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Second news page |
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Louisiana school By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Democrats Abroad will be running a book sale Saturday to benefit an elementary school in Slidel, La., that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Organizers said they have accumulated more than 2,000 books that will be offered for sale at Plaza Colonial in Rafael de Escazú. Also on sale will be CDs, DVDs and videos. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a price of 500 colons for English-language fiction and non-fiction: literature, mysteries, romance, science fiction, biographies, politics, self-help, health and others, the group said. More information is available at 249-0719 or 494-6260. David Sagel, president of Democrats Abroad, said a similar sale will be set up in Jacó at a date to be determined. President of Taiwan goes on tour Tuesday By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan will leave Tuesday on a 12-day tour of Central America and the Caribbean. Costa Rica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Nicaragua and Guatemala are among the nations on his itinerary. The Taipei Times quoted a government spokesman as saying the trip is aimed at strengthening friendship between Taiwan and its allies. Taipei's participation in diplomatic affairs has been a controversial issue since 1949, when Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war. China continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. Only 26 countries, including Costa Rica and other mostly small nations in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, recognize Taiwan's government. The United States recognizes the People's Republic of China as China's sole legal government, and acknowledges Beijing's position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of it. Nevertheless, Chen is expected to receive a medal from the U.S. Congress during a stopover in Miami. He also is scheduled to sign a free trade treaty with Guatemala and attend a meeting of Latin leaders in Managua, Nicaragua. Costa Rica has been the recipient of foreign aid from Taiwan, including the Puente de Amistad over the Río Tempisque. The country also is bankrolling a highway project near San Carlos and the cost of design for a proposed convention center west of San José. The foreign aid has become controversial when reporters learned that employees in the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto, the foreign ministry, were receiving extra pay from a foundation supported by Taiwan but under the control of officials here. El Diario Extra reported Friday that some of the payments included checks for amounts ranging from 1,2 million colons to 600,000 colons to magistrates of the Sala IV constitutional court. That's about $2,475 to $1,235. President Abel Pacheco also is being investigated because of a substantial campaign donation that came from a private company in Taiwan that has strong links to the government there. Woman dies in prison during conjugal visit By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A wife visiting her imprisoned husband died at his hands Sunday inside prison walls. The woman, identified as María Guadalupe Córdova Nuñez, 49, died of strangulation after prison guards left the pair alone in what was described as a conjugal visit. Being held for investigation after suffering superficial wounds was the husband, José Ortiz González, 41, officials said. Guards discovered the death around midday. Ortiz was in prison doing a 40-year sentence for murder. Informal reports said he claimed to have killed the woman in self defense. He was being questioned Sunday by agents of the Judicial Investigating Organization in Pococí, where the prison is located. He had been treated for cuts. He was to be transferred to another prison, officials said. Two U.S. tourists robbed, but suspects caught By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two men held up two female U.S. tourists Friday morning in north San José, but police managed to capture two suspects quickly. The robbery took place on Avenida 7 at Calle 10, about two blocks north of the Mercado Borbon. One of the robbers pulled a gun on the tourists who were on foot, police said. The robbers opened the backpacks carried by the tourists and took a camera valued at $250 and some 7,000 colons in cash, about $14.50. The tourists were identified by the last names of Briffa and Rogers. The robbery took place in view of two officers, Gradimir Paniagua and Jorge Avendaño, who were a block away, said officials. The officers saw the two men flee, but the fleeing pair only got a block away when police grabbed them. Officers said the pair dumped a camera and a 9-mm. pistol as they were captured. The suspects were identified as two Colombians with the last names of Lerman and Resport. Police said that there have been a string of such robberies in the same area. Sweep in Puntarenas nets firearms and suspect vehicles By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fuerza Pública officers staged sweeps through four sections of Puntarenas Saturday night and Sunday morning, checking out 431 vehicles and more than 100 persons. The sweeps took place in Fray Casiano, Barrio 20 de Noviembre, El Roble and Mata Limón, all areas known to be high in crime, said police. Officers confiscated seven firearms and 16 vehicles that appeared to have altered numbers or paperwork. Three persons were arrested on outstanding warrants. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica was 'hit' 2,592,014 times in August with 470,125 page views from 89 countries Shouldn't your ad be here? Contact us! |
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with the observations of Dr. Lenny Karpman Click HERE! |
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| What to say when you want them to put the food on |
