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A.M.
Costa Rica
Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday |
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Published Monday, April 24, 2017, in
Vol. 17, No.
80
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, April
24, 2017, Vol.
17, No. 80
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 Ministerio
de Seguridad Pública photo
Police
break up alleged cockfighting ring in Limón
province.
Police detain 102 for alleged
cockfighting
By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
Police forces detained more than 102 people participating in an apparent cockfighting ring and seized almost the exact same number of live roosters believed to be used as competitors in the bloody activities. The raid occurred Sunday morning in 28 Miles de Batan in the province of Limón. According to a preliminary report, members of the Departamento de Inteligencia Policial and the Fuerzas Especiales Operativas of the Fuerza Pública seized a large number of cocks, money and weapons along with a small amount of drugs. Police said over 102 people were directly engaged or were in the vicinity as spectators watching the cockfighting. 92 cocks were found alive and 126 were dead as a result of the bloody activity, officials said. Aside from the large amount of cocks and the number of people present at the time, police also seized 77 leather bags used to transport the roosters into the makeshift arenas before the fights. There were also 320 razor-sharp spurs that are attached to the feet of the roosters, which then uses it to slash and slice at each other during the fights. Peñas Blancas has a new customs post By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
The finance ministry inaugurated its new customs checkpoint this past Friday at Peñas Blancas. According to the Ministerio de Hacienda, the post sits on a former property lot held by the Municipalidad de La Cruz in Guanacaste. With the new building, all the procedures necessary to cross the border into Nicaragua can all be conducted in one place in addition to improving security for civil servants and travelers using it, the ministry said. For his part, the director-general for Aduanas said that this crossing is the gateway for Costa Rica’s trade with Central America and México to the north. In 2016, customs only collected about $1.18 million at this area despite the importance of the transit point, the ministry said. The finance minister and first vice president, Helio Fallas, noted that the new building will also be stocked with modern equipment and improved surveillance systems. This is a part of the ministry’s wider attempt at modernizing Aduanas to meet the rigors and traffic of present-day trade and traveler transit. Always noting the budget, Hacienda also said that the new facilities could reduce the cost of maintenance billed to the central government. It is expected that the offices of the fiscal police, the Instituto Nacional de Seguros, immigration, and the animal health service among other government entities will be located in the same building. Costa Rica with U.S. does joint drug busts By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
Costa Rican Guardacostas and officials from the United States teamed up to take two boats allegedly loaded with cocaine and marijuana last Thursday evening. The first case began around 8:30 p.m., according to reports from the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública, when Costa Rican coast guardsmen intercepted a boat 67 nautical miles off the coast of Limón. The ship, bearing a Costa Rican flag, was manned by four crew members who claimed they were Nicaraguan fishermen and legal residents of Costa Rica, coast guard officials said. The boat was taken to Limón to be inspected by members of the Policía de Control de Drogas as officials believe that the cargo on board is full of marijuana. The second case constituted a joint effort between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Costa Rican authorities. A second boat registered in Puntarenas was found in the Pacific Ocean manned by five Costa Ricans and an Ecuadorian. When the Coast Guard vessel approached the boat, the crew began tossing some packages overboard, according to a report. The Coast Guard recovered over 20 packages loaded with what is believed by officials to be cocaine. This interception took place around 6 p.m. Thursday in international waters. Our
reader’s opinion
A cost-benefit
analysis of solar power
Dear A.M. Costa Rica: We listened to the siren voices of the slick salespeople and our green consciences and installed solar water heating four years ago.We have lots of hot water most of the time. The financial case looks rosy when presented by enthusiasts. However the economics suck. Leaks brought our ceiling down three times since then. The cost of repairs was never factored in. We were told that the expected life of the system was 20 years. That raises two points. Most gringos do not stay for anything like that period. Some of us have a life-expectancy of less than that. Worse, most roofs will not last so long. The way salesmen present the economic case shows the payback period. No large business or economist would agree that this is a sensible way to value a project. I normally use the present value of future cash flows method. This applies a discount rate to future benefits and is a rather complex calculation. It shows dramatically lower benefits than the payback period. Installation companies offer guarantees. Most of these firms are small, many have a short history. Maybe the principals are old. Who is to say they will still be in business or will stand by guarantees? Do the guarantees cover ceilings and collateral damage? Good luck if you are foolish enough to go to the local courts in the case of a dispute. We like having a greener property and despite the ridiculously uneconomic benefits are happy. Just think before you sign on the dotted line. Chris Clarke
Grecia
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, April
24, 2017, Vol.
