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A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 193 |
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Visiting U.S. lawmakers
called enemies of nation By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Ottón Solís, his Partido Acción Ciudadana and opponents of the free trade treaty are getting heat because they brought a "true enemy of the Costa Rican working class" to Costa Rica. The characterization comes from Rodrigo Arias, the minister of the Presidencia. And the claim is the latest salvo in what is becoming a political campaign with daily charges and counter charges. There even are formal complaints being filed, including one in which the Partido Acción Ciudadana alleges misuse of funds sent in support of the treaty campaign by sugar cane growers. Last Sunday Solís invited U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud of Maine to his home and presented them as U.S. lawmakers who oppose the free trade treaty. Although it was known at the time that Sanders opposes just about all trade treaties, Casa Presidencial hit hard on the theme Thursday. Solís and his party are friends of the enemies of Costa Rica, said Rodrigo Arias. Sanders opposes agreements where the likely result is that U.S. jobs will be shipped offshore. And he has been consistent. He also voted against the Caribbean Basin Initiative which passed and gives Costa Rica preferential treatment with its imports to the U.S. The treaty supporters may have scored some points with their belated revelation. The opponents will try to sway Costa Rican voters Sunday with a mass rally on Paseo Colón. University students will march from San Pedro to downtown San José starting at 9 a.m., so traffic will be snarled. The rally comes just a week before Costa Ricans go to the polls to vote on the treaty. Two convicted of murder are allowed to go home By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two men who goaded a third individual into a fight and then stoned him and smashed him on the head with a pipe were convicted of premeditated murder Thursday in the Tribunal de Juicio de Alajuela. But the judges let them go free while their conviction is routinely reviewed by a high court. The men each were given 12-year prison sentences. They were identified by the last names of Fernández Viales and Valverde González by the Poder Judicial. They were convicted in the beating death of Omar Zamora Mora outside his home in Copan de Alajuela Jan. 1, 2003. The court found that the two men went to the home of Zamora to settle a score that had been the source of an argument days before. They shouted and screamed until Zamora came out of his house. Then Fernández hit him in the face with a rock as he approached. This caused Zamora to fall, said the Poder Judicial. When he was on the ground, Valverde took a pipe and hit him repeatedly on the head while Fernández continued to kick the man. The victim died on the spot, said officials. A tribunal sentence almost always is reviewed by a higher court, but the convicted individuals usually are remanded to jail if the charge is serious and likely to prompt flight. These hometown favorites make Guanacaste hit parade By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
They may not reach the popularity of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," but Guanacaste musicians have made a start with their hometown tributes. The songs became known at a culture ministry contest that was decided Sunday. "Viva mi pueblo" by Edgar Leal Arrieta took first place in the soloist category. Second was "Linda Santacruceña" by Luis Fernando Leal Arrieta. "Santa Cruz" by Pedro Golobios Madrigal was the top song in the group category,and "Fiesta in Sardinal" by Héctor Pomares Zúñiga was the winner in the traditional bands, Cimarrones, contest. First prize in each category was worth 200,000 colons or some $385. Our reader's opinion
Crime is caused by povertyand not just in Costa Rica Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I am replying to Michael Cook’s interesting letter of Sept 27 where, at the end, he states that “Crime . . . is endemic to the culture (of Costa Rica).” Just so we all know what he is saying, I offer the Merriam-Webster definition of the word, ENDEMIC: belonging or native to a particular people or country. This thinking is shared by so many of us who go to other countries and complain about things when we get there. This thinking is shallow and typically chauvinistic, (undue partiality or attachment to a group or place to which one belongs.) Crime and corruption in Costa Rica, or in the United States . . . or any place else on Earth, has nothing to do with culture. The underlying cause of crime is poverty and that of corruption is greed. These things are not endemic to Costa Rica. They are endemic to the human race. As for the culture of Costa Rica, it is charming and probably the reason that keeps Michael coming back to visit! Dick Burgoon
Alajuela
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San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 193 |
Tinted
