The minister of Communications, Carlos Roverssi, speaking on national radio Monday morning on the image of Presidenta Laura Chinchilla, said that the crisis of the image of the government, described as the worst in the last six governments by a public opinion poll, is the responsibility of “each and every one of us (the ministers)”.
The poll was taken by Unimer for the Spanish language daily La Nacion.
Roverssi said it is unfair that “it all falls on the Presidenta”.
The minister said that the Governing Council (Cabinet) will discuss on Tuesday “rectifying the mistakes we’re making”.
The spokesperson for the Presidenta assures that the government will meet almost everything promised and that anyone who cheers the survey results “is not a good Costa Rican”.
Costa Rica knows the so-called ‘natural phenomenon of fruit’. From May to the end of July there is an uncontrollable growth spurt in fruit crops. The production of pineapple doubles, followed by a decrease in production in the months of August and September.
“During this period of abundance, prices fall and traders try to sell the fruit to households with special offers and discounts. The phenomenon of the growth spurt this year was very short; only 4 to 5 weeks. The decline in production started in week 23 and will likely last until week 28,” explains Ileana Chaves, of Frucori Comercializadora SA.”
Comercializadora Frucori S.A. is a manufacturing and exporting company in Costa Rica, trading in fresh pineapples from the Golden brand (MD2). The company has a production area of 170 hectares (and wants to expand to 200 hectares). 95% of its production is exported to Europe and 5% to the US. The price in Europe is more stable than in recent years, with between 8.5 and 11 Euro per box. In week 25, the highest price is expected.
The fruit produced by Frucori S.A. is GlobalGAP and Tesco Nurture’s Choice certified. The company is currently gunning for a Huella the Carbono Neutro Certificate.
We know that we have been duped. The question now is if we have been abandoned?
Here we go again, the season of “It’s all about me politics.” The hunting season where the wanna be are grouped together for more of the same macro disenfranchisement that has permeated this country since 1954.
What is going to make me nausea and lost is one more time all the worn out battle cries of no more dictators, freedom of speech, transparency, an open democracy, no weapons of any kind and a country of free expression, justice for all and we lead the world in sustainable environment. (Sounds like Shangri-La with an edge.)
And, that is the hook that brought the Quakers here in 1954 as well as tourists in 2013. Albeit far less than expected.
As we now see our country, no wonder the Quakers are hunkered down in the cloud forest of Monteverde as it might be one of the few bastions of civilized locals in Costa Rica.
Contemporary Costa Rica argues the evils of gun ownership, while members of the congress are busy voting themselves the right to have three guns each and the Lord only knows what the ministers and why the president needs to holster and shoot.
When our elected officials are allowed to carry guns and fire; that scares me, especially since many of them only learned how to send email a few years ago. What do they fear? Another Pepe Figueres 1948 revolution, an uprising of the people perhaps, an invasion from Nicaragua, the U.S. Costa Guard or…homegrown violent crime? But the mystery is why three guns.?
After years and years of money in the bank, (Millions but millions of USD) the ministry of roads is building only one, not two or three or four, actual roads. With all those funds only one. All this is critical to the tourism industry which has been replaced by mega – mega deals such as a new refinery, and gold mines; oh yeah, let’s not forget the oil exploration idea. The rest of the money is in the bank and is used for……I have no idea and neither does anyone else.
A lawyer representing doña Laura has made it pretty clear that she will not tolerate being criticized or defamed on “social media” which covers a lot of territory. (Defamation was never defined, but whatever it is, we cannot do it.) And, the lady has fallen back on her promise of press freedom’s sword. So let’s have a Chinchilla Day and celebrate all of her lustrous achievements. A homage, as one would say, with a 30% popularity rate. (Maybe an hour or so of gallo pinto and my favorite, cold Imperial beer will we cover it and she will lighten up?)
Meanwhile 11,000 + people in Guanacaste drink public water laced with arsenic and that goes unabated. (Really, arsenic in the water and not so little.) That and running over pedestrians seems to be Costa Rica’s answer to the birth control problem while also meeting Catholic liturgy.
We have a public, a highly touted public healthcare system known as the CAJA which is like James Bond 007; a license to kill. And third, behind politics, corruption and soccer, it is the national sport to cheat that system by and avoid the premiums rendering healthiness impotent.
For a shock, go to Ticoblogger.com and learn who have paid into the CAJA and the companies or government organizations that have elected not to pay in to it. Some are enormous sums of money in any country. The employees pay (9%), but the empresarios from all sorts of businesses have forgotten t5o pony up.
A presidential candidate Dr. Hernandez who was the director of the children’s hospital and when asked why so many and unusual mortality’s occurred in post natal cardiology in babies, he smiled and replied, “Everyone must die some time.” (Hell of an answer!)
Doctor, “Not my child.”
Actually, in the sometimes seedy world of call centers, sports books, casinos and even some recognized industry, Johny Araya lamented that the trend is to contract employees rather than put them on the payroll so the the worker only pay 9% of salary or the minimum called (Voluntario) while the government and corporations are exempt of their 21% contributions to good health. The government has never said pay up. The right to health, good healthcare is a developed country “thing” but not Costa Rica and not even the United States.
A side bar: Most call centres, sports books, casinos, etc. pay no taxes and keep earned income offshore while importing only funds for payroll. That is unless they are laundering millions under the noses or with the assistance of the government.
