Your daily
English-language
news source
Monday through Friday
| |
Your daily |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
 |
||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About us |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 8, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 113 | |||||||||
 |
| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
 |
 Click HERE
for great
hotel discounts
|
|
Our readers' opinion
Costa Rica has sold itselfdishonestly to Chinese Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Count the many ways Costa Rica can be sold, and can you ever trust her? Selling the country is nothing new. Builders, big business, sportsbooks, and now we join a list of unforgettable nations who have done the same. Like us, they dumped their diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in favor of China with great expectations of wealth that never really lived up to the dreams. Since 2001, China has wooed over eight of Taiwan's diplomatic allies: Macedonia (2001), Nauru (2002, but resumed ties with Taiwan in 2005 when the big bucks did not come), Liberia (2003), Dominica (2004), Grenada (2005), Senegal (2005), Chad (2006) and now Costa Rica (2007). As documented by Thursday's edition of A.M. Costa Rica, Taiwan has been a good and loyal friend to Costa Rica donating millions and millions of dollars and constructing about the only world-class infrastructure this country can be proud of. As much as the act itself, it was the dishonesty and disrespect that stands out. The first and only clue that the 63-year-old relationship was in jeopardy was when Costa Rica, without warning, voted against Taiwan in the United Nations. The only country not to give any kind of advance notice. Then the deception started to unravel as Costa Rica, behind Taipei's back on June 1, 2007, agreed to cut Taiwan and recognize China. Money is money, after all. On the other side of the ocean, The China Times reported: Foreign Minister (James Huang) also blasted Costa Rica for lying to Taipei about its plans to launch ties with China. "Costa Rica Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno flew to Beijing on May 29 and on June 1 signed the communique on establishing ties, but he told us he was going to visit the U.S. and not China," Huang said. In the past days, Stagno has reassured Taiwan several times that his country (Costa Rica) would not cut ties with Taipei. "Only after our repeated requests, Bruno Stagno agreed to talk to us on the phone at 4 a.m. to admit having opened ties with China," Huang said, calling Costa Rica's deceiving Taiwan "despicable." (June 7, 2007) A joint communique of China and Costa Rica: "'The Costa Rican government recognizes that there is only one China and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory." While we talk about it, sing about and fret over it, how little we actually value democracy, freedom and human rights which is roughly $130 million that China has promised? Costa Rica exports to China have been super healthy, even while we recognized Taiwan. I would hope our morals and values would have been "priceless," but I guess not. John Holtz
Santa Ana Former souvenir store owner says he gave Ticos discounts Dear A.M. Costa Rica: The practice of cheaper prices has been going on for some time for the Ticos. I once owned a store in Puntarenas. I was informed by my manager that the Ticos get a cheaper price. Now what the HELL??? How would the Ticos like to pay 20 percent more when they come to the U.S.A.? Or for that matter, any non-U.S. citizen has to pay 20 percent more at Disneyland, or any other tourist attraction? The Ticos have discounts already, and I am sure that many people do not know that! When a cab or bus tour takes people to Sarchí for example, the driver gets a percentage of what is spent by the people he or she brings to the store. So guess who pays that percentage?? YOU!! Imagine if all countries did the same?? Talk about discrimination?? The rules and laws in Costa Rica are unbelievable, and they change on a daily basis. I could almost understand if they were being discounted for milk and food, but for a vacation??? I had to give Ticos a discount at my store. It was a souvenir store. Figure that out. Robert W. DePretis
U.S.A. Tico hotel discounts lack
any economic realism Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Reading the headlines of A.M. Costa Rica’s story on a bill in the Asamblea that would give the Costa Ricans at least a 20 percent discount on foreigners’ hotel rates might leave the initial impression that someone was trying to help the Ticos afford a nice vacation. But reading the fairy land reasoning offered by the sponsor of the bill, which is that the hotel operators get tax breaks and that is money not received by the government to spend on ‘humble’ Ticos, thus the locals deserve lower prices, it becomes patently clear that promoter of the bill is trying to make political hay for himself. The argument he uses is so lacking in economic realism that one can’t help but wonder if the diputado has been reading Hugo Chavez’s manual, "How to Exploit the Ignorance, Envy and Inferiority Complexes of the People for Political Gain." Everyone knows, including the sponsor of this absurd bill, that tourism has replaced coffee and bananas as the country’s No. 1 generator of hard currency, that hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested in hotel and condo projects because of tourism, and that tourism has given jobs of all kinds to thousands of Costa Rican workers. What all that means is that by giving tax break incentives to tourism, it resulted in many times more dollars and colons circulating in the country than would have otherwise, plus the added benefit for the Tico of not having to play so hard the inflation catch-up game with a pobrecito colon, which now has actually gone up in value against the dollar. So when the bill sponsor came up with this hare-brained idea, he knew full well what he was doing. Let’s hope the other diputados are less self-centered, more patriotic and more realistic in executing their legislative responsibilities and vote this insanity down. By the way, can you imagine what the reaction would be when the foreign tourist finds out that the Ticos get a huge discount at the same hotel they are staying at? “I’m outta here. This is rip-offville of the first order” comes to mind. Now Mr. Demagogue Diputado, you got more than your wish: hotels — those that haven’t closed down — are discounting their rates 75 percent because no foreigners are coming, so the humble Ticos you say you want to serve can have the whole place to themselves, and not be bothered by their envy and inferiority complexes you are playing on. Walter Fila
