 |
 |
Costa Rica Your daily |
 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
|
|
 |
| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 10, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 114 | |||||||||
 |
| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
 |
|
Our readers' opinions
Subcontract the crime fightand require some results Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Great reporting from Mr. Perry Edwards on the problems with trying to find his work boat on inlet from Port of Limón. As a retired law enforcement officer from California, who has spent most of his time in drug law enforcement and who has owned land in Costa Rica for almost 20 years, I feel this story is incredible. Did the local police and coast guard personnel not have ammunition for their weapons? Was money offered to just stay away from the sectioned off passage area? Was required procedural police action overcome by fear? Something is not kosher here. Since, in the same edition of your paper, but on a different page, you report that the central Costa Rican government has not been able to spend their budgeted amount for national security, I have a proposal; spend some more money and require specified results. Subcontract the effort if need be to a private contractor. On a different part of the same article, your paper reports the U.S. ambassador is donating two more vessels to be used for security purposes at the Caldera port. Maybe we can install GPS equipment before these boats are deployed. Then we can find them if need be. I’m sorry to feel the need to use the intended sarcasm, but enough is enough. No wonder Mr. Edwards is reported to be in Colombia and thinking of moving his business elsewhere from Limón. Panamá appears to be thriving on this type of Costa Rican news story. In 20 years, this is the first time I have written a message to the editor, but I feel a need in an effort to keep this story active until resolved. Robert J. Gieser
U.S.A./Heredia Have we lost Limón to crooks and traffickers? Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Thank you for exposing and writing this article. Since President Laura Chinchilla has been in office, crime has increased. Home invasions, kidnappings here have spiked. I am not saying it is her fault. The border issue brought this to focus. Costa Rica cannot protect itself from another country or, it seems, from a group of organized thugs! You could also write the same article here in San José in the barrios they fear. Carpio, Leon 13 to name a few. The thugs, gunman rule these areas as well. I have seen the police hide in their stations at night. The local citizen know they have no protection and they too fear and hide. Taxi drivers will not go to certain areas. Border police specially trained Ha! The OIJ showing as well they will not and cannot confront the crooks here in any major way. I do not blame companies pulling out of Limón. Question is have we as a nation lost Limón to the drug traffickers and organized crime?? I fear, yes, we have. Dwayne Egelund
La Uruca 14 year old held in robberies By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial police have detained a 14 year old who faces 10 allegations of robbery and one of rape. The boy,who was detained in his San José de Alajuela home, is part of a group of youngsters who robbed passers-by by threatening them with a knife, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. Agents are seeking the other youngsters.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Place
classified ad |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|
| 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 2011 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's Third newspage | |||||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 10, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 114 | |||||||||||
 |
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública/Paul Gamboa
Anti-drug police check suspected cocaine April 29 in San
José and May 1 in Curridabat |
|||
|
Cocaine
seizures trigger 15 raids in country and 10 arrests
|
|||
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Anti-drug agents Thursday conducted 15 raids as they followed up on discoveries of cocaine shipments discovered last April 29 and June 1. Among those detained was Alexander Leudo Nieves, a
Leudo is connected to the Buenaventura, Colombia, cartel, and agents allege that he and two countrymen were in charge of obtaining the cocaine, sometimes robbing it from rival gangs. The Costa Ricans, headed by a man with the last names of Rodríguez Salas, and his wife with the last names of Bonilla Esquivel, had the responsibility of transporting the illegal merchandise, said agents. Raids were conducted in Miramar, Barranca, Ciudad Neily, Lomas de Ayarco, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, Ciudad Colón, Uruca, San Antonio de Belén, Rohrmoser, Moravia. Zapote, Santo Domingo and San Miguel de Santo Domingo de Heredia. There also was a raid at a repair shop in San Joaquín de Flores and at a storage location on Calle 5 in southern San José. One of those detained is a lawyer with the last names of Briceño Obando. Agents claim he was in charge of laundering the money generated by the operation. Leudo is believed to have been known to law enforcement here. A man with that name figured in a Sala IV habeas corpus case a year ago along with other men. They were being held in Liberia. The Drug Enforcement Administration said earlier that he was living in Costa Rica. |
One man, one of two brothers with
the last name of Rojas Prendas, was
detained April 29 when he was driving a vehicle in downtown San
José
near the headquarters of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social.
