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Lawmakers approve loan
to pay for quake damage By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Lawmakers passed on first reading Thursday a measure that will allow the country to accept a $65 million loan from the Banco Internacional de Reconstrucción y Fomento for earthquake recovery. The loan had been in the works because government officials wanted the money to take steps to eliminate possible points of disaster. The Jan. 8 earthquake in the vicinity of Cinchona and the Volcán Poás has generated haste among legislators. The final vote probably will come Tuesday. That was the most significant development in earthquake relief Thursday because bad weather kept helicopters on the ground and slowed the effort to find an estimated eight more victims of the quake. There are 23 dead so far. Residents of the area got a reminder Thursday when 10 more quakes took place. Nine of them were between 2 and 4:30 p.m. Magnitudes ranged from 2.7 to a healthy 4.1. The Jan. 8 quake was measured at a 6.2 magnitude. There was no damage reported from the aftershocks, but residents took to the streets. Most quakes were in the vicinity of Cinchona, a town that has been abandoned because of the damage. The rain and the cold encouraged officials to announce that the 2,300 persons in government shelters would be relocated in temporary housing starting next week. Many are living in tents or unheated buildings, and the country is experiencing a cold wave as well as high winds. Marco Vargas, the minister who is coordinator of the new Comisión de Reconstrucción, said that a United Nations program, Un techo para mi país, would allow the erection of 200 homes in a single day. He also said that the government might seek shipping containers to convert into homes. More than 500 homes have been damaged or destroyed and are unfit for habitation, according to government figures. Total public and private damage will be more than $100 million. Teen faces murder trial in great-grandfather's death By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A 16 year old goes on trial today in the murder of his great-grandfather and the wounding of his great-grandmother. The case will be in the Juzgado Penal Juvenil de Cartago. It was in Cartago last June 29 when both great-grandparents suffered injures. Dead was Alfredo Quirós Barrientos, 87. He was knifed. His wife, identified by the last names of Loaiza Brenes, was hospitalized. She was 86 at the time of the attack and suffered blows to the head. The couple were in the care of a grandson, and investigators said that their assailant waited outside until the grandson left the home to run errands. Police allege that the great-grandson made his presence known at that time and asked the great-grandparents for money. When the elderly man refused and turned his back to reenter his home, he was attacked with a knife, agents said. English teachers to hear of structural approaches By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rican and Honduran teachers of English will hear from Spencer Kagan, an educational psychologist who has developed what he calls the structural approach to cooperative learning. He is the author of more than 80 books. Kagan will direct a video conference at the 25th Conferencia Nacional de Profesores de Inglés. The two-day event begins Wednesday at the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano in Los Yoses. Attending the opening ceremonies will be Leonardo Garnier, minister of Educación Pública; Peter Cianchette, the U.S. ambassador; Neil Reederm the Canadian ambassador, and Sheila Pacheco, vice consul of the British Embassy. Fishing boat in distress gets a coast guard tow By the A.M. Costa rica staff
A fishing boat suffered electical problems off Playa Guiones Wednesday, and the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas had to bring the boat to shore. The ailing vessel was identified as the 32-foot "Atlantis." The crew radioed for help about 4 p.m., and the coast guard station in Flamingo sent the launch “Bone Fish” to help. The boat and its crew of four were towed to San Juanillo, the coast guard said. Blood type is required for driving licence renewal By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Transport officials say they will reject driver license applicants whose medical report does not include their blood type and a statement whether or not they would donate body organs upon death. The medical report, called a dictamen, is filed out by a private doctor. Frequently the doctor is in an office near the licencing facility. Some doctors have been leaving the spaces blank, causing officials to reject renewal applicants, they said. The examining doctor usually will need a report from a private lab saying the blood type, although some will take the word of the applicant.