In La Nación there was a photo of people, all of lower income working class attempting to obtain scholarships for their Children. (These are not like scholarships to Harvard or Stanford) but rather for school uniforms, books and transportation.
These are families who want education, who are verified by seven different agencies to qualify, who believed doña Laura when she said, “FONABE cannot fail us this year, “Well it has turned into few if any so called scholarships for the poor and then with great fanfare the government laments, “what must we do to bring this country to an acceptable standard of education for all?”
More than ever youngsters are dropping out of schools no matter how hard parents and indeed communities try to change the tide. But again, another government failure!
It is the local level that elects presidents and while Liberación most certainly has the lead and Johnny Araya is the candidate of choice, if elected, he runs the highest risk of street protest, perhaps violence and the worst of all, a perception of a “king”.
Doña Laura, as the government, has alienated a large segment of citizens because she never really took care of them but rather took care of her determined political separation of Oscar Arias, apparently not so qualified cronies of which 70% have left their posts for one reason or another, and an overwhelming poor report card of ministers, autonomous ministers and slow, incomprehensible decision making which has mystified all of us…the people.
Shame on me, shame on us, shame on those who live here who remain passive as the government simply abandons or most basic needs.
Adaptación Social is investigating a powerful network that operates in La Reforma prison
Well known entrepreneurs, television personalities and models are part of the “pre-pagos” (paid sex workers) for inmates at the La Reforma prison.
These women provide sexual services for a variety of prisoners, some well off, able to afford “top shelf”, while others more modest, have to do with less quality.
The prison system is said to be investigating this group of women who “take care” the needs of the men, who depending on their wallet in addition to sexual services on the inside, manage their affairs on the outside that can include collecting rents on rental properties and business affairs.
Costa Rica’s (self billed) best selling newspaper , the Diario Extra, claims to have a list of women among which are TV presenters, models, professionals and dancers who regularly visit prisoners in exchange for hefty sums of money.
Although mostly wives, mothers, sisters and girlfriends of the inmates visit on visiting day, the rules allow anyone to visit.
The newspaper says it has records that among the women, posing as relatives, who visit on Saturdays and Sundays are prostitutes who charge ¢50.000 (US$100) to have sex with prisoners. Some waive the cash payment in return for protection and whatever.
The “business partnership” is apparently known to prison authorities. La Reforma prison manager, Manrique Sibaja, confirms that there is an ongoing investigation, of what is not a secret.
“We have suspicions but have to yet prove anything or identify the group(s) behind it”, says Sibaja.
Presumed is that the inmates can choose from a “catalogue” consisting of photographs of women who allegedly work in real estate, and charge a fee for the prison visit, which is arranged through intermediaries.
The Diario Extra says it was contacted by an inmate, an alleged drug trafficker, who confirms he has a network of women providing sexual services to inmates and that the cost depends on the inmate and their needs.
The publication said it is withholding the name of the drug trafficker, nor did it publish the name of a “famous and well known model” that is a regular visitor.
Prison authorities say that up 1.300 visitors are admitted between Saturday and Sunday each week to visit a loved one. And that some women arrive dressed very provocatively. Women dressed “too provocative” are asked to change.
“Many women arrive for the visit in skimpy clothes. Our job is to ensure that there are no minors”, said Sibaja.
The long arm of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reaching out to the Costa Rican wife of Arthur Budovsky, the alleged mastermind behind the US$6 billion dollar money laundering operation that was Liberty Reserve.
The woman, a vendor outside the immigration offices in La Uruca, San José, who was paid ¢200.000 colones (US$400) by Budovsky so that he could obtain Costa Rican citizenship, has been asked to appear in the Unites States to answer questions by FBI agents.
“I got a called in by the Fiscalia (Costa Rica’s prosecutor’s office), never did I imagine FBI agents would be present to talk to me”, Yessenia Valerio told the media.
Valerio explains that despite all the controversy surrounding her being Budovsky’s “official” wife, her life remains as before and has no qualms on divorcing the foreigner.
“This is all done and over. I have to continue working, nobody has given me anything. I have to work to support my family, and I am clear I am not going to get anything of being his wife, something for him to become a Costa Rican citizen, Valerio told Diario Extra.
Javier Vargas, the lawyer representing the vendor of “empanadas”, said “we will be in the U.S. in the coming days in order to give a full declaration, but will continue to fight for any assets that my client has a right to”.
The lawyer added that U.S. authorities will be paying for travel expenses.
With the ability to notify drivers of traffic infractions, the Consejo de Seguridad Vial (COSEVI) can now set their eyes on reviving the highway traffic camera program.
The Ley de Transito that went into effect on October 2012 allowed the creation of a Dirección Electrónica Vial (DEV) – a database of email contacts – that can be used to “officially” notify speeding drivers picked off by the traffic cameras. The DEV will also be used for all “official” notifications.
If you will recall, it was two years ago when the COSEVI installed and put into operation a series of traffic cameras to control speeding on the major routes. The program was suspended within weeks, when drivers caught speeding questioned the legality of the fine.
Earlier this year, on two separate occasions, the COSEVI announced the cameras were coming back in March and the April.
Some – thousands – paid their fines promptly, many more didn’t. Nor did they heed the notices published in the local papers. Finally, all was forgiven, awaiting a new law. Those who paid reinforced that in Costa Rica it does not pay to be first in anything or obey laws. See It Doesn’t Pay To Be The First in Costa Rica In Anything.
