Change at the top made
to expedite tax proposals


Marco Vargas Díaz, as expected, has left the job of minister of the Presidencia.  That is a position equivalent to being the president's chief of staff.

President Laura Chinchilla quickly named Carlos Ricardo Benevides to the position. He is the tourism minister and recently assumed the duties of minister of sports.

Vargas left, in part, because he was unable to work with legislative deputies who opposed the president's tax increase proposals. To some extent, Vargas has an impossible job because even members of the president's own party, Liberación Nacional, rejected many aspects of the tax plan. She wanted a 14 percent value added tax, elimination of the tax exemptions for many basic foods and a 1 percent hike to 2.5 percent in the property transfer tax.

Opposition parties said the president had to cut the budget.

Benevides has been a legislative deputy twice, so he knows how the assembly functions.

He also is the man who orchestrated a $15 tax on incoming tourists during the Óscar Arias Sánchez administration.

Vargas had confused some party loyalists as to what the president really wanted. For example, he withdrew on behalf of Casa Presidential a bill that was a mainstay of the presdient's campaign, a tax on casinos and sportsbooks.


Reporting on power plant
was  irresponsible reporting

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Regarding problems at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan, I am once again at a loss to understand why so many reputable news agencies around the world are allowing irresponsible reporting. Using misleading wording such as "not yet a health hazard" implies that, at some unspecified future date, some unknown hazards may occur. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The best reporting on this subject that I've encountered comes from a long series of articles published by The Register, an online newspaper in the UK that reports for the information technology sector, and includes other important and topical stories. March 25 they reported that

"The situation at the quake- and tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan was brought under control days ago. It remains the case as this is written that there have been no measurable radiological health consequences among workers at the plant or anybody else, and all indications are that this will remain the case. And yet media outlets around the world continue with desperate, increasingly hysterical and unscrupulous attempts to frame the situation as a crisis.

So, basically nothing happened. Three people sustained injuries equivalent to a mild case of sunburn. But this was reported around the globe as front-page news under headlines such as 'Japanese Workers Hospitalized for Excessive Radiation Exposure'.  Just to reiterate: it was not excessive..."

Not much else to add, except to express sadness that poor reporting has misdirected energy better used for vital relief efforts, and that there has been no public backlash toward news agencies and reporters who use such scare tactics.


Fight coverage called
surgically sterilized

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I just read the surgically sterilized A.M. Costa Rica version of the title boxing match Thursday night.  I expected a more honest description of the fight from A.M. Costa Rica, but it was not there.  The title fight Thursday night was a political farce from the moment Melisenda Pérez stepped into the ring amid the boos of the local crowd, to the multiple appearances of the current president, whom I used to think was somehow different from the rest.  Well, I guess politics is always politics.  The new name for boxing in Costa Rica is: "The WWF comes to Costa Rica."

It was apparent from round one that Melisenda Pérez was not the most worthy opponent for Hanna Gabriel, and the circus side show?  That was something befitting a P.T. Barnum event.  What a farce.

I am not taking anything away from Hanna Gabriel.  She clearly showed style and a good boxing technique.  She deserved to win.  However, the pomp and circumstance swirling around the fight did not paint Costa Rica in a good light.   They are clearly proud of "their" new stadium and they should be because it is a jewel, but who built it?  Who paid for it?  Pride is one thing, but there is no need for an orchestrated circus sideshow to show that pride.

Bring in the clowns,