car windows are targeted as anti-robbery measure |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The top judicial investigator wants traffic policeman to crack down on motorists whose vehicles have polarized front or back windows. In addition to a 5,000-colon ($9.60) fine such a violation brings, the investigator, Jorge Rojas Vargas, wants the vehicles to be brought out of circulation. The summary of a letter that Rojas wrote to Karla González, minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes, came to reporters from the Judicial Investigating Organization that Rojas heads. Rojas correctly noted that such vehicles are used frequently in drive-by holdups of pedestrians. He called such vehicles a hidden threat to the citizenry. The press release said that as a result of the letter, checkpoints were being set up to find and take out of service these types of vehicles. It was unclear if the Judicial Investigating Organization would do this or that the job would be left to the Policía de Tránsito. Such windows have been outlawed for years, but this is one of those laws that is enforced selectively here. Also unclear is how such vehicles are able to pass the mandatory Riteve vehicle inspection. For some that is not a problem. Many of the offending cars do not even have plates. Police are reluctant to stop such vehicles because occupants frequently are heavily armed. |
Rojas spoke last week about the
waves of criminality that are sweeping
the country. He said that he was thinking of advancing his retirement
because he blamed budgetary officials for not providing enough
resources for his department. He said he could use double his current
force of 1,000 investigators. Many of the vehicles with tinted windows are used by criminal gangs that prey on pedestrians. The latest case was of a man gunned down for his portable computer as he walked near Parque la Sabana. He was Freddy Blas Ramírez, a construction inspector, who was confronted by robbers Tuesday evening. He died from the head wound early Wednesday in Hospital San Juan de Dios. The lack of resources and the wave of robberies is getting a humorous treatment on the Internet. Wednesday a fake press release purportedly from the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública began making the rounds. The message, supposedly an urgent warning, said that a lion had escaped from the zoo at Parque Simón Bolivar in north San José. The lengthy message was a stingy criticism on the current state of Costa Rican life but it took special interest in the police and investigators. Of the lion, the message said that the Fuerza Pública could only muster a single car and two policemen to conduct a search. And then it said police were looking everywhere except some run-down sections of San José and much of Pavas. But that was fine because even a valiant African lion would not dare to go to such places, the message said. |
Evaluating the simple life in Belén with the city
bustle |
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I’ve been going into
San
José more frequently lately, usually to make my chocolate fudge
sauce at a friend’s apartment. My old apartment, which is in the same
building, is still without a tenant. That surprises me because it
is a nice spacious apartment. Maybe they have raised the rent. I
mean, really raised it. Rents and real estate seem to be going up
everywhere in the Central Valley. I am beginning to think that
should I want to move from my assisted living apartment, I couldn't
afford it. Lately I have been considering the pluses and minuses of living in this residence in the town of Belen as opposed to living in San José, where I spent nearly 15 years. I loved living in the city, but I think that the air, combined with my past years of smoking was not healthy for me. The polluting car emissions have decreased noticeably over the years, thanks to new regulations and newer cars and buses. But I lived there before the change. There is less traffic noise where I live now, mostly an occasional airplane leaving the nearby international airport. Thank heavens not all of them fly over Belén. In the city, I seldom heard my neighbors. I hardly knew I had any. Here there is the constant chatter of the various attendants to other residents, people talking while they wait outside the dispensary (my apartment is right next door), the sounds of someone washing clothes in the outside pila a couple of doors down, or someone’s music — usually religious. There is no place where one can be free from some kind of dirt. In the city the dirt is more like grime. The dirt out here may not be grimy, but it is still gritty on the soles of my bare feet. However, there is always SOMEONE ELSE to sweep and mop. All I have to do is ask. Music and theater are far more accessible in the city. In order to go into San José I must take the autopista that runs from the airport. Some mornings we all become turtles on the highway. Huge trucks are vying with commuters, taxis and tourist buses to make it to their destinations. More often than not, there is an accident. That really slows the wheels of progress. If I stay in Belén, and more large corporations like Intel decide to build here, will I |
