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A.M. Costa Rica
Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, March 9, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 50 | |||||||||
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 Ministerio
de Agricultura
y Ganadaría photo
Scene for a
prior year onion
festival
Onion fair
begins 5-day run
in Santa Ana this Wednesday By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
This year the famous Feria de la Cebolla in Santa Ana will be held from Tuesday to the following Sunday near the Roman Catholic church in the community. There will be a variety of onions available. They will range from the everyday white and yellow onions to different hybrids. The festival isn't just an onion exhibit, there will be games, music, dancing, marching bands, competitions, a fireworks show, and custom food available. The festival was first started in 1991 in Santa Ana. It has continued to grow with participating vendors from Santa Ana and Escazú. The area is the main onion producer for the country. The farmers cultivate approximately 930 tons a year. The festival organizers say that all onions on sale are 100 percent Costa Rican. Two Canadians die in crash By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two Canadians died Thursday night when the pickup in which they were riding was in collision with a bus in Bagaces. The mishaps was on the Interamericana Norte highway. The Judicial Investigating Organization identified the dead by the last name and ages of Howard, 87, and Moulton, 24. Two other persons in the vehicle suffered serious injuries. The crash happened about 7 p.m. when the pickup appears to have been turning into an access to where the Canadians were staying.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
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| A.M. Costa Rica Third
News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, March 9, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 50 | |
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Jo Stuart |
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Museo
Calderón Guardia will display 82 Goya works on war
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Museo Calderón Guardia will put on display March 17 the 82 works by Francisco de Goya entitled Los desastres de la guerra or “Disasters of war.” The works were done between 1810 and 1815 and depict the bloody events of the Peninsula War when Napoleon put his brother Joseph on the Spanish thrown. The works were so startling and sometimes critical of the restored Bourbon monarchy that they were not exhibited for nearly 50 years. The works were brought to the country as part of the Festival Internacional de las Artes. By the Embassy of Spain. Some of the works are grim depictions of death and tragedy connected with the war. Goya was a court painter before the French invasion which was bitterly contested by Spanish partisans as well as a British expeditionary force. |
 Spanish against the French and its consequences. Goya is perhaps best known for his oil painting of the “The Naked Maja,” a reclining nude that appeared on Spanish stamps in the 20th century. The work was daring for its time. |
| Lawmakers reach agreement to speed action
on new taxes |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Lawmakers are going full speed ahead to give initial approval to the central government's massive tax plan. The leaders of the political parties in the Asamblea Legislative Thursday agreed to make procedural changes that will expedite the consideration of the measure. A first vote may take place as early as next week. This is the plan to institute a 14 percent valued added tax that will cover many more financial transactions than the existing 13 percent sales tax. The new series of taxes is supposed to raise nearly $500 million a year for the central government. Lawmakers cannot act to pass the measure completely until a |
decision
comes from the Sala IV constitutional court. Some lawmakers challenged
the fast track way in which the tax plan was going through the
legislature. Proponents have enough votes to pass the proposal, although lawmakers must first consider hundreds of amendments that have been proposed. Typically the amendments are voted down, but that takes time. The legislature is meeting in two sessions a day to get the measure passed. The central government is deeply in debt, and half the national budget is paid for with borrowed money. Meanwhile, the Sala IV constitutional court has backed a $300 monthly pay raise for lawmakers. |
 National tree, the guanacaste The higuera or higuerón Ficus tortuoso |
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| The friends, the trees, from towering to small and twisted |
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| Modern
day tree hugging began in India in 1973 with Chipko Andolan (Movement to hug
trees), when a group of villagers made a peaceful human chain around a
