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José, Costa Rica, Friday, July 31, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 150
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President sends
list of bills to lawmakers
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The executive branch has designed more than five dozen bills for what is known as an extraordinary legislative session that begins Monday. During times when the Constitution does not say the legislature should meet, the executive branch has the power to call lawmakers back to work and designate the matters they will consider. This originally was an emergency measure, but such sessions have become routine in the modern day except that the president controls the agenda. The list of bills presented to the legislative leadership does not include any general tax bills. These are expected to be presented later. The Banco Central, the Ministerio de Hacienda and other government agencies have been insisting on the need for more taxes for weeks. A report Thursday said that the government deficit would jump to more than 6 percent in 2016 without new taxes. The executive branch is preparing a proposal for a value-added tax among others that will be presented later. The current list includes a redo of the tax on corporations that has been found unconstitutional. That has been in the legislative hopper for some time. There also is a death with dignity bill and a bill to jack up the special tax on motels. Most of these have not originated with the Presidencia. Latin growth seen as less than 1 percent Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will grow a half a percent on average in 2015, according to new projections released by the regional United Nations agency. Although the deceleration is a generalized phenomenon in the region, the organization forecasts heterogeneous growth among subregions and countries: South America will contract four-tenths of a percent, Central America and Mexico will grow 2.8 percent and the Caribbean will expand 1.7 percent. The forecast are by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. On a national level, Panamá will lead the regional expansion with a 6 percent increase, followed by Antigua and Barbuda (5.4 percent) and the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua (both with 4.8 percent). Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product will grow 2.4 percent while Argentina’s will rise seven tenths of a percent. Brazil will experience a contraction of 1.5 percent while Venezuela will face an even greater decline of 5.5 percent. Upon presenting its most recent annual report, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean called for vitalizing the investment process to resume growth and improve productivity in the region’s economies. According to the "Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2015," the economic slowdown is due to external and domestic factors. In the external arena, the global economy’s slow growth during 2015 stands out, particularly the deceleration of China and other emerging economies, with the exception of India. The report indicates that global trade will remain stagnant as part of what has become a structural problem in the global economy. In addition to less external demand, there is also a downward trend among prices for basic products as well as greater volatility and uncertainty in international financial markets. On the domestic front, the report says that a contraction in investment along with the deceleration of consumption growth, coupled with other factors, are contributing to a reduction in domestic demand, which has been the main factor driving growth in recent years. The decline in the investment rate and the lower contribution to growth of gross capital formation are worrisome, since they not only affect the economic cycle but also the capacity for growth and its quality in the medium and long term, the agency emphasizes. That is why one of the main challenges for resuming vigorous growth lies in vitalizing the process of gross capital formation, the document says. “Revitalizing growth in the short and long term requires boosting public and private investment at a complex time. This can be done with fiscal rules that protect investment, resorting to public-private associations and new sources of financing, such as the investment and infrastructure banks of the BRICS countries, and alternative mechanisms such as green bonds and triangular loans cooperation,” said Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America. On labor matters, the economic survey signals that the lower growth will have a negative impact on employment. On average, the unemployment rate is forecast to rise in 2015 to around 6.5 percent of the population, from the 6 percent registered last year. In its report, the agency stresses that the ability of countries in the region to accelerate economic growth will depend on the room they have to adopt countercyclical policies that especially stimulate investment, which will be key to reducing the effects of external shocks and thereby averting that these economies suffer negative consequences in the medium and long term. The organization adds that investment does not only affect the pace and accumulation of capital, but it also relates directly to economies’ productivity. For that reason it is necessary to establish a framework of public policies that promote both public and private investment. According to the commission, public investment can stimulate growth, without that necessarily implying an increase in countries’ debt levels. Furthermore, investment in infrastructure can be central to achieving sustainable development. Although this has increased in recent years, significant gaps persist, it said. In terms of private investment, the commission indicates that countries must improve small- and medium-sized enterprises’ access to productive financing while also orienting financial systems towards the productive