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San
José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 194
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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública
photo
Fuerza Pública
officers confiscated this young raccoon from a lad in Puntarenas Centro Tuesday because keeping wild animals as pets is prohibited. The critter was turned over to environmental officials for transport to a rescue center. Emergency declares over El Niño drought By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The executive branch declared a national emergency due to the prolonged drought in northwestern Costa Rica Tuesday. The declaration affects 11 cantons in Guanacaste: Liberia, Tilarán, Nicoya, Santa Cruz, Bagaces, Carrillo, Cañas, Abangares, Nandayure, La Cruz and Hojancha. Also involved are five cantons in Puntarenas province: Aguirre, Garabito, Montes de Oro, Esparza and the central canton. Three Alajuela cantons also were included: Orotina, San Mateo and Atenas The declaration is an extension of an alert that has been in force since the middle of the year. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional reported Monday that there was more rain in September and additional moisture is expected in October, but the national emergency commission said that the effects of El Niño are likely to cause problems during the first part of next year as the dry season progresses. There have been substantial loses in production, according to the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería. There also has been loss of jobs. Ranchers have been hard hit with the loss of pasture land. Government institutions are taking steps. For example, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad is working to bring Lake Arenal to a high level in anticipation of electrical generating needs during the first months of the new year. The Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados will be drilling new wells, setting up storage tanks and planning for rationing when water becomes short. The Ministerio de Salud is reported to be trying to identify the spread of any diseases as well as conducting education in handling water. The Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación is getting ready to try to reduce the impact in protected areas where forest fires may be expected. Our reader's opinion
Support for a longer stay for snowbirdsDear A.M. Costa Rica: I agree small tourism is better, but less tourism is worse. One big step is to increase the length of stay allowed for snowbirds from the north. By allowing those who are escaping the winter in North America to stay six months (rather than 90 days) you will increase the number who come here and how much they spend. The 90-day visa requires that the person leave, likely to Nicaragua or Panamá. They may just discover they like it better, and it is a consideration for staying. The best part is they will spend in the local economy, renting a condo for six months means they will be buying locally. They will go to the local grocery store, they will try the farmers market, and they may even sign up for Spanish classes. When they do small trips away from their temporary home base, they are more likely to stay at a little local hotel they heard about from another expat. If they wish to take a tour, they will probably go to the tour booking office down the street, since they pass his shop nearly every day. If they travel a distance they probably use the local transfer company or the local buses, because they have had time to get comfortable with the neighborhood. The population is aging, and tourism has to look towards this potential income and accommodate for it. If the retired parents own or rent a house in Costa Rica, it is more likely that their children, grandchildren and friends will come to visit, thus more tourist dollars in the local areas rather than the big hotels. Patti Fraser
Tamarindo EDITOR'S NOTE: A.M. Costa Rica has supported editorially longer stays for snowbirds. The 2006 immigration act that is now law contained a provision for a $100 renewal of a tourist visa without leaving the country. That provision was voided based on the way the text was worded.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 194 | |
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| Pedestrians will be getting a lift at three major metro
highways |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Highway officials say they expect to have elevators at three pedestrian bridges in service by December. The bridges are at Hospital México in La Uruca over the Autopista General Cañas, Tres Ríos de La Unión over the Autopista Florencio del Castillo and Quesada Durán over the Circunvalación. The bridges went up before a law that provided accommodations for seniors, pregnant women, persons on crutches, or persons in wheelchairs, said the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. The projects cost $1.3 million. Engineers chose the elevators because in some cases there was not sufficient public land to put in ramps, the agency said.. The elevators will be under 24-hour surveillance by cameras. The bridge at Hospital México at least had been the scene of many robberies. |
 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad photo
This is the elevator at Tres
Ríos de La Unión |
| Honors heaped on former president Mora on date of his 1860