The new Ley de Transito requires every licensed driver to register their email with the COSEVI. The email will then be used for notification by the COSEVI. Drivers who don’t register their email by October 26, for simplicity sake, will be assigned one. The assignation will mean that COSEVI will have duly notified the driver, even though the driver never got any notification.
According to German Valverde, director of the COSEVI, all that is missing now is a proposal from the state telecom, Radiográfica Costarricense (RACSA).
Valverde did not give a date when the cameras will begin operating again.
Was the marriage so that Johnny would have a first lady?
According to famous astrologer Mario vannucci, who currently lives in Mexico, it would have been better for former San José mayor, Johnny Araya and his belovd Sandra Leon, to wait to marry.
Vannucci says these are not good days for the couple to be marrying, the astrologer say it would have been better after Saturday July 20.
The couple married on Friday, July 5.
“The only thing I do not like is that Mercury is in retrograde, which is the planet of communication, thus it is not recommended until July 20 to you sign a contract of any kind. I hope that’s not going to hinder the marriage, ” he La Teja by telephone.
In the experience of the astrologer, couples who marry during this period have very little miscommunication.
“I hope your marriage is based on love and not on political interests,” he added, referring to rumours that marriage took place so that Johnny can have a First Lady when he is elected president.
As to the elections, Vannucci has no doubt that Johnny will be the next president.
“She is more sentimental than he. He is an entrepreneur and she will be an emotional support”, says Vannucci.
He added that men always working with the power have a need for a person to help them with their spiritual balance and that will be the main role of Sandra in the relationship, especially now at the start of the election campaign.
The hijacking of cargo moved over land causes serious economic damage to countries across Latin America, according to a new report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), which shines a light on the impact of “terrestrial piracy.”
The report found that Mexico and Brazil are among the countries where overland cargo transport was most at risk, reported EFE. Most criminal hijackings of cargo transport occur on highways, although attacks on trains are also common. In both cases, attacks occur predominantly in urban areas, during the daytime, and on weekends.
Ana Cristina Sierra, an investigator at the Federation of Colombian Insurers’s Transportation Chamber, indicated that cargo hijacking interrupts supply chains within Colombia, and that 60 percent of shipping accidents were caused by criminal activity, reported El Colombiano. According to the police, cars are the most frequently stolen goods, followed by electronic devices, home appliances, and textiles.
While police registered 318 cases of freight hijacking during 2012, which amounts to a 7.7 percent drop from 2011, insurance companies have recorded much higher incident rates, with one firm recording 500 cases of theft or failed arrival in one year.
Cargo robbery is a lucrative business in Latin America and is strongly connected to organized crime. In addition to causing heavy losses to affected businesses, the theft and smuggling networks that engage in “terrestrial piracy” are also frequently involved in the trafficking of other illicit products, such as drugs, weapons, and counterfeit currency.
In Mexico, attacks on cargo trucks resulted in the loss of around US$380 million between 2008 and 2011, forcing trucking businesses to try and adapt and outsmart the thieves through tactics such as travelling in convoy. Large criminal organization such as the Zetas and the Familia Michoacana have been linked to the practice.
The goods stolen from cargo trucks, ports, or railroads are usually fenced on the black market. In countries like Brazil, where consumer demand is booming but taxes and tariffs on many goods remain prohibitively high, the black market has grown substantially as many people turn to the plentiful supply of stolen and counterfeit goods.
Indigenous Central Americans made them out of tree bark and plant fibres
In a hammock in Costa Rica and had a revelation that led him to start a global movement
By Sarah Hampson, The Globe and Mail – I am sorry to break the news, but the hammock, that iconic symbol of summer relaxation, in which you’re not supposed to be thinking deeply about anything at all, except maybe when your favourite beer will be handed to you, has become loaded with meaning. You might even say it has gone highbrow.
If you can manage sex in one, for instance, you’re more balanced and inventive than those who attempt coitus in a canoe. (Check out, on YouTube, the Hammock Sutra, which gives a whole new meaning to the notion of a swinging sex life.)
When it comes to design semiotics, the kind of hammock you choose can speak about your character. (Sling any old canvas one between two maples and you’re a backyard Thoreau. Purchase a Tuuci Air Lounge, which sells for approximately CA$400, and you’re among those who believe that everything, even items that are meant be simple and utilitarian, should be subject to capital-D design; these are the same people who can be identified by their Hermès bath towels and their crustless PB&Js.)
The hammock is a proven sleep aid, as documented by a recent Swiss study that shows how the swinging motion synchronizes brain waves, promoting the faster onset of a deeper state of slumber. Last but not least, it’s a gateway to enlightenment, a philosophy unto itself and a possible facilitator of community engagement.
Oh, I know, you might need to find a hammock and have a sip of beer to decompress after that weighty paragraph. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Such meta-thinking is what happens when something that anthropologists say dates back more than 1,000 years is still popular. We find new meaning in it.
The reasons it first became popular remain, of course. Indigenous Central Americans made them out of tree bark and plant fibres to create a convenient sling that lifted the sleeper off the dirty floor of a hut or a forest, protecting them from snakes and other creatures. It was Christopher Columbus who reportedly first took them to Europe, where, by the mid-16th century, the English and Spanish fleets had adopted the hammock as an easy, cost-efficient way to accommodate a shipload of men.