sector and the long term. In addition, they should shore up their productive and territorial architecture with industrial policy investment instruments and technological innovation that go beyond tax incentive schemes. Decision on Winter Olympics due today By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The International Olympic Committee decides today which city will be the venue for the 2022 winter Olympics, Beijing, China, or Almaty, Kazakhstan. The committee is holding its 128th Session in Kuala Lumpur through Monday. Beijing hosted the summer Olympics in 2008 and says it will reuse many of those venues for the winter Games. Kazakhstan has never hosted an Olympics. China is seen as the safer choice, offering repeat venues and good sponsorship opportunities. But Kazakhstan boasts better weather for winter sports and a better prospect of competition on natural snow rather than the manufactured stuff, as has been necessary in some recent winter competitions. Almaty's proponents also note that Almaty is a compact location, whereas some venues in China are as far as 160 kilometers away from Beijing. Kazakhstan would also be one of the smaller nations to ever host the Games, in contrast to China, one of the world's largest and most populous countries. But both nations have been criticized for their poor records on human rights, and observers are split on whether giving a nation the Games exposes its rights record to closer scrutiny or simply rewards its failures. This year's contest for the Games is unusual in that there are only two contenders. Four other cities, all from Europe, have dropped out of the running, citing the high cost of hosting the Games and low levels of public interest. Escalating security concerns have also made the Games a less attractive event for potential host cities. Israeli extremists blamed in fatal fire attack By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Israeli police say an 18-month-old Palestinian child was killed and several other people injured in a house fire suspected to have been set by Jewish extremists in the West Bank. Authorities say the assailants started the fire early Friday in the village of Duma and scrawled Hebrew graffiti on a wall before fleeing. Israeli troops are looking for the suspects. Palestinian officials said they are holding Israel responsible for the incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack. "I am shocked over this reprehensible and horrific act. This is an act of terrorism in every respect. The State of Israel takes a strong line against terrorism regardless of who the perpetrators are,'' he said. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner condemned the incident, calling it `"nothing short of a barbaric act of terrorism.'' "We will not allow terrorists to take the lives of Palestinians," he said. Right-wing Israeli extremists have for years attacked Palestinians, Arab Israelis and even Israeli military bases in opposition to what they see as the government's favorable policies toward the Palestinians.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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copyrighted by Consultantes Ro Colorado S.A 2015 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, Friday, July 31, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 150 | |
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| June flooding emergency is costing the government about $20
million |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The national emergency commission said Thursday that government entities have invested 10.5 billion colons, some $20 million, in repairs from heavy rains in June in the northeastern part of the country. Two thirds of that amount were to fix roads and bridges, according to the summary issued by the agency. The commission said that 185 stretches of road, 59 bridges, 16 dikes, 47 waterlines, 2,500 homes and 547 schools suffered damage. And the impact still is being calculated. The most emergency money was spent in the canton of Matina. Also suffering major damage were Limón, Sarapiquí de Heredia and Turrialba de Cartago. The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias coordinates the repair efforts. The damage estimate only includes that which was spend by the government. There were major losses in structures and agriculture that are being born by private individuals. In addition, the Cuz Roja maintains shelters, conducted rescues and spent money for other reasons connected with the flooding. The rains that began June 20 were produced by a wave of low-pressure troughs that swept in from the Caribbean. Another trough, called a tropical wave, is being tracked now off the African coast. It is expected to develop into at least a tropical depression that will reach Costa Rica in about a week. |
 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad photo
The Consejo Nacional
de Vialidad said it spent 70 million colons (some $132,600) to fix this
damage to the base of this Ruta 230 bridge over the Río
Turrialba. |
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Bottoms up
Official booze bill is lower
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The current administration is praising itself for only spending 37.2 million colons ($70,500) on food in the last year ending this June and just 7.4 million ($14,000) on alcohol. The amounts are lower than during the same first year of two prior administrations, according to an announcement. Casa Presidencial also said that the Luis Guillermo Solís administration has reduced spending on overtime and cell telephone usage. The figures only cover what was spent by the Ministerio de la Presidencia and Casa Presidencial during the year. The announcement also does not say for what purpose the money was spent. Although the public may think government officials are ending their week with a party, there are legitimate reasons to purchase alcohol. State dinners require lubrication for reciprocal toasts. And, although not reflected in these figures, the foreign ministry is a big consumer of alcohol because there are a number of diplomatic functions throughout the year. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, July 31, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 150 | |||||