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Juan Rafael Mora Porras, the 19th century president is a real comeback kid. Even though his political career ended in front of a firing squad in Puntarenas in 1860, Mora is getting elaborate praise this year, the 200th anniversary of his birth. Present day politicians were out in force Tuesday to honor the man. Sept. 30 was the day he was executed in 1860. There even is an anthem written to honor him that has become part of the public school curriculum. It can be found HERE! There seems to be a collective guilt, at least among politicians, over the death of Mora and that of his brother-in-law, José María Cañas, a few days later. Mora has been the subject of a plaza at the foreign ministry, among other honors. He was the president that rallied the country to defeat the potential invasion by William Walker's forces in 1856. He also directed two other campaigns along the Río San Juan that eventually forced Walker to end his ambitions to be king of Central America. Mora's forces received a lot of help from Cornelius Vanderbilt and the British. Tuesday a statue of the man called liberator and national hero received floral offerings from President Luis Guillermo Solís; Henry Mora, the president of the Asamblea Legislativa; Sandra Garcia Pérez, the mayor of San José, and Zarela Villanueva, president of the Corte Suprema de Justicia. Mora had been overthrown in a coup, and was captured when he returned to Costa Rica in an effort to regain power. The executions did have a beneficial result. After Cañas died the country eliminated the death penalty. |
 Partido Liberación Nacional photo
Statue of Mora is decked with
wreaths |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 194 | |||||
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| Jimmy Carter at 90 stills mixes Bible, effort for peace and
diplomacy |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter celebrates his 90th birthday today. While not the oldest living president, Carter has set the record for the longest post-presidency of any former occupant of the White House, surpassing Herbert Hoover for the honor in 2012. And he shows no signs of slowing down. His vice president, Walter Mondale, believes Jimmy Carter stands apart among former presidents. “He’s got this part of him, this focus, this commitment… he gets on to something he wants to get it done, and it’s impressive to watch,” Mondale said. The former president and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize laureate leads an active life, centered around The Carter Center, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization that says it wages peace, fights disease and builds hope throughout the world. Being called one of the most accomplished ex-presidents of the U.S. is a term his wife of 68 years, Rosalynn, is not fond of hearing. “I don't like that. He was a great president. People are finding it out. I like them to say, well, he is the greatest ex-president, but he was a great president, too,” she said. The accomplishments of Jimmy Carter’s presidency include normalizing relations with China, returning the Panamá Canal to Panamá and negotiating the Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel. But those accomplishments tend to be overshadowed by the economic decline in the U.S. in the late 1970s and the Iran hostage crisis, which dominated much of his final years in office. "I think it's clear that his presidency was not the greatest,” said Joe Crespino, professor of 20th century American political history at Emory University. “That’s not all of his doing. That’s not all of his fault. A lot of that had to do with the circumstances he inherited. But I don’t think there’s shame in being called the ‘greatest ex-president.’” Crespino said the path to the “greatest ex-presidency” began in the wake of Jimmy Carter’s unsuccessful bid for re-election in 1980. U.S. presidents since Herbert Hoover have libraries that catalog their official and personal documents. After he left office in 1981, Carter wanted to create a different kind of presidential library and museum that could host conflict resolution, modeled after the successful Camp David Peace Accords. The Carter Center was founded in 1982. “But it's grown enormously and one of our basic principles has been that we don't duplicate what other people are doing,” Carter said, “and so we have filled vacuums in the world, you might say, and over a period of 30 years or more now we've gone into areas of international politics and alleviation of suffering and promoting democracy that others had never done.” The staff of the Carter Center has monitored more than 90 troubled elections, treated those suffering from neglected tropical diseases in many countries, and is on the verge of completely eradicating Guinea worm disease. Many see Jimmy Carter as a valued negotiator. Others see him as meddlesome. “He’s been criticized for talking to leaders around the world, that he’ll go and talk to anyone,” said Emory Professor Crespino. “He always feels like the fundamental issue for him is to try to bring people together and have conversations about difficult problems.” One issue that presently frustrates Carter is the unwillingness of the United States government to engage in direct talks with North Korea. After several visits to the closed Communist country, Carter said he is willing to go again to secure the release of three Americans detained there. But so far he has not been granted permission. “There’s no need for me to go unless I can get a designation from the U.S. government that I am speaking officially for the U.S. government, which I cannot do. That’s the truth of the matter,” said Carter. When Carter isn’t traveling the world or at his Atlanta headquarters, he may be found 160 miles south of of Atlanta, in the rural town of Plains, Georgia, Carter’s birthplace. And it’s there that the former president of the United States becomes one of the world’s most famous Sunday school teachers. Jimmy Carter’s faith is a central part of his life, both before he entered the White House in 1977 and after he left. He has taught some form of Sunday school since the age of 18. Now at age 90, his classroom is as big as ever, and more diverse. |
