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San
José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 203
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 A.M. Costa Rica/Kimberly A.
Beck
Crowd gathers around accident
victim near a hospital in LimónCarnaval is off to slow start,
as Limón gears up for weekend By Kimberly A. Beck Special to A.M. Costa Rica Carnaval started in Limón this weekend, but it wasn’t exactly in full swing. The bomberos were in the process of washing their boat, the vendors were drowsy in their rocking chairs, and no one seemed to know where the activities were. The mechanical rides were working but not even half full, like they were in test mode. A schedule of activities was nowhere to be found. The only thing that was swinging was Big Boy baseball stadium. Two dollars bought a ticket to see a double header between the visiting Siquirres team and Limón. Siquirres won the first game 8-7. The second game was delayed by two females fighting in the stands, when the umpire yelled out “strike,” they obeyed. Casey Bahr of San Isidro de El General drove his family six hours to see the festivities. “There wasn’t a lot going on Carnaval-wise but it was interesting to see the people and the architecture.” Bahr, the author of "A Dull Roar," a Costa Rica blog, drove to Limón expecting to see dancing in the streets and children on parade but left a bit unsatisfied after a walking tour of the city left him with only hearing one reggae song and none of the famous Limón party atmosphere. “I’ll be back next year but maybe during the weekend of the Gran Carnaval,” Bahr said. Carnaval goes through next Sunday, and the grand parade is at noon Saturday. There is increased traffic in the streets which can be dangerous to both the pedestrians and drivers. Sunday an unidentified man was struck by a car in front of the Hospital Tony Facio. He was quickly placed on a gurney and carried by foot into the emergency room. Police aguinaldo effort is a sure sign of Christmas By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There is a sure sign that Christmas is coming. The Fuerza Pública is about to announce its strategy for safeguarding the Christmas bonuses Costa Rican workers get. Juan José Andrade Morales, the director general of the Fuerza Pública, is expected to announce some changes during a meeting today. The police most certainly will continue the use of towers that have proved successful in the past. Some have remained in place all year because they give police officers a bird's eye view of the crowds. The metro area also is flooded with police during this time. The Christmas bonus is called an aguinaldo, and it represents one twelfth of what an employee earns all year. That is why it is called the 13th month of salary. Employees also do not have any deductions from the payment as is usually the case with the regular paycheck. Police officials reason that with the increased amount of money in the street, there is more opportunities for thieves and robbers. Most Costa Ricans now have bank accounts and use their debit cards for purchases. But there always is the negotiating power of cash, which is why some carry large amounts. Employers are supposed to pay the bonus between Dec. 1 and 15, and Costa Ricans who fail to get their money will quickly show up at the Ministerio de Trabajo to file a claim. A big chunk of money is that paid to public employees. The government always manages to pay this money despite the national economic conditions. Acción Ciudadana's Solís wins second party's support By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Partido Acción Ciudadana has entered into a pact with Alianza Patriótica, another political party. This means that Alianza Patriótica will support the presidential ambitions of Luis Guillermo Solís of Acción Ciudadana. The parties have similar philosophies. Both Alianza Patriótica and Solís oppose the free trade treaty with the United States. Alianza Patriótica is rabidly opposed to Óscar Arias Sánchez and his wing of Partido Liberación Nacional. If Solís wins, members of Alianza Patriótica expect to participate by assuming appointed positions in his administration, Acción Ciudadana said. The party also announced Sunday that Helio Fallas and Ana Helena Chacón will be the vice presidential nominees. Fallas is an economist with experience is strengthened the middle class, the party said. Ms. Chacón is a former vice minister of security and a former legislative deputy. She has been recognized for her work with children and as director of Fundación PANIAMOR, which campaigns against sex tourism. 50-year prison term upheld for Herradura arson murderer By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The high criminal court has upheld a 50-year prison sentence for a man who ignited a shipping container while four persons were inside. The victims died. The Poder Judicial said that the Sala III of the Corte Supreme de Justicia rejected appeals presented by the defense lawyers of the man identified by the last name of Vásquez. A criminal court in Puntarenas found him guilty in July 2012 and awarded the lengthy term. Killed were two men and two women, including a minor. The original sentence was for 142 years, but the legal limit in Costa Rica is 50 years. The crime was June 10, 2011 in a field in Herradura near Jacó. The shipping container was being used as a home. Vásquez was accused of chaining the doors of the steel container shut and then pouring inflammable fluids around the exterior. Fuerza Pública nabs four after Ciudad Colón pursuits By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fuerza Pública officers have detained four men who are suspected of stealing a wide-screen television from a home near the Universidad de Paz outside Ciudad Colón. The burglars fled but police were able to capture the four suspects after several chases, they said. This is the same area where an expat suffered a bullet wound when he shot it out with home invaders who briefly abducted his wife. Suspects were captured. Increases in bus fare are minimal By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's price regulating agency has reviewed bus fares and left 1,214 or about 34 percent of them unchanged. Nearly 60 percent of the bus routes or 2,112 have been approved for a 5- to 25-colon increase, said the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos Overall the increases average 1.29 percent for the nation's 3,570 bus routes, it said.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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Costa Rica advertising reaches from 12,000 to 14,000 unique visitors every weekday in up to 90 countries. |
