then usual are struggling financially.
In Costa Rica, the salaried segment of the population are among the highest users of banking services, largely because they receive their wages from private companies and governments through direct deposit to their bank account. The typical salaried employee in Costa Rica must have a bank account to receive wages, accounts specifically tied to their employer relationship.
Self-employees, low-income earners and houeswives are among the most who do not have a bank account.
The term “financial inclusion” has gained importance since the early 2000’s, a result of findings about financial exclusion and its direct correlation to poverty.
The survey takes in the response of 150.000 people over the age of 15 in 148 countries, in 2011 by Gallup Inc. In Costa Rica, the sample included 1.000 people and weighted to ensure national representativeness.
By: Henry Morales Navarro, VozdeGuanacaste – After 12 years of housing producers of local foods and products from the region, the agricultural market El Guayabo or La Guayabita market, located in the center of Nicoya, is going to receive a facelift.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) will transfer 70 million colones ($140,000) in funds to remodel it. The funds will be channeled through the municipality.
The director of MAG for the Chorotega region, Oscar Vasquez, highlighted the importance of the El Guayabo market. “This is a project that we started developing 12 years ago,” he said. “The idea is to improve the added value of the products and the competitiveness and to maintain the tradition of local products, especially foods and drinks native to the area.”
Jose Segundo Montiel, a producer from Tierra Blanca of Nicoya, said they only offer local products like rosquillas, cuajadas (a variety of cheese), cheese, roastedcorn tamales, corn-based beverages, corn tortillas, carao syrup and wild bee honey.
The market was created in 2001 by an initiative of the Municipality of Nicoya. In order to avoid street vendors, a group of producers were given a location to carry on their activity as normal.
The producers of the El Guayabo market come from different parts of Nicoya, including Casitas, Tierra Blanca, La Granja, Copal and Dulce Nombre, among others.
Jacinta Garcia, member of the pro-market Association of Producers, related that it has been a struggle from the beginning. They held activities like raffles and bingos to raise funds to fix the roof and little by little have done other repairs to the building, which is in poor condition, until they received the news that they are going to get external help.
According to Vasquez, they anticipate that the work will be finished by October.
Fiji Islands is an island country in the South Pacific, it has stunning beaches
Fiji Islands is an island country in the South Pacific, it has stunning beaches
Fiji and Costa Rica have formalized diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Fiji Mission to the United Nations in New York, the Fijian government announced Saturday.
The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN, Ambassador Eduardo Ulibarri and his Fiji counterpart, Ambassador Peter Thomson, signed a joint communique establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries on Saturday.
According to Fiji’s Ministry of Information, the communique expresses the desire of both countries to establish their diplomatic relations in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, guided by the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and international law. The communique calls for the promotion and strengthening of bonds of friendship and cooperation between Costa Rica and Fiji in political, economic, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.
Following the formalization ceremony, Ulibarri and Thomson held talks on areas of common interest between their two countries. Thomson reported on the progress of the Fiji Roadmap towards the achievement of sustainable democracy with parliamentary elections to be held in Fiji in 2014. In concluding the meeting, the ambassadors assured each other of the mutual support of their missions in the furtherance of common causes in multilateral affairs.
While Superman flew above us earthlings and saved Gotham City from true evil, Costa Rica flies off to raise essential prices and taxes. And, in so doing exposes a deep sense of government ignorance; which is a better word than “stupidity”.
It is hard to accept that more borrowing is the only answer that Costa Rica has considered during the process of a slowing economy and a larger, even much larger debt structure much like that of Detroit who declared bankruptcy?
And, while not being very attractive to foreign business, nationals and expatriates alike, according to CRhoy.com, SUTEL , the government regulator of national telecommunications, has proposed a 83% hike on domestic telephone users, or better expressed , land lines and only a 58% increase for businesses.
WOW! What a great way to encourage new investments. And, to think about it is also a new way to collect more tax money that was turned down in 2012.
But, as a side kick, the amount of cell phone rates would decrease.
OOPS! There is only one and only one landline phone company in our piece of paradise and that is ICE which all love to hate because this company or institution is a 100% monopoly.
At the same time, the national water company AyA instead of repairing the arsenic laced drinking water to about 11,000 people living in Guanacaste has elected double rates and install 4,453 fire hydrants per the Spanish language newspaper, La Nación.
