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José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 35
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Lawmakers have
some Ruta 32 doubts
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Ruta 32 highway proposal seems to be running into troubles on the floor of the legislature. Lawmakers from Frente Amplio expressed what they said were additional doubts Wednesday on the job that will go to a Chinese construction firm. Frente Amplio said it wants to hear one more time from Carlos Segnini, the minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes. That drew criticism from other lawmakers who are steamrolling the bill through the legislative process. The executive branch said that the bill has the highest priority. The administration hopes to have the bill approved by the end of the month to meet a deadline imposed by the government of China. The Chinese government is providing $395 million, and Costa Rica is putting up $90 million for the job. A condition of the Chinese loan is that the China Harbour Engineering Co. do the job. That requirement does not sit well with Costa Rican construction firm operators. Legal action may follow that will set back the government's plan. The job is from Limón to Río Frio, some 107 kilometers. This also is the main road into the Central Valley.  The
Auk: Ornithological Advances/B.
McKelvey
A kea wearing a GPS logger
on a backpack harness. Parrot finally
fitted for GPS devices
By Central Ornithology Publication Office.
Yes, it is possible to study parrots with GPS trackers. The devices just have to be beak-proof. For a new paper in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, Erin Kennedy, George Perry, and Todd Dennis of the University of Auckland and Joshua Kemp and Corey Mosen of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation tested the feasibility of tracking parrots with GPS dataloggers in Arthur’s Pass National Park in New Zealand. Their parrot of choice was the kea (Nestor notabilis), a large, intelligent, mountain-dwelling bird perhaps best known for its fearless interactions with tourists and their cars. While GPS telemetry is one of the best methods for tracking the movements of wild birds, researchers have hesitated to apply it to parrots, concerned that the dataloggers may not stand up to their large crushing beaks, high manual dexterity, and curiosity. To make their tracking devices as parrot-proof as possible, Ms. Kennedy and her colleagues encased them in tough polymer and attached them to backpack harnesses before placing them on captured keas. After a week, the researchers recaptured the study birds to remove the harnesses and assess how they were affected by wearing the devices and how well the devices performed. Of the 14 birds that were outfitted with the devices, two managed to remove the dataloggers within an hour, and two birds were never recaptured. For the remaining 10, however, the method worked. The parrots showed no signs of feather or skin damage from carrying the GPS loggers, the loggers and harnesses had only minor damage from the parrots chewing on them, and researchers were able to follow the movements of the parrots over the course of the week. They could tell when the birds were flying or walking, where they foraged and roosted, and when they visited a scenic overlook to interact with tourists. The secret to success is careful consideration of the housing of the GPS units, the method of attachment, and the technique for recovery of the data, the researchers said. “Tracking the movement of parrots with electronic devices has been hindered due to the lack of suitable methods attaching the devices to the birds,” says wildlife telemetry expert Hamish Campbell of the University of New England, who was not affiliated with the study. “Kennedy et al. have made a significant advancement for parrot research by developing a backpack, which can be attached long-term with no observable impact upon the individual.” GPS data can help identify essential habitats, migratory pathways, potential hotspots for human–wildlife conflict, and more, which can be critical for developing effective conservation and management strategies. As co-author Todd Dennis puts it, “The sky is the limit for GPS telemetry and its use for bird conservation, and our paper hopefully is the first of a long line of publications relying on this technology to study the movement patterns of parrots for both applied and theoretical research questions.” Guantanamo figure found innocent By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S. military appeals court has overturned the conviction of an Australian man who was held in Guantanamo Bay and found guilty years ago of material support for a terrorist organization. The man, David Hicks, has told a news conference in Sydney that he did not intend to seek an official apology or compensation for his five-and-a-half year ordeal in the U.S. prison camp in Cuba. Hicks was the first person to be convicted at a U.S. war crimes trial since World War II. The former kangaroo hunter was captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in late 2001. He was held at Guantanamo Bay from January 2002 until May 2007, when he pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism. In a plea bargain, all but nine months of his sentence were suspended and he was allowed to return home to Australia, where he was imprisoned until the end of his term behind bars. Wednesday, a U.S. military appeals court threw out his conviction