 |
 |
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, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 166 | |||||||||
 |
 |
|
Our readers' opinions
Caja's health systemis an incredible bargain Dear A.M. Costa Rica: RE: Barry Schwartz’ letter ‘denouncing’ the Caja: Schwartz was not ‘coerced’ into contributing to Seguro Social. It’s a requirement of residency. The logic behind it is simply that if you want to reside permanently in this country, you need to participate fully in it. That, among other things, means being a part of the Seguro Social system (which for most of us is an incredible bargain). As far as ‘ease of appointments’ go, if Mr. Schwartz is over 65 he has immediate priority on all appointments. Presenting your Ciudadano De Oro card at the time you make an appointment insures that you receive the priority you’re entitled to (and it also substantially reduces ‘waiting time‘ when you arrive). His complaint about ‘generic medicines’ sounds more elitist than anything else. The Veterans Administration in the U.S., for example, and most health maintenance organizations there as well, dispense generics on a routine basis because they are far more cost-effective and just as good. If your doctor THERE or HERE doesn’t agree, he/she is ALWAYS free to demand a branded drug instead of the generic. What that means is that if you receive a generic and it’s not effective, you need to speak with your doctor and request that you be given the branded form you’ve used before. Dave
Wyllie
San Rafael, Alajuela Slipping Caja health care could hurt flow of expats Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Kudos to Barry Schwartz about his article in today's (Aug. 22) edition. He is addressing the raping of a government agency by greedy individuals. I do not know where the Caja buys prescription medication. While I would venture to guess as much as possible is generic, and, may come from a myriad of nations, that by itself is not always detrimental. I, myself, even at time buy generic medication from India and have never experienced a problem with it. However, today less expensive generic medication is coming from China. The problem is, their standards for safety and sanitary control are virtually non-existent. Here, within, lies a matter of short sightedness on the part of the government. With over 10,000 Americans, the baby boomer generation, turning 65 years old, each and every day, many are looking towards Costa Rica as a retirement alternative. Personally, I receive three to four emails each and every week from friends and acquaintances asking questions. Being of retirement age, health care is one of the top, if not the top concern of these individuals. If the quality of health care in Costa Rica is going to slip and become equivalent to that of a third world nation, potential retirees are going to look in other directions. There can be a beneficial resource to the country within this baby boomer generation. Millions upon millions of dollars can and will be poured into the overall economy. But, if you scare them away, their checkbooks and credit cards go with them. Bruce
Jacobs
Park Ridge, New Jersey, and soon to be in San Ramón Some young Ticas here already are sumo class Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I found one error in your article: “This just in: It's OK to be fat, Canadian university study says”. Within the article was this outdated observation: “Some 18-year-old thin-as-a-rail Ticas are ready to try out as a sumo wrestler by the time they are 35 and after four kids.” This would be more realistic to the current day obesity epidemic sweeping Costa Rica: Some 18-year-old Ticas are ready to try out as a sumo wrestler already, where as it used to take 35 years and four kids to qualify. Times (and obesity rates) are changing in Costa Rica within one generation. Get out and take a look. Pat
McCormick
Costa Rica
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 166 | |||||||||
 |
| Corporate tax bill bounced back to a
legislative committee |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
As expected discontent with the proposed tax on corporations resulted Monday in the proposed law being sent back to a committee. This is the estimated $316 tax on every active corporate entity in the country. Inactive corporations wold pay half that. Some lawmakers have been complaining that the measure taxes small businesses the same amount as corporate giants. They will try to change the wording to assess more tax on larger companies. This is the tax that President Laura Chinchilla and her administration is trying desperately to have passed. The |
measure would
have generated about $700 million in the first week of the new year had
it been passed quickly. About half of the money would go toward
supporting a new police school. Other lawmakers oppose the six-month period in the law when property owners can remove the ownership from the corporation without paying a transfer tax. The idea is that persons who have homes and cars in a corporation can remove the property and then void the corporation to avoid paying the tax. Many expats have homes and vehicles in corporate ownership. The measure already has been passed by the Asamblea Legislativa. The second vote would have been final. |
| Native Costa Ricans going to court to