Fuerza Pública officers said they found 40 kilos of cocaine
hidden in
the truck. Police said at the time that he was acting suspiciously. The Policía de Control de Drogas confirmed the presence of cocaine, they said. Another man who figures in the investigation has the last names of López Mendoza. He was believed to have been detained May 1 in Curridabat when police stopped a truck that had 56 kilos of cocaine hidden under the truck bed. Two other Colombians detained Thursday were identified by the last names of Amador Montenegro and Viafara Mina. Agents said they confiscated $286,000 when they detained Leudo. Prosecutors said there would be more arrests. At least three groups are involved in the shipment of major amounts of cocaine across Costa Rica. While they were investigating this case, agents confiscated cocaine from unrelated groups. The drug organizations sometimes let police know about the activities of their competitors. Monday the Poder Judicial and the Judicial Investigating Organization will inaugurate a new incinerator for the purposes of burning up illegal drugs. The location is at the judicial complex in San Joaquín de Flores, Heredia. The incinerator can destroy between 300 and 400 kilos of drugs per hour, said the Poder Judicial. The Holcim firm helped law officers obtain the English-built device, which is worth $70,000, said the Poder Judicial. In the past some of the drugs were destroyed in an incinerator operated by Holcim. In one case some workers at an incinerator found the temptation too great and managed to save some of the drug for themselves. They have been arrested. The Poder Judicial said that the new system will destroy drugs under strict control and supervision. |
||
| Country needs more pragmatic approach to natural resources |
||
| Environmental concerns
in Costa Rica seem to have triumphed over common sense. Trees are sacred, mining gold is a no-no and the president says natural gas is OK but crude oil is not. When Nicaraguan troops invaded a small piece of Costa Rica along the Río San Juan in October, the country chose to play the environmental card in its protest to the International Court of Justice. The Nicaraguans had ravaged a part of Costa Rica where nearly no one ever goes and cut down trees that no one really cared about. Never mind that the invasion was a blatant attack on national sovereignty. Costa Rica went to bat for the trees. Trees grow from little saplings, mature, die and then fall down. That is if no one uses the lumber. Trees are supposed to capture and sequester carbon. But when they die and rot, they give it off. Trees also figured in a continuing protest over the Las Crucitas open pit gold mine north of San Carlos. The almendro amarillo trees were home for endangered great green macaws, known in Spanish as lapa verde. The situation is not as if Industrias Infinito S.A. was going to cut down all the trees. There are only about 200 great green macaws in Costa Rica and plenty of trees to go around even if some are cut to provide a space to mine gold. Costa Rica is desperate for money. Residents of the northern zone are desperate for jobs. It seems silly not to take advantage of the government's share of the extracted gold and create jobs. Some 150 workers were laid off when the Canadian-owned mining firm suffered a setback in a lower court that overstepped its responsibilities. Meanwhile Costa Rica is out begging for foreign aid and takings on enormous loans, not to mention trying to create unjustified new taxes. Now comes a U.S. firm that has been fighting environmentalists in court since 2000. The company wants to do exploratory drilling in several locations in the northern zone for petroleum and natural gas. The company won approval 11 years ago but has been tied up in the black hole of the Costa Rican judicial system until recently. Now comes the time to actually look for petroleum and gas. But wait. President Laura Chinchilla says that natural gas |
Instead, the Costa Rican agencies should get
their own shovels or
whatever other devices they choose to use and find their own oil
patches
and start digging. Jo Stuart is taking the week off. She seldom
does because she fears editors will use the space to promote the Sarah
Palin Fan Club and other right wing causes. Relax, Jo. Today we just
promote common sense. |
|
 |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
| Home |
Tourism |
Place
classified ad |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|
| 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 2011 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth news page | |||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 10, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 114 | |||||||||
 |
||
| Poison dart frogs said to the the most
athletic species |
||
|
By the National Evolutionary
Synthesis Center