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| ¡Ya llegue! “I’ve arrived!” Today’s dicho is one of the most popular among Costa Ricans, excepting, of course, ¡Pura vida! In a recent poll conducted by Unimer via telephone and published in La Nación, the leading Costa Rican print newspaper, one of the questions was: What is the first thing you do when you get home? Some 15 percent of Costa Ricans said they greet their parents, spouses, the whole family with ¡Ya llegue! Followed closely by busco comida, looking for food. This whole phenomenon strikes me as rather odd. I believe the first thing I say is “Hello!” or “Hi!” Then I always deposit my car keys in the same place, since if I don’t I will be sure to lose them. I also leave my cell phone with my keys. That way even when I do forget where the keys are I can call myself and follow the sound of my ringing cell phone to where my keys are. The next thing Costa Ricans say they do is to turn on the TV. I’m becoming less and less a typical Tico by the moment because among the next things I’m likely to do is check my e-mail, do some telephoning, or get onto the ol’ treadmill for a little exercise. Many Costa Ricans also say they change their clothes. This is behavior I see in many of my nephews, while my nieces tend to start helping their mothers. ¡Ya llegue! Is a way of saying; “I’m here. Don’t worry about me any more,” or “I’m here. So, feed me.” It is sometimes also a kind of signal to a Costa Rican mama to start preparing the food so her son or daughter can eat and get ready to go either to their second job or to their classes at the university. Most of my nephews and some of my nieces work while going to school. A few even hold down two jobs and still find the time to attend classes. One of my young nephews, in his mid 20s, works at the Hospital San Juan de Dios, gets home after a 10-hour workday, changes his clothes and runs to get the bus to the university where he is studying so he can advance to a better-paying position at the hospital. He has a girlfriend, and I’m amazed that somehow he manages to find the time for a social life. Another nephew has a management position at Banco de Costa Rica. But he is also studying because he wants to advance to the investments department of the bank and manage stock portfolios. My sister does all his laundry, which means, of course, ironing his shirts. Additionally, she prepares his meals, still buys most of his clothes for him, and is his general factotum. My question to my sister always is: When is that boy going to get married? (“boy?” Ha! He’s 30 years old!) |
But, maybe he never will
because nowadays where’s he going to find a modern girl who will take
over all the duties that his mother performs for him? Iron his own
shirts? Are you kidding1? He wouldn’t even know where to start. Then he and I sat down for coffee and a chat about my
investment
portfolio at that bank. Suddenly, the machine went into the first spin
cycle. My nephew jumped up, and, hobbling wildly about on his one good
leg began yelling: “Mommy, mommy. Come quick! The machine has gone
crazy!” |
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| Pacheco spends weekend with some heavy reading |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
President Abel Pacheco faced some heavy reading this week. The report by his ad hoc panel of five advisers on the free trade treaty came into his hands Friday. The 66-page document was not made public, although members of the panel said they did not make a recommendation for or against the free trade treaty with the United States. The panel is headed by Franklin Chang Díaz, the U.S. astronaut who was born in Costa Rica. Pacheco promised to read the document over the weekend and make it public Tuesday, probably at the regular Tuesday press conference that followed the weekly Consejo de Gobierno or cabinet meeting. Pacheco still has to decide if he will send the document to the Asamblea Legislativa for discussion and a vote. Neither Pacheco nor the legislature can change the document. It must be accepted or rejected in its entirety. Commercial interests support the trade treaty and |
want
the president to forward the document to the legislature. Pacheco
has insisted that he would not do so until the legislature passes the
$500 million tax package known as fiscal reform. With or without the
trade treaty lawmakers are taking their time with the tax proposal. The
full assembly is sifting through more than 1,500 amendments, most of
them put forth by the Movimiento Libertario which opposes the plan. Most lawmakers favor the plan because it would generate a flood of new money for their special projects, including a $30 million office tower for the legislature. Pacheco and others said the tax plan will allow Costa Rica to pay down its outstanding debt. However, there is no guarantee that officials will do that. The key elements are a value added tax instead of the existing sales tax and global taxation, that is taxation of income residents here earn elsewhere. Óscar Arias Sánchez, the former president who is leading the polls for re-election in February also strongly favors the tax plan. |
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| Latin America and Caribbean More help urged before disasters take place |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
