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on the central Pacific coast By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The World Surf Games kicks off today in Playa Hermosa south of Jacó, and the sporting and commercial sectors are thrilled to have a world-class event on the central Pacific. The extended weather forecast for the area could not be better. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional predicts some isolated downpours Saturday, the first day of real competition. But the following three days are supposed to be partly cloudy. Today the weather institute said that a low pressure front was moving through and there were chances of showers in the central Pacific this afternoon. Surf specialists have announced the arrival of a new south swell that will keep the action up for the days to come. Game sponsors said Thursday that 34 national teams have arrived, a record for the event. The last team, from the Dominican Republic, arrived late Wednesday. Each full team has eight contestants, men and women who compete in an open class and in longboard. Sponsors said there are 211 competitors. The competition begins Saturday at 7 a.m. The International Surfing Association has established a Web site where certain aspects of the event will be shown, among them, the opening ceremonies and Parade of Nations through Jacó this morning at 10 a.m. Among those who are competing are Australia's Mick Campbell, a professional surfer ranked 13th in the world and International Surfing Association Gold Medalist in 1998, California's Courtney Conlogue, a silver medalist and winner of last week's U.S. Open, Costa Rica prodigy Carlos Muñoz, who recently won the open, junior and under-16 divisions in the National Surfing Tour, and Sofia Mulanovich, 2004 International Surfing Association world champion. They all spoke at a press conference Thursday. “All the members of the panel are very happy to be part of an event in the warm water and perfect Costa Rican waves,' said Fernando Aguerre, the International Surfing Association president, "This is the first time a World Surfing Games has been held in Central America, we have been all over the globe, but never here. Being in Costa Rica is amazing.” “It is a real pleasure to be able to host these championships, since they are considered the Olympics of the Surfing, said Jose Ureña, president of the of Costa Rican Surfing Federation. “I want to publicly thank Billabong and the ISA, since without them it had been really impossible to even dream of this event. And now we have it here, where everything we want to share it with the world we can – to show how agreeable Costa Rica is and how to enjoy to the maximum all Costa Rica has to offer.” Clothing manufacture Billabong is the principal sponsor. “This is one of the only opportunities to see the best competitors from each country surfing for their flags and the pride of being members in their national surfing teams” concluded Aguerre as the conference closed. “This is a rare chance, one that we all love about surfing, to enjoy this special experience together. I invite them all to enjoy it.”  Programa Restauración de Tortugas
Marinas photo
Dead turtle is found among catch
in a trawler net.Sala IV orders
oversight
for turtle-killing trawlers By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The constitutional court has ruled that the nation's fisheries institute has the obligation to guarantee that commercial operators do not use practices that affect other species. The decision is a direct reference to shrimp trawlers killing sea turtles by catching them in their nets. The United States has stopped the import of Costa Rican shrimp because of the lax supervision of the shrimp boats. On the spot with the Sala IV ruling was the Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura. The case was brought by the Asociación Programa de Restauración de Tortugas Marinas, known as PRETOMA. The environmental organization has been fighting the unintended killing of turtles since 2004. The court said that shrimp fishermen should use apparatus to prevent the capture of turtles. The turtles, which breath air, get caught in the nets and drown. There are turtle excluders that are in use that allow trapped turtles to swim free of the net without allowing shrimp to escape. However, Costa Rican fishermen have been slow to adopt this technology. The court ruled that it was the obligation of the fisheries institute to take steps to see that this is done. The court said that the shrimp trawlers sweep up a lot of unintended species. The U.S. State Department blamed Costa Rica’s ineffective enforcement mechanism for the new ban on importing shrimp. The United States decertified Costa Rica as a turtle friendly country May 1. Margaret F. Hayes, acting deputy assistant secretary for oceans and fisheries in the department, said at the time that Costa Rican officials did not comply with their promise to take steps to sanction shrimp fishermen who do not use turtle excluder devices. For several years she said her agency has been accumulating data, both through certification visits and from credible third-party sources, suggesting that Costa Rica's program did not provide sanctions that served as an effective deterrent against the failure of fishermen to use the excluder devices. "In meetings with senior Costa Rican fisheries officials during the December 2008 certification visit, the State Department representative stressed that without rapid remedial action Costa Rica's certification might be compromised," she added. "Costa Rican officials were aware of the issue and promised to resolve it early in 2009. However, the United States Embassy in San José reports that since that December visit Costa Rican authorities have not taken all the action they promised." The meetings were with the Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura. The excluder devices are like trap doors built into shrimp trawl nets that let trapped turtles swim away. The State Department did certify 15 nations that mandate the use of excluders. The Programa Restauración de Tortugas Marinas said this is the fourth decertification for Costa Rican shrimp since 1999. In August of 2003, Costa Rica lost its certification after a scheduled inspection by the U.S. Departments of State. In February 2004, Costa Rica was recertified by the State Department because the government here, in cooperation with the fishing companies, took steps to improve enforcement and compliance with fisheries laws, said the department at the time. The State Department last certified the country May 1, 2008. Costa Rica has exported at least 20,000 pounds of premium shrimp a month to the United States. That is shrimp with a retail price of nearly $200,000, according to news files. During recent periods of decertification there did not seem to be any change in the price of shrimp here. Political party rallies need prior official approval By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Anyone planning a big display of support for a presidential candidate better plan ahead. The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones said Thursday that any parades, general meetings or public displays of support need prior approval and that the deadline for seeking such approval is Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. The regulations cover the two months preceding the Feb. 7 presidential elections. There is a department set up in the tribunal that issues approvals. The election code prohibits competing political parties from holding such events in the same district on the same day. There also are prohibitions against holding meetings on bridges, at intersections, in front of churches, in front of fire stations or within 200 meters of hospitals. Only political parties that actually have candidates on the ballot may hold such demonstrations of support, according to the rules. In 2006 there were 601 such requests. As a footnote, the sale of alcohol is prohibited in districts on the day in which there is a public meeting, according to the current election laws. For example, when a political party holds an event on Avenida Central in downtown San José, many of the bars that cater to expats within a several block radius are required to close.