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| Science march wants public funding but
some are still skeptical |
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By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
Thousands marched for science over the weekend to celebrate Earth Day. Part of the effort was to encourage more public funding on research, according to organizers. But the placards and statements did not really address what kind of science marchers were seeking and what kind of science should be supported. The march in the United States also highlighted the Trump administration's decision to end financing for climate change research. Many professions in the United States are suspicious about government control and money. That includes lawyers and journalists, and both have their own private organizations and foundations. Trump is not the only politician critical of federal funding of science. William Proxmire, the Democratic senator from Wisconsin, made a name for himself by denouncing government science grants with his Golden Fleece awards he popularized until he retired in 1998. Sen. Rand Paul seems to have picked up the challenge with “The Waste Report.” The Kentucky Republican said in December that his two years of highlighting government grants showed nearly $2 billion of wasteful misplaced priorities and bad management. Other sources for research are private companies, foundations and colleges and universities. Part of this newspaper is being produced by software created at universities and sold to the public. There also are research divisions in a number of government departments where employees do the work. Obtaining a federal grant for research is a complex venture, and those who evaluate proposals are pretty conservative. They use what is known as peer review by calling on the evaluations of experts to see if a proposal should get money. Consequently, there is a lot of personal politics, and proposals with the right buzz words have an advantage. The well-known communications professor Lee Thayer points out in1983 that there were two kinds of research: that which is done for money and that which is done for other reasons. Academic researchers are supposed to publish papers to gain promotion and tenure. Many times, publication is the goal rather than adding to knowledge. And these seem to be the types of efforts Senators Proxmire and Paul have cited. Even once the research plows new ground, there is a good chance the public will not be impressed. The Gallup Organization reported in 2014 that a national survey showed that more than four in 10 Americans continue to believe the Old Testament view that God created humans in their present form 10,000 years ago. That is a view that has been debunked repeatedly by research into evolution. |
 March for
Science graphic
Marchers left a
lot of opposition and a lot of questions.
Said Gallup: “Between 40 percent and 47 percent of Americans over the past 32 years have said the creationist explanation for the origin of human life best fits their personal views. These Americans tend to be highly religious, underscoring the degree to which many Americans view the world around them through the lens of their religious beliefs. Those who adopt the creationist view also tend to have lower education levels, but given the strong influence of religious beliefs, it is not clear to what degree having more education or different types of education might affect their views.” In fact, many Americans report that they fully believe in the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Charles Darwin advanced the belief in 1859 that humans and other creatures evolved though natural selection. That concept has become the foundation of natural sciences, and Darwin paid his own way when he traveled for five years on the H.M.S. Beagle collecting information for his book. Albert Einstein also developed his theories of relativity on his own time while he was working at a Swiss patent office. Both concepts clashed with the understanding of the day just as modern research clashes with current understanding. For example, principal figures in the world’s religions are reported to have taken their leave by rising into the air. Muhammad used a winged horse. But modern science shows that Heaven is not located somewhere in space. Instead, there are hundreds of other planets in other star systems, and a few might be habitable. The bulk of Americans seem to get their scientific knowledge from “The Flintstones,” the UFO Network, wacky television documentaries, anti vaccination advocates, websites with an agenda and maybe even from “Star Wars” movies. In Costa Rica lawmakers still have a bill that would ban genetically modified crops, despite any evidence of harm, and the country says it still is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2021, even though carbon is basically plant food. In fact, the public ignorance of science worldwide has become its own research topic with its own academic journals, publications and conferences. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, April
24, 2017, Vol.