But now, in a complex world, they have become symbols of an existential longing. They’re a return to the womb. In one, you’re enveloped, suspended and cradled, rocked gently by Mother Nature. That was the feeling that Eoin Finn got in 2005, when he was lying in a hammock in Costa Rica and had a revelation that led him to start a global movement he calls “hammock enlightenment.”
“As humans, we make things so complicated,” he tells me on the phone from Vancouver, where he lives when he’s not leading yoga retreats in other parts of the world. “I was sitting in a hammock every day and one day I thought, ‘Oh, this is the feeling of enlightenment that gurus speak of. I feel happy. I am present. My breath is relaxed. I am calm. I am connected to the Earth. I was looking at the light poking through the leaves of the trees. The hammock represents all the values that we need to reinstate in our society to make this not just a sustainable place but a thriving one.”
Finn had had a similarly cosmic experience as a child, lying in a hammock one summer near Haliburton, Ont., where he was born and raised.
“It was a summer night and I looked up at the stars and got lost in the mystery of life,” he recalls. After graduating from Halifax’s Dalhousie University with a degree in philosophy, he went on to make his passion for yoga and hammocks into a lifestyle brand called Blissology. (I must break it to you that there’s a “Blissology Prana-Meter,” which enables you to find a balanced diet.)
After his hammock revelation in 2005, he had another one. If he couldn’t bring the world to Costa Rica to experience “hammock enlightenment” at his retreat, he could bring the hammocks to the world – and not just to some out-of-town field. No, he would bring them to the heart of what he feels is so wrong with modern culture – to the business districts of major cities, the places where people never relax, not even at lunch hour.
His first foray, a kind of “art installation project,” was in Vancouver in 2006. Finn and his “Bliss army” strung up 20 hammocks on Robson Street near the Vancouver Art Gallery.
“We weren’t selling anything. We were promoting relaxation,” he explains. “The philosophy behind it is that, if we didn’t have such a busy society, we would be more connected. People don’t have time to connect to themselves, to others, to nature, to the community and even to their bodies. What I do is not just yoga. Blissology is about connection, the opposite of isolation. You put a bunch of hammocks up, and there’s a little village where people will start talking to one another.”
The 44-year-old married father of one has done annual hammock installations ever since, in venues such as New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and Toronto. “Some people are reluctant at first. But a lot of business people told us later that, after spending just 10 minutes in a hammock, they were more productive at work. In Vancouver, a Supreme Court judge told us he was much more focused afterward. What baseball player plays a full game? We are expected to have coffee and keep going.”
Finn is a backyard Thoreau. “I try to get into one every day,” he tells me.
But isn’t it a bit much to load such a simple thing with so much expectation and meaning?
“The hammock is an instrument,” he murmurs soothingly. “People could get into one and not have this experience. That’s fine. Different people will pick up a guitar and one will play something classical while another will play Celine Dion.”
There you go. You can stop thinking now. Sip your beer in your hammock. There’s no need to feel inadequate if you have failed to achieve spiritual orgasm. A nap will suffice.
Despite their best intention to prohibit smoking everywhere, Health authorities cannot stop smoking in public spaces like the Boulevards (pedestrian walkways) and other “pubilc roads”.
Health Minister, Sissy Castillo, confirmed that public roads – the boulevards of Avenida Central, Avenida 4 and Calle 4, for example – are public roads convered to pedestrain walkways and thus out of reach of the mosking ban, like in parks and other open public open spaces.
The boulevards in places like Avenida Escazú and Multiplaza or the pathways of the Sabana Park are not public roads and as such smoking is prohibited.
However, Castillo was quick to add that this rule (public road) does not allow restaurants and bars fronting on the boulevards to create smoking areas. The area of the restaurant does not include the street and as such are subject to the Ley General de Control del Tabaco.
The Health Ministry – more than a year after the anti-tobacco law went into effect – has begin training for Fuerza Publica (police) officers and officers of the Municipal Police to apply the anti-tobacco law rigorously.
A stewardess for a Mexican airline, identified by her last name Rodriguez, was arrested outside the San José airport during a routine spot check, found carrying hidden on her body US$160.000 in cash.
Authorities say the woman was intercept by the Fuerza Publica (police) and the Policía de Control de Drogas (PCD) – drug police – in a routine roadside check to curb theft of tourist luggage and drug trafficking.
Police officers suspected something wrong when they say the woman, dressed in a stewardess uniform, travelling alone in a public taxi. Airline staff usually are transferred in groups and by private transportation arranged by the airline.
Authorities say the woman appeared nervous, prompting a closer inspection, finding she had attached to her body the large sum of cash.
The Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) – Judicial Police – say the money was being delivered to the Caballeros Templarios (Knight Templar) cartel. Costa Rican authorities suspect that the recipients are Victoriano and Jorge Alvarado Carrillo brothers, who were arrested last week with charges of money laundering and double murder.
The director de la Fuerza Pública, Juan José Andrade, confirmed that the 28-year-old woman carried the bills taped to her body and she was heading to a hotel in San José on Wednesday night.
The woman was remanded to three months preventive detention while authorities continue their investigation.
The airplane at the centre of the political storm.
The office of prosecutors has absolved President Laura Chinchilla of the charge of violation of ethics surrounding her air transport to Peru May 11 aboard a private jet apparently leased by a Colombian suspected of links with drug cartels.