because the activity for which he was found guilty did not become a crime until years after he was captured in Afghanistan. The 39-year old Hicks spoke to the media at a news conference in Sydney today. “I am sure no one is surprised by today's long-awaited acknowledgement by the government of the United States of America of my innocence. Even the Australian government has admitted that I committed no crime. It is just unfortunate that because of politics I was subjected to five-and-a-half years of physical and psychological torture that I will now live with always,” said Hicks. In 2000, Hicks was in Pakistan, where he trained with the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was later designated by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization. Hicks traveled to Afghanistan in early 2001 and attended a training camp run by al-Qaida. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, he was captured in Baghlan, Afghanistan.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 35 | |
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| Caja bosses are telling local offices not to charge expat
spouses extra |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The country's public health provider appears to be respecting a ruling from the Sala IV constitutional court. The court told the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social that it should not force expat spouses to enroll for services at an additional expense. The Caja's medical and financial managers issued a memo that is being distributed to local Caja offices. Expats are required to enroll for Caja services even if they do not plan on using them. The Caja is plagued by long waits and other problems. The Sala IV ruled Jan. 6 that foreign spouses should be treated the same as Costa Ricans. A.M. Costa Rica reported this Jan. 15 based on a posting at the Caja Web site. The news today is that the Caja is distributing the message to |
its
local offices. Research has shown that not all the Sala IV rulings have
been obeyed. The Caja faced a flurry of threats of constitutional court cases in which expats would claim they were entitled to the same rights as citizens. The Caja characterized as and error its efforts to charge expat spouses more. Javier Zavaleta, who operates Residency in Costa Rica, received a copy of the memo from a client. "The last paragraph of the Caja memo is clear and concise: Caja offices were ordered, and are under the obligation, to locate those newly-approved married residents who were required by Caja to join the health system individually, and in many cases at an additional expense," he said. "That is the fair approach for the Caja to take. Alas, the word 'refund' is nowhere in the memo." |
| Costa Rica faces stiff competition from Thailand for Chinese
tourists |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire service reports Costa Rican tourism officials are seeking to attract Chinese visitors. They're not alone. Thailand also is making moves to attract more upscale visitors from China. A wire service report said that Thailand suffered bad publicity about martial law, backpacker killings and police shakedowns of foreigners. Martial law remains in effect. That, and publicity overseas about tourists being victims of serious crimes on resort islands, police shaking down foreigners in the capital and taxi drivers overcharging fares, have combined to give many potential tourists second thoughts about visiting, said the news reports. Known as the Land of Smiles, Thailand hopes to put a happy face on the sector again this year and greet 28 million visitors, which was the numerical goal last year, said the wire service report. In 2014, the total number of actual visitors was 26 million. It's still a stunning total from the turn of the 21st century, when Thailand struggled to attract more than 10 million visitors annually, the report said. The total exceeded 15 million for the first time in 2010 and surged above 20 million in 2012. But the country also is trying to shed its reputation as a backpacker haven. The government is behind the push. China is now the largest single source of visitors to Thailand. The Chinese are considered the best spenders per capita on a daily basis. But their growing influence is not without controversy. During this week's Chinese New Year period with 90,000 visitors from China expected -- many are receiving etiquette guides. |
 Tourism Authority of Thailand photo
Tourism officials in
Thailand are promoting Chinese New Year that begins today with this
graphic.The brochures explain how to behave in museums and at temples, encourage proper rules for driving and warn against using public property as toilets. By contrast, Costa Rica received 7,017 Chinese visitors in 2014, according to figures provided by the Instituto Costarricensee de Turismo. That number was about a 6 percent dip from 2013. Meanwhile, Costa Rican officials are lobbying for direct airline flights from China and have opened up a new consulate to process visa requests. Thailand is also popular with Malaysian, Japanese, Russian and South Korean visitors. But there has been a notable drop-off in Russian tourists with the ruble's recent plunge in value. A weakening euro against the Thai baht is blamed for a decline in visitors from European countries. To make up for that slump, a special push is being made by the Association of Thai Travel Agents to boost the number of visitors from Indonesia, as well as from China. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 35 | |||||