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 203 | |
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 Ministerio
de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
Mario Zamora checked out drums
of fuel presumed to be for a helicopter. |
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| Secret base camp in north draws a visit
from security minister |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Law enforcement officers still are uncertain why heavily armed men set up a camp in northern Costa Rica. But the situation is serious enough to warrant a visit by the security minister. The minister, Mario Zamora, visited the heavily wooded location Friday in the company of members of the Policía de Fronteras. Among other items confiscated were 5,000 liters of gasoline in steel drums. That's about 1,320 gallons, enough for repeated flights by a helicopter. There was a rough landing pad at the site, too. Members of the tax police also have expressed interest in the case with the thought that this may have been a smuggling operation bringing untaxed goods into the country. Frontier police were tipped off by residents because some of the occupants of the mountain camp were believed to have made trips to town for supplies. They must have been there some time because they had constructed two rude houses. Police also confiscated a truck and a new quadracycle. |
The occupants cut a road into the
site, too. This is the place where police found 20 rifles, AK-47s and M-16s. They also found an RPG-7 grenade device. Experts had to be called in to check for mines and to disarm another rocket device. Foreign banknotes appear to underline the international nature of the camp. Police found Mexican and Guatemala bills. Police said they think that five men lived at the site, but they fled into the mountains and are expected to be across the border in Nicaragua now. Zamora said that the weapons discovery was the most important in 15 years. He said earlier that the firearms were new and not leftovers from the Nicaraguan civil war. The location is in the hills near Limonal de Cutris, which is in far northern Alajuela province. Zamora said he was stationing a permanent force in the area to keep the sector completely under government control. |
| Costa Rica's case against Nicaragua will
be televised on Internet |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The International Court of Justice hearing today between Costa Rica and Nicaragua will be streamed live from The Hague. The television facilities of the United Nations are being used to distribute the hearing in several formats. Costa Rica wants the court to order Nicaragua to leave the Isla Calero and give permission for remedial work to close up the two canals that the Nicaraguans have dug and dredged between the Río San Juan and the Caribbean. The television signal will begin at 10 a.m. in The Hague. That will be 2 a.m. Costa Rican time because The Netherlands is on daylight savings time and there is an eight hour time difference. |
The service will be streamed in
English and French. Some news reporters and probably the Ministerio de
Relaciones Exteriores y Culto here will receive a high definition
signal. The public can see a low definition signal via the Internet. This is the LINK for English. This is the U.N. Television LINK! The court said that the session today would begin at 10 a.m. local time and finish about 1 p.m. That would be 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. Costa Rican time. Costa Rica outlines its case today. Nicaragua does so Tuesday. The hearing is scheduled to last through Thursday with each country presenting its case and having another day to respond. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 203 | |||||
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| Communities got city status 200 years ago because of San
Salvador revolt |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
San José, Heredia, Alajuela and Ujarrás are celebrating this year their incorporations as cities, something that was awarded by the short-lived Cortes de Cádiz. These were turbulent times when desire for more autonomy was growing in the Americas, and the French had invaded Spain, the mother country. It was another revolution in the Americas that won these Costa Rican communities the name of city. The Archive Nacional noted that the action by the Cortes de Cádiz came because those in what is now Costa Rica sent a unit of troops north to help the Spanish crush what was Central America's first independence movement. The archives said it gathered a lot of the information from a 2011 book written by Manuel Benavides Barquero. The revolt began in San Salvador Nov. 5, 1811, and the revolutionaries were some of the leading citizens. They claimed that because the French had deposed Ferdinand VII, the king's appointees no longer had valid posts. Historical sources note that there were economic reasons related to taxes that fueled the revolt against the Captaincy General of Guatemala. Eventually the Spanish negotiated an end to the revolt, but the spark flared up in León, Nicaragua. Costa Rica sent solders to Grenada, and there were |
some deaths.
