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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 22, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 123 | |||||||||
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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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 A.M. Costa Rica/José Pablo
Ramírez Vindas
Ricardo Chávez Cortez of the group Insaxus
entertains a small crowd in front of the main Correos de Costa Rica
building downtown Thursday as part of a musical festival that had
performances all over town.Multiple failures slow international Internet service By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Telecommunications officials are blaming problems with both undersea cables that connect Costa Rica to the world for slow Internet service. Both the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad and Radiográfica Costarricense S.A., the major Internet providers, released identical descriptions of the problem Thursday. The basic theme was "It's not our fault.' The two cables are the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System, known as ARCOS, and the MAYA. Both inscribe a ring in the Caribbean so that if a break takes place in one point data still can flow the other way to a landing point in Florida. The ARCOS cable has suffered a problem in the sea near Bluefields, Nicaragua, according to the owner, Columbus Networks. The exact nature of the problem was not known but breaks in the past have been caused by Nicaraguan fishermen catching the cable with a boat anchor. The ARCOS also suffered a failure at Punto Fijo, Venezuela, where it comes ashore in that South American country. The company said that the problem was in the sea near Venezuela, but the Costa Rica agencies said the problem was at the landing point. The ARCOS failure has had a serious effect on Internet users in South America. The MAYA cable sustained a problem at the landing point in María Chiquita, Panamá, said both the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad and Radiográfica Costarricense S.A. In addition, the cable company had a problem Wednesday at Puerto Cortés, Honduras, both public agencies said. Internet service in Costa Rica is not cut off, but the service from international points is slow. The agencies said that repairs might take as much as two days. One problem is that Venezuelan officials will not permit a repair ship to enter territorial waters, said Columbus Networks. U.S. backs off passport rule for Western Hemisphere trips By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Bush administration is postponing regulations for U.S. citizens traveling in the Western Hemisphere by land or sea. The regulations call for travelers to show a valid U.S. passport in order to re-enter the country from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The mandate, known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, was set to take effect Jan. 1. But the administration announced Wednesday that it was delaying the new regulations for at least six months. Instead, travelers can show government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license, and a birth certificate. The delay is prompted by an increasing backlog of U.S. passport applications since January 2007, when similar regulations went into effect for air travelers. The delays prompted angry applicants to complain to their congressional representatives. The administration suspended the passport rules for U.S. air travelers earlier this month. The suspension will last until September. Minimum-wage employees will get a raise July 1 By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Employers will have to pay workers who are at the minimum wage about 5.1 percent more starting July 1. The Consejo Nacional de Salarios approved that increase in the minimum wages for all workers except domestic employees, who will receive about 7 percent. Worker representatives, of course, wanted more, nearly twice what was approved. Minimum wages in Costa Rica are job specific, In addition, depending on the type of job, the wage might be a daily one or a monthly salary. Each job category has its own minimum wage, so the colon amount of the raises will be different. The Ministry de Trabajo maintains a list online of job categories and the minimum salaries, although the Web page was not functioning early Friday. The page shows the iincrement for every six months. Although the colon has not devalued against the dollar during the last six months, gasoline and other necessities have increased.
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| We had another great month for readership in May. We served up more than 1.1 million pages. If you do business in Costa Rica, you should be seeking customers here! |
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on our real estate page HERE! |
| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 22, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 123 | |||||||||
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| Police begin to stretch yellow
tape to keep former residents from going back to the site of their
homes. |
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
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| Police
evict 54 families from disputed land in Herradura |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police evicted some 54 families Thursday from what is known as Parcela 5 in Herradura. The police action included the Fuerza Pública from San José and Puntarenas, and the Unidad de Intervención Policial and the Unidad Especial de Apoyo, both tactical-type squads. Also participating was the Cuerpo de Bomberos, the firemen, the Cruz Roja and the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, which has special responsibility for children. The property is owned by a corporation, Inversiones AJAR, whose principal was identified by police as a U.S. citizen named Saids. |
There
was no violence, in part because of the ovewhelming police presence. A
judge who had ordered the eviction also was at the scene. Frequently such evictions can be violent. A lot of money is at stake. Herradura is in the canton of Garabito where land values have skyrocketed. Frequently organized bands of squatters invade property, and unless the owner acts immediately, the invaders may with the right to stay on the land. Frequently the invasions are not simply poor people looking for land and homes but a concerted effort to obtain land without paying for it. Municipal authorities in some beach towns have been accused of organizing invasions. |
