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on Honduran interim regime By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The State Department signaled Thursday the Obama administration is ready to take tougher action against the defacto leadership in Honduras because of the political impasse over President José Manuel Zelaya's ouster in June. An Organization of American States diplomatic mission to Tegucigalpa this week returned empty-handed. Officials here say Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to make a formal determination as early as Friday that the ouster of Zelaya was an extra-legal coup, action that would set in motion deep cuts in U.S. aid, and other steps against the interim government. Obama administration officials have been saying since the democratically-elected Zelaya was arrested by the Honduran military and deported to Costa Rica June 28 that the action amounted to a coup, despite the fact that officials of the successor administration maintain they acted within the law. But the State Department withheld a formal determination of a coup, which carries with it harsh aid penalties mandated by Congress, in hope that diplomatic efforts led by the Organization of American States could restore Zelaya to power. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, tasked by the Organization of American States to mediate, has offered a proposal under which interim Honduran President Robert Micheletti would step down and allow Zelaya to return and serve out his term which ends in January. But at a news briefing, the assistant secretary of State for public affairs, P. J. Crowley, said Micheletti and his supporters categorically rejected the plan when a team of foreign ministers visited Tegucigalpa this week, prompting the United States to consider further sanctions. "The OAS delegation that went there this week made what we thought was a very direct offer and entreaty to Honduras, to the defacto regime, that they should sign on to the San José accords. They have made it categorical that they have, as far as their position today, is that they have no plan to do that. And we are now evaluating based on what we've heard since the delegation has come back to the OAS, and were consulting with the OAS. We're taking stock of that and we'll make some decisions here very soon," he said. The Obama administration has already suspended several non-humanitarian aid programs for Honduras that it would have been required to halt, if a formal coup determination had been made. If Secretary Clinton as expected, goes ahead and signs off on such a finding, the aid cuts, worth more than $18 million, would become permanent and other assistance would be affected including a multi-year $215 million U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation program to boost the Honduran farm economy and roads system. Earlier this week, the State Department said it was suspending non-emergency visa service for Hondurans seeking to visit the United States in another move aimed at pressing the interim government to accept the Arias plan. Interim President Micheletti has said he does not fear sanctions and that Honduras can get by without international aid. Micheletti and supporters say Zelaya, a political ally of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, was ousted because he was trying to illegally change the country's constitution to extend his term in office. Micheletti, who has the vocal support of some U.S. congressional conservatives, says Honduras will hold elections in November even if other countries do not recognize the result. A senior State Department official who spoke to reporters said a coup finding by Secretary Clinton would give U.S. sanctions more bite and importantly, foreclose a resumption of aid without an acceptable resolution of the Honduran political impasse. Our reader's opinion
What is the rush to cutfunds for Honduran people? Dear A.M. Costa Rica: One has to ask: On whose side are financial international agencies in this ouster of Honduran president Zelaya? The Central America Bank of Economic Integration just announced it was holding back aid to Honduras’ interim government, joining others doing the same. The U.S. is one of them. Good move. Politicized bureaucrats, delay the infrastructure programs aimed to help the poor Honduran people, and make their situation even worse! With presidential elections coming up in November, and the newly elected president taking in January, what’s the rush to judgment? Can’t you wait until then — only five months — before taking sides in a matter that is none of your concern. National sovereignty is respected in Latin America, unless there is a non-leftist leader involved. Is that the explanation about whose side you are on? Walter
Fila
Ciudad Colon Local producers have chance to meet international buyers By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Small and medium Costa Rican businesses will have the chance to met 270 foreign buyers at the Misión de Compradores 2009 from Sept. 7 to 11 at the Hotel Ramada Plaza Herradura convention center. Buyers from 34 countries are scheduled to attend, according to the minister of Comercio Exterior, Marco Vinicio Ruiz. The relevant commercial sectors are agriculture, ornamental plants, metal work and construction, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food. This year a special section will hold producers of items deemed friendly to the environment. This is the ninth edition of the annual event. Sponsors expect that Costa Rican producers will have about 2,500 business appointments with buyers. Chamber to host officials from electrical distributor By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce is hosting a discussion with representatives of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad. Among the topics will be that of electric rates, said the chamber in an announcement. Four company officials are expected there Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Balcón del Mar in Jacó. The price regulating authority has ordered a rebate for electrical customers, and the national generating and distribution company is appealing that ruling. The company representatives are expected to outline its point of view. The chamber asked that those who want to attend make reservations by today at 2643-2853.