That’s a good idea but for years and years I have been paying from 192 to 2020 colones each month for those same damn hydrants which have never been built nor repaired.
Where did the money go?
ANOTHER TOPIC:
How is it Possible that Costa Rica, the land of higher education has never defined its maritime boundaries? Again we are in another quagmire with Nicaragua over who has the right to drill for oil in the Caribbean waters?
Why? Such a dispute? Who knows?
Spying: The reason Costa Rica has not made a big issue about the U.S. (Snowden) spying allegations is simple. We would if we could do it and keep a straight face. We do something similar all the time. And now for lack of an original concept, it is proposed that we expand spying on certain, targeted foreign embassies such as Mexico and Colombia.
This smacks of the Tico guest law which allows only nationals (Locals) to holster and harbor weapons but not foreigners. A sort of trust your brother only concept.
In Costa Rica, no one is immune to home robberies, not even if you are one of the most recognizable faces in the country, like that of Public Education minister, Leonardo Garnier.
The Fuerza Publica and Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), report responding to call from the Garnier home in Zapote.
According to the police report, the minister and his wife, Maria Marta Ortiz, were not at home at the time. At home was Garnier’s daugther and a domestic employee, who were locked up in one of the bathrooms while the assailants made off with a number of undisclosed items.
Last Friday, three men broke into the home of legislator Patricia Pérez, located in La Uruca. The legislator described he ordeal as a “born again” experience.
According to the legislator, the assailants took advantage of the moment her daughter was coming into the house, to force their way in. Pérez said that the men stormed the house once the remote garage door began to open.
Authorities discard an increase in home robberies, but recommend taking care when arriving or leaving home.
The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – national weather service – reports the fall of 142 lightning bolts in the greater San José area, from noon to 2:30pm on Saturday.
The IMN rated the actitivy as “intense”.
Experts say the phenomeon was due to various weather conditions converging, including the high temperature experienced in the morning.
The weather service is forecasting a repeat of the conditions for today, Sunday and recommends the taking of precautionay measures.
During the rainy season, sunny and hot temperatures lead to thunderstorms, that can include intense lightning storms and torrential rains.
Costa Rica Star – We set out down the beach under a leaden sky stuffed with clouds. It was 8:00 at night, and at first it was hard to see, with the nearly full moon sliding in and out of clouds; but soon our eyes adjusted to the dimness. A light mist began to dust us, and not a soul stirred nearby.
We were on sea turtle patrol.
Five of us were decked out in dark colors to blend with the night. Sea turtles don’t like bright lights – and, ergo, light-colored clothes – which distract and possibly dissuade them from coming ashore to lay their eggs. Cell phones on low ring, and backpacks and water bottles in hand, we started along the smooth, dark sand for a 6 km reconnaissance of Matapalo Beach.
Matapalo Beach, south of Manuel Antonio, Costa RicaThe long, tree-lined Matapalo Beach is halfway between Manuel Antonio to the north and Dominical to the south on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast. There is nothing here but a small community, unspoiled beach, and the Matapalo Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Project. Run by the non-governmental, not-for-profit Association of Volunteers for Service in Protected Areas in Costa Rica (ASVO), the project protects Matapalo Beach for the three species of endangered sea turtles that come here to lay their eggs.
Turtle – olive ridleyBeing in the tropics, Costa Rica’s Caribbean and Pacific Coasts are a major breeding, nesting and hatching ground for five of the world’s sea turtle species, all of which are endangered – Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas), Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Pacific Black Turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizi), and Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea).
The Sea Turtle Conservation Project began in Matapalo in the 1990s. In 2005, ASVO took over and used its large volunteer base, in the form of college students from both Costa Rica and abroad, to grow the project.
Every year from June 1 to the beginning of December, several hundred Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and Pacific Black turtles come to Matapalo Beach to nest. The peak arrival time is from August to October. Only female sea turtles return to the beaches where they hatched; male turtles never return to shore.
Turtle eggs are protected in a hatcheryOn patrol, we were watching for any movement or tell-tale tracks across the sand that signal the presence of a sea turtle laying her eggs. We also were watching for the possibility of poachers coming to steal turtle eggs or kill the turtles, though that isn’t as frequent at Matapalo as it is on Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast, assured Daniel Segura, head of the Matapalo Sea Turtle Conservation Project. “Here people don’t kill turtles for meat. Sometimes people steal eggs, but we have excellent relations with the Coast Guard and the community here,” Segura said. Turtle eggs are thought to be an aphrodisiac and are stolen for consumption and sale.