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| Islamic State use of grim videos may backfire, some experts
think |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Most major media houses have policies on how much carnage they will display in videos or pictures. When it comes to gruesome Islamic State videos, they generally draw the line before a murder occurs. Many analysts say that line should be moved way back. Others say Islamic State media saturation has reached a tipping point, and the bloody videos are starting to backfire, harming the group they are meant to bolster. “Every targeted country that the Islamic State brags about becomes more resolved to take on the Islamic State,” says Max Abrahms, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and political science professor at Northeastern University. “While it’s true that bragging about the violence over social media can be beneficial in terms of having a recruitment affect, there’s also a very substantial attrition effect.” Foreign recruitment has been a large source of the Islamic State's power since it took over territories in Iraq and Syria a year ago, he adds, and those recruits were almost all found online. The attrition effect he mentions is Islamic State fighters that abandon the cause and those that want to but are forced to stay. However, it’s not just people attracted to violence who have been taken in by Islamic state media, according to Country Risk Solutions CEO Daniel Wagner. Young people seeking adventure and meaning are attracted to a wide range of Islamic State media campaigns, he says. “In one instance they’re killers, then they’re hedonists, then they’re freedom fighters,” adds Wagner. “They're appealing to such a broad range of people.” However, the media team has made its biggest headlines from its most gruesome deeds, Wagner adds. For the past year, the |
mainstream
media has publicized the gore and strengthened the group's image, he
argues. “If I had my way, they would be more judicious in what they chose to broadcast related to ISIS,” Wagner says. “For example, they wouldn’t be referencing beheading videos and they wouldn’t be talking about the latest outrageous act that the Islamic State has accomplished.” The news business and consumers are both drawn to sensationalism, he says. “I don’t know who’s more to blame, the people who watch it or the people who broadcast it?” Social media sites like Twitter and YouTube have also been criticized for allowing Islamic State media to be disseminated through their sites, an issue that has divided many current U.S. leaders, pitting security against free expression in the debate. But Abrahms argues that this debate may be continuing past its relevance. The diverse Islamic State messages on social media have been drowned out by the carnage and potential recruits that are adverse to violence are no longer being fooled, he says. Terrorist groups traditionally weaken from within, according to Abrahms. “One of the main ways terrorist groups have gone out of business is by imploding, usually by using violence in excess and basically scaring off potential recruits,” he concludes. However, there is evidence that the Islamic State leadership has also recognized that its media style needs to be reined in to move forward, says Wagner, and pragmatists at the top may be now discouraging lower level fighters from bragging about violence online. And this adaptability, he says, is part of the reason the group has grown so large, so quickly. “The organization itself is attuned to nuance and attuned to reactions that they had not contemplated previously,” Wagner says. “And they’re adapting to it successfully.” |
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Colorado
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, July 31, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 150 | |||||||
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| French experts will study Reunion Island debris By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Investigators in Toulouse, France, will start examining a piece of plane debris found on Reunion Island to determine whether the numbers found on the object correspond with the Malaysian Airlines jet that mysteriously vanished in March 2014. The two-meter-long fragment, a wing component called a flaperon, was found Wednesday on a beach on Reunion Island, which is east of Madagascar and more than 3,500 kilometers from where the Boeing 777 was last tracked. Experts said they thought the results of the investigation would be positive, based on the shape of the recovered piece and the holes that connect it to other parts of the plane. Airline recovery expert Steve Saint Amour said he wasn't surprised at the distance between the spot of the discovery and the last area where the plane was tracked. He said strong currents in the middle of the Indian Ocean come up the Australian coast south to north, and about at Port Hedland in Western Australia they swerve west across the Indian Ocean and hit Madagascar. The discovery was made this week by workers who were cleaning a beach on Reunion Island. They gave photos to French aviation expert Xavier Tytelman, who said he was confident the plane part belonged to a Boeing 777. "We only found one match. It was with the flaperon of the Boeing 777," Tytleman said via telephone. "It was not only the shape that matched, but also the holes for the connections in it." Wayne Plucker, an aerospace expert with Frost and Sullivan, a consulting firm in San Antonio, Texas, said the recovered piece almost has to be from Flight MH370. There is "an amazing amount of forensics you can do" in studying one part, Plucker said. For instance, crash investigators can look at the angle of the tears on metal fabric and the rivets to determine the speed and angle of a plane before an accident. Even the type of marine animals clinging to the wreckage can indicate whether the fragment spent more time in cold water than in warm water, which will help guide searchers. But, as others pointed out, such tests won't show who was at the controls of the plane or whether there was any ill intent. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, who has been leading the search for the plane off the southwest coast of Australia, called the latest discovery a potential breakthrough. "It won't be all that helpful in pinpointing precisely where the aircraft might be located," Truss said. "But if this wreckage is linked to MH370, it'll certainly confirm that the aircraft has gone into the water in the Indian Ocean." It is not implausible that wreckage from MH370 made its way to Reunion Island from the location where officials believe the plane went down, said Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at Imperial College London. Van Sebille, who studies how debris travels across the ocean, said investigators may be able to use ocean currents and wind patterns to determine a rough location for the crash site. "It's not an easy task to do because over 17 months, the ocean is so chaotic and there is so much turbulence," van Sebille said. "If you start somewhere and you backtrack where the plane might have hit the water, you end up with an area that is probably a few hundred miles in diameter," he said. But such projections would take a significant amount of time. "Computers may be able to calculate ocean currents, time and distances to trace back a reasonable point of origin — if possible, this will take time — and then deep-sea searching must start all over again," said the aviation Web site Leeham News in a post late Wednesday. U.S. announces a probe of lion-killing dentist By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that it had opened a probe into the killing this month of a beloved Zimbabwean lion, as the American dentist accused of the killing remained in hiding amid global disdain for the slaying. In a Twitter post, the service said it had been unable to reach the dentist, Walter Palmer of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The agency urged Palmer or his representative to contact U.S. officials immediately. It also called the killing of the lion, Cecil, tragic and said it would go where the facts lead in its investigation. A source close to the case saidthat the Fish and Wildlife Service was investigating the killing under the Lacey Act, a U.S. law that bars the trading of wildlife that has been illegally killed, transported or sold. The investigation is focused on whether Palmer was involved in a conspiracy to violate the law, according to the source. Meanwhile, the White House said it would review a public petition to extradite Palmer. Spokesman Josh Earnest said the petition had exceeded the required 100,000 signatures. He noted it would be up to the Justice Department to respond to an extradition order. The Safari Club International, an international hunting organization that Palmer belonged to, said it supported a probe into the killing and had suspended the memberships of Palmer and his guide in Zimbabwe, Theo Bronkhorst. Bronkhorst is facing criminal charges in Zimbabwe for the killing of Cecil, who was drawn away from Huange National Park in Zimbabwe and initially shot by Palmer with a bow and arrow, before he and Bronkhorst tracked Cecil down and shot him dead with a gun. Palmer has said he believes the hunt was legal. He told the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week that he “had no idea the lion I took was a known, local favorite” and that he may have been misled by hunting guides. This is not the first time Palmer has been in trouble for hunting. According to U.S. court records, he pleaded guilty of making false statements to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about his fatal shooting of a black bear in Wisconsin in 2006. Suicides in local jails called not uncommon By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
As investigations into the jail cell death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland continue in Waller County, Texas, relatives, friends and African American civil rights activists continue to express doubts about the official determination that she took her own life. But, nationwide statistics show that such tragedies are not uncommon. Suicides are more than twice as likely to happen in local jails as in prisons or the general population, according the U.S. Center for Disease Control. Jails are where accused persons get their introduction to the criminal justice system, while prisons hold people who have had more time to adjust to life behind bars. Psychologist Tom Ellis, a suicide expert at the world-renowned Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas, says being put in jail is a shocking event. “A situation that may only be a challenge to one individual or be a source of adversity, can be catastrophic for another person," he said. Ellis says people in jail are abruptly cut off from the world they know. Negative thoughts and feelings can be overwhelming. “The feeling of being alone in the world with your suffering and pain and your situation really adds to the suicidal impulse in a very significant way," he said. Isolation can trigger suicidal thoughts, says Ellis. Jailers put Ms. Bland in a cell by herself and checked on her periodically. But he says when someone is seen as a suicide risk, constant monitoring may be needed, which could stretch the resources of small county jails. Jailers had Ms. Bland fill out a health assessment form when she was incarcerated on July 10. On it, she indicated that she had tried to kill herself once before. She also revealed that she suffered from epilepsy. Nathan Fountain, a University of Virginia professor who chairs an advisory board for the Epilepsy Foundation, says people with epilepsy have a much higher rate of depression than most other people in the general population. He says depression and suicidal thoughts are much more evident in patients with specific forms of the disorder. There are now two separate investigations into what happened to Ms. Bland, but whether they ultimately confirm suicide as her cause of death or not, the circumstances of her arrest and confinement may well have left her in danger of killing herself. Confederal flag's defenders cite heritage and history By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