| Being late for the doctor means having to visit again |
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| No doubt more readers
than
just one caught the grammatical mistake in my last column. Mr. Fox
advised me that people do not ask, “Amanecé bien?” What
they actually ask is “Amaneció bien? Or “Como
amaneció?” Another reader, Apostle Luis, gave me his sure cure for the flu: a couple of drops of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide in an ear. Let it bubble for about one minute and let it drip out; do the same with the other ear. It helps to dry up the sinuses. I felt better immediately after doing this, but I still have the grippe. Thank you both for your advice. Donlon wrote to say that although he gets letters asking him how he likes living in Costa Rica, no one has ever asked him how he likes being a foreigner. That is curious, although in all fairness, perhaps that question is implied. There still are English-speaking people, though, who travel to other countries and become very annoyed because “Nobody speaks English!” Battling the flu has slowed my pursuit of investigating other assisted-living facilities. Appointments with doctors have taken precedence. Leaving San Antonio at 7:15 for an 8 a.m. appointment at the Pavas Clinic was not a good idea. The airport highway was at a standstill and stayed that way for 20 minutes. By the time Victor drove his truck into the clinic driveway and I ran into the doctor’s office (he was alone) I was 21 minutes late. I asked him if he could still take me. No, he said, I had to make another appointment for the following day. The only appointment available was at 7:40 a.m. The next day I took the 6:30 bus from San Antonio, and arrived by taxi seven minutes early for my appointment. The doctor was running behind and was exactly 21 minutes late in seeing me. I meekly accepted the situation. Instead of dwelling on that interesting coincidence, I decided to spend the 40 minutes I had to wait for my prescriptions to be filled, walking around the clinic. Outside the word “Coopesalud” on a cement structure caught my eye. It was a tribute to 20 men and women doctors who had founded the clinic in Pavas to demonstrate that they could make a positive change in the |
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 |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
A.M. Costa Rica rates Display and classified rates have increased as of June 18, 2007. The average display increase is between 6 and 8.5 percent. This is the first rate increase in the six-year history of the newspaper. The new rates are posted here: As usual, the bulk of any income goes to get you a better newspaper. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 22, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 123 | |||||||||
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| 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! |
| Two
bills would seek to change drastically U.S. Cuba policy |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers Thursday introduced legislation that would boost agricultural trade with Cuba and lift the U.S. travel ban to the Communist-ruled island nation. The United States forbids its citizens from traveling to Cuba or to do business with that country, although Congress in 2000 did authorize limited food and medicine exports there that are purchased with cash. The Bush administration defends the embargo, put in place in 1962, saying it is necessary to press the communist-led government toward democratic change. The United States and Cuba do not have diplomatic relations. But critics, including Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, a Republican, say the U.S. embargo has outlived its purpose: "The only ones who are hurt by our efforts to try to isolate Cuba in trade are our producers here in America," he said. "Those who have benefited are Brazil or China or Vietnam or other places who are glad to step in and pick up these markets." Crapo is one of several House and Senate lawmakers from both political parties who have introduced two companion bills aimed at easing the embargo by lifting the travel ban and boosting agricultural trade with Cuba. One bill overturns a 2005 Treasury Department rule that imposed restrictions on agricultural sales to Cuba. Sponsors of the measure say the restrictions, including a |
requirement that shipments be paid
for in full before leaving U.S. ports, have effectively reduced
agricultural exports to Cuba. Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee: "We not only intend to allow cash-based food sales to Cuba, we mean to promote them," he explained. "Our bill will make these sales cheaper and easier to pursue, especially for smaller exporters . . . ." The other bill introduced Thursday lifts all restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba. Current law only allows limited travel by Cuban-Americans, religious groups, and academics. All such travel has been severely curtailed by the Treasury Department since 2001. Previous efforts to lift the ban on trade and travel to Cuba have not succeeded amid White House veto threats. But Baucus said he believes there is growing congressional support for easing the embargo on Cuba, and he argues that President George Bush, with his low ratings in public opinion polls and about a year and a half left in his term, is wielding less influence with Congress. "His power in Congress is diminishing by the day, and it is my hope, therefore, that we can get this passed, and we are going to keep working at it until we get it done," he said. House and Senate committees are expected to take up the legislation in the coming months. |
| McCain
says anti-Americanism is growing in Latin America and is a threat |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S. presidential candidate says Washington should take greater measures to prevent anti-Americanism from spreading in Central and South America. He is U.S. Sen. John McCain, who seeks the nomination of the Republican Party. He said Wednesday as the United |
States
focuses elsewhere in the world, anti-Americanism is growing in Latin
America. He said this has allowed dangerous militants to take root
there and become an increasing threat to U.S. national security. He said the U.S. should improve relations with its regional neighbors by increasing trade and ending economic isolation. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, June 22, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 123 | ||||||
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