index

	A.M. Costa Rica Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday

A.M. Costa Rica third newspage
Home	Tourism	Calendar	Classifieds	Entertainment	Real estate	Rentals	Sports	About us
San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 7

Endangered festival in Palmares begins today for 12-day run

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

After much controversy, the classic Fiestas Palmares is set to begin today with a festival of lights at 6 p.m.

The town west of San Jose will play host to thousands of visitors participating in various events during the next 12 days. Some of the attractions include bull fights, live music, soccer tournaments, carnivals, rodeos and more.

Because of the cancellation of the Zapote festival just before Christmas, attendance at Fiesta Palmares could be much higher than usual.

One of the main events at this year's festival is Mexican singer Pedro Fernández who will perform this Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. Some of his better known songs include "Si tú supieras", "Mi forma de sentir" and "La mujer que amas."

Other musical groups include Héctor El Father, a reggaeton group from Puerto Rico, which is performing

Sunday at noon, as well as Frente Frío and Hombres “G” which are performing Jan. 21.

Some of the more traditional events include the tope, which is a horse parade through the fiesta grounds and is taking place Thursday at noon, the kids festival at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and the grand carnival that begins at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 19.

There are generally two to three shows per day and a full listing is available on a Web site at http://fiestaspalmares.net/es/index

The festival almost got shut down because of a conflict between the local development organization that runs the event and the local mayor. However, by Monday the event had the required permits.

Typically Tránsito officers mount a series of roadblocks on the route back to San José to check for intoxicated drivers.

Beer tents are a big draw at the fiesta. But traffic officers are heavily reinforced for the event.

Our readers comment on infrastructure and $15 head tax

He's still coming here
to retire in a few years

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

In 2005 I spent three great weeks in Costa Rica. I had arranged my trip very loosely so that I could be more spontaneous in my choices. The primary goal of this trip was to relax and see the country with an eye to a possible retirement in a year or two.

I did not rent a car. I had arranged transport from the airport to a small hotel in Barrio Amón near the Hospital Calderón Guardia before I left the States. I walked around San José or took taxis. I went to Puerto Viejo by bus. I spent four days in Quepos and a week in Golfito. I stayed at a surfer camp in Uvita for five days. I rode horseback, took buses everywhere, saw all the museums, and generally had a loose, unstructured, damn good time.

Here’s the kicker. I never felt in danger. I was not mugged. I did not feel ripped off. I ate well. I met Ticos and Ticas, lazed around beaches, stayed in modest but acceptable accommodation in generally great circumstances. So I wonder about all the constant chatter about the country going to the dogs.

I am going through the final one to two years of my work life. I still consider Costa Rica the final destination, and I hope to be able to be of some use to this delightful place in my retirement. I will not be scared off by the doomsayers and the fear mongers. It seems to me that if you take care of yourself and watch out, just as you would in Topeka or St Louis, New York or Orlando, Denver or Redding Calif., you will get along just fine.

I’ll be back in-country in April or May this year. See you at Manuel’s on the Paseo.

Don M. Carleton
Fort Bragg, California

Complainers forget they
pay little for services

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

This is the time of the year when the whining and complaining about life here in Costa Rica begins. Typically it includes the state of the roads, the inefficiency (and perhaps even the corruption) of the bureaucracy, the complaint of “things just don’t work the same as they do in the States!,” the escalation of petty theft and even sometimes violent crimes, the seemingly endless lines at institutions, and of course, the poor state of the utilities (particularly the lack of high-speed internet everywhere) in the country . . . and on and on.

Well, let’s look at reality. Canada and the States have a horrific tax burden to cover the above “complaints.”   Those who live in Costa Rica, either part-time or full-time, pay almost nothing for the above services.

Complainers and whiners, can you really expect to get something for nothing? (Actually, you can because many retirees in Costa Rica pay virtually nothing for their world class medical treatment.)   Literally thousands and thousands of dollars are allocated to alleviate the above complaints “back home.”   Residents and visitors pay almost nothing in Costa Rica. And yet, we complain the loudest.

Next time you whine or complain (and remember, too, that your complaints are also duplicated by people who live and were born here) remember what you are paying for these services. And remember what the country’s “motto” is: pura vida. And try to see the glass as half full rather than half empty.