force state to act |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Native Costa Ricans from the Talamanca are going to court to demand that the government return to them land that is within the bounds of their reserve. Involved are some 6,000 hectares, about 15,000 acres. The 1997 law creating the reserve says that non-natives who own property within the boundaries will be relocated or compensated for the loss of their land. The government has not done so. Native spokesmen say that others have entered the land illegally since the reserve was created. Some expats own land there, and Kekoldi natives have been |
detained in protests at the
properties. The case today is in the Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo. This is just one complaint. The allegations that the state has not lived up to the agreement are also put forth by other native groups involving their reserves. The situation is similar to a law that enlarged a national park on the Pacific coast so that homes owned by expats were placed in limbo because the state declined to compensate them or even take the property. One owner is involved in an international arbitration. |
| Luck runs out for Tico physician who
abuses children |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A physician who fled the United States and hid behind the Costa Rican Constitution here has been detained on an allegation that he abused a minor on the Pacific coast. The man is German Enrique Moreno Rojas, 51, one of about three dozen Costa Ricans here who are sought in the United States and other countries. The Constitution prohibited forcing a citizen here to leave the country. That stipulation has been an embarrassment to some judicial workers because Moreno had been convicted in Costa Rica in the early 1990s for abusing five boys. But the case expired after he fled. The U.S. charges, nine counts according to judicial officials in Houston, Texas, relate to his involvement in 2005 with boys at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic parish. He worked at a health clinic there and told acquaintances correctly that he was a physician in Costa Rica. After his arrest, he jumped a $60,000 bail and returned to Costa Rica. He set up a clinic in Malpais on the tip of the Nicoya peninsula. Presumably that is where the latest charge of sexual abuse against a child originated. The case is being handled by the prosecutors in Garabito, so after his arrest Monday at his mother's home in Tibás, Moreno was taken to Jacó, the major town in the canton, according to the Judicial Investigating Organization. How the man managed to stay a practicing physician for so long is a mystery. A two-minute check of his name on the Internet turns up a notice that he has arrest warrants outstanding. That is on the Web site of the International Police Agency. In addition there is a detailed 2006 story of his activities at the church by the Houston Press about what the writer called parish predators. |
 Interpol photo
German Enrique Moreno RojasSomeone in the Nicoya community is believed to have searched the man's name on the Internet and began calling news outlets in San José. Most police officials would not do anything because of the Costa Rican Constitution and the expired case here, although there was a strange suggestion that perhaps the man could be tried here on the U.S. charges. Apparently the Houston judicial workers never checked the man out either when he was allowed to go free on bail in 2005. |
 |
| 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, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 166 | |||||||||
Ms. Chinchilla is escorted past an honor guard at the Mexican monument to the Niños Heroes, the six teenage military cadets who fought the invading U.S. military at Chapultepec Castle and died in 1847. She participated in presenting a traditional floral tribute. |
 Casa Presidencial photo
|
| President urges Mexican business leaders
to consider Costa Rica |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
President Laura Chinchilla promoted Costa Rica as a place to put investments when she met with some 100 Mexican business executives Monday. The president noted that Costa Rica has had a free trade treaty with México for 15 years and that Mexican imports to Costa Rica have increased 11.3 percent during the last five years. Costa Rican exports to México grew about 9.9 percent during the same period, said the president in a talk to the business people. She told the group that Costa Rica represented a sustainable and growing location for expansion by Mexican firms. She also noted the presence of many such firms now, including BIMBO, MABE, CEMEX and COMEX In a joint memorandum, Ms. Chinchilla and Mexican President Felipe Calderón said that exchanges of information about criminal activities between the two countries would increase and that the countries would work together more against drug trafficking. The presidents noted that during the visit the two countries signed an extradition treaty which would speed the return to México of any traffickers with Mexican citizenship found in Costa Rica. |
The pair also promised to continue
