A.M. Costa Rica

	A.M. Costa Rica Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday

A.M.
Costa Rica

Third news page

Home	Calendar	Place a classified ad	Classifieds	Real estate	Food	About us
San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 9, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 200

Sala IV rejects plea to block trade pact over publication rule

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Sala IV constitutional court has rejected an appeal by a Partido Acción Ciudadana deputy that the free trade treaty with the United States was incorrectly publicized.

The deputy, Alberto Salom, filed the recurso de amparo because only 1,500 copies of the free trade treaty were published by the La Gaceta official newspaper, which has about 2,500 subscribers. The publication created a special supplement in November for the book-length treaty.

Publication is required of laws before their are considered by the Asamblea Legislativa. Publication is mostly a formality because complete copies of the treaty were available online in both Spanish and English.

The minister of Comercio Exterior, Marco Vinicio Ruiz, said Friday that he was pleased with the decision and that the road was now cleared for approval by the lawmakers.

The treaty is controversial, and Salom's party is a principal opponent. Unionized public employees plan what they call a national strike Oct. 23 and 24. But even Cuba has gotten into the act.

The official Communist Party newspaper Granma criticized President Óscar Arias Sánchez for alleged plans to remilitarize Costa Rica, which has not had an army since 1948.

The Granma articles were based on reports from here, including one by Albino Vargas of the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados that said the free trade treaty would permit armament plants to be built.

Treaty opponents cited a listing for Raytheon S.A. in the Costa Rican public registry as proof that the U.S.-based missile manufacturer was opening a plant on the Nicoya Peninsula.

However, Raytheon issued a statement last week saying that it had no holdings in Costa Rica nor plans to open a plant here. The executives of the corporation were surprised by the report, which seems to involve a corporation founded by Costa Ricans.

Arias went on television Sunday night to criticize Cuba as the biggest dictatorship in the hemisphere and the screen displayed a Granma story bearing the name of Vargas. He said it was hardly an impartial source.

Here's some excuses if you don't want to go to work today

De majaderias y enfermedades

“Of absurdities and infirmities”

Today’s column takes the form of a vocabulary list of illnesses — real or invented — that Ticos sometime employ when they want to get out of doing something, like for example going to work on a Monday morning, or to school on exam days, or to visit their mothers-in-law any day. So I’m sure that you can appreciate just how important, and terribly useful, these words can be. Learn them well. You never know when they’ll come in handy:

1. QUEBRANTO (standard Spanish "weakness"): The mysterious elevation of body temperature, not sufficient to be considered a fever that might send one to the doctor, but enough to excuse one from work, school, or social obligations for at least a day.

2. PATATÚS (standard Spanish “fainting spell”): An attack of lunacy of unknown origin, which can sometimes lead to custodial confinement for observation purposes.

3. YEYO (no known standard Spanish equivalent): A sudden, acute condition, often associated with patatús sometimes accompanied by nausea, that may warrant a visit to the doctor, the use of prescription medications, and an absence of several days from work or school.

4. CHICHÓN (standard Spanish “a lump, bump, or swelling”): A cranial protuberance usually the result of a fall suffered during an attack of patatús.

5. EMPACHO (standard Spanish “indigestion”): Digestive disorder resulting from over indulgence in food and/or alcoholic beverage such as chorizos, chicharones, tamales, bread, ham, pork leg, rice, beans, Russian salad, arroz con leche and que-que de tres leches all washed down with a couple of bottles of guaro. This condition may require the administration of several doses of Sal Andrews, or, in more severe cases, a strong laxative and at least one day’s complete bed rest.

6. MUÑECA ABIERTA (standard Spanish “open wrist”): A sprain or dislocation of the joint connecting the hand and the forearm, generally the result of opening tightly sealed containers such as whisky, vodka, or guaro bottles and jars of stuffed olives.

7. SERENO (standard Spanish “night air, dew, night watchman): The open night air, or “vapors,” often has a

The
way we say it

By Daniel Soto

deleterious effect upon people who go out without wearing a hat or those who wander about the streets in the late evening after having consumed ample quantities of guaro, vodka, or whisky. Exposure to sereno at times may also result in a very severe chichón.

8. CUERPO PESADO (standard Spanish “heavy body”): The mysterious sensation that one’s body weighs a tremendous amount, that the arms are too heavy to lift and that one’s legs are no longer strong enough to support the weight of the trunk. This condition often comes suddenly upon the unsuspecting victim when he gets off of a bar stool and may also result in one or more severe chichón.

9. SALPULLIDO (standard Spanish “rash”): Strange eruptions like little red pimples that appear after eating something one is allergic to, such as seafood. This condition usually develops after a weekend spent at the beach indulging in the consumption of profuse quantities of mariscos such as camarones, chuchecas, langostinos, almejas, and mejillónes of uncertain origin, all washed down with a couple of bottles of guaro. Salpullido may also be accompanied by a severe case of empacho.

10. SOPONCIO (standard Spanish “faint, swoon, dizziness”): An illness dependent upon social class. For example, the rich suffer attacks of soponcio, while those who must work for a living get patatús.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to a couple of wonderful Ticas friends of mine, Lucia and Gerardina, for providing me with material for today’s column.

Another Internet gambling firm decides to leave Costa Rica

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Another online gambling business is leaving Costa Rica. The firm is Nine.com, which was purchased 10 months ago by Leisure & Gaming PLC.

A Nine.com source said that about 150 jobs would be lost by the move. The business is now part of a subsidiary named VIP.Com, and company officials have complained about the efficiency of the business.

However, locally a former employee said that the decision also was based on the passage by the U.S. Congress early Sept. 30 of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

This new law, which is awaiting the signature of U.S. President George Bush, makes it illegal to transfer money from the United States for the purpose of gambling. The Nine.com Web site will be moved to Curacao, according to gambling sources.

News from the BBC up to the minute	BBC sports news up to the minute
BBC news and sports feeds are disabled in archived pages.