17, No. 80
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| Page 1 is HERE!
Page 2 is HERE!
Page 3
is HERE! Page 5 is HERE! Page 6 is HERE! The sports page is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
Next Page |
| Language develops independently in
bilingual children, study says |
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By the Florida
Atlantic University press staff
When bilingual children learn any two languages from birth each language proceeds on its own independent course, at a rate that reflects the quality of the children’s exposure to each language. That is the new finding in a study of Spanish-English bilingual children by researchers at Florida Atlantic University published in the journal Developmental Science. In addition, the study finds that Spanish skills become vulnerable as children’s English skills develop, but English is not vulnerable to being taken over by Spanish. In their longitudinal data, the researchers found evidence that as the children developed stronger skills in English, their rates of Spanish growth declined. Spanish skills did not cause English growth to slow, so it’s not a matter of necessary trade-offs between two languages. “One well established fact about monolingual development is that the size of children’s vocabularies and the grammatical complexity of their speech are strongly related. It turns out that this is true for each language in bilingual children,” said Erika Hoff, lead author of the study and psychology professor at the university as well as director of the Language Development Lab. “But vocabulary and grammar in one language are not related to vocabulary or grammar in the other language.” For the study, Ms. Hoff and her collaborators used longitudinal data on children who spoke English and Spanish as first languages and who were exposed to both languages from birth. They wanted to know if the relationship between grammar and vocabulary were specific to a language or more language general. They measured the vocabulary and level of grammatical development in these children in six-month intervals between the ages of 2 and a half to 4 years. The researchers explored a number of possibilities during the study. They thought it might be something internal to the child that causes vocabulary and grammar to develop on the same timetable or that there might be dependencies in the process of language development itself. They also considered that children might need certain vocabulary to start learning grammar and that vocabulary provides the foundation for grammar or that grammar helps children learn vocabulary. One final possibility they explored is that it may be an external factor that drives both vocabulary development and grammatical development. |
 Florida Atlantic
University photo
Erika Hoff,
study's lead author, poses with young child.
“If it’s something internal that paces language development then it shouldn’t matter if it’s English or Spanish, everything should be related to everything,” said Ms. Hoff. “On the other hand, if it’s dependencies within a language of vocabulary and grammar or vice versa then the relations should be language specific and one should predict the other. That is a child’s level of grammar should predict his or her future growth in vocabulary or vice versa.” Turns out, the data were consistent only with the final possibility: that the rate of vocabulary and grammar development are a function of something external to the child and that exerts separate influences on growth in English and Spanish. Ms. Hoff and her collaborators suggest that the most cogent explanation would be in the properties of children’s input or their language exposure. “Children may hear very rich language use in Spanish and less rich use in English, for example, if their parents are more proficient in Spanish than in English,” said Ms. Hoff. “If language growth were just a matter of some children being better at language learning than others, then growth in English and growth in Spanish would be more related than they are.” “There is something about differences among the children and the quality of English they hear that make some children acquire vocabulary and grammar more rapidly in English and other children develop more slowly,” said Ms. Hoff. “I think the key takeaway from our study is that it’s not the quantity of what the children are hearing; it’s the quality of their language exposure that matters. They need to experience a rich environment.” |
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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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, April
24, 2017, Vol.