Randy Berg
Grecia

Don't fret about ICT
because they will be OK

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I am dismayed with the administration’s proposal to charge a $15 head tax for arrivals at the nation’s airports. The poor little lambs will be fleeced before the common criminal element and street urchins have their turn.

However, the Tourism Institute will put the funds to good use. Their office suites will be tastefully appointed. The secretaries will be gorgeous. There will be employment oppurtunities for family members.

Please, do not worry about their patronage at the next World Cup event. They will be there.

C. Lankford
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

ICT needs to have plan

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Let me start by saying that when I arrived in Costa Rica and immediately applied for the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo contract for my tourism business, a kind inspector from ICT told me that it should cost about $2,000 dollars and take no more than six months to get the contract.

He mentioned that any lawyer who wanted to charge me more was just taking advantage. Five and a half years and $20,000 later, I was granted the contract.

When I went to accept and sign it, I mentioned that I surely hoped that I was the worst case analysis. The woman who signed the contract with me, from the ICT, didn’t make any comments, implying that I was not even close. At one point the contract had been approved and finished, it sat for two and a half years on a desk in ICT because no one there wanted to finish the process. Repeated phone calls to determine what happened with the contract were never returned, and when someone else was put in charge of my account, they found the contract, The process had to be restarted.

So, while I have no objection to the $15 proposed tax and do feel that it would probably be easier to administer, I think ICT has some explaining to do. They need to have a plan, and it needs to be a good one.

The biggest problem with ICT is that they are not concerning themselves with the quality of the product that they are supposed to be marketing. Why ICT does not assist in negotiations with the government to improve roads, bridges, water supplies and other infrastructure problems is a mystery to me. Most tourism operators know that it is the quality of their product that will sustain them in a competitive market. ICT seems little concerned with that.

If their charter is tourism then they better get on the bandwagon to help improve the product. Because the product is not just the hotel and the tours that one takes, it is bigger than that. The “product” is the country itself, which needs an infrastructure that supports the residents as well as the tourists that come to visit and that is where our problems lie.

The country is full of lovely hotels, wonderful tours, friendly people and beautiful parks, forests and beaches. What it needs today to help with marketing efforts is a major overhaul of the infrastructure.

I am sure it is asking too much for ICT to put the horse before the cart, but it would sure he helpful for the hundreds of millions of colones and dollars invested in tourism here in the country if they would at least consider the possibility that the product needs some improvements if it is to compete with the entire world.

Did I mention that after all the travails of getting the ICT contract, they revoked all the benefits? The tax and import benefits for the ICT contract were revoked within months after I received the contract. The sad truth was after all that effort and money, the only benefit was a liquor license.

Thankfully for me I had never had a chance to use the tax or import benefits, because they not only revoked them, they decided to retroactively ask people who had enjoyed said benefits to pay back the money from the benefits they had received. I believe that this is still being haggled out in courtrooms here in Costa Rica.

If ICT wants to have a big budget for promotions, that is ok with me. However, if they have a big budget, I would rather see it committed to some impovements in infrastructure first and marketing second. After all, the tourism operators in the country have their own budgets for marketing which are far greater than the sum total of whatever the ICT spends. The marketing efforts of private industry have been the sustaining funds that generate tourism here. The ICT funds are a drop in the bucket. Let them earn their budget by doing us all a favor and getting involved solving the infrastructure problems that exist in the country. Today.

This country is so beautiful that it can sell itself, but it needs attention to infrastructure in order to maintain a ranking among the most desireable tourist destinations. The $15 idea sounds good to me, but let’s hear their plan first!

Robbie Felix
Manuel Antonio/Quepos

Don't kill the goose

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Instead of killing the goose that laid the golden egg, many tourist destinations tax the goose to death. The proposed arrival tax is just one example. Everyone knows tourism is one of Costa Rica’s biggest sources of revenue. Tourists should not be considered as an inexhaustible perpetual source of revenue with no recourse other than to pay and pay.

They come to Costa Rica to enjoy themselves. They resent being “nickled and dimed” to death. They don’t return. They tell their friends. Coupled with the rash of violence reported almost daily, Costa Rica could well lose it luster as a place to visit. Read the papers. The signs are there.

Hal G Nielsen

You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE!

A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page
Home	Tourism	Calendar	Classifieds	Entertainment	Real estate	Rentals	Sports	About us
San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 7

Insulza says he will not respond to name-calling by Chávez

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

The head of the Organization of American States, José Insulza, says he will not respond to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who called for Insulza's resignation Monday.