Head of the judicial section on governmental ethics Gilberth Calderon said no laws covered a president in such circumstances. But the President has been punished by having to accept the resignations of two of her closest advisors — former Communications Minister Francisco Chacon and personal assistant Irene Pacheco, who were with her on the flight.
Also resigning was Mauricio Boraschi who was in charge of the personal security of the President and head of the police intelligence agency DIS. After the ownership of the plane was revealed Boraschi said he would never have let the President board the corporate jet if he had been aware of the ownership.
Flying with the President was her husband as well as the Foreign Trade Minister, Anabel Gonzalez and her husband. The plane had been leased by the THX petroleum company and was lent to the President by Gabriel Morales. The trip had been a private one to attend the wedding of the son of Vice President Luis Liberman.
The trip was given an official veneer by a brief get-together of Chinchilla and Peruvian President Ollanta Humala the day after the wedding. Still stinging from the firestorm of criticism surrounding the trip, the President issued a decree forbidding her Administration’s officials to use private aircraft for official business.
In an interview with La Nacion, Chinchilla grumbled about the blunder of not investigating the aircraft loan and Morales’s background, noting that it was impossible for a chief executive to arrange trips and tend to other duties.(President Says She Paid Peru Trip)
Chacon and Pacheco were both notified by the ethics court of the decisions regarding their cases but did not release to the press other details.
Puerto Padre tells the story of a young orphan in a small island in the Gulf of Nicoya, who embarks on a journey to Puntarenas in search of his godfather.
“It’s not the same watching a gringo movie that has nothing to do where we live and see for ourselves”, Adriana Álvarez posted on Twitter
The Tico film “has to do with masculinity, absence and silence, inspired by a Sauma Osvaldo poem about reconciliations with parents.
They couldn’t be missed. They flew low and slow over San José in the days prior to arrival of United States president Barack Obama. And they were also heard and seen the day after the Obama departure.
The Black Hawks were part of the Obama’s security while in Costa Rica.
However, at least one Costa Rican, identified by his last name Quirós Delgado, has questioned the “legality” of the chopper’s presence in Costa Rican airspace and filed a “recurso amparo” (appeal) with the Constitutional Court (Sala Constitucional or Sala IV).
The protocol is for the Poder Ejecutivo (executive branch of the government) to ask permission of the Legislative Assembly for any U.S. military presence in Costa Rican waters, ground and air.
Magistrate Fernando Castillo explained that authorization for such vessels rests with the Legislative Assembly and not the Poder Judicial.
According to the Court, the act violated the price of peace of the people by authorizing the military aircraft in Costa Rican airspace. As such the Court has cancelled such authorizations and ordered the Director Aviacion Civil to refrain from a repeat of similar conduct.
The appeal was filed against the President of the Republic, the Ministry of the Presidency and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Floribeth Mora Diaz holds up a magazine featuring Pope John Paul II on the cover, as she gives her account of a miracle attributed to John Paul, during a press conference, at the Archbishop’s office in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday.
Floribeth Mora Diaz, the Costa Rican woman whose brain aneurysm reportedly disappeared after she prayed to Pope John Paul II broke down in tears Friday as she publicly spoke for the first time about the church-confirmed miracle underlying John Paul’s case for sainthood.
The Roman Catholic Church presented 50-year-old Mora and her doctor to reporters after Pope Francis approved the miracle needed to canonize John Paul II.
With tears in her eyes, Mora described how she was sent home with pain medicine but no apparent hope for treatment, thinking she was going to die after her 2011 aneurysm diagnosis.
She says a photograph of the pope seemed to speak to her during the deceased pontiff’s beatification, and her doctor says the aneurysm disappeared for no apparent reason.
Mora and her family kept silent as they awaited the signing of the papal decree recognizing her story as a miracle. On Friday, accompanied by her husband, doctors and Catholic officials, Mora told gathered reporters that she had gone from believing she was about to die to a state of perfect health.
Backdropped by a portrait of the late Pope John Paul II, Costa Rica’s Floribeth Mora is embraced by her husband Edwin Arce as she gives her account of a miracle attributed to John Paul, during a press conference at the Archbishop’s office in San Jose, Costa Rica, Friday. The couple are accompanied by their children. (Photo/Enrigue Martinez)
Mora, who owns a private security business with her husband in the middle-class neighborhood of Dulce Nombre de Tres Rios, said she woke up on April 8, 2011, with a strong headache and went to a hospital in the nearby city of Cartago, where she was diagnosed with a severe migraine.
The pain lasted for three days and Mora returned to the hospital, where a series of tests revealed an aneurysm on the right side of her brain that had begun to hemorrhage, according to her attending physician, Alejandro Vargas.
Doctors were unable to stop the bleeding and Vargas consulted colleagues in other Latin American countries and Spain, who advised against operating because of the difficult access to the affected area.
“The risk for Floribeth was death, or ending up with significant neurological damage,” Dr. Vargas said Friday.
“I returned home with the horror of imminent death. Seeing my children walking by looking at me, standing beside my bed, seeing my husband making himself strong, taking my hand and crossing himself every night, it was very sad,” Mora said.
Her family built an altar to John Paul II outside her house, and while Mora was watching the late pope’s beatification on May 1, 2011, she picked up a magazine and, looking at a photo of the pope, starting to hear a voice.
“It said, ‘Get up, don’t be afraid,'” Mora said.