At Cooter’s, a store in rural Sperryville, Virginia, about 120 kilometers west of Washington, D.C., Confederate flags are flying off the shelves. The red, white and blue battle flag with 13 white stars representing the Confederate states was carried by southern forces during the U.S. Civil War in the 1860s. The South had seceded from the Union over several key issues of disagreement, including slavery. Even though the Confederacy lost the war, Cooter’s customer, Anna Gross, believes the flag is an important symbol of the south’s heritage. ‘It’s part of our ancestors who lived through it and fought for it,” she said emotionally. Her 18-year-old grandson, Jordan Hutchinson, wears a necklace embossed with images of the flag, and said his bedroom is full of Confederate memorabilia. “I see it as part of history. It’s American history,” he said. But the flag’s opponents call it a symbol of hate, stemming from black oppression in the South. Margery Goldberg, curator of an American flag art exhibit in Washington, said proponents of the flag “pretend that it was not about slavery. It was about slavery. It was an ugly part of the United States history.” After nine people were killed in a South Carolina church by a gunman who allegedly hated blacks and embraced the Confederate battle flag, it was removed from the grounds of the state capital, and other sites around the country where it flew. Another Cooter’s customer, Donna Carol, thinks it was horrible that South Carolina took down the flag. But after the killings, major retailers in the U.S. stopped selling the flag and merchandise with its image. Some other businesses are continuing to sell them, including Cooter’s, where owner Ben Jones is an outspoken proponent. He said the “over-reaction to the Confederate flag stifles freedom of expression. You take one flag down, we will put two up.” Jones is quick to point out that he’s no racist. He grew up in a poorer, predominately black neighborhood in southern Virginia and took part in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. He is also a former U.S. Democratic Georgia congressman, who played a mechanic named Cooter in the popular 1980s TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard." His store carries memorabilia from the show and souvenirs, like keychains, hats and belts — many with Confederate flags. Out front sits a replica of the famous car from the series, with its distinctive Confederate flag painted on the roof. The General Lee, as the car was called, is named after Robert E. Lee, the commander of the southern army. Reruns of the show were canceled in the U.S. after the church shooting. Customer Michael Karnes thinks it’s a backlash against the flag. “The TV show was a great TV show and it was nothing about racism,” he said. “It was just a good, wholesome fun show.” Jones has several ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, and is a national spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He said the flag should not be erased from history because of racists and one sick, evil person who “misused” it. “It doesn’t represent the 80 million of us who are descended from the Confederacy,” he said. “That person desecrated our flag.” He thinks the flag is being used as a scapegoat to take “advantage of the shock and grief of that terrible incident to create a hysteria to culturally cleanse our culture.” But opponents say the flag is not about culture, that it represents black oppression and should come down everywhere. Rob Hall, a visitor at the American flag art exhibit, who said he was raised in the South, believes, “It’s most important that we stay together as one country and salute one flag and not think about being divisive in any way.” However, Ms. Gross thinks the Confederate flag should not go by the wayside. “I don’t know if they’re going to make it a law that none of us can have a flag around,” she said, insisting, “But you know what? We can still have it inside our homes.” Ms. Goldberg maintains the flag, however, should go where it came from — in the past — and just be buried “in a museum.” Trump tops GOP field in latest national poll data By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Billionaire Donald Trump has jumped into a big lead in the Republican presidential race, according to the latest Quinnipiac University national poll. Trump led all contenders with 20 percent, followed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 13 percent and former Florida governor Jeb Bush at 10 percent. Now, 20 percent may not sound like much, but consider this: Trump’s tally is the largest for any of the Republican contenders so far this year in any of the Quinnipiac surveys. The Republican field has now grown to 17 with former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore having filed his official paperwork for a presidential run with the Federal Election Commission. All of the national, credible polls carry great significance now because they will determine who is in and who is out of the first Republican debate to be held next Thursday in Cleveland. Fox News is carrying the debate and will determine who is eligible for the debate based on the top 10 performers in the five latest national polls, which includes the Quinnipiac survey. As of now, some big Republican names are in danger of not making the cut for the first debate including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Texas governor Rick Perry. The debate is shaping