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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, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 106 | |||||||||
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Consumer agency cracks
down on Asian markets By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The consumer police conducted another one of its sweeps last month, and the target was Chinese markets. Only two of the 10 markets received a passing grade. The biggest problem was listed as imported food that did not have a label written in Spanish. This is required by law. The Dirección de Apoyo al Consumidor of the economics ministry conducts these surveys frequently, but this is the first to target stores selling mainly Asian foods. All were in San José. A smaller percentage of the 368 products studied had other problems, such as a failure to list the country of origin or the name of the importer. The surveyors said they would file complaints against three markets, Super Los Ángeles, Supermercado 88 and Distribudora Hong Kong. Some 304 products were frozen until labels in Spanish could be added. About 2 percent of the products studied had an expired date, said the surveyors. Service station quality said to be improvement By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
Of the 1,186 service stations inspected in 2011, four were found to be delivering short amounts and 21 had quality problems with the gasoline or diesel, according to the Authoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos. This is the same agency that sets the prices of public services. Its quality control program involved laboratory testing of the fuel in the tanks of service stations. The work is done at the Universidad de Costa Rica. The agency said that the results were better than in the past. The short deliveries were from 240 to 310 milliliters per 20 liters of fuel. Involved were service stations in Buenos Aires de Puntarenas, Alajuela, Orotina and Cartago. The quality problems included lower octane than specified or water and sediment in the service station tank, among other woes, said the agency.
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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, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 106 | |
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| New postal release features 11 famous
scenes of the country |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Correos de Costa Rica has another postcard deal for residents and tourists. The postal service has come out with a series of 11 postcards that show 11 of the major attractions of the country. Correos has printed 16,500 of these to be sold as sets for 5,500 ($11) or individually for 500 colons, about $1. The price includes postage to anywhere in the world, Correos said. The photographs are by Eric Hernández Morales, and the scenes are mostly in the national parks. They include major volcanoes, the Río Celeste waterfall, the port of Puntarenas, the Reserva Gandoca-Manzanillo in Limón and Cabo Santa Elena in the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa in Guanacaste. Correos issued these this month, and they are available at most postal outlets. Correos said it wanted to promote the natural beauty and |
 Correos de Costa Rica/Eric Hernández
Morales
This cruise ship is about
the only man-made object featuredon the post cards. biodiversity of the country. Of course, the postal service also is trying to make money because most of the postcards never will get in the mails because tourists will keep them as souvenirs, just as collectors do with commemorative stamps. Correos comes out with a postcard issue about twice a year. The current issue is displayed HERE! |
| Sales tax forms will be online, but
payment is to a bank |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Business operators who pay sales tax will have to file their paperwork online via the special software provided by the Dirección General de Tributación next month. The deadline is June 15. This is the next step in putting much of the government's paperwork in electronic form. Since last November, sales tax forms had to be generated on the Tributación EDDI-7 software. Instead of filing electronically, the resulting documents had to be printed out. The software added a readable bar code to the form that identified the taxpayer electronically. Taxpayers took these to a bank with payment. The first two months were messes, but the agency updated the software. Those who pay sales tax will do essentially the same thing in early June. They will list their sales and compute the taxes they owe. But then the electronic form will be transmitted to the tax |
agency. Then taxpayers will have the
option of visiting their local bank to pay what they owe or doing so
electronically online. The agency said that the estimated 70,000 sales taxpayers have 10 financial entities that are ready to accept payment. The required data is either a personal cédula number or the cédula juridica of a company. The banks will not accept the previous form with the readable bar codes, said the agency in a news release. Tributación is anticipating confusion. It said that there are 40 places where sales taxpayers can go for help. These include the municipalities of Barva, Curridabat and Belén. Help also can be found at offices of the Ministerio de Hacienda of which Tributación is a part, the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, and the Universidad Estatal a Distancia, it said. Tributación said that the electronic transmittal of documents will save the government a lot of money and that more forms are expected to be online this year. These will include the D-103 form for employee withholdings, it added. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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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's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 106 | |||||
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| Hurricane prediction for eastern Pacific
also listed as normal |