Ciudad Colon From the editor Dear readers, What few letters we received from Costa Ricans strongly support the idea of passing a law to give them a 20 percent discount at hotels and other tourism facilities. The writers feel that tourists and expats have more money and that they, too, should be able to stay at luxury hotels that are now beyond their economic reach. The Editor
|
 |
 |
|
on our real estate page HERE! |
| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
 |
||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About us |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 8, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 113 | |||||||||
|
Want to see A.M. Costa Rica
the way it was meant to be? Set your browser to use Times New Roman with text at 14 point and a resolution of 72 dots per inch |
 |
| China is elated, but Taiwan feels betrayed by Costa Rica |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
China has called Costa Rica's decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing a "historical trend" and urged remaining countries with diplomatic ties to Taiwan to follow suit. China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu welcomed Costa Rica's decision to recognize the "One China" policy that says Beijing is the only legitimate government of China. She told reporters Costa Rica's dropping official relations with Taipei further backed-up Beijing's claim that Taiwan is a territory of China. "More and more countries are establishing diplomatic relations with China. This also clearly shows the "One China" principle is the accepted common consensus among the international community," Ms. Jiang said. China now has diplomatic relations with 169 countries while Taipei has ties with 24, most of them small, poor nations in Africa and South and Central America. David Wang, a spokesman for Taiwan's ministry of foreign affairs, says Taipei feels betrayed by Costa Rica's decision. "The response by Costa Rica to Taiwan, they are vague and evasive answers. We do not believe that was the correct way to treat a traditional and old friend like Taiwan," Wang said. Taiwan has steadily been losing the diplomatic battle to China's strong economy as countries have sought closer trade relations with the Asian giant. Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez announced the switch to China Wednesday after 63 years of relations with Taiwan. Arias said the change was due more to economic rather than political objectives. |
 Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto photo
Yang Jiechi, the foreign minister of the People's Republic of
China, greets Bruno Stagno, Costa Rica's foreign minister, during a
visit to Beijing a week ago.China and Taiwan have been accused of using dollar diplomacy, namely giving financial aid, in their tug of war to try to win diplomatic recognition. Jiang denied aid money was a factor. China and Taiwan have fought to win diplomatic recognition since they split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war. Beijing maintains self-ruling, democratic Taiwan is a breakaway province of China and opposes any moves that portray Taiwan as being independent from China. Visiting dignitaries meeting with Chinese leaders are asked to recite their allegiance to the "One China" principle. |
| Frankly, Scarlet, at summer camp I just tried to lend a hand |
|||
| I have begun my second month
at the Residencial Jose Pujol Marti. For those of you who have asked,
the phone number of the office is 239-0295. Doña Luz will
be happy to answer your questions — in Spanish. Among other services, they do my laundry for me here. I have wondered how they manage to know which clothes are mine, then the other night I was about to put on my nightgown and saw on the neck flap the name "Josephine" printed there. And suddenly I was back in summer camp. The first and only time I ever went to a summer camp was when I was 8 years old and summer camps for underprivileged children from big cities were beginning to close. Giving them a summer of sunshine and exercise was, it was thought, a preventive measure in combating tuberculosis. Tuberculosis was waning as a serious disease, and the camp near my hometown had spaces to fill, so Dr. Granger, our town doctor, suggested to my mother that she send me. It was free, and as a working mother she would have one less child underfoot, and I was such “a happy kid,” I would be “a good influence” on the other children. That stuck in my mind, and I eagerly helped my mother sew my name tags into my clothes preparing to go off on my crusade as A Good Influence to cheer up the poor deprived city kids. Instead, I managed to close down the camp. The first night in my cabin another little girl — so skinny and frail looking — was crying because she was cold. Feeling noble and happy to have my first chance to do a good deed, I gave my blanket to her and shivered through the night myself. In less than a week I was complaining of a sore throat when I stood in line to be checked by the doctor. At first he patted my head (I looked healthy and happy, and sent me on my way. But after my persistent complaints, “My throat really hurts,” he told me to open my mouth. The next thing I knew I was in the infirmary and my stomach was covered with red splotches. I had scarlet fever. Scarlet fever is strep throat with complications. Since I had been around most of the kids (they called me the Flying Dutchman), many of them were exposed to this disease. |
Curiously, the same night I saw my name in my nightgown and started
remembering, I noted that I once again had a sore throat. The next
morning I awoke coughing and aching all over. I had, I supposed, el
grippe. The next day my throat really hurt. When I told Nurse Dixie,
