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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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Job survey finds
optimism among employers here By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A new survey reports an optimistic future for Costa Rican employment. Some credit is being given to employers anticipating approval of the free trade treaty with the United States. The data came Thursday from Manpower Inc, the employment service company, which has been doing a census of employers since 2006. Manpower said that 32 percent of the employers contacted expect to increase their workforce. That percent is 6 points higher than the number anticipating more employment in the first trimester of 2007, said the company. In all, Manpower surveyors contacted 620 employers all over the country. Just 5 percent said they expected to reduce the number of their employees. Some 57 percent said that they would not be making any changes. Among those areas anticipating hiring more people were employers in the construction field. Eric Quesada, Latin American director for Manpower, said that approval by voters last Oct. 7 of the free trade treaty might be a reason for the optimism. Internationally, Manpower repeats the same survey in 27 countries and talked to 52,000 companies. Costa Rica was among the top 10 countries that reported the likelihood of more employment. The report from Costa Rica is in contrast with concerns in the United States about a recession. U.S. stocks were down dramatically Thursday as fears grow about the faltering U.S. economy. The Standard & Poors index of 500 stocks was off almost 3 percent, and the Dow Jones average lost a sharp 2.5 percent. In congressional testimony, U.S. central bank chief Ben Bernanke expressed support for efforts to stimulate the economy, after a string of downbeat economic reports. A Federal Reserve report showed manufacturing declining sharply in a key area, while a separate government study said the number of new homes under construction in 2007 dropped by 25 percent, the steepest drop for that industry since 1980. And Merrill Lynch, one of the biggest brokers, reported a nearly $10 billion quarterly loss, the worst in the company's history. President George Bush is scheduled to offer ideas for stimulating the economy in a speech on Friday. Owners of animals get favorable court ruling By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's jurisprudence took another strange turn Thursday when the Sala IV constitutional court threw out a jail term for those who let their dogs bite other persons. The magistrates said that the jail term of from five to 15 days was not reasonable nor proportional when compared to other penalties for other crimes. The magistrates also wanted to give judges in such trials more flexibility than mandating jail terms, said Fernando Cruz Castro, one of the magistrates. The account of the decision and a summary came from the Poder Judicial press office. The case came to the court from the Tribunal de Casación Penal del III Circuito Judicial de Alajuela. The section of the law that was thrown out stems from a 2002 revision. The section penalized the owners of animals who — through negligence or abandonment — allow the animal to damage other persons. The section not only refers to dog but to all animals, including cows, horses and similar. The magistrates said that the animal owners lacked the intention to damage other persons. The Sala IV decision is retroactive to 2002, said the Poder Judicial. Robber stabs man in neck on downtown pedestrian mall By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A man walking on the San José pedestrian boulevard around midnight Wednesday became a victim of an apparent robbery attempt and suffered a stab wound to the neck, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. The man, identified as Oscar Rojas Vargas, 23, was between the Hotel Balmoral and Hotel Presidente, a well guarded and heavily traveled section of the pedestrian boulevard even at that hour. That section is between calles 7 and 9. Another man approached Rojas, and a struggle ensued. Rojas Vargas was at Hospital Calderón Guardia in delicate condition Thursday night.
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| Dig, they won't The ceremony was far from the route of the new highway, but President Óscar Arias Sánchez and Karla González, the transport mininster, managed to find a photogenic road-building machine Thursday for the obligatory photo at the start of the construction of the San José-Caldera highway. The third person was not identified. The 77-km. (48-mile) stretch has been 30 years in the planning. |
 Casa Presidencial photo
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| Neighbor
kills well-armed suspected robber in la Uruca |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A presumed robber died Wednesday night when a La Uruca resident confronted him and shot him in the head. The man, carrying two pistols, died near his ski mask and briefcase of break-in tools. The Judicial Investigating Organization is looking into the circumstances of the death. At first the identity of the dead man was not known. Later Thursday agents identified him as Michael Alonso Falcone Marín, 27, of Hatillo. The Fuerza Pública took the man's body to the Morgue Judicial. Agents said the man was wielding a pistol and threatening a victim when a neighbor shot him. Falcone died in an apartment building in La Uruca near Hospital México. He wore a bulletproof vest at the time of his death, said officers. Another man accompanying Falcone fled to a waiting vehicle outside the building, they said. Agents presume a total of three men were involved in the abortive robbery. |
Two 9 mm. pistols were recovered
from the scene, agents said. Neighbors in the area have been continually plagued by criminals and have organized themselves into a citizen patrol. In another incident, this one Thursday, a police roadblock in Sabana Norte stopped a car containing five Colombians. Each had at least one pistol. The Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública reported that the pistols had had their serial numbers altered. One weapon had been adjusted for automatic fire, which is against the law, said officers. One man showed a permit to carry a gun. He is a dual Colombian-Costa Rican citizen. However, police said they want to check the validity of that permit. Another man had false identity papers and passports from three countries, officials said. The ministry said that the men who have no legal right to stay here probably would be deported to Colombia. |