their fight against climate change and reiterated their support for United Nations activities in that direction and also the related Protocol of Kioto and the Accords of Cancún. They also said that they would continue their fight in a coordinated way against organized crime, illegal trafficking of migrants, trafficking in persons and the international trafficking of weapons. During the first day of her two-day visit, Costa Rica and México also signed an agreement for the recuperation and return of stolen vehicles and planes and agreed to cooperate in building institution capacities for micro, small and medium enterprises. Although the trip is mainly commercial, Costa Rican officials are seeking help and guidance in stemming drug trafficking by Mexican cartels that have infiltrated into Costa Rica. Calderón has been engaged in open warfare with drug gangs since he took office in December 2006. More than 40,000 persons have died in drug related violence since then. Calderón used the army to displace the presumed corrupt local police forces, but that has had mixed results. Ms. Chinchilla and the delegation are expected to return late tonight on commercial airliner. |
| Morning blaze rips through 10 homes in
Curridabat barrio |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A voracious fire swept through a low-income community in Curridabat Monday morning. When the smoke cleared 10 homes had been destroyed, and 25 adults and 20 children were homeless. The Cuerpo de Bomberos blamed children playing with matches for starting the fire. The scene was in what is called Barrio Nuevo. Fire fighters got the call at 10:45 a.m., but when they arrived on the scene 20 minutes later, flames were climbing to the sky and a dark column of smoke could be seen for miles. The homes were constructed mainly with wood and in some cases even cardboard with steel sheeting for roofs. |
Some residents were lucky enough to
remove some items, such as
television sets and even a refrigerator, but most lost everything
because the flames moved quickly in the dry timber and other flammable
materials. There were no injuries. Fire truck crews came from as far away as Pavas to participate in fighting the blaze. Fire officials declared the blaze controled after 22 minutes. By then most of the 10 homes were leveled. The department noted that a large number of nearby homes were saved by their actions. The Cruz Roja is providing for the immediate needs of those who were evicted by the flames. |
| 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, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 166 | ||||||||||
 |
| Rescue crews were nearby at Canadian air crash scene By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Canadian officials say a lucky coincidence may be the reason three people survived a plane crash in the remote Arctic wilderness Saturday. Some 500 members of Canada's military, along with a team of investigators from the Transportation Safety Board, were less than two kilometers from the crash scene, getting ready to participate in a mock airline crash training exercise scheduled for Monday when the plane went down on the approach to the airport in the small town of Resolute Bay. The rescuers were able to arrive at the First Air Boeing 737 passenger jet by helicopter within minutes of the accident and assist the three survivors, who are listed in stable condition. First Air says 15 people were onboard the downed plane, including a crew of four. An airline spokesman confirmed all four crew members were among the 12 dead in the crash. The official cause of the accident has not been determined, but thick fog was reported in the area at the time. The plane's flight recorders have been recovered. First Air says the charter flight was traveling between Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories and Resolute Bay, a small, remote town located nearly 600 kilometers from the North Pole, in the Arctic territory of Nunavut. Resolute Bay is often used as a launching point for North Pole expeditions. First hurricane of season grows stronger off Florida By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. weather forecasters say Hurricane Irene, the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2011 season, has strengthened as it takes aim at the Bahamas and is expected to intensify. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its latest bulletin Monday that Irene had grown into a Category 2 storm on the five-point scale of hurricane intensity. Forecasters said the storm now had winds of 160 kph (about 100 mph) and was located about 210 kilometers (130 miles) east of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. It was moving toward the west-northwest. The hurricane center forecasted the core of the storm would go just to the north of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The storm was expected to move near or over the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas today, and near the central Bahamas early Wednesday. Forecasters also predicted Irene would move northwest along the east coast of the U.S. state of Florida later in the week before possible landfall as a major hurricane in South Carolina. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is urging people along coastal areas of the southeastern U.S. to closely monitor the hurricane and prepare for potential severe weather in the coming days. Irene intensified into a hurricane over Puerto Rico before dawn Monday, flooding streets, knocking down trees and cutting power to about 1 million residents. There were no reports of serious injuries. Puerto Rico's governor, Luis Fortuno, declared a state of emergency to mobilize aid from the U.S. federal government. Schools, government offices and businesses in the territory remained closed Monday. Two U.S. song writers, Leiber and Ashford, die By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Jerry Leiber, 78, who along with his song writing partner Mike Stoller penned some of rock's earliest hits, died Monday in Los Angeles following a heart ailment. The duo's most famous songs defined the early years of rock and included: “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown” and “Stand By Me”. The iconic rock songs by Leiber and Stoller were performed by artists such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Rolling Stones, the Drifters and the Coasters. In the 1990s, the songwriters' tune “Smokey Joe's Cafe” became the inspiration for a Broadway play. The show won a 1996 Grammy as the best musical show album. Sony/ATV Music Publishing Chairman Martin Bandier called the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's 60 year partnership one of the greatest and most prolific song writing partnerships of all time. Meanwhile, Nick Ashford, 70, half of the singing and song-writing duo Ashford and Simpson, died Monday from throat cancer. A former publicist says Ashford died in a New York hospital surrounded by his family. Ashford and Simpson's writing efforts yielded songs for many artists like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Chaka Khan. The South Carolina native wrote and recorded with his wife, Valerie Simpson, at Motown Records. They penned such hits for the duet Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell as “Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “Ain't No Mountain High Enough.” Diana Ross re-recorded “Ain't No Mountain High Enough,” and it became one of her signature songs. Verdine White of the musical group Earth, Wind and Fire called Ashford's songwriting “unmatched in terms of great songwriting”. Ashford and Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. |
|
| 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, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 166 | ||||||||||
 |
Latin America news |
Pig farmers say they suffer from lack of certification By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Pig farmers say they are being victimized by free trade treaties. The Cámara de Porcicultores appeared before lawmakers to complain that a free trade treaty with Perú should be put on hold until the impact on their business is studied. The request came before the Comisión Permanente Especial de Relaciones Internacionales y Comercio Exterior. Renato Alvarado, president of the chamber predicted the death of the pork industry if action were not taken within a month. Large quantities of pork are coming into the country, in part from the United States, where importers pay no custom duties under the free trade treaty with that country. Meanwhile Costa Rican exporters cannot take advantage of the treaty because the government is dragging its feet on certifying the animals here free of swine fever or hog cholera, the chamber said. Such certification is needed to ship to the United States or Canada. Meeting in Puebla seeks to protect free expression Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
More than 20 Latin American universities are committed to proposing reforms of public policies to combat the impunity surrounding crimes and violence committed against journalists, according to the Inter American Press Association. With the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation the association is bringing together representatives from 22 universities from 15 Latin American countries in Puebla, Mexico, this week for a Hemisphere Conference of Universities that will prepare recommendations for reforms. Among other topics the Puebla meeting is expected to recommend amendments to penal codes in a number of countries, protection for the work of the press through the creation of new agencies, changes in academic curricula, and encouragement of public awareness campaigns concerning freedom of expression. Gonzalo Marroquín, president of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, newspaper Siglo 21, said he is very enthusiastic about this conference. “We are sure it will create a network of universities in Latin America that will collaborate to improve academic practices and help future members of the press do their job in a safer environment,” he said. He is president of the Inter American Press Association. Teams of students and professors from Communication, Law, Politics, Sociology and Social Science Schools will discuss the results of research projects they conducted in recent months coordinated by the IAPA. The research focused on the weaknesses and difficulties of the legal, academic, media and press systems in each country. The teams also focused on solutions, so various important recommendations at all levels are expected to be forthcoming. Costa Rican universities are not represented, according to the conference list. Power cut today in Santa Ana By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Compañía de Fuerza y Luz said Monday that electrical power would be cut off for parts of Santa Ana at 7:30 a.m. today. The area involved runs from Urbanización Valle del Sol and includes an area around the Palí supermarket, the Santa Ana clinic, Banco Nacional, the locals Catholic church and the south side of the Liceo de Santa Ana, said the company. Power is supposed to be back on by 3:30 p.m. |
|
|
|
| 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
