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(506) 2223-1327              Published Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010,  in Vol. 10, No. 23       E-mail us
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Here's a guide to the Spanish spoken at elections
By Christopher Howard*
Special to A.M. Costa Rica

 Costa Ricans approach the presidential elections with such enthusiasm that they celebrate election day as if it were a big party or national holiday.  People wear party colors and honk car horns. Bands play Latin music. All this contributes to the festive atmosphere.

The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones lets Costa Ricans know where they have to vote. The day of the election the country¹s 6,617 polling places are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. In Costa Rica prisoners also have the right to vote so there are 37 polling places inside of the country¹s 21 correctional centers. There are currently 2,822,491 voters registered for the
Sunday elections.
 
 The list of terms below should help readers understand the election process in Costa Rica.
 
La bancada: a group of deputies in an assembly that back an initiative, a party or a coalition
La campaña: campaign
El candidato/la candidata: candidate
El ciudadano: citizen
El compañero/la compañera de fórmula: runningmate
El conteo: the counting of votes
El derecho de sufragio: the right to vote
El diputado/la diputada: congressman/woman or representative
Elección arreglada: a fixed election
Una elección cerrada: a close political race
El electorado: electorate or voters
Empadronado: registered to vote
Empardronarse:  to register to vote
Fraude electoral: voter fraud
Los escaños: seats in a congress or legislature
Juramentarse: to get sworn in
Un margen estrecho: a narrow margin (vote)
Las mesas: polling places in Costa Rica
Los observadores: people who observe elections to try and make sure nobody commits voter fraud or rigs an election
El padrón: the list of registered voters at a polling place
La ley seca: On past election days the law prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages. The law was changed for this election so people can
buy booze if they so desire. Since the Superbowl falls on election day expats won¹t have a dry Superbowl as in past election years.
La papeleta: paper ballot
Los partidarios: supporters
El partido político: political party.
El período presidencial: presidential term (time in office)
Politiquear: to do politics using dishonest tactics
Politiquero/a: a person who looks out for his own interests inside the government
El político: politician
La presidenta: woman president
El presi: slang for president
El presidente: president (male)
El presidente electo: the elected president
election day
A.M. Costa Rica file photo
The tradition here is for each party to put an informational table or a tent just outside the voting location. This was in Jacó in 2002.


El presidente saliente: outgoing president
Postularse/lanzarse: to run for an office
Reconocer la derrota: concede defeat
El resultado: the result of an election
La segunda ronda: a run-off election when none of the candidates received enough votes in the first election to be elected. In Costa Rica this happens if none of the candidates gets at least 40 percent of the vote.
Ser electo: be elected
El traspaso de poder: transferring of power and duties to a new president
El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: the government entity in charge of elections
Las urnas: polls (mesas in Costa Rica)
El vicepresidente: vicepresident
Una victoria abrumadora: an overwhelming victory
La votación: vote (noun)
El votante: voter
Votar: to vote
 
The idea of giving Spanish students a large dose of vocabulary is to improve their comprehension, ability to communicate better and learn idiomatic
Spanish. The more words and expressions, the better.
 
Tiquismos of the week:
Botar la basura literally means to throw out the garbage. Sometimes when people ask who a person intends to vote for he or she answers in jest Solamente voy a botar la basura. Botar (to throw out) sounds exactly like votar (to vote) because the v and the b are pronounced the same.

Hijueputado: a vulgar way to say diputado (congressman). Jokingly it means son of a b.... diputado.
 

* Christopher Howard, who has a master's degree in linguistics and Spanish, is the author/publisher of the 16th edition of the perennial  bestselling  "The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica," "Guide to Real Estate in Costa Rica" and the one-of-a-kind "Official Guide to Costa Rican Spanish." He also conducts custom and group retirement/relocation tours every month.  For information: www.liveincostarica.com. Articles similar to the above may be found at www.costaricaspanish.net



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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 23

Costa Rica Expertise
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The registration of Burke Fiduciary S.A., corporate ID 3-101-501917 with the
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  Arias and others release doves to mark the agreement
  validated Tuesday.