Mora said she stood up and felt instantly better, and a variety of medical exams revealed that her aneurysm had simply disappeared.
She showed reporters photos of her brain taken before and after the purported miracle.
After her recovery, Mora wrote her story on a blog dedicated to John Paul, where it was seen by people pushing for the pope’s canonization.
Later, she traveled to Rome, where she underwent further exams, and church officials began working to have her recovery classified as a miracle.
Francis will set the date for canonization at an upcoming meeting of cardinals.
From QNicaragua.com / Nicaragua’s president, Daniel Ortega, on Friday offered to grant asylum to NSA leaked Edward Snowden, one day after he and Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro and other South American leaders gathered to denounce the rerouting of Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane over Europe amid reports that the American was aboard.
Maduro made the same offer to Snowden.
The two presidents made their offers during separate speeches in their home countries on Friday afternoon. Snowden has asked for asylum in numerous countries, including Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Ortega said he was willing to make the same offer “if circumstances allow it.” Ortega didn’t say what the right circumstances would be when he spoke during a speech in Managua.
He said the Nicaraguan embassy in Moscow received Snowden’s application for asylum and that it is studying the request.
“We have the sovereign right to help a person who felt remorse after finding out how the United States was using technology to spy on the whole world, and especially its European allies,” Ortega said.
The offers came following a flap about the rerouting of Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane in Europe earlier this week amid reports that Snowden might have been aboard.
Secret-spilling website WikiLeaks said that Snowden, who is still believed to be stuck in a Moscow airport’s transit area, had put in asylum applications to six new countries. He had already sought asylum from more than 20 countries. Many have turned him down.
Wikileaks said in a message posted to Twitter on Friday that it wouldn’t be identifying the countries involved “due to attempted U.S. interference.”
Had a great laugh with my dear friend Judith the other night when she showed me her latest brochure for her “Aromatherapy Rainforest Essences of Costa Rica” products.
While sitting back at a local hangout in Playa Hermosa (South of Jacó), with a few cold beers on the table, a freshly cooked fish and lightning flashing the darkness of the ocean in the background, Judith laughed off what some might see it as a gross error, and especially for a woman.
Item number F5 on her product list says it “repels c*nts”. For those who can’t figure it, the asterisk is a “u”. Judith told me it should have read “repels ants”.
The printer, it appears, in deciphering Judith’s scrawl and not having a good grasp of the English language, translated it to what is perhaps the most offensive word in the English language.
Moral, proof read everything!
Just that you know, Judith give me permission to tell this story. You can reach Judith at carpediem@ice.co.cr
When I go to a restaurant, there are a couple of things that really set the tone for me, and if they aren’t “right”, then I feel a little let down.
So often, restaurants are judged simply by their food quality or freshness or their service. These things are important, yes, but for me there are other little things that sometimes go unnoticed.
In Jacó there are a lot of restaurants. But, one stands out more than the others.
Away from the main strip at Driftwood Grill and Lounge, only with months being open, one can have the best food in Jacó and the best atmosphere to unwind and relax.
Let’s talk service. They have it in spades. Dale, a Canuck (Canadians for our friends to the South) transplanted in Costa Rica makes sure that his dedicated staff is attentive and knowledgeable. And friendly. In Dales word, “when you dine with us, you’re always in good hands”.
The decor is contemporary and elegant, the atmosphere relaxed. The menu includes pizza made right in front of you, pastas, hamburgers, sandwiches, steak & seafood, and special vegetarian dishes. Or just enjoy a cold beer at the bar with 55 Inch TV’s to enjoy your favourite sports
Stop in the next time you’re in the neighbourhood and enjoy an old favourite. Or, discover a new one. Either way, they’ll treat you to a dining experience that’s unparalleled.
Oh yeah, don’t forget to check out their bathrooms. The Driftwood has one of the sexiest (elegant and clean) bathrooms in Jacó. The condition of the bathroom also says a lot. A dirty, neglected bathroom is an indicator to me about how the kitchen is run, and subsequently, quite the appetite suppressant!
Getting there
The Driftwood Grill & Bar is located on the first entrance road to Jacó, just before the bridge ahead of the main strip access., right across the Costa Linda condominiums.
Contact
Reservations aren’t needed. If you want to call ahead, you can reach Dale and his staff at 2634 4445 or email info@driftwoodgrill.com
Tell Dale you heard about his place on the Q and have a beer on us!
strong>This is a food review by the Q. It is not a paid ad. If you like to have the Q review your restaurant, hotel, bar and so on, contact the editor@qcostarica-082020.mystagingwebsite.com.
Purchasing real estate in Costa Rica can present many pitfalls to the would-be expat purchaser. As a practicing Real Estate Attorney in Costa Rica, I have seen many of these pitfalls, often presented to me for resolution by expats, after the damage is done. One of the main items for consideration in avoiding these pitfalls is to choose a competent Real Estate Agent and Real Estate Attorney at the outset.
The Real Estate industry is not regulated in Costa Rica, nor is there an organized MLS to assist with locating suitable properties for sale in an area in which the purchaser may be interested.
Regardless of the lack of regulation, I work with many Realtors, largely having prior experience in the Real Estate industry in countries like Canada, or the U.S., who are knowledgeable, hard-working, and honest.
It is important to select a Realtor who has local knowledge of the properties available for sale in the area of the Country that the purchaser is interested in. This can be accomplished in-part by real estate web site searches on the internet. The other important factor is to check the references of the Realtor that you select.