find myself cut off from the city because it is just too much trouble? I was pretty happy with Cable Color, which operates in San
José. If a
storm knocked out my TV reception and Internet, they were promptly
there to fix it. My electricity seldom went out. The storm on
Monday
knocked out electricity, Internet and TV at the residence. By
Tuesday
afternoon, TV and Internet still had not been repaired. This is an all too regular occurrence. Cable Tico is
going to have to
improve its service if all of the condos that have been built around
here are sold and occupied. |
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San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 193 |
Beautiful property where air is clear — above 3,000
feet www.VistasDeSarchi.com |
Ecuador's
president to seek reimbursement for not drilling |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, proposes to ban drilling in one of his country's national parks. And he wants his country to be paid for the oil revenues it will lose. Correa’s decision simultaneously addresses two factors blamed for global climate change — tropical deforestation and oil consumption. Correa is attempting to build support for the Yasuni proposal, named after Yasuni national park, thought to be the Amazon basin’s most biodiverse area. Under the proposal, Ecuador would forego drilling an estimated 920 million barrels of crude oil contained in the Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini fields located directly under Yasuni. The plan would entail Ecuador forgoing an estimated $4.6 billion in oil revenues and prevent significant carbon dioxide emissions as a result of avoided oil extraction activities in the lush Amazon rainforest. |
Ecuador’s proposal is one of the
most significant proposed commitments
from a developing nation aimed at combating global climate
change. The
Ecuadorian government has invited the international community to help
develop innovative financing options in support of the Yasuni proposal,
to help this developing country make up for the foregone oil revenues. “For the first time, an oil-producing country, Ecuador, where a third of the state’s income depends on the exploitation of this resource, is renouncing this income for the wellbeing of all humanity and invites the world to join this effort through a fair compensation package, so that together we can sow the seeds of a more humane and just civilization,” said Correa at a U.N. climate change meeting earlier this week. In addition to being home to some of the last traditional peoples anywhere in the Amazon basin, Yasuni also boasts stunning biodiversity, including 4,000 plant species, 173 species of mammals and 610 bird species. |
Morales
seeks forum to create a new economy of respect |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The president of Bolivia Thursday called for the United Nations to convene a world indigenous forum to foster a new approach to economic relations based on an appreciation of natural resources and not their exploitation. Addressing the General Assembly's annual high-level debate, the president, Evo Morales, welcomed the recent approval of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, thanking all countries, except the four which voted against it. "Our culture is a culture of life," said Morales, the first Indian leader of Bolivia. He called on the U.N. to convene a world indigenous forum to "understand different ways of life." Questioning whether it was necessary to exploit and plunder in order to live well, he suggested instead that living well is living within a community -- not having an excess of material wealth. To Indian communities, he said, the Earth is sacred, as demonstrated by their practices. "Let us gather these experiences to defend life and to save humankind," he said. |
Morales said natural resources
should be used to benefit nations, he
said, adding that while companies have a right to profit, they do not
have a right to plunder. Natural resources should be accessible to all, he argued. "Water is a human right. Energy is a human right," he said, stressing that these should not be considered commodities to be exploited by private businesses. He said talk of biofuels was confusing. "I don't understand how we can produce food for cars. Soil should be for life! Because there is a lack of gas we are going to divert food for automobiles?" He called for giving up luxury. "We cannot continue to accumulate garbage," he said. Morales spoke out against "economic policies that have caused genocide" and denounced the arms race. "War is the industry of death," he declared. He decried the economic imbalance of the world, where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. Morales also spoke of his own difficulties traveling to the U.N. Assembly. "I don't know how all of you managed to come here to the United States but at least my delegation had a great deal of visa problems," he said, proposing that "perhaps we should change the site of the United Nations." |
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San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 193 |
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