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Contrasts How can expats not gloat? The choices are to enjoy a great Central Valley sunset or shovel snow in the U.S. Northeast. |
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Here's reasonable medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
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2015 and may
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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U.S. not at war with Islam, Obama says at his summit By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama says the United States is not at war with Islam. The U.S. leader told a White House summit on combating violent extremism he wants to discredit the belief that Americans and Westerners in general are at odds with Muslims. He said this narrative helps extremists radicalize and recruit young Americans and others. Until now, the United States has focused on its military fight against Islamic militants. Now, President Obama said, it’s time to get at the ideological aspect, and what causes young people to become vulnerable to radicalization. After being criticized for not mentioning the word Islamic when referring to extremists, he called for confronting the threat squarely and honestly. “We are not at war with Islam,” he said. Americans have been horrified by images of atrocities committed by Islamic State extremists, some of whom have been recruited from America’s Muslim immigrant communities in cities like Minneapolis, home to a large Somali population. It is in communities like these that grievances over discrimination, poverty, lack of education, and corruption, make it easy for terrorists to exploit young people, often through social media. Obama brought together religious leaders, police, and others at the White House summit Wednesday to tackle the root causes. “If we’re going address the challenge of their efforts to recruit our young people, if we’re going to lift up the voices of tolerance and pluralism within the Muslim community, then we’ve got to acknowledge that their job is made harder by a broader narrative that does exist in many Muslim communities around the world that suggests the West is at odds with Islam in some fashion,” said Obama. The aim is to come up with programs that will change this perception on the streets. In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, pilot programs are already under way with the input of moderate Muslim religious leaders, including some attending the summit. “We believe in the right of all people to live in peace and security. Muslim imams have condemned and continued to denounce anyone who tries to use the religion of Islam to support terrorism,” said Abdisalam Adam, a Minneapolis imam. After discussions like these, the question is whether government programs will succeed in steering vulnerable young people toward those who espouse a moderate view of Islam, and help negate the lure of extremists. Long legal battle seen for immigration amnesty By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama’s executive order shielding millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation was supposed to go into effect this week, but it is on hold after a U.S. federal judge temporarily blocked the initiative. The legal battle is far from over, and while it proceeds, backers and opponents of the president’s unilateral order show no signs of wavering on their positions. In immigrant communities, seminars to help the undocumented seek relief under the president’s executive order turned somber as expectations were dashed. The initiative is on hold. In Arizona, Idalia Cervantes had hoped her Mexican-born parents would be protected from deportation. “We are heartbroken. We heard about this at midnight, and it was tears,” she said. Hours later, confirmation from the White House. “We are not going to disregard this federal court ruling. So, we are not going to be taking applications in until this case is settled,” said Obama. A definitive resolution will take time, according to the University of Massachusetts director of legal studies, Paul Collins. “The law really is not black or white on this one. If it went to the Supreme Court and they ruled on the merits of this case, it probably wouldn’t come down for half a year to a year," said Collins. Until then, there is uncertainty for undocumented aliens like Steven Rodriguez, who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as a baby, and he cannot work legally as a young adult. “I would go out looking for a job and no one would hire me,” he said. Congress has been unable to agree on a plan to reform an immigration system almost everyone agrees needs to change. But legislative inaction does not excuse executive over-reach, according to Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican. “The president said, ‘I am going to give them work permits. I’m going to allow them to stay, I am going to allow them to get federal benefits.’ That is where he went beyond what I think he can do,” said Smith. While some protest, officials in states that brought the lawsuit say they are defending constitutional order. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said, “This is an important constitutional principle. This isn’t even just about immigration. It is about if the president of the U.S. can act unilaterally on any legal issue.” The president is undeterred. “I think the law is on our side, and history is on our side. And we are going to appeal it. And we will be prepared to implement this fully as soon as the legal issues get resolved.” Until this week, judicial history would seem to favor Obama’s position. “The federal courts have been fairly deferential to the federal government’s policies on immigration, particularly when those challenges are being brought by states. So the states have a tough row to hoe,” said Collins. The immediate task for immigrant groups: convincing the undocumented to remain engaged and not retreat into the shadows. “I will fight, and I know I have the whole community backing me up that will make sure my parents stay in this country,” said Cervantes. U.S. embassies to install air monitoring equipment By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