she didn’t laugh. Instead she gave me pills for my headache and cough
and salt to gargle with, and later oregano tea. The doctor explained
to me that I had a virus, and such things happen when you live in a
close community, dining together, etc. As the days go by Dixie
reassures me that I am going to live. I am not really convinced. In
all my years of living alone I have never had this sort of misery. Jo’s book, “Butterfly in the City: A Good Life in Costa Rica,” is available at the 7th Street Book Store, Lehmann’s and Liberia Internacional. Or contact Jostuart@amcostarica.com. |
||
|
Presale pricing in effect for one more week only
 |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
|||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About us |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 8, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 113 | |||||||||
 |
 |
| From a hotel owner: 'At this time we have a deposit and all looks good!! Thank you for your help, and I must say your paper is impressive, and I had no idea you had such a circulation around the world. Received many inquiries for our hotel for that reason.' She used our classifieds! |
| El Salvador and 3 Caribbean nations to test ethanol program |
|
|
Special to A.M. Costa Rica
With the help of the United States and Brazil, one Central American country and three Caribbean nations could become less dependent on oil imports by switching their economies to biofuels, according to U.S. and Brazilian officials. “We seek to promote the democratization of energy in the Americas, increasing the number of energy suppliers, expanding the market and reducing supply disruption,” said Condoleezza Rice, U.S. secretary of State. Ms. Rice was in Panama City for the 37th General Assembly of the Organization of American States. The organization issued a declaration that biofuels are “critical to diversifying the use of energy” in the Western Hemisphere. The secretary noted that the United States and Brazil completed in March what she described as a groundbreaking agreement on biofuels. She said El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and |
St. Kitts will
be the initial focus of the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Partnership’s outreach
program. She added, however, that the partnership is eager to expand
cooperation to more countries, particularly in the Western Hemisphere. “Our goal should be nothing less than to usher in a new era of inter-American security in energy,” Ms. Rice said. Under the partnership, the world’s two largest ethanol producers are committed to helping less-developed countries in the Western Hemisphere promote production of biofuels from local crops. The partnership also intends to advance the research in and development of more efficient biofuel technologies and to work toward a greater convergence of biofuels standards around the world. All four countries depend heavily on imported oil. In some, oil makes up nearly 90 percent of their energy consumption, and they produce electricity largely from petroleum. However, these four countries also have relatively strong agricultural sectors that they could convert partially to energy crops, officials said. |
| Bush and Uribe confer by telephone on hostage iniciative |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. President George W. Bush and his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, have repeated their call for the release of all hostages held by the leftist Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia. Gordon Johndroe, the U.S. National Security Council spokesman who is traveling with Mr. Bush in Europe, said Bush spoke Thursday with Uribe, who is in the United States for an official visit. The two leaders discussed Colombia's initiative to release prisoners as an incentive for the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias to release its hostages, including three Americans. While in Washington, Uribe is also expected to push for a free trade agreement, as Congress considers cutting anti-drug aid to the South American nation. |
Democratic lawmakers have criticized Colombia's human rights record and
expressed concern over the death-squad killings of labor organizers in
that country. They say they may not approve the free trade agreement as
a result. Some also have expressed concern about a recent study showing that the cultivation of coca, the plant used to make cocaine, has increased in recent years. U.S. lawmakers are considering cutting anti-drug aid to Colombia by 10 percent in 2008, and moving some of the funding from spraying coca crops to arresting drug traffickers. Today Uribe is to appear in New York to honor former U.S. president Bill Clinton, who was in office when the United States began its joint effort with Colombia, called "Plan Colombia" to fight the international drug trade there. |
| Prosecutor in Chile recommends sending Fujimore back to Peru to face charges |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A prosecutor for the Chilean supreme court has recommended that former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori be extradited from Chile to Peru on corruption and human rights charges. The non-binding recommendation was issued Thursday to Orlando Alvarez, the judge due to rule on the case. The prosecutor recommended that the judge accept nine out of 10 charges of corruption and both charges of human rights violations. |
The human rights charges allege that Fujimori sanctioned the killing of
25 people by paramilitary squads during his presidency. The corruption
charges involve bribery and illegal use of government funds. Fujimori was president of Peru from 1990 to 2000, when his government collapsed and he fled to his ancestral homeland of Japan. He spent five years in exile there before appearing unexpectedly in Chile in 2005, where he was arrested on an international warrant. |
| News from
the BBC up to the minute |
BBC sports news up to the minute |
| BBC news and sports feeds are disabled on archived pages. |
|
| A.M. Costa Rica fifth news page |
Are
you
still
spending 70 percent You need to fill this space ASAP! |
||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About us |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 8, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 113 | |||||||||