More attention needs to be paid to longer-term disaster-preparedness training and risk-reduction efforts, as opposed to the equally important but more publicized relief efforts that follow a natural disaster, says Robert Thayer of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Speaking at a conference at the Organization of American States on dealing with natural disasters, Thayer said his agency has contributed, along with many others, to disaster preparedness in Latin America and the Caribbean primarily through the USAID Risk Management Training Program. Thayer's agency said the program is particularly needed in Latin America and the Caribbean because the countries in the region are vulnerable to a wide range of natural hazards, including earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes and drought. Some countries also are said to be at risk for complex emergency disasters involving civil unrest, often resulting from political or economic instability. Thayer, regional coordinator for Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in the agency's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, said that since 1989, his agency has trained more than 34,000 individuals and certified |
more than 2,100
instructors in 26 countries. The focus of this
program, he said, has been disaster management, training methodologies,
technical assistance, and courses including "collapsed structure"
search and rescue, damage and needs assessment, shelter management and
incident command systems. Thayer said efforts have evolved greatly since 1989. The original emphasis, he said, was on "direct training" but then shifted to "training of trainers," resulting in large cadres of trainers in many countries. The agency strategy, he added, now is moving beyond the training of trainers, focusing more on technical assistance. Thayer said the international community plays an important role in assisting a nation's relief efforts following a natural disaster. But he emphasized that it is the national governments, not foreign governments or international organizations, that have "the local resources, the motivation, the knowledge of local conditions, and of course, the mandate to respond quickly and effectively." He added: "It is local and national capacities that need to be promoted. We can help provide relief after a major disaster, but the critical need is for these local and national capacities to be promoted in advance of disasters, and this is a long-term process." |
| Chávez says U.S. has plans to invade his country |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
NEW YORK, N.Y. — Hugo Chávez said Friday that he has documentation of a U.S. military plan called "Balboa" involving planes and aircraft carriers detailing a U.S. invasion of his country Venezuela. Chávez spoke in a Nightline, ABC News television interview. He was quoted as saying that if the United States attempts to invade his country, "it would be embarking on a 100-year war." The United States has had tense relations with the Chávez government. Chávez has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to topple his government, an accusation the United States denies. Chávez has been attending the United Nations General Assembly summit in New York. Thursday he lashed out at the United States, characterizing the country as a "terrorist state." In a speech before the United Nations World Summit he said that the world body should move out of New York because of the war in Iraq. Chávez told the leaders gathered for the summit |
Thursday that there
were never weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but
that the United States still bombed the country. He accused the United
States of failing to respect the resolutions of the United Nations, and
later characterized the United States as a "terrorist state" during a
press conference. Also Thursday the United States cited Venezuela for having "failed demonstrably to make sufficient" efforts in fighting illicit drug trafficking and drug production during the past 12 months, but said that because of "vital U.S. interests" it will continue to provide aid for certain programs in Venezuela. President George Bush sent to Congress a list of 20 countries considered major drug-transit or major illicit drug-producing countries, singling out Venezuela and Burma for their failure to make progress in meeting their international counternarcotics obligations, according to Nancy Powell, acting assistant secretary of State for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs. The programs that will continue to be supported are those that aid Venezuela's democratic institutions, establish selected community-development projects, and strengthen Venezuela's political party system, said Ms. Powell. |
| Weather study suggets link between higher temperatures and
bad storms |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Researchers in a new study are suggesting a link between rising global temperatures and an increase in powerful storms. The study in the journal Science says researchers have found a sharp increase in the number of so-called Category Four and Category Five tropical cyclones since 1970. It says the storms, which are fueled by warm temperatures, increased in number by 57 percent over the period. |
Meteorologist Kerry
Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology said there is a "strong suggestion" of a link between the
changing climate and intensifying tropical cyclones. But he says the
devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina cannot be blamed yet on
global warming, adding that the affected region was densely populated
along a vulnerable coast. Climate specialists in the article say more studies are needed over the next decades to draw firmer conclusions. |
| Our readers give their views Seeking uncivilized options to keep country civilized |