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Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The latest prediction says that the eastern Pacific hurricane season will be normal, just as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted for the Atlantic. The agency's Climate Prediction Center said that climate conditions point to a near-normal eastern Pacific hurricane season. The outlook calls for a 50 percent probability of a near-normal season, a 30 percent probability of a below-normal season and a 20 percent probability of an above-normal season. Seasonal hurricane forecasters estimate a 70 percent chance of 12 to 18 named storms, which includes five to nine hurricanes, of which two to five are expected to become major hurricanes. There already was on hurricane, Bud that moved into the Mexican mainland and disapated. An average Eastern Pacific hurricane season produces 15 named storms, with eight becoming hurricanes and four becoming major hurricanes. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through Nov. 30, with peak activity from July through September. This outlook is based on the analysis and prediction of two competing climate signals, the agency said: • Ongoing conditions, such as increased wind shear, that have been suppressing eastern Pacific hurricane seasons since 1995, and • The possible development of El Niño later in the season, with warmer waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which can |
decrease the vertical wind shear and
increase hurricane activity in the eastern Pacific region. “The eastern Pacific has gotten off to a busy and early start of the season, with Tropical Storm Aletta. . . and Hurricane Bud churning off the Mexican coast. . . ,” said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center, part of the U.S. National Weather Service. “NOAA’s seasonal hurricane outlook gives people an idea of how the season will likely unfold so they will be prepared and equipped to respond when disaster strikes. Despite our predictions, it only takes one hurricane to cause a lot of damage and loss of life if people aren’t prepared.” The outlook is a general guide to the overall seasonal hurricane activity. It does not predict whether, where, or when any of these storms may hit land. Residents, businesses and government agencies of coastal and near-coastal regions should always prepare prior to each and every hurricane season regardless of the seasonal hurricane outlook, the agency said. Eastern Pacific tropical storms most often track westward over open waters, sometimes reaching Hawaii and beyond. However, some occasionally head toward the northeast and may bring rainfall to the arid southwestern United States during the summer months. Also, during any given season, two to three tropical storms can affect western Mexico or Central America. The U.S. National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data, forecasts and warnings for the United States and its territories. The agency says it operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and forecast system in the world, helping to protect lives and property and enhance the national economy. |
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Jo
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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 | ||||||
| A.M.
Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 106 | |||||||||
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| New
cyber threat, Flame, calls most sophisticated ever By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A Russian Internet security company says it has discovered what it calls the most malicious cyber menace known to date. Kaspersky Labs says the computer program known as Flame is the most complex and sophisticated malware program it has ever seen, avoiding detection by security software. It says Flame has been active for more than two years with the ability to steal information from infected machines, including documents, screenshots, and audio recordings. Kaspersky says it uncovered Flame while investigating another malware program. Flame's targets and the damage it has done are still unclear. But officials with Iran's oil ministry have reported a cyberattack on its computers reportedly caused by Flame. It is also unclear who is responsible for Flame. But some computer security experts say the sophistication and complexity of the threat points to government involvement. Obama places a wreath at Tomb of the Unknowns By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. President Barack Obama paid tribute to the nation's veterans and their families during the Memorial Day holiday, as communities across the country host their own festivities. President Obama joined his wife and top military commanders under the midday sun to solemnly place a wreath of flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns. The memorial at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington is dedicated to the U.S. service members whose remains have not been identified. Speaking to a crowd of veterans, their families and other spectators, Mr. Obama noted this was the first Memorial Day in nine years without U.S. troops fighting in Iraq. "After a decade under the dark clouds of war, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon," Obama said. But the president emphasized how he understands that the end of U.S. wars abroad will hold little comfort for the relatives of the fallen. "Especially for those who have lost a loved one, this chapter will remain open long after the guns have fallen silent," he said. Half a world away in Kabul, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan General John Allen held a memorial service for all troops that have died there since the start of the war. General Allen, who also leads the North Atlantic Treaty Organization coalition in Afghanistan, read the letter of a young Marine who wrote to his parents before his death by a homemade bomb earlier this year. "We remember his life and his words, for they speak resoundingly and timelessly for our fallen brothers and sisters-in-arms," he