The archives does not say why, but it does note that one of the dead
was Casiano Emigdio Porras Sandoval. He happened to be the
brother-in-law of the province of Costa Rica's representative in Cadiz. The gathering in Cadiz was created to fill the vacuum when war broke out against the French invaders. It had local power but also had some authority over Spain's overseas possessions. Costa Rica was represented by Florencio Castillo, and he petitioned the Cortes for city status. This is the same body that promulgated the 1812 Spanish constitution and abolished the Inquisition. It was disbanded the same year when central authority became stronger. The resolution of the Cortes was published Oct. 16, 1813. The Archivo has a copy of this document. En commemoration of the edict, the Archivo Nacional has set up a photo exhibit, “San José en blanco y negro.” The photos are property of the archives and have been published in the book "La ciudad de San José. 1871-1921."An opening date is to be announced. The celebration is relatively low-keyed over the city status because the communities were recognized as cities long before the action by the Cortes. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 203 | |||||
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Our readers' opinions
Costa Ricans have complaintssimilar to what expats say Dear A.M. Costa Rica: It is always humorous to read many of the expats complaints about almost everything under the sun and then read those who either defend Costa Rica or, better yet, tell the complainants to get over it. They say Costa Rican's made their country and all should accept things as they are. Too me, this seems insulting! I may be a Gringo, but, my wife and her entire family are Tico/Ticas. AND, psssst, they are upset with all the same things. Do expats think Ticos are idiots!? Do they think Tico/Ticas get better services than expats? It is just the opposite. Most folks nowadays are greed-driven, and when they see Gringos, they see dollars. When my wife and I go here and there, I get the attention in most instances. Costa Rica has all the problems that all other governments have that have massive amounts of debt, and under those circumstance, problems can never be fixed. I see what is up with the U.S.A. When the alleged world's only superpower country has $200 trillion in unfunded liabilities and continues growing the debt, the smaller countries like Costa Rica see that the key to living in this phony Monopoly world is the printing of dollars too. I'll just take comfort that my Tico dollars are so colorful ! The U.S. just added a dash of color recently, but, nothing like my colons. Worldwide the people seem to elect the worst of the worst. Seems that the greedy by in large have the assets to buy votes over the poorer folks who run, and once in position use it to become super rich. In the U.S. "60 Minutes" pointed out that Pelosis and Boehner used inside information and made mega millions. At least many of Costa Rican leaders end up in prison! When in Rome ! You know the rest ! Bob
Shakerdge
Golfito Prisoner with cell telephone played trick after tragedy Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Soon after the announcement that the two bodies were recovered at the huge landslide south of Arenal, the cook at a small Arenal soda received a telephone call. The caller ordered many box lunches and said he was going to donate them to the many volunteers who helped recover the bodies. The cook rushed out and bought extra supplies to fill the order. The order was never picked up and never paid for. According to the police, the caller was a prisoner using his cell phone to make the call. A big joke. Why are prisoners allowed to have cell phones? The police said that maybe the prisoner would receive time added. Later the police reported that a soda in Tilarán had also fallen for the hoax. All sodas should be warned of the possibility of hoaxes resulting from people taking advantage of tragedies. Many sodas just get by, and a great loss can be devastating. The cook is well known for helping people. It was heartrending to see her tears after working so hard for nothing. John
McClure
Arenal EDITOR'S NOTE: Prisoners are not supposed to have cell telephones. Every time they shake down a prison they come up with all sorts of items, including cell phones. There is no way prisoners can have cell phones without prison officials knowing about it. Efforts to block the signals have not been effective. Land line calls from prisons contain a recorded message saying where the call originated. Sidewalks are clearly needed, and trash cans do not work Dear
A.M. Costa Rica:
I read your newspaper every single morning and was in hysterics reading the one that one of your readers submitted this morning, saying that if you object to the trash along the streets and sidewalks, just look up and not down. Only one thing wrong with that suggestion. If you live where we live, which is walking from east of the Red Cross building up to Paroquia Santa Ana Catholic Church to Mass, as we do every Sunday morning, and you were looking up or straight ahead, rather than down, you would be dead, probably in the first 10 minutes of your walk, or if not dead, severely injured. That is due to the fact that we virtually have NO sidewalks in this part of Santa Ana. And there are places along that route that have holes where you could bury a 6-foot man, so obviously, our plea to anyone running for office in this area, this coming election would be to PLEASE let us have sidewalks, like they have in Lindora, Belén, and most of the other cities around here. As for his other comment about picking up the trash ourselves along the way, in fact, I do. What is amazing is that the “Chinese 7-11,” as we call it or the Super Roble, right up the street here has just spent a fortune re-doing the entire front entrance, with a brand new paint job, new walkway into the store, new signage.......everything brand spanking new and the owner has placed a huge trash can right at the exit of the store on the sidewalk out front. Yet the Ticos walk right by it, finishing their candy bar or their pack of cigarettes or whatever, and rather than throw the empty package into the trash can, they just toss it right on the sidewalk and totally ignore the trash can. You would certainly think that if you were born and raised here that you would want to see your community improved and want to be proud to show it off when guests or family from other places come to visit you, but obviously that is not the case here. Rosalind
Stanco-Litt
Santa Ana No shame in kvetching to avoid acquired apathy Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Rob Rowntree's relatively pleasant "Get Over It" rant, just like so many of those that have preceded it over the years here on A.M. Costa Rica, still ignores the obvious: By not effectively confronting the shortcomings everybody knows exist here, Costa Ricans and their fearless leaders in San José are insuring that these issues will persist. Are we who've come here with open hearts and open wallets and whose lives and businesses are impacted by these perennial problems and the less than transparent/often futile attempts by the government to solve them, supposed to just shut up and work on our our tans simply because most of us don't have the right to vote? Where I come from, that's called "playing the victim." There's no shame in kvetching. It's a global pastime with a proud history that stretches all the way back to the time of our screeching, tree dwelling ancestors. But many foreigners bring more than just money and opinions when they come to Costa Rica. They arrive with shared experiences of generations of community support and activism, a tradition that is often lacking here. My neighbors in Manuel Antonio hate the crumbling, potholed road that passes through our neighborhood. It has been an axel-buster for most of the 10 years I've lived here. But if you try to talk them into signing a petition or going down the hill to a town council meeting, they'll look at you like you're suggesting they light their hair on fire and streak the bus station! That's just who they are. The vast majority of them are friendly, hard working, God fearing folks who just aren't wired for confrontations of any kind with civil servants. Acclimation by foreign residents to life in Costa Rica can easily produce acquired apathy if one's awareness is overly focused on fitting in/not rocking the boat, rather than pitching in/grabbing an oar and putting one's back into the shared journey. My experience is that Ticos appreciate it when extranjeros pitch in, as long as they (a) don't expect to be put in charge, and (b) don't require a hero's adulation for their efforts. Speaking up is a way of pitching in. With all respects to Mr. Rowntree, Costa Rica's foreign residents should NOT "get over it," and they shouldn't shut up about it. They should get involved with it; respectfully, constructively and in the spirit of community building and cooperation. Dean
Barbour
Manuel Antonio Criticizing can be a duty that helps alert other expats Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Stop Muzzling Complainers Rob Rowntree complains about the complainers, but misses the point. Commenting critically, or favorably, is a right, unrelated to citizenship, residence, voting rights or anything else. Even an Asian traveller to Paris for a one-night stopover has the right to complain about his hotel, restaurant service, dishonest taxi drivers, vagrants or anything else that disturbs him. The fact is that criticizing can also be considered a duty. It confers benefits. First, the vast majority of complaints printed by A.M. Costa Rica are real, valid, and annoying, when they’re not outright dangerous to life. And so it’s helpful to residents, and tourists, and potential newcomers to know that if they’ve been a victim of any complaint made by others, they’re not alone. And that if they haven’t been, they may be. It’s informative and consoling to know that one isn’t merely a single unlucky victim of overcharging, but that price-gauging non-Ticos is a sport both residents and visitors are treated to. It helps both the resident and tourist to know some of the potential risks for patients of some doctors, hospitals and medical practices here. Knowing about potential risks is also helpful to anyone thinking