17, No. 80
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Trump
makes new push
for border wall project By the A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
U.S. President Donald Trump made a new push Sunday for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart illegal immigration, with funding for the controversial barrier at the forefront of White House discussions with lawmakers to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the week. Trump wants initial funding for the wall, a key campaign promise in his run to the White House, included in the budget to finance government spending to the end of September, but opposition Democrats remain adamantly against its construction. The U.S. government runs out of operating funds at midnight Friday, giving the Republican-controlled Congress and minority Democrats just days to reach a compromise with the White House. "The Democrats don't want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members," Trump said in a Twitter comment. In a second remark, he said, "Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall," a claim numerous Mexican leaders have said will not happen. Reince Priebus, Trump's White House chief of staff, predicted in an interview with NBC News that enough money will be approved in the negotiation for us to either move forward with either the construction or the planning or enough to get going with the border wall. But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "Democrats do not support the wall. Republicans in the border states do not support the wall." She added, "The wall is, in my view, immoral, expensive, unwise, and when the president says, 'Well, I promised a wall during my campaign.' I don't think he said he was going to pass billions of dollars of cost of the wall on to the taxpayer." Priebus said the Trump administration expects the priorities of the president to be reflected in the funding for government operations. "We expect a massive increase in military spending, we expect money for border security in this bill, and it ought to be because the president won overwhelmingly and everyone understood that the border wall was part of it," he said. Even with contentious negotiations ahead in the coming days, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said, “I don’t think anybody foresees or expects or wants a shutdown at the end of next week.” Republican leaders in Congress have also downplayed the possibility of shutdown, which would be the government's first since 2013, but a budget accord with Democratic lawmakers has yet to be reached. Trump is heading into one of his administration's most challenging weeks, with his 100th day in office on Saturday, the same day a shutdown could occur if a budget deal is not reached or temporary funding approved for a week or two while negotiations with lawmakers continue. First round of French voting yields upcoming May runoff By the A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
Preliminary results from France’s first round of presidential elections confirmed that centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and nationalist, anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen are heading into a runoff in two weeks, marking what analysts describe as a political earthquake in France. It is the first time in the history of the modern French Republic that the presidency will be held by a member of a non-traditional party, highlighting a deep anti-establishment sentiment that ultimately could determine whether France remains a part of the European Union or follows an independent path like that of post-Brexit Britain and the United States under Donald Trump. According to projected results, Macron garnered 23.8 percent, and Le Pen won 21.7 percent. The winner needs an absolute majority and that will be determined in a runoff on May 7. “In one year, we have entirely changed French politics,” Macron said at a victory rally Sunday night. Macron, a 39-year-old center-left former economy minister who is pro-EU, pro-business, led pre-election polls despite his previous association with unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande. The appeal of his year-old En Marche! movement lies mainly in France’s prosperous urban areas, where globalism has benefited many. His challenge is to galvanize support of centrists and the left, including members of France’s fractured Socialist party, and convince voters he does not represent an extension of Hollande’s policies. Macron will face Ms. Le Pen and her National Front party, whose strongholds are largely in formerly industrial areas of France where unemployment is high and so is disillusionment with the modern economic and social order. Ms. Le Pen, who wants France out of the European Union, has succeeded in winning over large numbers of former leftists and centrists. Over the next two weeks, she hopes to draw from the right and the center, especially those who are most disillusioned with the status quo. Among the top contenders from 11 candidates was former Prime Minister Francois Fillon, a center-right social conservative whose bid was damaged by allegations of creating fake jobs for close relatives. Conceding defeat on Sunday, he endorsed Macron. The vote happened amid tight security following a terrorist attack in Paris just days before the poll that observers thought would benefit Ms. Le Pen. On Sunday, 50,000 police officers backed by 7,000 soldiers, including special forces, were deployed to the streets amid tensions following the attack claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group. The shooting along the iconic Champs-Elysees in the heart of Paris left one police officer dead and several other people injured. In a tweet one day after the Champs Elysees shooting, U.S. President Trump said, “The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!” Analysts and voters interviewed saw this as the most unpredictable election since World War II. One third of voters were undecided just days before the balloting. In the last few weeks before the vote, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon surged in the polls and so did discussion of the previously obscure candidate in social media. Among the ways his campaign lured young voters was through the release of a video game in which a player pretending to be Melenchon walks the streets and takes money from men in suits. The player is shown in a battle against the rich and powerful. Anger at the establishment is the sentiment driving voters in an election in which security, France’s lagging economy, its 10 percent unemployment rate, and Islamist extremism are issues on the minds of those on the left and on the right. Vaccines remain health tool to eradicate polio, diseases By the A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