Property owners join
government to protect land

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

For the first time governmental agencies and the owners of private protected areas have come together to develop a management plan.

This was the reason officials were in Tres Ríos Tuesday to meet with the Asociación de Propietarios de La Carpintera.

Both the government and the property owners agreed to promote sustainable development and create an infrastructure friendly to the environment. The management plan for the mountains calls for maintaining the scenic beauty of the Cerros de La Carpintera and to exploit its potential for tourism.

The plan also initiates the creation of a green certificate for projects that may be developed in the protected zone.

Among those who attended the meeting with the property owners was President Óscar Arias Sánchez and Jorge Rodríguez, minister of Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones.

Raids follow killing
of man Saturday night


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Five persons have been held after agents raided a bar and two homes in the Cartago area in an investigation of a shooting death Saturday that took the life of a 20-year-old Nicaraguan man.

The raids were directed by the Fiscalía Adjunta de Cartago and involved the bar in Agua Caliente de Cartago and homes in Taras de Cartago.

Investigators said they found five firearms and ammunition. A total of 10 persons were detained for questioning and five of these were held.

The victim, who had the last name of Ruiz, was shot down and died in Los Diques de Cartago.     

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Each day someone complains via e-mail that the newspages are from yesterday or the day before. A.M. Costa Rica staffers check every page and every link when the newspaper is made available at 2 a.m. each weekday.

So the problem is with the browser in each reader's computer. Particularly when the connection with the  server is slow, a computer will look to the latest page in its internal memory and serve up that page.

Readers should refresh the page and, if necessary, dump the cache of their computer, if this problem persists. Readers in Costa Rica have this problem frequently because the local Internet provider has continual problems.

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The A.M. Costa Rica search page has a list of all previous editions by date and a space to search for specific words and phrases. The search will return links to archived pages.

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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 23

   
Check out the printed version of the Top Story news feed and see what  you  missed.
Enjoy Incredible Beach Sunsets and  Sunrises. With the Pacific Ocean and the awesome mountain behind.
Elegantly built to your specifications. Delivered and set up at your home in Costa Rica.


Crash at bridge rises to the level of a political scandal
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A fiery fatal collision at a bridge in Abangares Monday has become a political hot potato because the pothole that triggered the crash has been there for three years.

The Poder Judicial said that the Fiscalía Adjunta de Puntarenas has opened a criminal investigation of the crash that sent flames soaring and twisted the bridge structure for more than three and a half hours. The initial investigation is for negligent homicide.

Killed was a truck driver from Ciudad Colón identified by the Judicial Investigating Organization as Rene Umaña. He died of burns at the scene. A companion, 21-year-old  Ronny Aguilar of Santa Ana, died later at Hospital San Juan de Dios, the agency said.

Both men were in the cab of a tractor trailer that swerved to avoid hitting a passenger vehicle. Both were southbound. The passenger vehicle, driven by a tourist, slowed and swerved to avoid the gaping pothole in the bridge deck. The truck driven by Umaña hit the rear of the passenger vehicle and then swerved across the two-lane bridge and struck a gasoline tanker. The tanker driver, Fernando Herra, suffered a broken leg.

A reader reported Tuesday that the pothole has been on the bridge for at least three months. Others have said the reoccurring pothole has been a fixture for at least three years. The bridge is on the Interamerican norte, the country's major highway.
The bridge maintenance is delegated to a private firm employed by the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. Another reader reported Tuesday afternoon that the bridge had been reopened but traffic was restricted to one lane. The reader reported one-hour delays.

Many vehicles were delayed at the scene overnight and earlier Tuesday while investigators checked out the structure.

Flames fed by gasoline and diesel fuel reached high temperatures, and some parts of the 57-year-old bridge were damaged.

The pothole in the bridge over the Río Largarto is about three feet square and the rebar of the deck was exposed to view.