When selecting a Real Estate Attorney, the Realtor that you are using may be helpful in pointing you in the right direction. It is, of course, important not to use the same Attorney as the seller of the property, for the obvious conflict of interest issues that arise. In Costa Rica, all Attorneys are regulated and must be members of the College of Lawyers in order to practice law.
In Costa Rica, being a Civil Law Jurisdiction, rather than an English Common Law Jurisdiction like the majority of the U.S. and Canada, it is the Notary Public that is empowered to transfer title to a property in the National Registry. Normally, the Notary Public, who also must be an Attorney, will conduct all of the legal due diligence that is necessary with respect to a property, such as conducting a Title Search, determining legal access, land use permits, etc. Title Insurance is not a requirement in Costa Rica, as it is in the U.S. and parts of Eastern Canada.
The Government of Costa Rica guarantees the property title to be as it is registered in the National Registry. Rather than purchasing a Title Insurance Policy, it is a more useful exercise to have the Survey Plan checked by a qualified Surveyor, especially if the existing Plan exceeds five years from the date of making. It is important that all of the matters of legal due diligence are conducted either prior to signing a Purchase Agreement and depositing purchase monies, or with appropriate safe-guards in place for the return of any deposit monies should the due diligence indicate that proceeding with the purchase would not be advisable.
To contact Attorney Rick Philps about hiring him as your Costa Rican Attorney, please use the following information: Lic. Rick Philps – Attorney at Law, Petersen & Philps, San Jose, Costa Rica Tel: 506-2288-4381, Ext. 102; Email: rphilps@plawcr.com Website: www.plawcr.com
Former San José mayor and now presidential candidate will be tying the knot tonight (Friday) in a private ceremony at his home in Rohrmoser.
As announced last month by his girlfriend, Sandra León, the couple will be holding a private civil ceremony, with about 60 invited guests.
Araya lives around the corner from former president Oscar Arias, who not long ago held a similar, private wedding ceremony in his home.
Details of the Araya wedding are sketchy. Sandra would only tell the press that, “we are large families, however, the event will be a small affair: my parents, Johnny’s parents, brothers, sisters, his three children and my three are the main focus”.
This will be marriage number for four four Johnny. Though, if we take into account that he married his second wife, Jeannett Campos, twice this would be fifth walk down the isle, sort of speak.
The Civil Registry record Johnny’s first marriage in 1979 to Maritza Morera Sigler. That marriage lasted only 4 years. In 1983, Johnny married Jeannett Campos and in 1988, divorcing both times. In 1990, he married Kenia Gutierrez, in a marriage that lasted 17 years, the couple divorcing in 2007.
Costa Rica joins “Café pendiente”, a philanthropic practice that had its origins in Naples, Italy, in 2008, where one person buys his own coffee and leaves behind a paid one for another person who is unable to pay.
The idea followed Europe to South America and now in Costa Rica, giving the gift to a person who cannot afford a cup of coffee to enjoy one.
The social initiative is in Costa Rica thanks to the collective efforts of the blogs, Chepecletas, Indignados de CR and 89 Decibeles.
Participating coffee shops are easily identified with a sticker at the their front door. Taking part in the project already are Viva Café, Ecomercado and La Cafeteria in San José,
More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/cafependientecr. Better yet, visit one of the coffee shops taking part in the initiative and buy someone a cup of coffee!
If you are a coffee shop owner consider joining the “Café pendiente”!
Praying to John Paul II saved me’ Floribeth Mora Díaz
The miracle healing of a Costa Rican woman from Dulce NombredeTres Rios, east of San José, will elevate Pope John Paul II to sainthood, confirmed Pope Franciscus from the Vatican in Rome.
After a long period of research and silence, the pontiff announced the decree confirming that the cure by John Paul II of the Floribeth Mora Díaz.
Mora told the world by way of a website, that she was healed of a brain aneurysm after John Paul II prayed for her. “I asked John Paul II to help me and I was healed”, said Mora.
The statements came to the attention of the Archdiocese of San José and later, the case went to the ecclesiastical authorities in Rome.
Following an exhaustive investigation, the Vatican concluded the late pontiff was indeed responsible for her healing, according to Italian media reports.
John Paul had already been credited with asking God to cure French nun Marie Simon-Pierre Normand of Parkinson’s disease, which helped lead to his beatification in 2011, when he was declared a “blessed” of the Church.
Two confirmed miracles are usually required under Vatican rules for the declaration of a saint.
The Polish pope John Paul reigned from 1978 until he died in 2005 and played a key role in the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, while his ambitious missions abroad attracted millions of faithful.
‘Praying to John Paul II saved me’ Floribeth Mora Díaz
Floribeth Mora Díaz was told there was no hope. Taken to hospital, she was devastated to discover that her persistent headaches were the result of an aneurysm in the brain. The doctors said her days were numbered.
The mother of four, in her 50s, returned to her humble home in Tres Rios.
There, in May 2011, in front of their candlelit shrine to Pope John Paul II, surrounded by brightly-coloured plastic flowers, rosaries and homemade crucifixes, her husband told her she should pray.
Mora was “cured” by praying to Pope John Paul II, they claim, and this “miracle” has now led to his being made a saint – with the ceremony marking his ascension expected in December. It will be the fastest time in modern history that someone has been declared a saint.