of renting a car to tour the country, or to women living or traveling here on their own, or to anyone considering buying a home to reside in, or to late-evening walkers in certain parts of the capital. Second, how often does improvement result anywhere, from silence? Voicing valid discontent openly and long enough, might just reach an ear, even in this unlikely republic, that may start to do a little something to improve something. Bob does a disservice to all residents and visitors by a cowardly call to “stop whining,” his denigration of valid criticism. We’ll overlook his irrelevant aside that speciously equates valid complaining to “coming here and creating our own little corner of America (or Canada, etc.)” And his false dichotomy, impliedly claiming that one can’t both count his blessings and complain. They’re not inconsistent and are both to be commended. A.M. Costa Rica performs an undeniable public service in informing us all of the experiences, negative and positive, that all of us, residents and visitors, do or may encounter in Costa Rica. Guys like Rob are best advised, in the interests of all, to suffer the complainers in silence. Steve
Breslin
San José Many budget items here are far cheaper than U.S. Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Obviously the discussion continues and the complainers write letters to A.M. Costa Rica. The issue is that expats living here, and more and more Ticos, want to have a First World lifestyle at Third World prices. The complaints are that Costa Rica’s roads aren’t good enough, traffic is horrible, bureaucracy is intrusive, taxes are too high, food and services cost too much and finally that it is “nicer” or “cheaper” in neighboring Panamá and Nicaragua. Let me deal with this point first. Maybe Panamá has nicer roads and malls and services and is more welcoming to expats. It also has the revenue from the canal ($314 million in 2012 and $9.07 billion in 2012 revenues) to help meet its citizen’s needs. Nicaragua ($2.72 billion in 2012 revenues) continues to be one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere with 44.7 percent of its people below the poverty line and a regime led by Daniel Ortega that remains antagonistic against foreign (read American) investors. But an expat can feel really rich there if that is what they are looking for! Costa Rica had $6.5 billion in revenue in 2012 and only $922 million from taxes and 75 percent of that from corporations and NOT from individuals. That means that Costa Rica has $922 million in taxes to pay for the complainers wish list: First rate roads, exceptional schools, well equipped and highly professional health care facilities and providers, quality infrastructure for cheap electricity and water and policing for public safety of an entire nation? Folks that just is not possible. That we get any of these services at all is pretty impressive, that we get the quality of services we receive is frankly miraculous! So to the other complaint, the cost of life here. Let us look first at the things that never make the complainers’ lists. A university graduate here makes a minimum wage of around $900 a month. Every one of your expat readers makes more than that, so they start out ahead of the game. We can discuss what costs more, but first let us look at what costs less. Do you have a gardener? A maid? Your maid back home (which you didn’t have because you couldn’t afford her even with your expat salary) would cost almost a full day of pay in Costa Rica for an hour there. Someone to trim your lawn, care for your plants, trim a tree, clean a pool costs a minimum wage of about $18 a day here. Car repairs and car insurance are a wee portion of the U.S cost. Have you had to call a plumber or electrician or get an appliance repaired (you can have a repair done here but almost never back home)? And medical care? Everyone knows that it costs way less to see a doctor or go to a hospital here. Dentists are very affordable as are vets for our pet care. How about the price of a movie or a fabulous concert at the beautiful Teatro Nacional? It is easy to complain about the Caja but it is a ridiculously low-priced medical insurance. Need a check-up a couple of times a year, take regular medicine for sugar or hypertension issues, need an ambulance in an emergency, hospital care, it is all free at the Caja. And recently they have changed so that appointments can be made by phone eliminating the horrid early morning lines. And what is more expensive? Certainly not gas, the price is the same as in Canada and probably less than many European destinations. Not cable TV or Internet or cell phone service. My entire month for electricity, Internet, satellite TV, home and cel phone and water is just a few dollars more than a water bill in my home town, and I don’t pay for home heating or snow removal. In my mountain home I don’t pay for air conditioning. Certainly not taxes on my home or garbage pick-up services. Well what is more expensive are all those things that expats want so they can feel like they never left home. All the things that have to be shipped here from the closest port (Miami) adding costs above those experienced by us back home. Want