 Voice of America photo
Jimmy Carter on a medical
mission to Africa. Voice of America photo
Mr. and Mrs. Carter at a Carter
Center event.U.S. Army Sgt. Sudhir Shrestha is a long way from his home country of Nepal to be among hundreds waiting in line to enter the Maranatha Baptist Church to hear Carter teach the Bible. “It’s really rewarding. A life-changing experience. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Shrestha. Maranatha is not the largest of the eight churches in this town of 766 people, but it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Plains. Jan Williams, a Maranatha member, said visitors get more than just a recitation of bible verses. “You get an up-to-date history lesson sometimes. I had never heard of the ISIS until one of his Sunday school lessons and maybe what action the United States should take,” said Williams. There are about 150 members on the books at Maranatha Baptist Church. About 25 to 30 of them attend services on a given Sunday. But on weeks when President Carter is scheduled to teach Sunday school, it’s hard to find an empty pew. “When I teach, Plains prospers,” Carter acknowledged. “A lot of those people tell me they've never been in a church before in their life and they just come to hear a politician teach the Bible.” “I just wanted the opportunity to see him in person, not just watch him on TV or read his writings or listen to the news, but actually get a chance to see what he has to say in person,” said Sgt. Shrestha. Though he has traveled to more than 140 countries and continues to lead an active life as head of the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter still lives in the same small town where he was born 90 years ago. Visitors to Plains not only have a chance to see the place that shaped the man, but the man himself. When he is not preparing for a Sunday school lesson, he might be behind an easel at his home in Plains creating his next painting. In addition to being a prolific artist, Jimmy Carter is also a best-selling author, currently working on his 29th book. Looking back on 90 years, Carter is upbeat. “It's been a very exciting and challenging and unpredictable and adventurous, and I would say a very gratifying life.” |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 194 | |||||||
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| Recently arrived Texan said to be the victim of ebola By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Doctors in Dallas, Texas, say they have diagnosed the first case of ebola in the United States. The patient, whose identity has not been revealed, arrived on a flight from Liberia earlier this month but showed no signs of illness until a few days later. The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Thomas Frieden, says the patient infected with the ebola virus was healthy when he or she left Liberia and while on the flight to the United States. "This individual left Liberia on the 19th of September, arrived in the U.S. on the 20th of September, had no symptoms when departing Liberia or entering this country, but four or five days later, around the 24th of September, began to develop symptoms," said Frieden. Frieden stressed that until the symptoms appeared, the person posed no threat of infection to anyone else. He said authorities are now trying to identify anyone who may have had contact with the infected person during the period when the symptoms first appeared to the time the patient went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas for treatment. Those people will be closely monitored for a few weeks to make sure they did not contract the disease. A hospital spokesperson says the infected patient is in intensive care, but would not reveal any further information out of concern for the individual's privacy. Doctors working on this case say ebola can be easily contained through good public health practices, immediate quarantine of anyone showing symptoms and monitoring of people with whom that person came into contact. Frieden says the virus cannot be transmitted through the air, but only through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person manifesting symptoms. “While we do not currently know how this individual became infected, they undoubtedly had contact with someone who was sick with ebola or who died from it," he said. Early symptoms of ebola include fever, sore throat and muscle aches. As the disease progresses, it produces hemorrhagic fever, which can cause bleeding and organ failure. Although American health workers who were diagnosed in Africa were flown back to the U.S. for treatment, the Texas patient is the first to be diagnosed inside the United States. Ebola has killed nearly 3,100 people and infected more than 6,500. West