Sea turtles in the world are threatened by poachers, pollution in the water including plastics, fishing lines (causing entanglement and drowning) from shrimp nets and long-line fishing, the loss of habitat due to beach development, and global warming causing the sea water temperature to rise. Last year, volunteers at Matapalo found 20 dead turtles.
Turtle baby hatchingProject volunteers patrol 5.4km of Matapalo Beach every night during turtle season; they monitor the turtle hatchery 24 hours a day, and do beach clean-up. When a nest is found, volunteers wait for the sea turtle to return to the ocean, and then recover the eggs carefully in plastic bags to bring them to the hatchery to be safe from predators. Incubation lasts from 45 to 60 days and a nest will have from 80 to 150 eggs. Female turtles lay two to three nests per season.
Around 80 to 100 baby turtles hatch from the average nest. However, only one in 1,000 sea turtles survives to adulthood. On average, turtles live to about 50 or 60 years. According to ASVO data, they have freed tens of thousands of baby turtles over the years. To celebrate the turtle project and baby hatching, an annual Turtle Festival is held on Matapalo Beach in late November with music, food, parades, surfing contests and a small fair.
Volunteering:
Volunteers come from all over the world to help at the Matapalo Beach Turtle Conservation Project. The night I was visiting, there were 46 volunteers in house – from the USA, Canada, England, Spain, New Zealand, Belgium, Colombia, Venezuela, and Costa Rica. There is space for 60 volunteers. Help is needed in the turtle nursery, patrolling the beach, beach clean-up, and teaching turtle conservation to schoolchildren and the community. Volunteers stay from one week to six months (or longer). Corporate groups from Costa Rica are welcome for weekend volunteer projects.
Turtle babies heading to the seaTurtle Tours:
There are two tours. One involves an educational talk and turtle release, depending on whether there are births in the nursery. The other is an educational talk and patrol, where visitors walk a sector of the beach with a guide to hopefully see a turtle nesting. Tour groups can be from two to seven persons.
Tour cost is $25 per person; three or more in a group and the price lowers to $20 each. All funds go directly to the turtle project.
What to bring: Wear dark-colored clothes apt for walking the beach at night and comfortable shoes. Bring a water bottle, small flashlight (can only be used on the road to get to the beach and not out on the sand), and camera (no flash allowed). No smoking or perfumes allowed – turtles have a sensitive sense of smell and can be repelled by strong scents.
Where to stay in the area:
Portasol Rainforest Community entranceStay 5 minutes away from Matapalo Beach in pristine rainforest at Portasol Rainforest and Ocean View Community. The sustainable residential community has vacation rentals and properties for sale. Its 1,300 acres offer private trails in the jungle, rivers, waterfalls with natural pools, comfortable lodging, and spa services.
Portasol is a key supporter of the Matapalo Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Project. Said Portasol owner Guillermo Piedra about the project’s tour: “Offering this tour is very important for our guests, to inform them about the importance of preserving endangered species and their significance to the environment. The Matapalo Project is aligned with our community work and our mission and vision to work toward a better world.”
– See more at: http://news.co.cr/sea-turtles-arrive-on-costa-ricas-matapalo-beach/24086/#sthash.kskNg6vb.dpuf
This year “romeros” had the option of taking the train to get back to San José, however, lines to board the train it took some up to five hours before they could head home.
The Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer), the national railway, said that more than 15.000 people opted for the train for their return home, a number way beyond expectations.
The train service began operating at 10pm Thursday, where in minutes users could get a seat and head back after walking to the Basilica de los Angeles in Cartago.
But as the morning hours neared, the sheer volume of users made lines grow and users had to wait hours – up to 5 – before they could board the next train.
Many opted to the traditional bus service rather than wait.
This is the first year since 1995 that there has been train service between San José and Cartago. Miguel Carabaguíaz, Incofer president, told the press on Friday that they never imagined so many would be wanting to use the train.
For many it was a novelty.
Gerardo Carballo, inspector for the Consejo de Transporte Público (CTP), said, “the Incofer must prepare better for next year as more people prefer the train to the bus”.