good quality cheese instead of the bland, soft white stuff that Ticos seem to love or your favorite Skippy peanut butter? Well it has to go in a refrigerated container, sent by road or rail to Miami, put on a ship, travel again by road here and is subject to taxes and duties at both ends. I urge you to take a challenge. Look online at the ad for groceries at your favorite store back home and do some comparison shopping. The only things on sale are junk food, nothing fresh or wholesome is inexpensive. Do the math remembering to multiply the home price in pounds by 2.2 to match with the local kilo price. As for my personal safety. I am saddened to realize that crime is everywhere, even now in my beloved Yellowknife, a formerly peaceful Arctic community where house break-ins and assaults against women are on the rise, and residents are clamoring for a greater Royal Canadian Mounted Police presence. Here I choose to live away from San José and almost never go there. I am careful where I go and what I do and have three dogs in my home (more for company than protection but thieves don‘t know that!). I do not feel unsafe or threatened, but I watch out for myself. And the bureaucracy. Well here I am with the complainers. It seems crazy that it takes 15 minutes for the simplest transactions at the bank; that there is only one office to handle your vehicle licensing needs, that immigration matters take forever. I have been here 21 years and still have no patience for the stupid things I am asked to accept because “that is the way we do it here.” I try to say forget it and that is the price I pay to live here but it is hard. However, I am confident that a growing and more demanding middle class and a move to adopt modern communication technologies that eliminate the visits to the office of some overworked, under-trained and under-qualified civil servant will improve this part of my Costa Rican experience. In closing, to the complainers, count your blessings, consider the inconveniences and stay if you find you love Costa Rica as much as I do. And leave if you don’t. Panamá, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and of course back home, will take you! K.
Noel Montagano
San Pedro de Poas, Alajuela Obama's hypocrisies are legion as debt hole is getting deeper Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Let's explore the many sides of the hypocrisies that are the U.S. presidency. "But he says he will not sit down with Republicans while a government shutdown continues and Americans are subject to what he calls extortion by extreme elements in the Republican Party." Since 1960 the debt ceiling has been raised 78 times. There is no debt ceiling, just a debt scaffolding that gets raised when we run out of money. Without the threat of government shutdown, no action will be taken to lower spending and pay off U.S. debts. The extreme elements of the Republican Party were elected by citizens who want an end to extreme spending. Mr. Obama must get used to having his own methods of negotiation used against him. He used the threat of military intervention in Syria, to negotiate the removal of chemical weapons. Isn't that a bit extreme? " Everybody should say one of the most valuable things that we have is America's creditworthiness. " It is hard to base creditworthiness on a country's ability to borrow money. After all, they are not paying the bills with their own money, they are paying them with the lenders money. Thus, the hole we are in, keeps getting deeper. "I had to miss critical meetings in Asia to promote American jobs and businesses." What does it cost to send the President to Asia ? Government figures put the cost of flight time on Air Force One at around $186,000 per hour. Add security, flight/housing cost for the support staff and limo, and the cost is well into the millions in short time. A person who has no idea of cost (using a 400-seat aircraft as a private jet), is not one to promote a business. If U.S. companies want to promote business in Asia, they can do it much more cost effectively than the president. He is not trained in international commerce and has never run a business. "There were lost opportunities in the short term with countries that welcome the U.S. economic and strategic pivot to Asia" The Chinese culture was flourishing well before North America was discovered. They are the ones lending us the money to maintain our creditworthiness, I really don't think they need our help. Dan
Jackson
Calhan, Colorado |
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Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 203 | |||||||||