Africa, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are the most affected countries. The virus causes uncontrollable bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea. It is spread by direct contact with the body fluids of infected patients. There is no specific treatment, but an American doctor diagnosed with the virus was found to be ebola-free after taking an experimental drug last month. President Barack Obama has called ebola a national security priority for the United States. He has called on the rest of the world to also regard it as a threat. The Pentagon said Tuesday it is sending 700 U.S. soldiers to Liberia to help that country handle the outbreak. Seven hundred Army engineers also will help build treatment centers. No U.S. military personnel will provide direct care to ebola patients. Elsewhere in West Africa, the Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday it looks like the ebola outbreak in Nigeria has been contained. Officials said there have been no new cases since Aug. 31, and the 21-day monitoring period of those who came in contact with those infected ends Thursday. There were 19 confirmed ebola cases in Nigeria. The Centers also said Senegal avoided an ebola epidemic when authorities there isolated that country's only ebola case in August. Twelve other people in the U.S. have been tested for ebola since July 27. The Centers said all those tests came back negative. The White House says President Obama discussed the Centers' stringent isolation procedures with Frieden, who noted that the agency was prepared for an ebola case in the U.S. The illness has an average 8-10 day incubation period (although it ranges from 2 to 21 days). The Centers recommend monitoring exposed people for symptoms a complete 21 days. People are not contagious after exposure unless they develop symptoms. Secret Service director gets tough questions on intruder By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson came under sharp criticism from members of Congress, who pressed her to explain how an intruder was able to evade security and enter the main floor of the White House 10 days ago. Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about the safety of President Barack Obama and his family while they are at home. Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee often argue bitterly with each other. On Tuesday, though, they turned their anger and frustration on Secret Service Director Pierson. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican, was outraged that Director Pierson praised what she said was the tremendous restraint Secret Service agents showed after the incident Sept. 19 when a man with a knife was able to run all the way into the East Room of the presidential mansion before he was apprehended. “Tremendous restraint is not the goal and the objective. It sends a very mixed message. The message should be overwhelming force,” said Chaffetz. Director Pierson promised a comprehensive investigation into the failures that allowed the intruder to jump a fence, cross the grounds and enter the White House, and said she would take action if needed. “It is clear that our security plan was not properly executed. This is unacceptable, and I take full responsibility, and I will make sure that it does not happen again,” she stated. Her response was not good enough for many of the lawmakers on the panel, including Stephen Lynch, a Democrat. “And I wish to God you protected the White House like you are protecting your reputation here today," he said. "I wish you spent that time and that effort to protect the American president.” Lynch said he has serious questions about Director Pierson's leadership and that he fears for the safety of the president and the first family within the confines of the White House. Washington, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton pointed out that as the first African-American U.S. president, Obama faces even more danger. “According to threat assessments, this president has had three times as many threats as his predecessors,” said Ms. Norton. Director Pierson was also asked about another incident in 2011 when a man fired into the White House and it took several days for the Secret Service to realize that the building had been hit. Several lawmakers blamed her for sending mixed signals about whether agents could use lethal force if they felt the president is in danger. Some said the height of the White House fence is not the problem, but that several layers of security failed to stop the fence-jumper until he had crossed the lawn, opened the door, and run through the main floor of the White House. The president and his daughters had left the building just minutes before the intruder came in. Xbox hacker suspects face aggressive U.S. responses By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. authorities have charged four members of a computer hacking ring with the theft of secret data used in American products, including Xbox games and training software for military helicopter pilots. In a statement Tuesday, the Justice Department said two of the defendants have already pleaded guilty, including the one Canadian resident to be charged. The other three defendants reside in the U.S. Leslie Caldwell, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division who was quoted in the statement, said the guilty pleas show the U.S. will protect America's intellectual property from hackers, whether they hack from here or from abroad. The four young men, ranging