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| Dear A.M. Costa Rica: What is a sensible punishment for a crime? Recently an Alabama judge sentenced a 27-year-old man to life imprisonment for his crimes. What were the crimes that warranted such a harsh sentence? Break-ins, burglaries and general theft. In the judge’s mind, it was not the heinousness of the crimes such as murder, rape or child sex abuse, but the incorrigibility of the criminal. Beginning as a teenager, the young thief accumulated 20 convictions, got suspended sentences and served some time and showed no signs of mending his ways. Was the judge’s punishment a sensible one? Considering other options afforded by the system, the judge must have thought so. But was it really? If the man serves out his life in jail, actuary charts say he’ll be there for at least 45 years, meaning his “removal” from society will cost the society over $3 million. Does it make sense to spend that much money on a sociopath? Is there not a better way to deal with a twisted mind than to spend all that taxpayers’ money, regardless how wealthy the society? In an affluent “civilized” society, where physical and capital punishment are viewed as barbaric, there doesn’t seem to be. However, being viewed that way does not make it sensible. So what is a sensible punishment? But before trying to answer that question, let’s complicate things more by asking it of Costa Rica, a country that considers itself “civilized” but hardly in the affluent category, if an alarmingly increasing segment of the population is becoming poor and collapsing medical, educational, judicial and highway systems are any indication. When convicted criminals, after a less than expeditious judicial process, can no longer be shoehorned into the existing Costa Rican prison facilities, and with no new facilities on the horizon, the “criminal justice system” opts for turning the lesser criminals back into society or not even bring them to trial in the first place. The removal-from-society solution for petty thieves is scrapped simply because the country can’t afford it. So what is the solution for less than affluent countries? What do other countries do in a similar situation? Some get a bigger shoehorn and make their |
prisons examples
of unimaginable inhumanity. Others have
“clean-up squads” where the criminal is extra-judicially “done away
with”. Certain Middle East countries apply the Islamic solution:
surgical removal of the little finger, and, if that fails to get the
message across, the whole hand is next. Floggings are not unheard of in
some Asia countries. In view of what appears to be a dismal failing of “civilized” methods to keep the country from falling into a state of barbarism — reading the morning papers, watching the local evening news, observing the amount of razor wire enshrouding the buildings and a widespread neurosis about feeling secure suggest the country may have already reached that point — I think it is time for Costa Rica to consider adopting some “uncivilized” measures to try to regain the country’s civilized status. Since Costa Rica can’t throw money at the problem as the U.S. or Europe appear to be able to do, something else is called for. If the idea of public flogging, being placed in the stock for a few days, reducing the number of digital extremities or the marking of repeat offenders doesn’t appeal to you, the government’s and the society’s suggestion box welcomes your thoughts. When submitting your suggestion(s), please don’t get into a convoluted theoretical essay on why the criminal is a victim of the society or a dysfunctional home, which may be true; keep focused on the immediate and worsening problem: finding a practical way to keep decent, honest, hardworking people from being victims of these criminals. Once that is achieved, then the deep rooted causes of criminal behavior can be addressed. Back to the question of what is a sensible punishment? One thing that it is not is locking someone up and throwing away the key. I don’t care how wealthy the country is. Others things it is not are no punishment at all or disproportional punishment like stoning for adultery. Admittedly, it’s a tough question, so perhaps the best way to approach it is by asking a larger question: Is the system sensible? In Alabama’s case, it could use a lot of adjustments. Is the Costa Rican system sensible? Do something that works is what comes to mind, because now it doesn’t. Walter Fila
Ciudad Colón |
| Country
better now than 20 years ago Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Sorry, I cannot restrain myself from writing about this ongoing aduana discussion. I have lived in Costa Rica for nearly 20 years and have had some dealing with the government agencies: the aduana, the Registro, immigración and the court system. Slowly but surely, I have learned to restrain (to a degree) my American thinking. Some find it hard to believe it is better now than 20 years ago. The opening of the private mail service, i.e. Aeocasillas, Interlink, Jet Box and etc., has helped us residents a lot because before you had to go to the Correo headquarters in Zapote to pick up a mail package and it was a 2-day process. One day to identify the package, the next day to pick up and pay the tax and timbres. The private mail service do all the dealing with the aduana. However, you must be a customer of theirs to get their service. I have not used them, but I understand the Correo (post office) has become more package friendly. Also the new aduana warehouse is much better than the old one nearer the terminal. As for the (gavilánes) hawks, I use them at all the agencies. I accept them as part of doing business. You can bargain with them if you think they are charging too much, but always establish a price. This may leave a bad taste in your mouth, but it depends on what you think your time is worth. As far as merchandise in your luggage, I can give one small piece of advice. You are going to be stopped and checked if you are carrying a (muerto) dufflebag. The aduana employees are instructed to check all dufflebags. It may not make you feel any better, but they hassle the Costa Ricans more than foreigners. Not sure how active it is at present, but for many years Ticas have been going to the U.S. to buy mainly clothing and shoes to sell on the street. Since one can get a lot of this clothing and etc in a dufflebag they are always checked. Another small piece of advice, you must not think of Costa Rica as Miami South. Costa Rica doesn’t tell the U.S. how to run the country and the U.S. cannot tell Costa Rica how to run theirs. I was a private guide for some years and found it hard to convince customers they could not bring their travel trailer every year for a few months. Go with the flow, if you can not live without instant gratification, try somewhere else. Bobby Ruffín