| So close and yet so far when you have a reluctant knee |
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| I have been gently but
rightly reprimanded for writing about malls and plazas without really
knowing much about either. Sometimes I write about a topic in the
hopes of learning more from my readers. That is what has occurred
in this case. First of all, Grady has told me that the Outlet Mall in San Pedro is falling on hard times while the San Pedro Mall always has people in it. (It always had people — in the food court and in line for the movies — but not in the stores.) More importantly, I have learned that there is a considerable difference between a closed shopping mall and an open plaza, the latter is what La Ribera is. I have learned that a plaza is more service than shopping oriented, which is why, I suppose, they make it convenient for you to park close to the place you are going to rather than where you must pass 20 stores to get anywhere. Having discovered that I can pay my Caja insurance at the Banco Nacional, I have reduced the time for that chore. It used to take me close to an hour, when I lived in the city. Now it is just a matter of minutes to walk down the hill and go into the Banco Nacional at the Plaza La Ribera. I wish the Plaza had a movie theater showing the latest releases, but there is the handy farmacia where I can get my blood pressure taken for free, and there is even a shoe repair shop — something that is very hard to find anywhere lately. (I was told some time ago that the men who used to shine shoes, and were always present on the sidewalks of San José are now car guards in the streets. People don’t get their shoes as dirty as they used to when they walked more.) Walking is my favorite exercise, and I know that people actually walk the malls in some countries in order to get exercise. La Ribera is perfect for walking OUTSIDE in the fresh air, either along the covered walkway if it is |
raining or too sunny, or skirting the walkway if I feel I need
more vitamin D from the sun. I can still look into store or
restaurant windows, and the walkway is nice and level. |
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| Foundation
report says remaining free Caracas TV outlet remains under siege |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Employees and directors of Globovisión, Venezuela’s only remaining independent 24-hour news and information channel, have survived more than five years of attacks and death threats for exercising their free speech. The Human Rights Foundation released a report this week detailing human rights violations against the people who work there. Globovisión general manager, Alberto Federico Ravell, and his 430 colleagues are the third case in the foundation's Caracas Nine project. Under Ravell’s leadership, Globovisión has suffered numerous attacks against its equipment, employees, and directors — attacks that the Venezuelan government has encouraged and that have been carried out by government supporters, said the foundation. There have been more than 25 violent attacks against journalists, cameramen, and technicians and equipment has been vandalized 17 times. Two fragmentary grenades were launched at the Globovisión headquarters in Caracas. Globovisión offices in the city of Maracaibo were also attacked and damaged. Globovisión journalists have received multiple death threats, and the government has threatened to shut down the network just as it shut down Radio Caracas Television, said the foundation. |
Globovisión news teams have
been hospitalized after being attacked in
the field. Cameraman Larry Arvelo, for example, was attacked on the job
by government security forces Dec. 6, the foundation reported.
Globovisión’s 430 employees live in constant fear of being
assaulted
at any place and time by government partisans and agents of Venezuelan
state security, it said. “Globovisión, like all independent media, is an instrument of free expression. Through it, many Venezuelans peacefully express their ideas — and some dissent from the policies of the Venezuelan government,” said foundation founder Thor Halvorssen, adding: “HRF seeks protection for Globovisión, its employees, directors, and equipment, and urges the Venezuelan government to comply with the national and international rules that protect and guarantee the exercise of human rights in Venezuela, principally the right to life, property rights, and the right to freedom of expression.” The Caracas Nine campaign promotes awareness of human rights abuses and seeks legal protection for individuals persecuted and endangered by the Venezuelan government. The nine cases featured in the campaign are emblematic of the widespread human rights abuses directed against those who openly criticize Venezuela’s government, the foundation said. Francisco Usón, whose case was the first taken up by the foundation, was freed from prison on conditional release Dec. 24. |
| Chile
calls its ambassador home in territorial dispute with neighbor
Perú |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Chile has recalled its ambassador to Perú for consultations about a growing dispute over the countries' maritime border. Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said Ambassador Cristian Barros has been called home to discuss the issue. He did not elaborate. The summons comes a day after Perú filed a complaint |
with the International Court of
Justice in The Hague about the dispute. Perú has long claimed the area near the Chilean port of Africa. It says the limits at sea between the two countries have never been defined. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet says treaties signed in 1952 and 1954 clearly define the area as Chilean territory. Chile summoned Barros home over the same issue in August, after filing a formal protest with Perú. |
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