in age from 18 to 28, were indicted on charges including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, copyright infringement, identity theft and wire fraud. The total value of the data they stole plus the costs associated with the theft is estimated at $100 to 200 million. Making the announcement along with Caldwell and an agent from the FBI, U.S. Attorney Charles Oberly of Delaware said, electronic breaking and entering of computer networks and the digital looting of identities and intellectual property have become much too common. These are not harmless crimes, and those who commit them should not believe they are safely beyond our reach, he said. The indictment and other court records allege that from January 2011 to March 2014, the four men and others hacked into computer networks of the U.S. Army and several companies, including Microsoft, which makes Xbox. Once inside, they are accused of accessing and stealing unreleased software, secrets and copyrighted works. They allegedly conspired to use, share and sell the stolen information. Specifically, the theft included data related to the then-unreleased Xbox One gaming console, Apache helicopter simulator software that Zombie Studios developed for the U.S. Army, and pre-release versions of "Gears of War" and "Call of Duty' games. Australia has also charged one of its citizens for his alleged role in the case. The Justice Department says the Canadian resident, 22-year-old David Pokora, is believed to be the first foreign-based individual convicted for hacking into U.S. businesses to steal trade secret information. Four persons to be honored for courageous reporting By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Committee to Protect Journalists is honoring correspondents from Burma, Iran, Russia, and South Africa for courageous reporting in the face of censorship, violence and possible imprisonment. The committee says its 2014 International Press Freedom Awards will go to Irrawaddy newspaper founder and editor-in-chief Aung Zaw of Burma, formerly imprisoned freelance journalist Siamak Ghaderi of Iran, independent TV broadcaster Mikhail Zygar of Russia and City Press newspaper editor Ferial Haffajee of South Africa. The organization said in a statement Tuesday the honorees are to be commended for taking risks to report the news at a time when journalists are confronting record levels of brutal violence and repression. Executive Director Joel Simon said Zaw, Ghaderi, Zygar, and Haffajee are undeterred and unbowed and have risked all to report the news. The organization is also planning to present a lifetime achievement award to Jorge Ramos, co-anchor of Univision News since 1986. The organization says Ramos immigrated from Mexico to the United States to avoid government interference in his work, and that he is to be commended for championing the rights of journalists in Latin America who work under dangerous conditions. The awards will be presented at a ceremony Nov. 25 in New York City. Helicopter crash to test use of composite materials By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
NASA engineers will purposely crash a retired U.S. Marine helicopter, retrofitted with various composite subfloors, to see how well an airframe of that material would protect anyone inside the cabin. According to the space exploration agency there is growing interest in carbon airframes, but not a lot of safety testing has been done on a full-scale level to determine its crashworthiness. Today’s experiment at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia will swing a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter fuselage like a pendulum and then drop it from about 10 meters onto the soil below. The helicopter will hit the ground at about 50 kilometers an hour. The impact condition represents a severe, but survivable, condition under both civilian and military requirements, according to NASA officials. Inside the former Marine helicopter airframe will be crash test dummies, cameras and accelerometers. Almost 40 cameras inside and outside the helicopter will record how 13 crash test dummies and two manikins react before, during and after impact. Lead test engineer Martin Annett said that one of the things that concerns people with carbon composites is how crashworthy they really are. He said this experiment will help to inform future aircraft design work. A similar crash test was conducted last summer, although the composite material was not used. Officials say this test with a CH-46 Sea Knight is based, in part, on what they learned last year. According to Annett, "the big difference in this year's experiment is that we are testing three energy absorbing composite subfloor concepts that should help some of the dummy occupants sustain fewer injuries than they did in the first test last August.” NASA is collaborating with the U.S. Navy, Army and Federal Aviation Administration, as well as the German Aerospace Center and the Australian Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Composite Structures. New test for colon cancer avoids use of colonoscope By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