The most toxic, brightly colored members of the poison frog family may also be the best athletes, says a new study. So-named because some tribes use their skin secretions to poison their darts, the poison dart frogs of the Amazon jungle are well known for their bitter taste and beautiful colors. The spectacular hues of these forest frogs serve to broadcast their built-in chemical weapons: skin secretions containing nasty toxins called alkaloids. Like the red, yellow and black bands on a coral snake or the yellow stripes on a wasp, their contrasting color patterns warn would-be predators to stay away, said lead author Juan Santos of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina. As it turns out, the most boldly-colored and bad-tasting species are also the most physically fit, the authors report this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In forests in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panamá, Santos subjected nearly 500 poison frogs — representing more than 50 species — to a frog fitness test. He measured their oxygen uptake during exercise using a rotating plastic tube, turning the tube like a hamster wheel to make the frogs walk. Santos estimated the frogs' metabolic rates while at rest, and again after four minutes of exercise. The result? The most dazzling and deadly species had higher aerobic capacity than their drab, nontoxic cousins. "They're better able to extract oxygen from each breath and transport it to their muscles, just like well-trained athletes," Santos said. Poisonous species owe their athletic prowess to their unusual foraging habits, explained co-author David Cannatella of the University of Texas at Austin. Unlike snakes and other poisonous animals which make their own venom, poison frogs get their toxins from their food. |
 Photo by Cesar Barrio-Amoros
Dendrobates leucomelas, a poisonous frog from
Venezuelan Guiana, has higher aerobic capacity than its nontoxic
relatives."They acquire their alkaloid chemicals by eating ants and mites," Cannatella said. Because of their picky diet, poisonous frogs have to forage far and wide for food. "Nontoxic species basically stay in one place and don't move very much and eat any insect that comes close to them," Santos said. "But the bright, poisonous frogs are very picky about what they eat." "It's not like a buffet where they can get everything they need to eat in one place," Cannatella added. "Ants and mites are patchy, so the frogs have to move around more to find enough food." This combination of toxic skin and bold colors — a syndrome known as aposematism —evolved in tandem with specialized diet and physical fitness multiple times across the poison frog family tree, the authors explained. In some cases the frogs' physical fitness may have evolved before their unusual diet, making it possible to forage for harder-to-find food. But the specific sequence of events was likely different for different branches of the tree, Santos said. |
|
| Dispute near Jacó leaves one man
dead and a guard hurt |
||
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
One man died and another suffered injuries in what appears to have been a confrontation at a home in Herradura near Jacó. Judicial police identified the dead man by the last name of Bolaños. He was 31. Injured was a man they said was a guard at a property. His name is Sibaja and he is 46, they said. |
Agents still do not know exactly
what happened but it appears that
Bolaños came to the home of Sibaja to seek permission to enter
the
property to look for a lost dog. The guard denied the permission and a
fight broke out. Then other persons arrived and began shooting. Sibaja went to a local clinic for treatment of a gunshot wound. Later the body of Bolaños was found near the scene of the dispute, judicial police said. |
|
| Business executive seeks to rent or buy luxury apartment or condo in the downtown area. Walking distance to Plaza de la Cultura preferred. Contact: apartment@amcostarica.com. |
 |
| Home |
Tourism |
Place
classified ad |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|
| 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 2011 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 |
|
|||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 10, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 114 | ||||||||||
 |
| Economy hurts Obama and his re-election chances By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
In U.S. politics, growing concern over the health of the domestic economy is casting a shadow over President Barack Obama’s hopes for re-election next year. Three opinion polls this week highlight President Barack Obama’s challenge in turning around an increasingly negative public perception of the U.S. economy. The latest Quinnipiac University poll found the president’s job rating at 47 percent approve, 46 percent disapprove. That is a five-point drop from a month ago when Obama was enjoying a popularity boost in the wake of the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, says Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown. “The president has lost roughly half of his bin laden bounce, which means it is still better than it was, but not as good as it was right afterwards,” said Brown. President Obama’s approval rating is also down in other polls this week conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News and by CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation, and the main reason is what voters see as a sputtering economic recovery. In the latest Quinnipiac survey, Peter Brown says Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy by a margin of 58 to 36 percent, and 