Six years ago, 194 countries signed on to the Global Vaccine Action Plan, an international campaign to provide children and adults around the world with access to life-saving vaccines. The goal of the program is to prevent millions of people from getting vaccine-preventable diseases by the time it ends in 2020. The idea is to provide universal access to vaccines to protect people of all ages, from the very young to the very old. Flavia Bustreo, is the assistant director-general for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health at the World Health Organization. “Immunization and vaccines are the most powerful public health tools that we have currently, “ she said. Ms. Bustreo says 35 years ago, 13 million children lost their lives from diseases that could be prevented by vaccines. She said that number has been reduced to 6 million, but 6 million is still too high. Today, 85 percent of children are vaccinated against measles and other deadly diseases, but Ms. Bustreo says more children need these vaccines. “We need to have vaccination coverage that is about 90 percent, in order to have what we call the ‘herd effect’ ... which means you cover the children who are vaccinated, but also, because of the reduction of transmission of infections, you also cover the children that are not vaccinated,” Bustreo said. Because of vaccines, polio is on the brink of eradication. Polio exists in two conflict zones: in northern Nigeria and along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Last year there were 37 cases. Compare that to the 350,000 cases in 1988 when the eradication campaign began. There’s a special urgency to vaccinate all children against polio. Dr. David Nabarro has worked on a number of health programs at the World Health Organization and now as a special envoy for the United Nations. “The last part of eradicating any disease is always the hardest part,” he said. “If you don’t do it, you lose everything. To do it, you’ve got to really bring all the energy and commitment you can to bear, and it requires a special kind of dedication.” North Korea detains third U.S. citizen Friday By the A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
North Korea has detained another U.S. citizen, a university accounting professor in his 50s in the country to teach and discuss relief activities. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk, was arrested Friday at Pyongyang International Airport. Kim taught accounting at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology for about a month, according to the school's chancellor, Park Chan-mo. Kim had taught at Yanbian University of Science and Technology in China before teaching in North Korea. The U.S. State Department said protection of U.S. citizens is one of its highest priorities. But the United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, and works with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang to try to free detained Americans. Park said he was told Kim's detention had nothing to do with his teaching in North Korea, but did not know further details of his detention. North Korea did not immediately comment on the arrest. Kim is the third American held by the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a time of tense relations with the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has dispatched a naval strike group to the waters off the Korean peninsula as a warning against Pyongyang's continued nuclear weapons development program. The North Korean government, in violation of U.N. decrees, has conducted numerous missile tests and five nuclear tests, with a sixth possible soon. On Sunday, North Korea said it was ready to sink an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, which is the lead ship in the U.S. naval strike group, to demonstrate its military might. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday the naval ships would arrive off the Korean peninsula within days. American monitor killed in eastern Ukraine Sunday By the A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
An American member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was killed and at least two others were injured Sunday when their car hit a mine near rebel-held Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Austria's foreign ministry confirmed the incident near the small village of Pryshyb. Austria currently holds the organization’s rotating presidency. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz demanded a thorough investigation, adding that those responsible would be held accountable. Alexander Hug, deputy chief of the group’s Special Monitoring Mission, told journalists that a German and a Czech national were injured but have been treated at a local hospital in Ukraine's eastern republic of Lugansk. According to reports, the vehicle drove over a mine in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic. A rebel statement said the team was traveling along an unsafe road. “We know that the mentioned crew deviated from the main route and moved along side roads, which is prohibited by the mandate of the OSCE SMM,” local media reported. Netanyahu warns foes against attacking Israel By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning those who want to destroy Israel and the Jewish people that they will be destroyed themselves. Netanyahu spoke at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem memorial to 6 million Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day. "Iran and the Islamic State want to destroy us, and hatred for Jews is being directed towards the Jewish state today," Netanyahu said. "We must be able to defend ourselves by ourselves against all threats and any enemy." He said this lesson from the Holocaust guides him every day and that lesson is also the supreme duty of every Israeli prime minister. But he said there are many cases in which the world did not learn the lessons from Nazi Germany's attempt to wipe out the Jewish people. Sunday's ceremony included six Holocaust survivors lighting six torches while the traditional Jewish prayer for the dead, Kaddish, was recited. At 10 a.m. local time Monday, sirens will wail across Israel as the entire country stands in two minutes of silence for the victims of Hitler's genocide.