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No plans to
close Caribbean police stations, ministry says
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The security ministry said Thursday that there are no plans to close police stations on the Caribbean coast. Tourism operators and business people had petitioned the ministry after health officials served notices on the police. There are problems, based on the ministry announcement, but they do not involve the complete closing of police stations. In the case of Tuba Creek Ministerio de Salud officials closed the sleeping area and the kitchen, said the ministry. But the rest of the station is in operation and police officers assigned there are sleeping in the Cahuita station, the ministry said. Police in Puerto Viejo continue on the job, said the ministry, while officials try to make repairs ordered by health officials, said the announcement. Among other things, windows need to be changed, a door must be |
replaced and electrical improvements
have to be made, according
to the ministry. Tuesday the Cámera de Tuirsmo Caribe Sur released a letter that its vice president, Luis Videla, sent to Janina del Vecchio, the security minister. He said the closure orders would leave the area without a police presence. The Ministerio de Salud issued the order because of what it said were the unhealthy conditions of the structures, he noted. Videla said that residents were trying to help the police but that in some cases stalling by officials keeps the jobs from getting done. As an example he cited a pump and a 1,000-liter pressure tank that has been donated to the Puerto Viejo police station. That was in May but so far the water supply system has not been hooked up, he said. It is no secret that some police stations around the country are in disrepair. And health inspectors make periodic visits. |
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Tunnels are an
unexpected find during museum construction
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Construction at the Museo Nacional has turned into an archaeological dig because workers have uncovered tunnels and a small room. The museum is in the former Bellavista fortress, which was constructed in 1918, although many tourists think that it is much older. Myrna Rojas, chief of the Departamento de Antropología e Historia, said one goal is to verify the condition of a tunnel that runs under the main patio of the museum. |
There have been news stories and
television shows in the past about
tunnels at the former fortress. At least two cross under Avenida
Central to the legislative complex that used to be the presidential
mansion. There are entrances to the tunnels at the legislative building
known as Castillo Azul, but much of the corridors are filled in with
rock and dirt. Workers are finding military objects during the digs at the museum. The museum is constructing a ramp to provide disabled access from the west and Plaza de la Democracia. So a lot of soil is being removed. |
| A country whose system has been working
well for years |
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| Not everyone who has
moved to Costa Rica is happy about their decision. They are
disillusioned by the potholes, the proliferation of guns, the growing
incidences of crime and even what they consider the ‘disrespect’ of the
Costa Ricans. Then there are the prices (“no cheaper than the U.S.”)