Spanish-language news outlets are treating the crash with the same intensity that they covered the collapse Oct. 22 of an aging, one-lane Orotina-Turrubares bridge over the Río Grande de Tárcoles. That tragedy in which five died led to the resignation of the minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes.

The Arias administration has had its trouble with bridges. A similar pothole developed in a major bridge on the Autopista General Cañas between San José and Alajuela, and the flaw in a bridge deck resisted all attempts to fix it. The pothole finally submitted to a piece of steel plating, but traffic had been slowed for days and the pothole generated much mirth on television and radio shows.


Assembly will select civilians for new immigration council
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Defensoría de los Habitantes will hold an assembly to fill two seats on the new Consejo Nacional de Migración.

The Defensoría has asked interested parties to come forward. The new law goes into effect March 1, and the Defensoría has scheduled Feb. 17 as the day for the assembly. Nominations are sought by Feb. 10. The Defensoría will emphasize concerns for human rights in the selection process.

The new immigration law specifies that two citizens from organizations involved in immigration matters be named by the Defensoría. Others on the council are members because
of positions they hold in government. For example, the
ministers of Relaciones Exteriores y Culto, Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, Trabajo y Seguridad Social, Salud, and Educación Pública are all members of the council.  Most will send representatives.

Also on the council are the director general of Migración y Extranjería, the minister of Turismo and the head of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social.

The term of citizens chosen by the Defensoría is one year.

The role of the council is to advise the central government on immigration matters, design and put into effect programs to help foreigners integrate into the Costa Rican society and to name certain administrators. The council also monitors and suggests changes in the law.


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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 23

Fault
in Haiti


A U.S. spacecraft captured a clear image of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area Jan. 21 after the 7.2 earthquake destroyed the Haitian capital. The photo looking west clearly shows the fault line as a depression in the hills east of the city. This is the fault that caused the quake. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is taking many types of photos of the quake to measure earth movement.

Haiti from the air
Jet Propulsion Laboratory photo


Humanitarian aid in Haiti called better but still not great

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

The United Nations reports significant progress has been made in providing assistance to hundreds of thousands of quake victims in Haiti.  A senior U.N. official says the relief operation is being scaled up on all levels, with shelter topping the list of priorities. 

The United Nations says things may be improving, but the crisis in earthquake-devastated Haiti is far from over.  U.N. officials report nearly one-half million people have left the capital Port-au-Prince for outlying areas.  They say 90 percent of these people are staying with host families who are in need of assistance.

John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, calls Haiti a particularly difficult and complicated operation.  He says he understands the frustration of aid workers who are not able to quickly reach the survivors with desperately needed assistance.
"What I think we can see now is that we are beginning to make really significant progress in doing that, particularly on the food side, but, in some other areas as well," Holmes said. "So, the scaling up is happening significantly now.  But, we still have a significant way to go before we reach everybody with the aid that they need." 

Holmes says health care for the injured and sick is getting better, although it still is not good.  He notes most life-saving operations have taken place. 

But vital drugs are still lacking, and there need to be more surveillance systems to monitor the outbreak of epidemics, he said.

Holmes says tens of thousands of people will need tents, plastic sheets and tarpaulins before the rainy and hurricane seasons start in a few months.  He says there are not many tents in Haiti, but 50,000 tents are in the pipeline and are expected to arrive shortly.


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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 23

Medical vacations in Costa Rica

Campaign launched to help
embattled Venezuelan media


Special to A.M. Costa Rica

The Human Rights Foundation condemned the recent media crackdown in Venezuela that sent RCTV International along with other five cable and satellite TV channels off the air last Sunday after they failed to broadcast a speech by President Hugo Chávez. In view of this new attack on freedom of expression, the foundation has relaunched its Free RCTV campaign which aims to raise international awareness about the grave situation of freedom of expression in Venezuela.

The other stations are TV Chile, Ritmo Son, Momentum, America TV, and American Network.