Guadalupe Offshore oil platforms proved their stability Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I belive the oil platforms just proved how safe they are. I guess all have heard that shortly it will be posted in La Gaceta an increase of 10 percent in gas price for car and home use. That about an average of 38 colones a liter. Not much news for those driving a gas-guzzling Land Rover but for the poor that do not have a car the price of gas is meaningless until it affects the delivery cost of rice, beans and masa. We saw complete devastation in hurricane Katrina. Homes gone beach front lost and one two many lives. What we also saw was one oil platform that broke loose in port and an oil platform with a container loose. There was not one mention of a single drop of oil caused by an oil platform failure during this tremendous storm. So enviromentalists where do you now stand to argue against exploration of the oil off the Costa Rican coast. The platforms have just proven themselves to be very safeworthy. Why should you get your agenda in the way of Costa Rica’s abillity to become more self sufficient. Why should you cause the poor of this country to suffer more as the cost of living increases. So why not back off. Rich Vienneau
Playa Potrero |
Complaints
about hospital in San Vito de Coto Brus Dear A.M. Costa Rica: According to “Enfoque Sur,” a monthly newspaper centered in Coto Brus, there have been completely avoidable deaths and disabilities and other problems due to irregualrities in the medical attention given at the Social Security Hospital San Vito in San Vito, and there are ongoing protests and calls for the replacement of the hospital’s current medical director. Many of the problems that have caused death or near death have to do with intestinal parasites. I have been told by a doctor at the hospital that the government knows that the water outside of San Vito centro is contaminated, that the aquaducts are in very poor condition, and that there has been no notification to the people of these areas that there water is not potable. The government suggests that everyone boil their drinking water and then add five drops of chlorine to the water and wait an unknown amount of time before drinking it or avoid drinking the water altogether. If the doctors at the hospital know that there is an endemic problem with intestinal parasites and disease-causing bacteria in the water and yet dismiss all complaints about stomach pain when patients come in for help, they are obviously failing to do their duty and should not be allowed to practice medicine in Costa Rica. Getting an appointment for a gastroscopy takes more than a year. This is so even if there is evidence of a bleeding ulcer or other internal bleeding. There are no routine screenings of stool samples and blood samples for parasites, occult blood, or the various disease causing bacteria associated with polluted water. This situation is intolerable. People are dying needlessly! One recent death was of a teenage girl! Babies are dying! There are three related important stories here. 1. The failure of AyA to maintain the infrastructura to supply potable water to the people of Costa Rica 2. The failure of the government to test the water properly to maintain standards and to advise citizens of the dangers they face in order to avoid epidemics, deaths, and unnecessary hospitalizations and disabilities and 3. The failure of the medical personnel at the Hospital San Vito to properly diagnose and treat their patients. I might also mention that on a recent trip for a blood test and urinalysis (upon which I had to insist much against the doctor’s wishes), the laboratory informed me I couldn’t have a urinalysis because they didn’t have containers for the urine. I found a grocery store across the street from the hospital that had a large number of empty and washed baby food jars on sale for this purpose. They charged 100 colons each for the recycled jars. I was then able to get the urinalysis done. But I found out in yesterday’s consult for the results of the tests, that standard tests for hepatic function and renal function were not done because the hospital did not have a supply of reagent with which to perform these routine analyses. This is providing good health care???? The hospital does not have a radiologist or an orthopedist. When I broke my hand, a nurse with a couple of day’s training in the use of the X-ray machine, took the X-rays. Another “orthopedic” nurse pulled the fingers out straight then wrapped them around a ball of gauze and taped them into place and that was the “setting” of the broken fingers. They did not heal correctly, needless to say, and I cannot to this day close my right hand completely or even cross my fingers for good luck! In the five years I have been a member of the Caja system, I have been given one Pap smear and no mammogram at all. There is a little card I’m supposed to show to the doctors whenever I’m seen to make sure my tetanus shots are up to date. They do not want to see the card nor even touch it. I received the card once when there was some kind of a push for tetanus vaccinations, and it has not been looked at since. This despite my having been bitten by dogs, a coatimundi, and another unidentified wild animal and having to be treated in the ER each time for these rather serious deep puncture wounds. So, I think you have three stories to follow up on with some investigative reporting. Mary Thorman
Linda Vista de San Vito, Coto Brus |
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