| Former
Alcatel exec admits he bribed Costa Rican officials |
|
|
Special to A.M. Costa Rica
A former Alcatel CIT executive pleaded guilty to participating in the payment of more than $2.5 million in bribes to senior Costa Rican government officials in order to obtain a mobile telephone contract from Costa Rica’s state-owned telecommunications authority, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Department of Justice announced Thursday in Washington, D.C. The former executive, Christian Sapsizian, a French citizen, entered the plea earlier Thursday in U.S. District Court in Miami, before the Judge Patricia Seitz. Sapsizian pleaded guilty to two counts, conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, from a superseding indictment returned on March 20, 2007. The remaining counts will be dismissed at the time of sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 20, the Justice Department said in a release. As part of his plea, Sapsizian has agreed to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in their ongoing investigation. This is the case in which Hernán Bravo, a former board member of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, agreed to an abbreviated procedure in a court appearance in San José Wednesday. That is similar to a plea bargain. Among the suspects in the Costa Rican investigation is former president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, who maintains his innocence. Until Nov. 30, Alcatel was a French telecommunications company whose American depositary receipts were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Sapsizian was employed by Alcatel or one of its subsidiaries for more than 20 years. |
At the time the corrupt payments
were made,
Sapsizian was the company’s deputy vice president responsible for Costa
Rica. Sapsizian admitted that from February 2000 through September 2004, he conspired with co-defendant Edgar Valverde Acosta, a Costa Rican citizen who was Alcatel’s senior country Officer in Costa Rica, and others to pay more than $2.5 million in bribes to senior Costa Rican officials in order to obtain a mobile telephone contract on behalf of Alcatel. The payments, funneled through one of Alcatel’s Costa Rican consulting firms, were made to a director of Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, the state-owned telecommunications authority in Costa Rica, which was responsible for awarding all telecommunications contracts. Sapsizian further admitted that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad director was an advisor to a senior government official and the payments were shared with the senior government official. According to Sapsizian, the payments were intended to cause the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad director and the senior government official to exercise their influence to initiate a bid process which favored Alcatel’s technology and to vote to award Alcatel a mobile telephone contract. Alcatel was in fact awarded a $149 million mobile telephone contract in August 2001. Sapsizian faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and $330,000 in forfeiture. There was no word if Sapsizian agreed to come to Costa Rica to testify in the Rodríguez trial. |
|
Suspect detained in
murder of generous U.S. retiree By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The judicial police said Thursday they had detained a man in the murder of U.S. retiree Mark Judson Watkins last September. Detained was a 35-year-old man identified by the last name of Jiménez, they said. Watkins died of multiple stab wound, and the motive of the crime was robbery, investigators said at the time. Watkins, who came from Florida, was known for spending money on the disadvantaged he encountered. He lived in Rohrmoser where the crime took place. Neighbors said at the time that two men and a women were seen leaving the home before the body was discovered. The Judicial Investigating Organization said that the second suspect in the case died in unrelated gun play Dec. 16 in San Juan de Dios de Desamparados. There was no word Thursday if investigators had located the women, who was believed to be a crack addict. Newsman and family are victims of robbers By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Robbers took the purse of a newsman's wife but failed in their attempt to steal the couple's car. The crime was one of two robberies reported in Escazú Wednesday. The Fuerza Pública said that Carlos Villalobos, a reporter for the Spanish-language daily La Nación, drove up to his home in Escazú Centro Wednesday night. In his car were his wife and children. Suddenly four men in another car pulled up and took the wife's purse. The men returned just two minutes later, apparently trying to get the car, too. But alert neighbors had called the Fuerza Pública who frightened off the robbers. The house is 450 meters west of Banco Nacional. Wednesday afternoon armed men invaded the home of Mireya Padilla and Carlos Fallas in San Antonio de Escazú by forcing their way through the porton or bars. The men encountered a disabled youngster and a domestic employee identified as María Cambronero in the 4:30 p.m. raid, said the Fuerza Pública. The two were herded into a bathroom while the bandits sacked the home. Taken were three televisions, a DVD player, sound equipment, a computer and 10 million colons (about $19,250) in jewelry, said police. Orchestra performs tonight and again Sunday morning By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional presents its fourth concert of the season tonight and Sunday under the baton of Chosei Komatsu with José Aurelio Castillo as featured violinist. Anton Bruckner's "Symphony No. 4 (Romantica)" and Felix Mendelssohn "Concierto for Violin and Orchestra" will be featured. Both performances will be in the Teatro Nacional. The performance tonight begins at 8 o'clock. The Sunday performance is at 10:30 a.m |
| A.M. Costa Rica Sports news local and from the wires |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 8, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 113 | ||||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
|
|