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Colorado S.A. 2017 and may not be reproduced
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| A.M. Costa Rica sixth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, April
24, 2017, Vol.
17, No. 80
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Although
they're weeds, they can be good Every so often I make a pilgrimage to the beach, mostly to remind myself why I don’t live on the beach, but also to take another look at what grows
Savannah immediately headed for her office to hide from the inquisition, but John headed for his gardener. He returned shortly with the answer. “According to Eduardo, that is called: ‘the plant we got from Richard’s yard’!” Oh my aching head. Well, I had my pictures, so I headed where I always do in such situations, “The Big Brains of Facebook,” specifically “Gringo Gardeners in Costa Rica.” In less than 30 minutes, I had an answer: Brazilian red cloak, Megaskepasma erythrochlamys, quite a Latin mouthful for something that one reader referred to as a weed. Personally, I like to think that things are referred to as weeds because they grow quickly and propagate easily, not because they are noxious, although I know they can become invasive. I like them because they can take an empty yard from brown to green and flowered in no time at all. Just tuck the plants you really want nearby and, when they are tall enough, pull the weeds out and put them somewhere else (maybe even in someone else’s yard). In fact, I was recently asked to help a friend, who runs an after-school program to transform an empty area into a garden for children. There is a lot of work to do preparing the dirt (can’t call it soil yet) into something that will sustain plantings. With any luck, the children will have ideas of their own on what to plant. After all, we all have our favorites. I just hope there will be room for all of them.
Plant for the Week
I think it has to be Megaskepasma erythrochlamys since I already lost my head over it. If you live at the beach, you might look around for this Brazilian red cloak and see if you can get cuttings. One reader indicated that hers was about 20 feet tall, so it sounds suitable to help you block an unsightly view. The red cloak at the hotel was in heavy shade, but I understand it also does well in the sun. It seems to do well in somewhat sandy soil if occasionally given a dose of fertilizer. If you would like to suggest a topic for this column, simply send a letter to the editor. And, for more garden tips, visit HERE! |
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| From Page
7:
Nicaraguan group plays nice with Costa Rica
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff A recent editorial published last week by the chief institute of private enterprise in Nicaragua sought a more conciliatory tone in the wake of increasing news highlighting the negative aspects of the relationship between the two countries. The statement by the Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada de Nicaragua acknowledged the ongoing border tensions as much as the situation of thousands of Nicaraguans dwelling illegally here in Costa Rica. At the same time, the council noted, the trade balance between the two nations is close to $700 million. The group also mentioned that more than 1.45 million people cross through the border at Peñas Blancas including 350,000 tourists. Even more, the Consejo said, there are nearly 182,000 cargo loads that cross the border as well between the two countries and the wider region. According to its own statistics, Costa Rican investment grew more than nine times in recent years and the balance of trade ballooned to more than 40 percent. The group and its Costa Rican counterpart, the Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado, signed a cooperation agreement however the group is urging further action for its neighbor to the south. For one, the group wants an early approval for the Inter-American Development Bank’s loan in the legislature. The next would be to open another border crossing post between Naranjo and La Cruz. “In the coming months we will be committed to continue this effort and continue to promote this reality that represents this real agenda that goes beyond political and media differences,” the statement finishes with. |