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| Building continues Avenida Escazú takes shape near Hospital CIMA along the Autopista Próspero Fernández. This project will include offices, 150 residences, hotels, another hospital and a commercial center. The work is scheduled to be finished in 2010 or 2011. Nearby, Multiplaza is expected to start on a fifth section this week. |
 A.M. Costa Rica/José Pablo
Ramírez Vindas
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Punta Uvita hotel manager
held in credit card fraud case
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Law enforcement officials searched a hotel in Punta Uvita Thursday and detained the manager. The search was involved with a fraud case handled by Fiscalía de Fraudes and the Judicial Investigating Organization. The Poder Judicial said that the case involved the use of credit cards that belonged to British and Nigerian residents. No names were released, as is usually the case with the |
Poder Judicial when the arrested
party has not appeared before a judge. Investigators said they confiscated a large quantity of money, some 136 million colons or about $250,000. They also confiscated computer equipment and various paperwork, they said. The Poder Judicial said that the investigation was involved with a worldwide band of criminals that use fraudulent credit cards. The Poder Judicial said that a twist with this case was that the crooks used a computer program that used an alphanumeric code to simulate virtual credit cards. |
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Police call in reinforcements
to quell riot in Puntarenas neighborhood
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Fuerza Pública said Thursday it had captured 10 suspected participants in a riot that broke out Wednesday night in Barrio El Progreso, Puntarenas. The mob activity continued until about 3 a.m. Thursday. Officers had entered the area to check for fugitives. That sparked the riot by rival gangs about 7:30 p.m. The bulk of the lawlessness was rock throwing, but one person |
arrested had 12 shotgun shells on
his person, officers said. Injured in the confrontation was Marlon Cubillo, regional commander. He was hit in the helmet with a rock and the projectile split open the protective gear and injured him in the head. Also hurt were a passenger and a driver of a bus. Cubillo was hospitalized. Police called in the riot squad, the Unidad de Intervención Policial, to handle the mob. Tear gas was used. Of the 10 arrested, only six were adults. |
| City being as usual masks the great tragedy that is nearby |
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| Unlike
the residents and tourists in the area of Poás volcano and Vara
Blanca, those of us living in San José proper have not felt the
brunt of the Jan. 8 earthquake. Plenty of minor damage, but no one is
homeless. Less than four hours after the quake I was downtown. (This
was after I had picked up the fallen books and cleaned up the mess made
by some broken bottles and the large mirror over my sideboard.) Downtown everything looked normal. The children were chasing the pigeons in Parque Cultural, their mothers looking anxious that they would run into people like me trying to cross the park. The clowns were twisting their balloons into silly shapes, and the vendors had their wares laid out on blankets on Avenida Central. McDonalds was full of customers. The sidewalks looked as they always have — as if they had been hit by a series of minor earthquakes. I walked into one shoe store on Avenida Central, and, as usual, a clerk quickly approached me to ask if she could help. As usual I replied “Thank you, I’m only looking,” I’ve decided that trying to buy a new pair of shoes is like getting a Ph.D. in some academic discipline. In one you are going to have to squeeze and shape your foot into whatever is the latest fashion. In the other you have to do the same thing with your mind. In both you need strength of character to defy what is in. That is only my opinion. So generally things were normal. Including public transportation in the city. So on Wednesday my friend Steve and I decided to check out the train that runs from Pavas to San Pedro. We caught it at its stop in Sabana Sur at around 7:15 a.m. Most of the cars were already well-occupied, although there were still seats in the one we entered (actually, two young women kindly gave us theirs because they were getting off soon — one of the benefits of white hair.) When I asked the conductor what the fare was he asked how far we were going. The fare to San Pedro was 400 colones. I love trains of all kinds, and this was no exception. It went along quite smoothly rocking from side to side and I thought it might be a bit more difficult to read while riding the train than a bus. But on my first trip I had no desire to read. We traveled the north side of town, probably a good 15 to |
At one point, possibly just after Barrio Escalante, it began
to back
up after its stop, and I began to worry. But somehow we arrived at San
Pedro, right behind the Universidad de Costa Rica, just a couple of
blocks from the main street. The trip had taken about 40
minutes. A
trip that would have taken at least two bus rides with many more stops
and surely more than 40 minutes. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
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Two stars visit Costa Rica to
push for safe driving
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By José Pablo Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff A seven-time Formula One world champion and an action movie star were in Costa Rica Thursday to promote safe driving. They are the German racer Michael Shumacher and Michelle Yeoh, a former James Bond star and costar with Jackie Chan. They were campaigning to "Make Roads Safe." The race driver presented the government with a $1 million grant to develop better sidewalks and to create bike paths. The money comes from the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the racing rule-making body. Shumachaer pointed out that street racing is highly dangerous and that Formula One drivers have special tracks, rules and systems to save lives. Karla Gonzáles, the minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes, noted that the new traffic law combats drunk driving and drag racing. She also pointed out that some 33 persons, a tenth of the 2008 death toll, died while using a bicycle in the street. She and the visitors helped dedicate a new bike path. Ms. Yeoh, a former Miss Malaysia, performs many of her own movie stunts. She starred in "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." She is a global ambassador for the foundation. Her husband is the former CEO of Ferrari. Ms. Yeoh just made a film |
 A.M. Costa Rica/José Pablo
Ramírez Vindas
Michelle Yeoh and Michael Shumacherfor the foundation, "Make Roads Safe
- Demanding Action in 2009."