How bad is the air? The U.S. embassy may soon have the answer. The State Department has announced plans to install air quality monitors at diplomatic posts and make the data publicly available. The program will begin in India, Vietnam and Mongolia. The aim is to provide important health information for U.S. government employees overseas, as well as for locals. And U.S. officials said, it may help inspire citizens to call for change. When an air quality monitor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing began reporting toxic pollution levels several years ago, “our hosts didn’t like it particularly,” said Secretary of State John Kerry. In fact, China’s vice environmental minister called it an illegal and unacceptable interference in the country’s internal affairs. But the information is available online, and after seeing how bad the problem is, Kerry said, Chinese “citizens are increasingly demanding action.” Speaking at a ceremony in Washington Wednesday, Kerry noted that the Chinese government is responding. Last year Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared war on pollution, Kerry said. Outdoor air pollution is responsible for 3.7 million annual deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization. The program builds on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency system that provides real-time air quality data on pollutants linked to a number of health problems. “That information is so important,” agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said at the ceremony. “There are elderly people who should not be outside on certain days taking a walk. It threatens their ability to breathe. It threatens their ability to protect themselves if they’ve had cardiac problems. They want to know what air quality is outside.” And that information is lacking in much of the world. For example, a University of Texas at Austin environmental engineering professor, Joshua Apte, said that on a major global air quality monitoring site, “there are nearly 2,000 monitors in China that are connected to the Web, and only about 30 in India, for countries of very similar population and with similar pollution problems.” And there is a lot of room to expand the program, he added. “There may not be more than three or four in all of Africa that have got air pollution data available. And we know that there are air pollution problems in many African cities as well.” Ms. McCarthy said U.S. officials “are not going to provide this information and walk away.” She said the U.S. has struggled with air pollution, and will offer technical help so “they can do what we have done to reduce the kind of air pollution that at one time was choking our cities,” and which still causes problems, she added. In India, where the first monitor will be installed, Apte said awareness of the scale of problem is growing. But, he added, “there’s a saying in our field, which is, ‘you can’t manage what you don’t measure.’ You need to have a baseline to see how much you’ve improved.” And that data can inform the public as well, he added. “They can demand change even when politicians don’t necessarily see it as in their own interest to do so.” Spit test can give clues for autism, researchers say By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A spit test may someday be used to help diagnose children with autism. Children with the complex neuro-developmental disorder often have trouble communicating, and a saliva test, which detects the levels of various proteins, could offer an objective way to identify youngsters with autism. Children with autism spectrum disorder have differences in protein levels, compared to those who do not have autism, and those differences may be detected in their saliva. Researchers at Clarkson University and the State University of New York at Plattsburgh found that nine proteins were elevated in the saliva of the six autistic children who were studied, and three proteins were lower or even absent. Alisa Woods of the SUNY Plattsburgh Center for Neurobehavioral Health helped lead the study. She says youngsters suspected of having the disorder, which is marked by interpersonal communication difficulties and repetitive behaviors, are currently diagnosed after being observed by psychologists. "They rely on behavior, they are complicated, there might be some subjectivity to them. Even though they are very, very good, a saliva test could be simpler; it might be a simple screening method and a more objective one," says Dr. Woods. An estimated one in every 68 children in the United States has autism spectrum disorder and experts say that number is growing. Similar prevalences are likely around the world. Woods says one of the dozen proteins that is altered in autistic children is linked to gastrointestinal problems. "Because gastrointestinal distress is so common