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Nine of 10 Pavas
drug gang suspects set free by judge
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Remember the Diablos? This is the powerful and violent Pavas drug gang that police and agents targeted Tuesday. Officers from the Unidad Especial de Apoyo tactical squad spent the night hidden along the banks of a polluted stream so they could surprise gang members in the early morning. Agents wanted to conduct their raid that way because they were wary of the gang, which is known to be armed. The Poder Judicial confirmed Thursday that the Juzgado Penal de Pavas jailed one of the 10 suspects the Policía de Control de Drogas brought in. A woman with the last |
names of Barquero Segura was
ordered held for three months preventative detention. The other nine? The six women and three men? Well, the judge set them free on the condition that they sign in with prosecutors once a month, keep a fixed home and do not leave the country, said the Poder Judicial. Typically in such cases the judges order that suspects also keep a steady job. But drug agents say that the suspects already have steady jobs being one of the two principal suppliers of crack cocaine to the Central Valley from their Lomas del Río de Pavas headquarters. |
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Finance
ministry will seek to tax virtual casinos in new bill
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The financial ministry is about to present to the legislature a bill to regulate virtual casino operations located in the country. Ministry officials said they hoped to get up to $100 million a year in new taxes. The disclosure came from Jenny Phillips, the minister of Hacienda in the Comisión de Control del Ingreso y el Gasto Público. The minster pointed out that the virtual casinos are unregulated now. She did not amplify what the bill would contain nor was the scope of the types of gambling to be covered outlined. |
The minister said that the bill is
part of a campaign against tax fraud and reforms so that the country
can take in more taxes. Virtual casinos and online gambling operations
are all over Costa
Rica. This country and Antigua are the two places with the
highest
concentration of virtual gambling, the minster said. There was no indication what provisions would be made to keep the virtual operations, which are highly transportable, from going elsewhere if taxes are levied. Although the operations themselves are not taxed, such businesses employ many local individuals who contribute to the general economy. |
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The joys of
fleeting expletives in the privacy of the home
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| The U.S. Supreme Court
has confirmed that Cher and Bono’s little outbursts of profanity –
those famous four-letter words – are not acceptable on network TV as
they are too shocking to young minds. This means that the network
channels can be peanalized if someone bursts out with fuck or shit. Such instances are
labeled by the Supreme Court as fleeting
expletives. So far, a character on a Cable TV show can use these words in every other sentence and it is okay. They are not translated as such in the Spanish subtitles. The reason I mention this is that lately I have been guilty of expressing myself in fleeting expletives, usually in the privacy of my own apartment, and thus not in danger of being a Supreme Court figure. I never uttered such words when I was a kid – well, once when I overheard a woman in my mother’s beauty shop talking about her husband, I used the four little words she used to describe her husband. I used them addressing my mother although she was not anyone’s son. I never did it again. Perhaps it was Women’s Lib that freed my tongue because that was when I began, just occasionally, using a fleeting expletive with great satisfaction. Before that I had lectured my children that depending upon swear words to communicate revealed a person with a poor imagination. I felt compelled to follow my own advice. But now I am older and my children are grown (and seldom depend upon profanity to express themselves . . . I think). What is prompting my little outbursts is looking for things. It is not that I am losing more things lately or even misplacing them. I just can’t find them at first, and then later they appear right where I put them and right where I had looked before. There is a conspiracy of my possessions that is driving me to fleeting expletives. Example: My friend Sandy was visiting from Tilarán, and we were discussing books. She mentioned a John Le Carré book she had just finished. I said I had one that Steve had lent me and brought it out for her to look at. We were sitting in the living room. After Sandy returned to Tilarán I decided to read the book because it had slightly larger print and my eyes were tired. I couldn’t find it – not on the coffee table where it last was nor in the bookcase from where I had taken it. I looked everywhere then in desperation wrote to Sandy and asked if she had borrowed it. She said no. I decided to |
And now, so that some of you can utter your own annoyance in
whatever
way you choose, I will talk about the U.S. health insurance debacle,
another subject that has challenged my civil tongue. Lately the news
channels have been reviewing the government-sponsored health plans of
other countries (but not yet that of Costa Rica). This review has
shown that most other countries have more doctors per capita than the
U.S., yet there are long lines for appointments and longer waits for
tests. In every case so far, however, the end result is that life
expectancy in these countries is greater than in the U.S. (And people
who live longer are generally healthier than those who don’t.) |
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There is nothing to do but wait after a fender-bender in the downtown. Wise motorists will carry a disposable camera and paper to record the details of the mishap and data on the other car and driver. |
 A.M.
