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Robbers have a bad day
Our readers' opinionsat Desamparados heist By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Four robbers stuck up a business in Desamparados Monday afternoon and got about a million colons, about $1,800. But after that the situation went downhill drastically. In the end one robbery suspect was detained and two suspects ended up dead outside the robbery scene. The Fuerza Pública said that the robbery was in La fila de Desamparados. Four armed men entered the business and threatened the owner with firearms. Unbeknown to the robbers, a passer-by saw what was going on and alerted police. But before police arrived, the robbers tried to leave on two motorcycles. It was then the passer-by pulled his own weapon and began firing on the bandits. One suspect died of a bullet wound to the head. Another suspect gunned his motorcycle but failed to notice another vehicle in his path. He died in the subsequent accident. A third suspect ended up in the street wounded. From him police who arrived a few minutes later confiscated a firearm and a bullet proof vest. He was hospitalized. The fourth individual managed to escape. The passer-by was not identified, but he was not taken into custody. than that in the United States Dear A.M. Costa Rica: In response to Jim Scarborough's rebuke of your real estate analysis, Mr. Scarborough is assuming that the real estate markets here are nothing more than a microcosm of what is occurring in the States. And perhaps in a small way this is true. We DO have Americans and others here who have been affected by the credit crisis which is affecting much of the world. And many of these people are, in fact, liquidating below purchase price or replacement value. But the facts that are being ignored are these: 1. Ticos do not care, for the most part, what is happening in the States. They do not follow international news. What they care about, and what they know, is that the real estate market in Costa Rica has followed a very predictable pattern for the last several decades. Inflation and time are the factors which rule the local real estate markets here. 2. Any way one analyzes the markets here, supply and demand rules. And, while demand is down, and, in some areas, supply is up, these factors are not prevalent everywhere in the country. In short, there are pockets of the country where oversupply exists, and liquidations are taking place. But there are other areas where Ticos rule and the market IS static. So overall we have a real estate market, perhaps in transition, perhaps static, perhaps changing. Time will tell. BUT, the markets here in Costa Rica are NOT a knockoff of the United States or any other country, for that matter. That is fact. Randy Berg
San Miguel de Grecia Left-leaning show fails to be critical of Hugo Chávez Dear A.M. Costa Rica: A Colorado reader said in a letter to A.M. Costa Rica that Hugo Chavez is not the darling of the U.S. left. There is a radio-TV show on public radio-TV in the U.S. called "Democracy Now." This show is a very prominent left wing political venue here in the U.S. It is hosted by Amy Goodman. She has repeatedly covered Hugo Chávez on this program and never once have I heard her be critical towards Mr. Chávez or his policies. She broadcasts many of Mr. Chávez's speeches that blast the U.S. and President Bush, a president very few of us are fond of or agree with on much of anything anymore. The tone on this radio-TV show is very much in favor of Hugo Chávez and his socialist regime. If Hugo Chavez is not the darling of the left as the Colorado reader states then why does prominent U.S. left wing media such as "Democracy Now" not be critical of Mr. Chavez and question his motives and policies? Michael Protiva
Santa Fe, New Mexico He's angry at letter writer Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Having read Friday’s letter from Dennie Sartuga, I am now as angry at him as I could be. I know Marc Schweitzer, and he and I were both in New York when the trade centers fell. Marc was LIVING across the street and I was on Long Island. For Mr. Sartuga to suggest that anyone who was there would encourage or support another attack, is a fool. WE WERE THERE. . . , and I take the utmost offense to your smearing of my acquaintance. Hunt Marckwald
New York
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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Costa Rica still leads Latin
countries in freedom index
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire service reports. The status of freedom in nearby countries is exactly what one would expect. A survey released Monday by Freedom House gave a failing grade to Cuba and so-so evaluations for Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Colombia. Costa Rica continued its top evaluation as a electoral democracy. Freedom House is the U.S.-based democracy monitoring group. Its report said that global freedom is on the retreat around the world for a third consecutive year. The group's annual survey covered the state of political rights and civil liberties in 193 countries. The annual Freedom House survey assigns each country one of three grades: "free," "partly free" or "not free". Costa Rica got a top score, 1s both in political rights and civil liberties. Cuba got the lowest grade, a 7, in political rights and a 6 in civil liberties. It was judged not free, the only Western Hemisphere country to attain that low ranking. Guatemala (4 and 3) was judged partly free, as were Honduras (3 and 3), Nicaragua (4 and 3), Venezuela (4 and 4) and Colombia (3 and 4). Even Haiti (4 and 5) was judged partly free. Freedom House, using its numerical rankings, found that the number of countries measured as "free" in 2008 stands |
 Freedom House graphic
Quick summary of Western Hemisphere freedom
at 89, one fewer than last year. Setbacks for freedom were numerous and across the board. The regions with the largest decline were sub-Saharan Africa and the non-Baltic countries of the former Soviet Union. In Africa, 12 countries, including Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea, Congo and Zimbabwe, suffered setbacks amid ethnic conflicts, increasingly authoritarian presidents and military coups. Several areas in the former Soviet Union ranked even lower, notably Russia and Georgia. Freedom House Director of Research Arch Puddington says the former Soviet Union is the only region that has shown a steady decline during the past decade. The Freedom House report looks to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to engage in high diplomacy to support and defend freedom around the world. It adds that the incoming Obama administration will need to develop creative strategies to deal with what it calls "increasingly assertive antagonists to democracy." |
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In an emergency, it's time
to send in the clowns!