in people with autism, maybe this could be a biomarker for people with that problem. People with autism sometimes have difficulties communicating their symptoms because it's a social communication disorder. So, this biomarker could be useful for seeing if people have this type of problem... and it might direct treatment," says Dr. Woods. Another protein in the complex involves immune function. Dr. Woods says researchers gravitated toward a saliva test because it is quick and easy to perform. It could identify the disorder earlier than waiting for behaviors to develop, so treatment could begin sooner. She says the results of study, published in the journal Autism Research, need to be repeated by scientists, in larger groups of children, to determine whether a saliva test for autism could become a reality. Swiss prosecutors raid local office of HSBC bank By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Geneva prosecutors have raided the Swiss office of the British banking giant HSBC and announced a criminal investigation into accusations it was laundering money. The raid was taking place at the offices of HSBC Private Bank Switzerland, according to a statement released Wednesday by Geneva's prosecutor. Prosecutors said they were investigating criminal charges of aggravated money laundering against the bank, but stressed the probe could be broadened to include "physical persons suspected of committing or participating in acts of money laundering." Earlier this month, the U.S.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and several media organizations found that the Swiss arm of HSBC, Europe's largest bank, helped clients in more than 200 countries avoid taxes and hide hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Those clients included drug traffickers, arms dealers and celebrities. The reports were based on documents stolen by a former HSBC employee in 2007 and given to French authorities who shared them with other countries. The leaked documents contain details about more than 100,000 clients from around the world, both individuals and legal entities. According to the report, academic studies estimate that $7.6 trillion is held in overseas tax havens, preventing governments from collecting about $200 billion a year in tax revenues. HSBC responded to the report by saying its compliance efforts have been insufficient. The bank said it has undergone a radical transformation in recent years and now enforces more stringent reporting requirements. The new revelations may trigger calls for closer oversight of sophisticated tax avoidance by the wealthy and multinational companies, a key political issue in Britain and across Europe. According to Paris-based economist Tomasz Michalski, the latest allegations against HSBC's Swiss unit in particular, which is already facing probes by French and Argentinian authorities, are of unprecedented magnitude. "It is not only passive tax evasion, that they kept money for people on their accounts without asking any questions, it was actually active encouragement of tax evasion, active money laundering and also related, for example, arms traders, drug dealers, dictators," he said. "So the affair is potentially much more serious." In a statement Wednesday, HSBC Private Bank said it has cooperated with Swiss authorities since the data theft. In response to the reports last week, its CEO Franco Morra said it had shut down accounts of clients who did not meet its high standards. HSBC is not the first bank to come under scrutiny in recent years. U.S. authorities have fined several financial institutions, including Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse, for helping U.S. citizens evade taxes. "I think this is also going to happen to HSBC, in a sense they are going to have to pay a lot of fines, a lot of people are going to be fired, probably some may face criminal investigation," Michalski said, adding that the 2008 financial crisis has led to a tougher regulatory environment, and that cash-strapped countries are paying greater attention to individual and corporate tax evaders. Women in Turkey rally against continuing violence By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Women and activists in Turkey have taken to the streets in nationwide protests, coupled with a massive Twitter campaign, in response to the murder of a 20-year-old student in an attempted rape. Rallying around a case that is highlighting the wider problem of violence against women in Turkey, around 15,000 people gathered to protest the murder of Ozgecan Aslan in her home city of Mersin on the country's Mediterranean coast. According to police, Ms. Aslan was murdered in a failed rape attempt while returning home. Her body was found mutilated and burned. Rights groups claim as many as five women a day are murdered in Turkey. Political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Istanbul’s Suleyman Sah University says this latest murder could prove to be a tipping point for many in Turkish society over the scourge of violence against women. "It created a huge wave of protests in the country, probably due to the overdose of violence against women. One noticeable reaction through the campaign in social media was triggered by an associate professor in Istanbul who called upon female citizens of this country to tell their stories on harassment. As we are talking now, it has reached one million accounts and stories," says Aktar. Under the Twitter hashtag #sendanlat, or #tellyourstory, women across Turkey have been expressing their experiences