The Make Roads Safe campaign is calling for a Decade of Action for Road Safety to tackle the worldwide road deaths epidemic which takes the lives of 1.3 million people and injures over 50 million each year. The Decade of Action would follow the precedent set by the U.N. Decade to Roll Back Malaria with a coordinated global effort to help countries tackle the growing road death toll, the foundation said. The campaign is supported by public figures including Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Sonia Gandhi. Make Roads Safe is calling on governments attending the first U.N. global ministerial conference on road safety in Moscow in November 2009 to agree action to reduce by 50 percent the projected increase in road deaths to 2020. |
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Paris celebration inaugurates
International Year of Astronomy as tool for peace
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Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
A large cluster of astronomers has been sighted in Paris at the official launch of the International Year of Astronomy, the U. N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said. The year, also known as IYA2009, was planned to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first observations of the heavens with a telescope and, under the theme ‘The Universe, Yours to Discover,’ is meant to reignite the wonder that the starry realms have always provoked in humankind, according to a news release. “People have always looked to the sky for answers to the questions ‘How did we get here?’ and ‘Why are we here?’” said Koïchiro Matsuura, director general of the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. He spoke at the opening at the agency’s headquarters, where |
astronauts, artists, diplomats,
industrialists and astronomy
undergraduates from over 100 countries have gathered. “The sky belongs to everybody,” Matsuura added, avowing that “Astronomy is an instrument to promote peace and understanding among nations and as such is at the heart of UNESCO’s mission.” The two-day launch ceremony is hosting presentations by Nobel Prize winners Bob Wilson and Baruch Blumberg, revelations of the latest discoveries, discussions on the role of astronomy in culture and public engagement, real-time astronomical observations and a closing performance by the Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet. Hundreds of events on the global, national and regional levels have also been planned for the first weeks of the Year in conjunction with the International Astronomical Union, the agency said. |
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cuts interest rates again By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Another major interest rate cut in Europe has failed to rally world markets. Hoping to stem the effects of a deepening recession, the European central bank cut its main interest rate by half a point to 2 percent. Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the decision was approved unanimously by the institution's governing council. "Why? We were taking into account significant further alleviation of inflationary risks, due in particular but not exclusively to the slowing down of the global and European economy," he said. The banks' action is the latest in a series of rate cuts undertaken by central banks around the world. Last month, the central bank slashed interest rates by an even larger amount, three-quarters of a percent. Trichet said he believes economic conditions will remain difficult for 2009, but predicted a recovery in 2010. The global slowdown began in the United States after a home mortgage crisis that in turn prompted a sharp worldwide decline in the ability of banks to loan money. The United States is believed to have been in a recession for just over a year, during which time unemployment has risen by more than 2 percentage points and now stands at 7.2 percent. Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that new claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week to 524,000 job-seekers, up more than 50,000 from the previous week. David Weiss is chief economist at Standard and Poor's. "Any way you look at it, the labor market is weak and getting worse," he said. "We are in a recession. I am not sure whether it is the worst recession since 1982, or the worst recession since the 1930s. but it is going to get worse before it gets better, and do not expect any turnaround until at least mid-year." Venezuelan lawmakers OK elimination of term limits By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Venezuela's national assembly has taken a key step in allowing President Hugo Chávez and other elected officials to seek re-election indefinitely. Lawmakers have approved a controversial constitutional amendment that eliminates limits on how many times elected officials can serve. The amendment must now be submitted to referendum within 30 days. Voters rejected a similar referendum to lift term limits in 2007. President Chavez has urged voters to approve the measure so he can seek a third term in 2012. Chavez has said he wants to move Venezuela toward what he calls 21st century socialism. |
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