up to be a key early moment in the 2016 campaign and much of the suspense will focus on Trump. Trump took a break from the campaign to make an appearance at a women’s golf tournament in Scotland, and he told reporters he was delighted by the recent polls documenting his rise. “I expect to be president,” he said. Trump has surged in the polls of late despite criticism of both the substance and style of some of his rhetoric. Trump slammed Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists in his announcement speech and later said he did not think Sen. John McCain was a war hero because he had been held captive during the Vietnam War. So what is the secret to Trump’s success? MSNBC television ran excerpts from a voter focus group in the early voting state of New Hampshire conducted by Bloomberg News. Several of those asked about Trump confirmed that he has been able to tap into anger and frustration with Washington and the state of U.S. politics in general. Among the voter comments: “He speaks the truth. When he talks about especially immigration control and the border, he doesn’t care what people think.” Also this: “He’s honest, and I like his roughness, and he’s a little Reagan-esque.” Voters also said they liked that Trump is wealthy and therefore not dependent on campaign contributions and that he does not come across like a politician. The latest Quinnipiac poll, however, also contains a warning sign for Trump. Pollster Tim Malloy noted that 30 percent of Republicans surveyed would not support him under any circumstances, by far the highest number for any of the Republican contenders. “They love him and the hate him,” Malloy said in a statement accompanying the Quinnipiac poll. “Donald Trump triumphs on the stage so far, but do voters really want him? Maybe not so much.” |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The increase in direct and indirect censorship and physical attacks on journalists have caused deterioration in freedom of the press and of expression in he Western Hemisphere, the Inter American Press Association told a U.S. congressional subcommittee The House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere WEdnesday held a public hearing titled “Threats to Press Freedom in the Americas” in which Claudio Paolillo, chairman of the press association's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, presented an oral report. Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, spoke of the erosion of fundamental rights noted in several countries of the Americas where their government leaders, elected democratically, are behaving like legal dictators who resort to various methods within their reach to destroy all opposition and critical media. The press association also sent a detailed report with recommendations to the subcommittee centered on Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, countries where freedom of expression and of the press continue to be reduced. Among the recommendations was a request to the United States government to urge its counterparts in the Americas to adjust to the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which establishes that freedom of expression and of the press and the people’s right to information are essential for democratic life and the common good. The Inter American Press Association also reiterated to the U.S. government that in the diplomatic talks with its Cuban counterpart it should give relevance to the issues of free speech and press freedom, there being included the request for the release from prison of independent journalists José Antonio Torres, Ángel Santiesteban and Yoennis de Jesús Guerra. During the special hearing on the principle violations of press freedom in the Americas also speaking were Carlos Ponce of Freedom House, Carlos Lauría of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, Nicolás Pérez Lapentti of Ecuador’s El Universo and Alfredo Corchado of The Dallas Morning News. The Inter American Press Association delegation that traveled to Washington, D.C., also comprised the organization’s executive director, Ricardo Trotti. The Inter American Press Association is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print and online publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. Tourists stranded on Río Pacuare trip By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A group of 30 tourists were stuck overnight in the vicinity of the Río Pacuare. They were caught in a heavy downpour and some of their kayaks overturned in the late afternoon. The Cruz Roja was expected to provide transportation for the stranded individuals today. Man held on allegation of pimping By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial police detained a man Thursday on an allegation of pimping. The Judicial Investigating Organization said that agents raided the 40-year-old man's home about 2:30 p.m. where they found identification documents of women and other evidence. The location was in Plaza Víquez in San José. This is also where the women, including many foreigners, worked, said agents. |
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| From Page 7: President asked to oppose incinerators By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Environmental organizations are calling on President Luis Guillermo Solís to decline to sign a decree that would permit municipalities to build incinerators to handle garbage. An organization called Movimiento Ciudadano Hacia Basura Cero said that Solís opposed incineration when he was campaigning. The organization said it has a document with more than 1,000 signatures supporting its view. Incinerator projects have been on hold for a year while the environmental ministry studied the idea. Now that incinerator plans have received a green light, the projects only lack the signature of the president on the decree. Some municipalities are running out of landfill space. Some project supporters say that electricity can be generated by the heat of the incineration process. |