of violence and harassment. Women’s rights campaigner and sociologist at Istanbul’s Bosphorus University, Nukhet Sirman, says the social media campaign is an important breakthrough in exposing the scale of the problem of violence against women. "There is not a single woman in Turkey who has not experienced or has not feared the experience of being harassed by men. In that sense it has been very important for women to come out with their experiences. Very well known actresses, professors, everybody came out with these kinds of stories. In fact, I was interviewed by another newsgroup and basically I asked the woman who was interviewing me whether she actually has been harassed she said, 'of course,' and this is how widespread it is," says Ms. Sirman. The latest available official figures, show between 2002 and 2009 the murder rate of women increased by 1,400 percent in Turkey. The last figures for assaults on women in 2013 is estimated at 28,000. Senior researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, Emma Sinclair Webb, says the government’s commitment to tackling the problem is questionable. "There is an endemic problem of violence against women. A couple of years ago, Turkey signed up for a big Council of Europe Convention on violence against women. Then Turkey changed its law on protection of women and family and produced a good law. There is a wide variety, different types of measures that can be taken to combat violence against women. Now the big problem is the law was never implemented properly," says she. Ms. Webb says in the past few years there has been an increase in conviction rates for men murdering women, along with more severe penalties. Three men have been charged with Ms. Aslan’s murder. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been quick to condemn the killing and promised he will press for the heaviest penalties against anyone convicted. But Erdogan has a troubled history with women’s rights and advocacy in Turkey. Shortly after winning the presidency, after 12 years as prime minister, he sparked outrage by saying women and men could not be equal because it “goes against the laws of nature”. He has also proposed limits on abortion and caesarean sections, and his deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, made comments suggesting women should not laugh in public, which prompted a social media explosion of women sharing images of themselves laughing. |
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2015 and may
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad
photo
Highway officials
say this 42-inch pipe is big enough to handle therunoff that has caused damage in the past at Ruta 239 in San Antonio de Puriscal. The Consejo Nacional de Vialidad said it hopes to have the job done this week. Ancestor of English pinpointed to steppe By the Linguistic Society of America news
staff
Linguists have long agreed that languages from English to Greek to Hindi, known as Indo-European languages, are part of a language family which first emerged from a common ancestor spoken thousands of years ago. Now, a new study gives more information on when and where it was most likely used. Using data from over 150 languages, linguists at the University of California, Berkeley provide evidence that this ancestor language originated 5,500 to 6,500 years ago, on the Pontic-Caspian steppe stretching from Moldova and Ukraine to Russia and western Kazakhstan. "Ancestry-constrained phylogenetic analysis supports the Indo-European steppe hypothesis" by Will Chang, Chundra Cathcart, David Hall and Andrew Garrett, will appear in the March issue of the academic journal Language. This article provides new support for the steppe hypothesis or Kurgan hypothesis, which proposes that Indo-European languages first spread with cultural developments in animal husbandry around 4500 to 3500 B.C.. An alternate theory proposes that they spread much earlier, around 7500 to 6000 B.C., in Anatolia in modern-day Turkey. Chang and colleagues examined over 200 sets of words from living and historical Indo-European languages. After determining how quickly these words changed over time through statistical modeling, they concluded that the rate of change indicated that the languages which first used these words began to diverge approximately 6,500 years ago, in accordance with the steppe hypothesis. This is one of the first quantitatively-based academic papers in support of the steppe hypothesis, and the first to use a model with ancestry constraints, which more directly incorporate previously discovered relationships between languages. Discussion of prior studies in favor of and against the steppe hypothesis can be found in the paper. |
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| From Page 7: Speeding up paperwork called priority By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The economics minister, Welmer Ramos, has told lawmakers that his priority is to reduce the complexity of paperwork for business operators. Ramos was talking to lawmakers interested in the economic development of the province of Puntarenas. He said that the goal is to reduce the paperwork so that small businesses can be created easily. This promotes development, he said. He is minister of Economía Industria y Comercio. Ramos noted that a directive had been issued to that effect. He said that 55 government entities are entering into an agreement that will speed the presentation of 140 separate pieces of paperwork. A handful of these are vital to starting a new business, he noted. |