grove of trees that were being threatened with destruction. The first tree huggers lived some 200 years earlier and were some village women, also in India who actually did hug trees that were about to be cut down. There have been tree lovers and tree worshippers since the beginning of time, perhaps because trees are nature’s gift that never stops giving. Trees give us food and drink. They give us shelter and medicine to cure our ailments. And if the Bible and other religious writings are correct, they furnish us with knowledge. And they do no harm. I have loved trees since I was a child: to climb, to make doll houses among the roots, and in the Fall to make “walls” for the layout of a house and then set fire (with adult supervision) and watch the fire travel along the walls. When I lived in Florida, I learned to truly appreciate trees since there wasn’t that much to dwell upon visually, except trees. When I first came to Costa Rica, I was traveling from Tamarindo to San José, and the bus stopped in Santa Cruz, where I first saw a guanacaste tree. I was in awe of its size and expanse and delighted when I learned it is the national tree of Costa Rica. Since I first discovered the ficus tree, I have been a great admirer. It seems to grow to all sizes and in all altitudes, including indoors, even my indoors. My friend Alexis, who has flourishing plants and flowers everywhere, and is the doctor of last resort for one or another of my plants that seems to have chosen suicide, has labelled me Jo, the plant killer. Perhaps my tree survives because the ficus |
has special powers. A member of the fig tree family, it is called ficus religiosa by some Eastern religions because Buddha found enlightenment meditating under the bodhi or ficus tree. Even in San Jose there are some wonderful trees and two of them are my favorites. One just happens to be a higuerón or fig tree a/k/a ficus in the Parque Morazán. It is a giant tree, soaring into the city sky. Every time I go downtown, I try to visit it, touch it and say a few words of greeting. Part of the year it turns grey and leafless, and I fear it is going to die. But it always revives. One day when I stopped by to say hello, an old man sitting on a nearby bench told me that the higuerón had medicinal powers and animals knew this so when they were sick would chew the leaf of the tree. I didn’t find out what was ailing animals or if they swallowed the leaf, so I don’t think I will try it for any passing complaint. My other favorite tree is in Rohrmoser. I don’t think it is a ficus, or if it is, it is a ficus tortuoso. I am sure it didn’t grow that way. Its branches were twisted to fit some preconceived idea of beauty, perhaps, but it has survived and is rather marvelous to look at, although it probably was also stunted to fit its environment. It reminds me of civilization, and what it has done to shape us humans. Yet we, too, survive. It is easier to survive in a country that values even a few orphan trees on a contested border and does not involve its people in wars. At least it is for me. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
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A.M. Costa Rica's
Fourth News page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, March 9, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 50 | |||||
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Jo
Stuart |
Union members display a banner that says that the delays in testing samples of suspected cervical cancer are putting women at risk of death. |
 Unión
Nacional de Empleados
de la Caja y la Seguridad Social photo
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| Union health workers say 200,000 cancer
tests await review |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Amid the celebratory atmosphere of the International Day of the Woman, public health workers issued a chilling report: That there are 200,000 cancer tests awaiting analysis and that the wait for women with suspected cervical cancer might be as much as a year. The workers are members of the Unión Nacional de Empleados de la Caja y la Seguridad Social. They put on a demonstration Thursday. In an accompanying press release the union said that the situation was nothing new and has been going on for five years without a resolution. The union is known for pointing out deficiencies in the health |
services
run by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. This protest targeted
the Centro Nacional de Citologías where the law work is
supposed to be
done. The union said that 200,000 samples are in plastic bags thrown on
the floor where they are contaminated by fungus that impede the
analysis, according to Martha Rodríguez, the union's secretary
general. In the event that the samples spoiled, a woman must submit to another exam and the wait again will be lengthy, and the usual wait is a year, she said. The union leader said that the Caja should hire newly graduated cytogists and reactivate the center which has been unoccupied for three years. The union called on public agencies to intervene to resolve the problem. |
| Work began Thursday on pedestrian
bridge at Atenas |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Transport officials said that work has begun on a pedestrian bridge across Ruta 27, the Caldera-San José highway, at Río Grande de Atenas. The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes has agreed to put in the bridge. The job now is in the hands of Puentes Prefa, which estimates that the work will take 120 days. The bridge will be 72 meters long and 1.8 meters wide, some 233 feet by nearly six feet. The government agency said that the bridge will resemble the Puente La Amistad over the Río Tempisque, although that is a bridge that carries vehicles. The new highway basically split a community in half, and the bridge will provide safe transport for pedestrians. |
 Ministerio de Obras Pública y
Transportes graphic
This is a rendering of the new
pedestrian bridge |
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Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M.
Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, March 9, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 50 | |||||||||
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Jo
Stuart |
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| Sarkozy
says he's pleased at move to release woman By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has welcomed a motion by Mexico's supreme court justice to release a French woman serving a 60-year sentence for kidnapping. The French leader was quoted Thursday as saying, the decision to overturn Florence Cassez's sentence was "the first good news in five and half years." The judge said in his ruling, Ms. Cassez was denied immediate access to an attorney, and was not presented before prosecutors in due time following her arrest in 2005. Prosecutors accused Ms. Cassez of being involved in a Mexican kidnapping gang, the Zodiacs, allegedly led by her boyfriend. She has denied involvement in any kidnappings. The final decision on Cassez's release lies with a panel of five Mexican judges set to vote on the justice's motion. Kerry named as possibility for top World Bank job By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, are reported to have been mentioned as possible candidates to head the World Bank. Indra Nooyi, the chairman and chief executive officer of soft drink maker PepsiCo, is also said to be on the short list of candidates compiled by the Obama administration to succeed bank President Robert Zoellick. Zoellick is stepping down from the post when his term ends in June. A spokesperson for Kerry says he has not been contacted about the World Bank post and would not be interested. Under an informal agreement dating back to World War II, the United States traditionally selects the president of the World Bank, while a European is picked to lead the International Monetary Fund. But the world's emerging economies, especially Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have called for a more open process in order to identify a qualified candidate from a variety of nations. World Bank officials are taking nominations for Zoellick's successor until March 23. Other potential candidates include Lawrence Summers, President Barack Obama's former economic advisor and a former Treasury secretary, and current U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, although Mrs. Clinton has said she is not interested in the job. Hacker group declines to reduce its attacks By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
This week’s attack on the Vatican Web site comes on the heels of U.S. federal indictments against an international group of alleged computer hackers affiliated with a shadowy group known as Anonymous. Early this week the U.S. attorney in New York indicted five alleged computer hackers. Authorities describe four of them as principal members of a loose hacker confederation known as Anonymous. Despite these and other hacking arrests, Anonymous claimed credit the very next day for a cyberattack on the Vatican's Web site. Douglas Salane, the director of New York’s Center for Cybercrime Studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says the Anonymous group, with it's lack of formal structure, resembles the Occupy Wall Street movement. “They are loosely structured groups," he said. "It looks like people operate under that banner and leave it. It looks like individuals involved can be anyone from people who don’t have jobs and do this full time, to people who have regular jobs and do this on the side.” Salane says there is no typical hacker. Some, he says, are activists like Anonymous motivated by a cause. Others may be government spies. Still others are thieves or adolescents seeking amusement. Computer expertise is not even necessary. “Today, there is a malware industry out there, which provides a range of tools to do hacking that people don’t have to be sophisticated to use it," he said. "In fact, the people who produce malware actually provide support for it just like a regular legitimate software package.” Former FBI agent Brad Garrett says while no one is in charge of Anonymous, the group has the potential for considerable damage. “The big concern is they do have the wherewithal to do destructiveness to national security, to corporations and even to individuals," said Garrett. Anonymous has shut down the Web sites of various governments overseas, and they’ve hacked into U.S. police Web sites, as well as those of large corporations and credit card companies. Even conversations between U.S. and British law enforcement officials about ways to combat hacking have been hacked. “It's kind of like they're poking the tiger, you know, but in this case, they're poking the FBI," said Kevin Mitnick, a former hacker."They want to prove to the government, apparently, that they're smarter.” Salane says even with high-level prosecutions, hacking of all kinds will continue. |
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Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M.
Costa
Rica's sixth news page |
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| San
José,
Costa Rica, Friday, March 9, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 50 |
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Latin America news |
Mount Everest effort By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Costa Rican, Warner Rojas, will challenge Mount Everest this month, and the Instituto Nacional de Seguros said it will sponsor him. The national insurance company is giving money for expenses, but it also is providing a $75,000 life policy and a $15,000 accident policy. The total is about $54,000. The Costa Rican has scaled many mountains, including 35 in this country. The insurance institute noted that he has provided similar patronage for runner Nery Brenes and for youngsters participating in the Special Olympics. Chirripó blaze charred more than underbrush By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police and judicial agents attempting to determine the cause of a brush fire in Parque Nacional Chirripó stumbled on a marijuana plantation. A number of the plants had been consumed by the blaze, but officials estimated that there had been 600. No one was apprehended at the site. Planting marijuana on remote public land is common. Press group asks Honduras to probe wave of crimes Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The Inter American Press Association has expressed its concern and condemnation of a continuing wave of violence being unleashed against journalists in Honduras and called once again on the Central American nation’s government to act to prevent and investigate such incidents and bring those responsible to justice. Reporter Mavis Ethel Cruz Zaldívar filed a formal complaint with the Honduras public ministry that she had received death threats made in an anonymous telephone call to her husband, Carlos Arturo Rodríguez, who also is a journalist. She said that she was in addition threatened with ending the life of their son over news commentaries aired in their program on the San Pedro Sula radio station Radio Libertad. She added that in recent years she had been harassed by still active state security agents in connection with her work. In another development, last week the bodies of three people who had been shot at point-blank range were discovered on a street near San Pedro Sula. One of the victims was student and journalist Saira Fabiola Almendares Borjas, 22. The motives for the crime were not immediately known. During a meeting with President Porfirio Lobo late last month association President Milton Coleman, senior editor of The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., asked him to act to protect the press and combat the impunity surrounding crimes against journalists. In the last 15 months 18 of them have been killed in Honduras. |
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| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
James
DeRoy