78 percent of those surveyed believe the United States is back in an economic recession. Brown says that unless voters believe the economy is turning around by the middle of next year, the president will be in for a tough re-election fight in 2012 no matter who the Republicans nominate to run against him. “Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the economy and the number who think that we are in recession is climbing and the number who think we are in a recovery is dropping. Those things could change. If they do not, it will be a close election,” noted Brown. Democrats are urging the president to refocus on the economy and jobs, and Obama acknowledged this week that his administration is facing what he called some headwinds in trying to spur hiring and economic growth. “I am concerned about the fact that the recovery that we are on is not producing jobs as quickly as I want it to happen,” he said. The domestic economy figures to be the top issue in next year’s election, and the Republican presidential contenders are making President Obama’s economic record the main focus of their attacks. “Unemployment is back over nine percent, our national debt has skyrocketed, our budget deficit is growing worse and the jobs and manufacturing reports are grim. Now, if that was recovery then our president needs to enter economic rehab,” said former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty as he spoke about the economy in Chicago. Pawlenty is one of several Republicans hoping to overtake the frontrunner for the party nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Romney continues to place first in polls gauging support for the Republican presidential contenders, including the Quinnipiac poll where he garnered 25 percent support. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin placed second with 15 percent, and several other contenders were in single digits. Pollster Brown says it has been a good few weeks for Mitt Romney. “Mitt Romney obviously has a clear lead. It is not a huge lead, but it is a clear lead in the race for the Republican nomination. And the rest of the field is in single digits except for Sarah Palin, and it is not clear yet whether Ms. Palin is going to run or not,” stated Brown. In addition to Palin, other Republicans who are considering entering the presidential race include Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, former Utah governor Jon Huntsman and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Petroleum protest planned By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Preserve the Planet and other environmental groups will protest the possibility of petroleum drilling. They will do so Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Palza de la Cultura. Mallon Oil Co. has rights it acquired in 2000 to drill in three locations in the northern zone. The environmentalists took notice because the company has emerged victorious form 10 years of court cases. |
|
| Home |
Tourism |
Place
classified ad |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|
| 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 2011 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 |
|
|||||||||
| Home |
Tourism |
Calendar |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About us |
||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 10, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 114 | ||||||||||
 |
Latin American news Please reload page if feed does not appear promptly |
 These Grecia students have been studying western line dance for three months. It's western dance time
at Cajon de Grecia school By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Elementary students at the Cajon de Grecia are getting some extra training as dancers. Students in fourth through sixth grade have learned western line dancing as well as cha cha and jitterbug. Younger students are studying tap dancing. Residents who help at the school said that 12 of the students will compete in a Grecia competition this month. They had a dress rehearsal this week. Canadians will celebrate nation's 144th birthday By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Canadians will be celebrating their day June 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Santa Ana at Zamora Estates. The celebration marks the country's 144th birthday. The band Bedrock, led by Canadian singer Nancy Wallace, will perform. The Canada Club Costa Rica is sponsoring the event. Admission and a silent auction will benefit school communities supported by the Asociación Caritativa Canadiense, said an announcement. Admission is only by advance sale tickets, which are $20. They can be purchased before June 22 from the Association of Residents in Costa Rica (2233-8068) and Out of Bounds Hotel and Tourist Center in Escazú (2288-6762). The menu features a pig roast, barbeque chicken and the trimmings. |
| Latin American news feeds are disabled on
archived pages.
|
|
| Costa Rican News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
| Home |
Tourism |
Place
classified ad |
Classifieds |
Entertainment |
Real
estate |
Rentals |
Sports |
About
us |
|
| 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 2011 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
James
DeRoy