Insulza said Tuesday he will not exchange insults with anyone, especially chiefs of state of member nations.

Chávez used a vulgar Spanish term, pendejo, for Insulza and called for his resignation during a speech in Venezuela.

Insulza earlier had expressed concern about a decision by the Venezuelan government not to renew the broadcasting

license of a television channel that has criticized Chávez policies. Insulza said the move could be regarded as censorship of freedom of expression.

In the same speech Monday, Chávez announced plans to nationalize electric power generators and the country's largest telecommunications company, CANTV. He also asked the national assembly to grant him sweeping powers so that he can transform the country into a socialist nation as he has promised.

Critics say he is steering the country toward a Cuban-style one-party dictatorship. Chávez will be sworn in Wednesday to a second six-year term as president of Venezuela.

Washington unimpressed by Venezuela's bent to socialism

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

The U.S. State Department Tuesday expressed skepticism about the industrial nationalization plans of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The Bush administration has had a difficult relationship with the populist Venezuelan leader.

Decisions about Venezuela's economic future are for the people of that country to make, said the State Department spokesman. But they say nationalizations of key industries like those announced by Chávez have traditionally not provided the economic benefits promised by their promoters, he added.

The comments followed word from Chávez Monday that he plans to nationalize the country's telecommunications and electric power industries, in which investors from the United States and other countries have major interests.

The left-leaning Venezuelan leader revealed the plan as he swore in a new cabinet in Caracas in advance of his own inauguration for a new term in office on Wednesday, declaring that Venezuela is heading toward socialism and that no one can prevent it.

The action prompted criticism from the country's business community and sharp drops in the Venezuelan stock market

and in the value its currency, the bolivar. In a talk with
reporters, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Chávez has been elected to act on behalf of his country's people but suggested the course he has embarked upon may not benefit them:

"The proposals that he's made concerning nationalization are a well-worn path that history has shown doesn't usually benefit the population of the country in question. But those are again, Venezuela's decisions to make," he said. "At this point, if there is a follow through on nationalization, there is an accepted international practice in foreign companies being compensated at fair market value for the assets that are nationalized."

McCormack said the United States would expect that Venezuela will follow through on all of its contractual obligations with regard to assets being taken over by the government.

The Bush administration has had a stormy relationship with Chávez, a close friend of Cuba's ailing President Fidel Castro, who won a third term in office in a landslide election victory last month.

Chávez delivered a bitter personal attack on President George Bush in a U.N. General Assembly speech.

Apple's CEO unveils mobile phone based on the iPod music player concept

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

The computer maker Apple has unveiled an eagerly anticipated mobile phone based on its best-selling iPod music player.

In California Tuesday, Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive officer, said the company's new iPhone will revolutionize the telecommunications sector.

The 1.2 centimeter (half-inch) thick phone has a

9-centimeter (3.5-inch) touch screen display with a camera. It can access the Internet and will allow users to store movies, music, photos and contact information.

The company also introduced AppleTV, a converter box that allows users to send movies, television shows, music and photos to their television sets wirelessly from a computer.

Apple's share price spiked by nearly 5 percent to around $89 per share following the announcement.


News from the BBC up to the minute	BBC sports news up to the minute
BBC news and sports feeds are disabled on archived pages.

A.M. Costa Rica
Sports news
local and from the wires

Home	Calendar	Place a classified ad	Classifieds	Real estate	Food	About us
San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 7

Saprissa will play a weekend game against Veracruz team
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Saprissa, the current national fútbol champion, heads to Mexico this weekend to play the first match in the 2007 Clausura tournament. The Costa Rican team, also known as Monstruo morado (“the purple monster”) will face Tiburones Rojos of Veracruz, Mexico, Sunday night. The team should arrive	in Mexico at around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the trainers have scheduled a practice session two hours later in order to prepare for the big game. Mexican teams are generally considered to be stronger than Costa Rican teams, but Saprissa has been strong in the last few years, and its Web site said that they are looking for international games that will provide the highest level of competition.

The latest top sports news	Sports news from VOA
Sports feeds are disabled on archived pages.

A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage
Home	Tourism	Calendar	Classifieds	Entertainment	Real estate	Rentals	Sports	About us
San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 7