and the increase in traffic without the infrastructure to handle it is
proof that Costa Ricans do not know how to plan ahead. In some cases, the disappointment between what people expected and what they are experiencing makes them very angry. Sometimes it just boils down to dismissing it with “there is no logic in this country.” Or “Everyone is corrupt and on the take.” Even those of us who are still happy (We moved here and are content to stay) deplore some of the changes that have occurred. Some of them could make us crazy if we dwelled upon them, if we forget that Costa Rica is not the country you came from only better. It has its own culture shaped by its own values and has its own logic that has been working for its people about as well as any culture and national logic works for its people. My friend Sandy and I, who both have been here about the same length of time, were discussing this the other day, She was reminding me (apropos of Costa Rican logic) about ICE, Costa Rica’s monopoly power company. Over a year ago when Lake Arenal was at its dry-season low, customers were informed that they should conserve electricity and to encourage them to do so, those who went over a certain number of kilowatts would be charged considerably more per unit. We, like many others, got more conservative with our use of electricity. Then the rains came, and the lake filled up, but people did not go back to their old wasteful ways. Recently, Sandy said, there was a full-page ad in La Nación (the daily Spanish-language newspaper) making the case for not lowering the electricity rates as the regulatory authority has proposed because consumer usage has dropped so much that ICE is losing money. That is when one is left wagging one’s head, wondering. |
We both found this kind of logic rather endearing. |
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Organic foods
are no better nutritionally, new study reports
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Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
A new report says that a survey of 50 years of scientific studies concludes that organic foods are not nutritionally better than conventionally produced food. But there is a catch. The researchers did not review studies of contaminants or chemical residues in foods from different agricultural production methods. The results of the systematic review of literature was published this week in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Consumers appear willing to pay higher prices for organic foods based on their perceived health and nutrition benefits, and the global organic food market takes in billions of dollars a year, the researchers noted. Some previous reviews have concluded that organically produced food has a superior nutrient composition to conventional food, but until now there has been no systematic review of the available published literature, they said. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have now completed the most extensive systematic review of the available published literature on nutrient content of organic food ever conducted. The review focused on nutritional content and did not include a review of the content of contaminants or chemical residues in foods, the report said. More than 50,000 papers were searched, and 162 relevant articles were identified that were published over a 50-year period up to Feb. 29, 2008, that compared the nutrient content of organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs. To ensure methodological rigour, the quality of each article was assessed, said the researchers. To be graded as satisfactory quality, the studies had to provide information on the organic certification scheme from which the foodstuffs were derived, the vareity of crop or breed of livestock analyzed, the nutrient or other nutritionally relevant substance assessed, the laboratory analytical methods used, and the methods used for statistical analysis. Some 55 of the identified papers were of satisfactory quality, and analysis was conducted comparing the content in organically and conventionally produced foods of the 13 |
most commonly reported nutrient
categories, they said. The researchers found organically and conventionally produced foods to be comparable in their nutrient content. For 10 out of the 13 nutrient categories analysed, there were no significant differences between production methods in nutrient content. Differences that were detected were most likely to be due to differences in fertilizer use (nitrogen, phosphorus), and ripeness at harvest (acidity), and it is unlikely that consuming these nutrients at the levels reported in organic foods would provide any health benefit. Alan Dangour of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research Unit is one of the report’s authors. "A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," he said. "Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority. Research in this area would benefit from greater scientific rigor and a better understanding of the various factors that determine the nutrient content of foodstuffs." The U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented uniform standards for organic agricultural products sold in the United States. Organic farming has been one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture for nearly a decade. All food is organic, but the term "organic food" means food that is produced without use of most conventional pesticides, petroleum- or sludge-based fertilizers, bioengineering or ionizing radiation, according to the department. Organic standards completely prohibit antibiotics in livestock. Costa Rica has a strong organic farming sector, too. Most of the proponents of organic agricuture have major concerns about the various chemicals that work their way into the end product. But this was an area avoided in the current study. |
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There may be
some thawing on Zelaya in Tegucigalpa
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The mediator in the political crisis in Honduras says interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti is interested in further negotiations on ending the country's month-long leadership standoff. Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez said Micheletti has asked him to send an envoy to Honduras to help build political support for a solution. He says Micheletti suggested a former head of the Inter-American Development Bank, Enrique Iglesias, for the job. News reports quote a source close to the interim government as saying Micheletti has expressed willingness to support a compromise plan that would allow ousted President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales to return to power under certain conditions. The military threw Zelaya out of the country June 28 and flew him to Costa Rica, saying he was illegally trying to change the constitution in order to extend his term. His efforts to return to Honduras have been unsuccessful. |
Zelaya is believed to be in
Nicaragua near the Honduran border. Some
reports quoted him as saying he would raise a peasant army to win back
his job by force if he did not get a concession from the interim
government. Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega supports him. A clash between Nicaraguan and Honduran troops could be a bloody affair, and it is this as well as street riots that Arias is trying to prevent. The mediation plan calls for Zelaya to finish his term, which ends in January, abandon any effort to change the constitution, and agree to a coalition government. The de facto government has previously threatened to arrest Zelaya, if he returns. Zelaya has tried twice to enter Honduras but it appeared he did not see the popular support he expected. No countries have recognized Honduras' caretaker government and many, including the United States, have called for Zelaya to be reinstated and democratic order to be restored. |
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Peace center
plans discussion Tuesday on political situation in Honduras
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Quaker Peace Center will host a British resident of Honduras and a Costa Rican diplomat for a discussion of the political situation there. The session will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the center on Calle 15 between avenidas 6 and 8. That is just west of the Tribunales de Justicia in downtown San José. The resident of Tegucigalpa is Bryn Wolfe, who has lived there four years. He will discuss the political situation and life in general in Honduras, the center said. The native of Wales has had broad experience in non-violent conflict |
resolution, said the center. He
worked in Sri Lanka, Geneva and Britain
coordinating relief, development and health education, the center said. The second speaker is Francisco Cordero, a past president of the peace center and now an adviser to the president of the Costa Rican Asamblea Legislativa. He has been with the Costa Rican foreign service for 35 years and has served in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The center said he was involved in the Nicaraguan revolution against Somoza. The discussion will be held in English, said the center. More information is available at 2222-1400, or 2233-6168. or by e-mailing wwd_read@yahoo.com. |
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| México's
Tijuana poor rely on U.S. charity loans By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The city of Tijuana, across the U.S.-México border from California, is coping with a recession and drop off in tourism. Small loans from a U.S.-based international charity, typically several hundred dollars, are helping some residents weather the downturn. The once-crowded streets of Tijuana are now mostly empty. Tourists have been kept away by news stories of crime and drug wars in this Mexican border city of more than 1.5 million people. Tijuana was not seriously affected by the epidemic of swine flu that struck other parts of Mexico earlier this year, but television images from far-off Mexico City have also scared off tourists. In Tijuana's poorest neighborhoods, known as colonias, people like Socorro Villavicencio struggle to earn a living. She is a Mixteca Indian from Southern Mexico, 39 years old, with seven children. She sells beaded necklaces and bracelets to tourists, buying her materials with loans from the Christian charity World Vision. She says sales are down and fear of crime has kept away customers. "How shall I say it? There are a lot of thieves," said Socorro Villavicencio. "That's why the police in the U.S., I see on the news, that they don't let the Americans cross the border because they say Mexico is dangerous." Americans officials have urged caution, but no one is stopping tourists from coming here. The fact is, most do not want to. In another dusty colonia, Maria del Refugio Salazar is part of a woman's cooperative, also set up with small loans from World Vision. Inside a small house in this hillside neighborhood, she and her neighbors are struggling to keep their business alive. "Hemming pants, sewing zippers on garments and other sewing projects, but to date we have done everything little by little," said Ms. Salazar. "But what has given us the most results and the biggest economic gains has been the work we have done with sewing. " In another part of town, Tijuana auto parts dealer José Juan Ramírez Bribiesca is also under pressure in the economic downturn, relying on small loans, which keep him in business. "Sales are down," said Ramírez. "There is some debt that comes from buying merchandise. We take out credit. Sales are down, and people take their time in paying." There have also been cutbacks in manufacturing at local production plants known as maquiladoras, operated by international companies using Mexican workers. Many of those companies have shifted production to Asia. It all adds up to hardship, says Noe Martínez Vidal, director of the border project for World Vision. He said this small colonia, and many others like it, have soaring unemployment. "We can probably say that out of approximately 1,000 families, at least 30 percent of them have lost their jobs in the maquiladoras, service jobs, and different jobs because of the economic situation which has affected these families," said Martínez. |
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| Latin
American news digest |
Intimidation of newspeople draws request for probes Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The Inter American Press Association has called on officials in Bolivia, El Salvador and Venezuela to quickly investigate the acts of violence and intimidation reported in recent days against journalists in those countries. In Bolivia, cameraman Marcelo Lobo of Gigavisión TV in La Paz was attacked as he was leaving work Saturday at 6 a.m. by unidentified assailants who slashed his face and tongue. While the motive for the attack was not immediately known the channel’s director, Alex Arias, told local media that he did not rule out that it was linked to Lobo’s work on public safety and terrorism issues. In El Salvador, Radio Victoria reporters José Beltrán, Ludwing Iraheta and Vladimir Abarca in the northern central province of Cabañas received death threats that led them to request official protection. The trio had recently covered the murder of Gustavo Marcelo Rivera, a well-known local environmentalist missing since mid-June. In phone threats, the reporters had been warned “you will be next.” In Venezuela, David Natera Febres, editor of the newspaper Correo del Caroní in Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar state, and president of the Venezuelan Press Bloc, reported that on Tuesday he was harassed by the national guard when he was the only passenger stopped and searched by guard officers upon landing in Puerto Ordaz from Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía. Enriqueantos Calderón, Inter American Press president, and Robert Rivard, chairman of the organization's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, expressed their objection to “this development which shows all the signs of being an obvious attempt to intimidate a public figure known for his critical and independent editorial positions.” Natera is also regional vice chairman of the organization's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information and is responsible for drafting the report on his country submitted at the organization's biannual meetings. Editor's Note: The corporation that owns A.M. Costa Rica is a member of the Inter American Press Association. |
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