said, More than 6,400 U.S. service members have died in the Afghan and Iraq wars following the 2001 terror attacks on the United States. This is the 145th anniversary of the large-scale observance, originally called Decoration Day, that took place in the United States three years after the country's civil war ended with more than 600,000 casualties. Financial woes threaten Portugal's free health care By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Free state-funded health care is one aspect of the post-World War II political settlement of which Europeans are most proud. But now it could be under threat as governments are strapped for cash, and in Portugal, one of the continent’s poorest performers, the question of whether free health provision is still affordable is pressing. Portuguese citizens have their vices like anyone else. But if their health deteriorates, they know, like most Europeans, there is a high quality yet mainly free health care system to look after them. But big spending cuts were a condition of the country’s recent bailout, and hospitals are cutting salaries and getting rid of staff. In short, people have to pay more to see the doctor. Antonio Arnaut, former minister of social affairs, helped set up Portugal’s health service after the fall of the dictatorship in the 1970s. Now a lawyer in Coimbra, north of Lisbon, he’s angry at the cuts. "I'm worried about the future of the national health system, but not because of the economic difficulties that Portugal is now experiencing, my main concerns are about this right wing government," he said. "There’s an ideological project to destroy the national health system. The national health system is a part of the European social model." Regardless of costs, the Portuguese have benefited greatly from Arnaut’s creation. Forty years ago, 1-in-20 Portuguese children didn’t survive infancy, and now it’s only 1-in-300, and general life expectancy has increased by 12 years over the same period. But the specter of massive government-spending cuts has thrown this success story in question: What happens when a billion euros get slashed from a 7.5 billion euro health budget? Pedro Barros, a professor at Nova business school in Lisbon, isn’t overly pessimistic. Two-thirds of the savings, he said, will be achieved by reducing drug prices and cutting staff wages, limiting the impact on services. Significant change, he said, will come in other forms. "I think that people want a health service the way it is: Funded by government and mostly free at the point of use," he said. "The discussion is on how people provide healthcare, whether it is going to be the private parties to provide it, including the non-profits." Not only have private health care providers already started running hospitals on behalf of the Portuguese government, the country has a thriving private health sector. The Malo Clinic in Lisbon is one the world's largest centers in implantology and dental aesthetics. Dental care is not covered by the state, and the clinic's boss, Paolo Malo, said Portugal's financial difficulties mean more people should pay. “We should not have universal healthcare that gives care to anybody that comes to a public hospital. Only the people in need or below a certain income should benefit from this," he said. "That change will happen. It’s not a question of if you like it or not like it -- that will happen.” Malo may have expanded his business all over the world, but Portugal’s overall economy is in its worst recession since the 1970’s. If the country has to continue cutting government spending for years to come, perhaps a system almost all of the country still holds dear will have to be slimmed down. |
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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, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 106 |
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Latin America news |
 Casa Presidencial photo
Pope Benedict XVI chats
with Presdient Laura Chinchilla at the meeting Monday in the Vatican.
Among other comments, the Pope urged dialogue between Costa Ricans and
Nicaraguans over the Isla Calero conflict.Lawmakers visit Caribbean and consider city status By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Members of the legislature's Comisión de Asuntos Agropecuarios went to the Caribbean coast over the weekend to see first-hand the situation in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. There long-time residents are in danger of losing their homes because the properties are in the nation's maritime zone where construction is prohibited. Walter Céspedes, a lawmaker with the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana again raised the issue of incorporating both communities as cities. That has been tried before, but the Sala IV constitutional court voided the last bill. Residents prefer city status because then the land is not involved with maritime zone issues. Puntarenas Centro on the Gulf of Nicoya, for example, is a city. At the very least, lawmakers seem in agreement with an executive branch proposal to freeze demolitions of properties for a year. The Contraloría General de la República is urging that the structures that infringe on the maritime zone be demolished. Two hotels that the government said were in the limits of the Parque Nacional Gandoca-Manzanillo already have been destroyed. There is another measure in the legislature to modify the limits of the park. Quakes reported offshore in Caribbean near Limón By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A 3.5 magnitude earthquake took place at 2:44 a.m. Monday in the Caribbean north and east of Matina, Limón. The quake was felt most intensely in Limón Centro. The Laboratorio de Ingenieria Sismica at the Universidad de Costa Rica said this was the second quake in the Caribbean in three days. However, the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica reported a 3.2 magnitude quake in the same area at 7:29 p.m. Monday. |
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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 | ||||||