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U.S. Senate meets Sunday, to seek debt limit accord By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Hopes to avoid a U.S. debt default and reopen the federal government are being pinned on talks between the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate. The leaders consulted Sunday but did not indicate a breakthrough is near. Fiscal talks broke down Saturday between the White House and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives. Focus then turned to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid said no effort would be spared to find common ground with his Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “It is important we do this. We must do this," he said. Reid spoke during a rare Sunday Senate session that allowed members of both parties to come to the floor while consultations advanced behind closed doors. Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican, sounded a hopeful note. “I am perfectly happy with the two leaders negotiating a deal. And I want to support the leaders in negotiating a deal," he said. But the parameters, let alone the specifics, of any accord remain murky, and bipartisanship has all but disappeared from Congress. Saturday, Republican senators blocked a Democratic bill to raise America’s borrowing limit for more than a year, and Democrats rejected a Republican proposal that included short-term fixes to the debt limit and the federal shutdown. Sunday Corker said fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives helped precipitate the fiscal impasse weeks ago by imposing conditions for funding the government and raising the U.S. debt ceiling. Corker called the tactic an overreach, and warned Democrats against making a similar error in current talks. Specifically, he urged Democrats to refrain from demanding an accord that eliminates the next round of automatic federal budget cuts that go into effect in January. “The Budget Control Act is settled law. And we have agreed to some caps," he said. President Barack Obama has said he wants to replace automatic, across-the-board spending cuts with targeted cost-saving measures and is willing to engage with Republicans in far-reaching fiscal negotiations once the federal government reopens and the debt ceiling is lifted. Majority Leader Reid echoed the call. “Americans want Congress to reopen the government, take the threat of default off the table, and sit down to talk about a long-term budget deal that creates jobs and strengthens the middle class. And I am confident and hopeful that will be accomplished," he said. McConnell did not come to the floor when the chamber gathered on Sunday, nor did the Republican leader’s office give any indication of progress in discussions with Reid. Treasury officials say the U.S. government risks insolvency unless both houses of Congress vote to raise the debt limit by Thursday. And the ongoing government shutdown is believed to be shaving U.S. economic output a little more each day it drags on. 'Mambo Kings' Cuban author dies at 62 while playing tennis By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban-American novelist Oscar Hijuelos, best known as the author of "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love," has died. His wife said Hijuelos collapsed while playing tennis in New York. He was 62. The New York-born Hijuelos captured the Cuban immigrant experience in "The Mambo Kings," the story of two Cuban brothers who move to the United States and form a band. They gain short-lived celebrity after appearing on the real-life television comedy "I Love Lucy" starring Cuban-born entertainer Desi Arnaz. The 1989 novel won Hijuelos a Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was turned into a popular movie. Hijuelos wrote several other novels and also his 2011 memoirs "Thoughts without Cigarettes." |
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| From Page 7: Environmentalists crash seminar By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Environmental activists crashed a seminar for reporters Friday and said they distributed information in favor of a national moratorium on genetically modified crops. The environmentalists, mainly those associated with BloqueVerde, also challenged the firm presenting the seminar, CropLife Latin America, to a television debate. José Perdomo, the executive president of the non-profit firm, said later that he accepts the debate challenge. He also said the intruders were welcome to attend the entire seminar, which was not limited to genetically modified crops. But they did not, he said. He said the seminar drew 32 newspeople to learn about challenges to agriculture. The environmentalists equated CropLife with Monsanto Co., the firm that seeks to cultivate a patch of genetically modified corn near Puntarenas. This is something BloqueVerde opposes. Perdomo said CropLife is not exclusively Monsanto. The non-profit has nine companies and 23 associations in 18 Latin American countries, and Monsanto is one of the companies. The environmentalist said the debate would be the first Monday in November on Canal 15. That is the Universidad de Costa Rica station. A news story Friday outlined the hopes of BloqueVerde to pass a law imposing a moratorium on genetically modified crops in Costa Rica. The union that represents teachers just voted to seek the elimination of modified foods from the public schools. A reader, Albert Lusk of San Isidro de Heredia, said by email that his firm was about to launch a line of corn chips, tortillas and masa made from certified organic corn grown in Costa Rica. "We would be happy to begin to supply some school systems with non-GMO tortillas," he said, using the initials for genetically modified organisms. |