According to the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and the fourth most common cause of death for both men and women. Survivability rises if it is diagnosed early enough. A new type of test promises to replace the dreaded colonoscopy as the most reliable method for doing that. Doctors say the most reliable test for colon cancer is a colonoscopy -- looking inside the patient’s large intestine. With a special instrument, they can look for potentially deadly polyps and remove them on the spot. But University of Miami oncologist Ike Akunyili said the procedure is not a popular one. “You have to put something through somebody's behind and lot of people don't like it.” That is why many patients opt for the less invasive fecal occult blood test, which can be done at home, but is less reliable. It cannot detect polyps and even misses some cancers. But a new way to test stool samples, called Cologuard, claims to be 94 percent accurate in identifying colorectal cancer. Akunyili said this is especially good news for patients who avoid colonoscopies. “It might increase uptake and make more people who are hesitant about getting screened get screened,” he said. Patients can collect a stool sample at home and send it to a laboratory, where it is screened for three genetic markers associated with polyps or early stage tumors. Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist David Alquist said the new test may lead to fewer colorectal cancer cases, just as the PAP smear test lowered the number of cervical cancer cases. “There is no reason why application of Cologuard broadly through our population couldn't achieve the same thing for colon cancer. Our goal is to eradicate colon cancer,” said Alquist. As screening for genetic markers becomes more sophisticated, doctors say the test soon may be able to identify other gastrointestinal cancers. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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OAS seeks
hosts for U.S. detainees
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Organization of American States is asking member countries to consider accepting some of the people detained at Guantanamo naval base in Cuba. "I request respectfully that those countries that can do so, in a manner consistent with their national policies and their internal legal framework, consider receiving people currently detained in Guantanamo, in order to allow them to resume their lives following their prolonged detention," said Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general, in a release. The Organization of American States has expressed its concern about the plight of the prisoners through cautionary measures, resolutions, examinations of cases, hearings and press releases, requesting for these people treatment in strict accordance with universal and regional norms regarding human rights, to which organization countries have adhered, it said. In 2011 the organization noted that via a resolution it urged the United States to close the facility and arrange for trials or release of the prisoners. "More than half of the prisoners that remain in Guantanamo are in conditions to be freed, but have not been for the lack of a country that will receive them," said the Insulza statement. "These are people who have not been judged, nor will they be, for any crime, and the exhaustive evaluations that they have been submitted to by the authorities of the United States have determined that they do not present serious risks to the security of the country, nor to any that receives them." The statement noted that there are 79 inmates who are ready to be freed but no country has stepped forward to accept them. Since 2009 18 countries have accepted 48 detainees and reduced the number of inmates to 149, the statement said. The Guantanamo base added a high security prison in 2002 to accept individuals captured in Afghanistan, Iraq and a few other Mideast countries. President Barack Obama has been seeking to close the facility since he took office, but Congress has declined to provide the money to do so. Slight reduction of gasoline OK'd By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The seesaw gasoline prices are going down 13 colons a liter for plus but only 2 colons a liter for super. Diesel is going down 11 colons. The new prices were set by the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos, and they will take effect upon publication, perhaps Friday or next week. The changes were attributed to the international marketplace. Children's museum lighting is Dec. 3 By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Museo de los Niños will illuminate the facade of the structure in the usual elaborate ceremony Dec. 3. This is one of the big events in the Christmas season accompanied by fireworks, drama for youngsters and the gathering of thousands of persons. The museum staff said the event will start at 6 p.m. This is a 14-year tradition. The police forces usually close down streets and put many officers on duty in the area to give parents and their children safe passage. |
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| From Page 7: Christopher Howard updates retirement guide By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The prolific expat author Christopher Howard has just released the 17th edition of his "New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica — the official guide to relocation." The 708-page book will be sold through Amazon, and there is more information about it on that Web site HERE!. The eBook version will be sold through Howard's Web site at www.costaricabooks.com Howard has produced guide books to a number of Latin countries and also a guide to Costa Rican real estate, a guide to Costa Rican Spanish and a guide to the country's legal system, among others. |