Costa Rica photo
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Strained traffic
grid staggers under old accident rule
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
As the song says: "A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh. . . . " But the Casablanca lyrics carries little weight in Costa Rica when the kissing is between two vehicles. The law says both drivers must keep their vehicles where they stopped until police and an insurance inspector arrive. That could be some time. San José is reeling under the many construction projects that are detouring traffic. Every day long lines of vehicles are sent off to side streets because the Municipalidad de San José, the water company or road crews are working. Side streets are becoming major routes, and the detours are |
expected to go on through January. So when a Dos Pinos delivery truck is kissed by a passenger car on Calle 0 in downtown San José, another complication is added to the already groaning traffic flow. That happened this week in a non-injury accident that did little damage to the delivery truck. Such accidents happen every day, but if other motorists are lucky the affected vehicles leave some room for traffic. Not so at Calle 0. Both lanes were blocked, and northbound traffic had to take a turn to the west on Avenida 1. Perhaps as time goes by and new insurance companies enter the market, officials will consider changes in the accident rule. |
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Business chamber
backs a delay in the effective date of nation's new traffic law
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The chamber of businesses wants the executive branch to put a bill stalling the new traffic law on its priority list. The bill in the legislature would delay most new traffic rules for six months. That would give lawmakers time to revisit the lengthy law. The Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado made the request in a press release. The legislature is fast approaching the period when members can only act on bills endorsed by the executive branch. |
The traffic law is supposed to go
into force Sept. 23, but some
lawmakers are backing away from the measure because they have realized
what they have done. Motorists are certain to be outraged when they
begin to purchase items mandated to be in the vehicle, like a fire
extinguisher. Also required is a first aid kit and car seats for
youngsters. The new law also increases dramatically the fines for various infractions. Already in force are harsh rules against drunk driving and reckless driving. These changes would not be affected by the proposed adjustments in the law. Considering the speed with which the legislature operates, a delay in the effective date of the law is unlikely. |
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| Lab
mice are unique part of effort to fight dengue By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
According to the World Health Organization, there are about 50 million new cases of dengue fever around the world each year and about 2.5 billion people, two-fifths of the world's population, are at risk. The disease is spreading, along with the mosquitoes that carry it, into areas like Texas in the United States that are far from the tropics where dengue has been present for a long time. Scientists at an independent research foundation have developed a new line of study that shows promise in fighting the often deadly disease. Dengue fever is a threat to people in more than 100 countries, including Costa Rica. It is a flu-like disease that produces a high fever, pain in the eyes and joint aches that can last a week. Renu Daval-Drager of the World Health Organization says some cases of what is sometimes called "break bone fever" can be fatal. "Dengue does cause death. Usually, one to two percent of the dengue cases can progress to a severe disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever. This disease results in leaky capillaries and also then hemorrhage. And this can also be resolved, but some of these cases will go into shock and organ failure and then die." There is no vaccine to prevent dengue and no specific medicine to treat it, so the only defense is eradication of the mosquitoes that carry it and measures to protect people from mosquito bites. But hope is offered by research being carried out at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, which relies on very special mice. The small white animals with pink eyes are kept in a special isolated room so that they will not be exposed to any bacteria or germs that might infect them. They have been altered to be susceptible to human diseases. Lead researcher Rebecca Rico-Hesse says the mice have been modified or "humanized" by an infusion of stem cells taken from human umbilical cords that were discarded at local hospitals. By infecting these humanized mice with strains of the dengue virus, investigators can study how the disease takes hold and what factors might cause the more serious and often deadly dengue hemorrhagic fever. A recent report co-authored by Ms. Rico-Hesse and her colleague Javier Mota shows for the first time why some strains of dengue virus are more severe than others. "In this report, we present results of eight different virus strains and we show that the ones that have been associated with the more severe epidemics and the ones that cause hemorrhagic fever in patients are actually of a specific genetic variant," she said. Lab workers infect the mice artificially with the virus, keeping precise records of how much virus and what type of virus is used. Ms. Rico-Hesse and her colleagues are breeding mosquitoes in the laboratory to test various strains of the dengue virus transmitted to the mice by mosquitoes. Because of her extensive work in Latin America with dengue fever victims, Ms. Rico-Hesse says she feels compelled to speed research as much as possible. "I have had the opportunity to go to many of the countries and see the patients, even children dying in the hospitals in very remote areas of South America. So it has given me a sense of urgency to work more, to do things, to make things come along quicker," she said. |
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| Latin American news (if feed is incomplete, please reload the page) |
Brazil has
highest toll of swine flu fatalities By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Brazil's health ministry says the country has the world's highest swine flu death toll. The health ministry says swine flu has killed 557 people between April and August of this year. The ministry released its latest report Wednesday based on figures from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. It says the United States ranks next, with 522 fatalities and Argentina places third with 439. Brazil's government says it wants to free up $2 billion to purchase 73 million doses of vaccine to fight the virus. Southern Latin America has seen a greater impact from swine flu because it is the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, when viruses are easily transmitted. The World Health Organization has declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic and says up to two billion people may eventually be infected. Guantanamo detainee plans to sue U.S. over his jailing By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A young Afghan who was detained without charge for more than six years at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba plans to sue the U.S. government. A lawyer for the man, Mohammed Jawad, Major Eric Montalvo, announced the action in Kabul Thursday. Jawad returned to Afghanistan this week after a U.S. federal judge ruled he had been detained illegally. The judge called his case "an outrage." His lawyer, appointed by the U.S. military, praised the ruling, but said a better legal system must be established to fairly process other detainees. Jawad was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 for allegedly throwing a grenade that wounded two U.S. soldiers. His attorneys say he was 12 years old at the time of his arrest, while the U.S. military said medical tests showed he was about 17. |
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