“This new abuse by the Venezuelan government lays bare the deplorable human rights situation in Venezuela,” said Thor Halvorssen, foundation president. “After RCTV was shut down in 2007, millions of people who yearned for an independent television channel subscribed to RCTV International on cable. In line with wanting to implement what his henchmen call 'communicational hegemony,' they have now manipulated the laws to shut down RCTV a second time,” said Halvorssen.

The president of Venezuela and his government have carried out a relentless campaign against independent media in Venezuela – especially against those who question the government’s policies. The president has singled out editors, newspaper owners, reporters, and in one case even challenged the owner of a news channel to be prepared to face him in a duel.

“Not content with attacking, bankrupting, or using the laws to make independent media subservient, the president of Venezuela abuses the laws to force all television and radio stations to carry his images and his long speeches – in some cases five- or six-hours long – through every TV outlet in the country. In net terms, he has more exposure than any competing voice or opinion, and yet that is still not enough,” said Halvorssen, in reference to the legally-mandated imposition on all radio and television media networks to broadcast the president’s speeches live at his discretion.

RCTV’s permit to broadcast through public airwaves was cancelled in 2007. Three weeks later, RCTV started broadcasting through cable and satellite service providers as RCTV International. The shutdown of RCTV-I Sunday occurred when the channel failed to air a speech by Chávez. That same day, Chávez publicly congratulated Diosdado Cabello, the government’s telecommunications officer: “That’s what must be done with those who refuse to obey the law . . . .  Thank you, minister!”

Other human rights organizations condemning this new crackdown on independent media in Venezuela include the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the Inter-American Press Association. Since 2007, the Venezuelan government has denied the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights access to the country to monitor the human rights situation in situ. According to the freedom of expression in the world index, prepared annually by Freedom House, Venezuela and Cuba are currently the only two countries considered “not free” on the American continent.

The Human Rights Foundation launched the Free RCTV campaign and Web site on May 7, 2007, only weeks before the removal of RCTV from public airwaves. Given this new attack on RCTV International, even as a subscription broadcaster, the foundation has relaunched the campaign and updated the Web site to inform the public and raise international awareness about the grave situation of freedom of expression in Venezuela. The Free RCTV site includes informational material, reports, articles, news, videos, and pictures about RCTV’s case.
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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 23


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U.N. expert voices concern
over child labor in Ecuador


Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Despite the commitment shown by Ecuador to eliminate child labor, the scourge remains a major obstacle to the country’s development efforts, said an independent United Nations human rights expert.

Following her just-concluded visit to the country, Gulnara Shahinian, the U.N. special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, lauded the government’s efforts to tackle child labor, including its worst forms, domestic servitude, forced labor and debt bondage.

However, she told reporters in Quito Monday that, despite the progress made, the extent of child labor remains alarming and domestic servitude and debt bondage are challenges still to be overcome.

“Child labor in all its forms is an obstacle to the development of Ecuador where a high percentage of the population are children,” stressed Ms. Shahinian.

She noted that there are a number of initiatives by the government, U.N. agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organizations  and other groups to eliminate child labor and to address the situation of child-workers.

At the same time, she deeply regretted that “those programmes have yet to achieve universal coverage and be accessible to all.”

Ms. Shahinian also assessed cases of labor exploitation, inhuman and degrading treatment as well as discrimination, which are encountered particularly by the large refugee and asylum-seeking community of Colombian nationals as well as sectors of the Ecuadorian population, including Afro-Ecuadorians, the montubios ethnic miniority and native peoples.

“I am very concerned about the dire conditions of refugees and asylum-seekers and wish to stress that the government is responsible for their protection and the restoration of their rights,” she said. “Urgent measures are required to protect and restore the rights of these people and to create an environment conducive to the elimination of labour exploitation and slavery in these areas.”

In addition, she noted that the international standards for the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers in the provinces outside Pichincha are not sufficiently implemented, despite the Government’s liberal immigration policy.





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