“How can it be that in this small country, such as Costa Rica; in this poor small neighbourhood, this miracle took place?” said one of Mora’s neighbours, standing outside her home. “It is amazing. I don’t have words to describe it.”
The Moras are a traditional Catholic family. Alejandro Vargas Román, the neurosurgeon who treated Mora, says he is convinced that her recovery is the result of divine intervention.
“Of course it’s true,” he told La Nacion. “I am a Catholic, and as a doctor with many years of experience I do believe in miracles. No one has been able to provide a medical explanation for what happened.”
The surgeon says he was questioned by Vatican authorities in San Jose, who concluded that the woman was saved by a miracle. “I talked to the priests, but maybe they were specialised in something,” he said. “They weren’t doctors; they were theologians or lawyers, so my role was that of medical investigation.”
But he is adamant that the science is sound.
José Rafael Quirós, bishop of San Jose, said: “The canonisation of one of our brothers, as a model of sainthood for the Church, brings great joy to us all.”
Costa Rica’s coffee farmers got a boost from the government to combat a devastating fungus that has affected the industry, with the signing of a bill that will provide US$40 million dollars in support.
The government estimates that some 250.000 mostly small farmers across the country will benefit for the financial aid, to combat the “Hemileia vastatrix”, a fungus of the order Puccinilaes (Previously also known as Uredinales) that causes coffee rust, a disease that is devastating to coffee plantations – that has affected over 60% of Costa Rica’s coffee and has ravaged coffee plantations across Central America this season.
The regions most affected by roya (coffee rust as it is known in Spanish) are Coto Brus, Pérez Zeledón, Turriabla and Valle Occidental, according to the ICafé, Costa Rica’s Coffee Institute.
Delta Airlines, celebrating its 15th year of interrupted service in Costa Rica, inaugurated on Tuesday its Los Angelses – San José service.
The water arc is a symbol of friendship that takes place at airports around the world every time a new route is opened.
The non-stop flight leaves San José (SJO) at 6:55am and arrives in Los Angeles (LAX) at 12:20pm. The airline will be using a Boeing 757-200 aircraft with a capacity of 180 passengers, 24 in first class.
Delta operates 4 daily flights to Costa Rica, three to San José (two from Atlanta and one from Los Angeles) and one to Liberia (LIR) from Atlanta.
Industry experts say the move by Delta and other airlines is a reaction to Avianca’s cancellation of five non-stop flights to Costa Rica.
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 315 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Dealta is headquartered in Atlanta and employs some 80.000 people worldwide.
Costa Rica’s Poder Judicial (judiciary), since January this year, has been employing CODIS, the forensic intelligence tool that allows the resolution of cases to help find missing persons or make an identity in accidents or natural causes and of course catch criminals.
The CODIS Unit manages the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National DNA Index System (NDIS) and is responsible for developing, providing, and supporting the CODIS Program to federal, state, and local crime laboratories in the United States and selected international law enforcement crime laboratories to foster the exchange and comparison of forensic DNA evidence from violent crime investigations.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States (FBI) donated the CODIS platform, allowing Costa Rican authorities the same ability of US law enforcement agencies to compare profiles from the FBI and Interpol, and other countries like Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Korea and Europe using CODIS.
So far, in just six months, Costa Rica’s judiciary has found 129 atches that have allowed authorities in the country to close cases.
“During this period we have found that criminal recidivism is much greater and although at first we expected getting results up within a year, when we had information available, we realized that immediacy is another feature of CODIS”, said Glen Arrieta Castro, of the Judiciary.
The FBI sponsored CODIS as part of its program of technical assistance to forensic laboratories in other countries.
With seven months to go to the February 2, 2014 presidential elections, former San José mayor Johnny Araya holds a bold lead in the polls over his rivals.
According to the latest survey by Unimer for La Naciona, the candidate for the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) has 26% of voting intentions, while Rodolfo Hernández, candidate for the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) is in second place with 12% of the votes.
In third and fourth place is Ottón Solís and Espy Campbell, respectively, of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), a party that will decide on their candidate on July 21.
Solís has 9% of voter intention, despite that the three time presidential candidate and founder of the PAC says he will not run in 2014. Meanwhile, Epsy Campbell, who has declared her intention to lead the PAC has 5% of the votes.
José María Villalta and Otto Guevara, leaders of the Frente Amplio and Movimiento Liberatio, hold 3% and 2% of the vote, respectively.
The survey was taken between June 4 and 13, taking in the response of 1.200 potential voters and has a 2.8% margin of error.
Chief Prosecutor pro tem Carlos Maria Jimenez Tuesday explained that the reason investigators gathered evidence at the offices of the RECOPE refinery, Soresco company and the SETENA environmental agency Tuesday morning is because citizens have come forward with doubts about the pact with China.
The Comptroller General’s Office last week invalidated the pact to build a new $1.4 billion refinery because that agency says it found “irregularities” in the environmental studies. Ten officials from the prosecutor’s office, OIJ detectives and experts in digital information participated in the surprise operation.
The anti-corruption division of the prosecutor’s office were tipped off by a confidential report last year backed up by several warnings from citizens. So far, however, no single person has been implicated for wrongdoing. Prosecutors are also investigating possible payments to Chinese executives here.
Possible charges that could be filed would be for officials not fulfilling their functions, misuse of public funds and outright corruption in receiving funds.