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The house gets swept away. Relatives are on the missing list. The shelter is cold and impersonal. But all that is forgotten when the clowns come. In this case, the clowns are part of the Cruz Roja Juventud, a 4-year-old program to lift the spirits of those involved in natural disasters and other trying situations. In the case of Thursday's 6.2 magnitude earthquake, some 20 members of this group are at work bringing laughter to youngsters from the stricken area around Volcán Poás. The project is called Retorno de la Alegría or "bringing back the joy." The target is the estimated 300 youngsters housed in shelters who may have no idea what is in their future. The clowns are between 16 and 20, ages at which the Cruz Roja volunteers can relate to youngsters involved in the emergencies. |
 Cruz Roja photo
Face painting is one way to bring back the joy |
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Third generation cell phone
contract finally awarded
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad has awarded a contract for third generation cell phone lines to the Chinese Huawei Technologies. The decision was expected because the Chinese firm was the low bidder in an offering last November. This is the deal where the telecom company managed to save some $235 million by repeating the bid offering, in part at the request of President Óscar Arias Sánchez. When the first round of bids were opened in August a consortium composed of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. |
and Huawei Technologies Costa
Rica, S.A. was the sole bidder with a price of $583 million. That was
more than double what the phone company estimated for the job. The second time around, two other firms joined in the bidding. ZTE Corp. bid $446.9 million, and Consorcio Ericsson bid $340.9 million. Both were much higher than the Chinese bid. The new contract envisions 950,000 new cell lines by the last part of this year. The new system will allow users to operate their cell telephones as if they were computers hooked to the Internet. |
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with Obama in Washington By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. president-elect Barack Obama has held talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderón, in Obama's first meeting with a foreign leader since his election in November. President-elect Obama said he and President Calderón discussed immigration, cross-border security and other topics during their lunch Monday at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington. The president-elect said they discussed how to have a comprehensive immigration strategy that ultimately strengthens both countries. Calderón said the more secure Mexico is, the more secure the United States will be and that both nations need to work together to fight organized crime. Calderón has waged a battle against drug traffickers in Mexico since taking office in 2006. In spite of the effort, drug violence has soared. Mexican officials say some 5,700 people were killed last year in drug-related violence. Incoming White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president-elect pledged to find ways to work with México to reduce the violence and stop the flow of arms from the United States. Gibbs said Obama also expressed a commitment to upgrading the North American Free Trade Agreement. Obama has said the U.S. should renegotiate the agreement with Canada and México to include tougher labor and environmental rules. Since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994, trade between the U.S. and Mexico has quadrupled to about $350 billion a year. Obama said the discussions with Calderón also covered the global financial crisis and its impact on Mexican and U.S. businesses. There has been a long-standing tradition of incoming U.S. presidents meeting with Mexico's president prior to being sworn in, and Gibbs says Monday's meeting was in keeping with that tradition. Obama aides have said the meeting underscored the important relationship between the U.S. and México. U.S. President George Bush will welcome Calderón to the White House today. |
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