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finally ends with accord By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
(posted at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27)
The government said Friday that the dock strike in Limón is
over. The accord was reached early Friday. The government dropped its
demand that strikers must be punished and agreed to make a $900,000
payment long over due strikers.President Óscar Arias Sánchez said in San José that he was pleased with the agreement and promised to sit down with not only dock workers but all sectors of the society in the Provincia de Limón to discuss plans. The president envisions a $350 million megaport on the Caribbean coast but he said everyone knows the government does not have the money to set up this kind of operation. Union dock workers oppose the idea of the government leasing the docks at Limón and Moín as a concession to a private firm, But Arias said they might change their mind when they understand the plans. Earlier story below
Dock dispute continuesbetween union, government By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The dock situation in Limón still is not resolved. The government is ready to pay dock workers some $900,000 promised by the prior Abel Pacheco administration. But dock workers want amnesty for those who participated in this week's strike, something the government is not prepared to offer. Francisco Morales,the minister of Trabajo, has been negotiating for the government. On the other side are representatives of the union of employees of the Junta de Administración Portuaria y de Desarrollo Econmico de la Vertiente del Atlántico, the government agency that runs the docks. The main concern Thursday was to clear the way so that a cruise ship can arrive today. Officials said the local economy lost more than $100,000 when the captain of the Carnival Victory declined to dock with 3,000 passengers Wednesday because of the strike. So far the cruise ships for today and Saturday still are scheduled to arrive. This means work for many in the province who depend on the tourist trade. Security still is an issue. Police confronted young fire bombers and rioters Wednesday night and to a less extent Thursday. The youngsters, who were from some of the area's poorer neighborhoods are being considered surrogates for the union members. Police officials said they wondered how poor youngsters got their hands on so much gasoline and special nails they rigged to puncture tires of passing cars. Dock workers have been conducting a slowdown since late September. The slowdown morphed into a full-scale strike earlier this week in concert with demonstrations by union workers in San José who were opposed to the free trade treaty with the United States. Although not directly involved with the free trade treaty, the main concern of dock workers is that the Óscar Arias administration not lease the docks to a concessionaire. That was done at the Caldera docks on the Pacific, and the initial results are tempting. The concessionaire, Sociedad Portuaria de Caldera S.A,, reported Thursday that the firm had already invested about $1 million in equipment at the docks. That includes a sophisticated computer system. The success or failure of the concession on the Pacific directly affects strikers at the Caribbean Limón and Moín docks because the Pacific venture is competition. Officials like concessions because they can authorize major improvements without investing public money. The Arias administration can take a hard line in Limón because a judge found that the strike is illegal. So union workers who participated can find themselves facing criminal charges. And they fear that the government would not hesitate to bring in strikebreakers if union workers do not go back on the job. Thanks, but no thanks Nation says of U.N. seat By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rica's foreign minister says that the country is not a compromise candidate to take a U.N. Security Council seat now being contested by Venezuela and Guatemala. Neither country seems to be able to muster sufficient votes in the U.N. General Assembly. U.S.-backed Guatemala has prevailed over Venezuela in all but one of the votes, but failed to secure the two-thirds majority needed to win the seat. The minister here, Bruno Stagno Ugarte, said that Costa Rica would prefer to win the seat for Jan.1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2009. The country's name has been put forward in an effort to end the current impasse. Pavas community getting donation from Tawainese By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The government of Taiwan is donating $1.4 million to improve the living conditions for the 600 families in Rincón Grande de Pavas. The area is what is known as a precario or an informal community that developed without any planning. The donation will cover 60 percent of the cost of an improvement plan for the area, which is west of San José. The Ministerio de Vivienda or housing ministry is in charge of the plan. Fiber optic line repairs set By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad said Thursday that vandals have damaged a fiber optic communications line between Liberia and Cañas in Guanacaste. The communications monopoly said that its crews would be doing work on the line between 10 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Saturday and that service might be interrupted. |
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Costa Rica Third news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 27, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 214 | ||||||
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| A tale of two buffets where the swank set brunches |
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| One of the pleasures in
life,
in my opinion, is brunch. I happen to love the foods that are
served for breakfast. I realize these foods vary from bacon and
eggs and cereal to pancakes to raw, smoked or salted fish, to shredded
sweet pork, rice soup, to kidneys and kippers in other countries (or,
as in Costa Rica, gallo pinto). I like them all. But not
necessarily early in the morning. Ergo: Brunches. With friends I have ventured out to experience two of the better known and inviting Sunday brunches in the area. One is at the Marriott Hotel in San Antonio de Belén where Sunday brunch is served from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The brunch is $32 including tax and service. That seems like a lot to the likes of me, but all brunches are all-you-can-eat, or in my case, all-I-can-sample-that-looks -especially good. But I also dislike waste, especially of food, so I am careful to take just a small amount of something I am not sure I am going to like. At the Marriott I had one of my favorite dishes: eggs benedict served on salmon not Canadian bacon, but cooked to perfection. Among the other delights were shrimp in various forms, crepes made to order, a great salmon en papillotte (baked in filo dough), asparagus and other vegetables, and an array of tiny tarts with a variety of fillings. They also had ham and beef, ceviche, all kinds of sweet rolls. Along with this, there is all of the champagne or mimosas (champagne and orange juice) you want. In short, something for everyone and plenty of time to enjoy it. The other brunch we tried was at the Real InterContinental Hotel just off the Autopista Próspero Fernández in Escazú. Since they don’t begin serving until noon, “brunch” is almost a misnomer. This is another great array of dishes that would tempt that most disciplined dieter. At the entrance a table of bowls of whipped cream, strawberries, nuts and a variety of sweets I didn’t want to be tempted by flanked a cook preparing crepes. Then came a table of artistically displayed small tartlets with fillings ranging from kiwi and strawberries fruit to nuts and puddings and meringues. |
There were no eggs benedict (but I was told that you could According to retired restaurant reviewer and food critic Mimi
Sheraton,
dining out is so much more fun than eating at home because first of
all, you don’t have to eat what everyone else is eating. And the
conversation is on a higher plane, which may be one of the reasons you
spend more time at the table when you dine out. Also,
people take
more trouble to dress nicely, even though casually. She found
however,
that it wasn’t nearly as much fun when she was no longer reviewing
restaurants. |
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No-nonsense
Desamparados celebrates its birthday next week
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By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
If there is a canton of the broad shoulders in Costa Rica, it is Desamparados. You can drink your chardonnay in the Canton de Escazú in the shadow of Tony Roma's Ribs. And you can debate philosophy and politics in the Canton de Montes de Oca near the Universidad de Costa Rica. But if you want a muffler repaired or some sheet metal or iron work done, it's the Canton de Desamparados. The U.S. poet Carl Sandburg once called Chicago the city of the broad shoulders because of its immigrant laborers doings back breaking work. The urban part of Desamparados is like that with the authentic Costa Rica engrossed in daily labor to put bread on the table. And Desamparados will celebrate its 144th birthday next week. The area south of the capital is one of 15 cantons of the Provincia de San José. To make matters confusing, one of those cantons is called San José, the capital of the province and the country. Desamparados with its 12 districts is one of the most populous cantons of the province with some 200,000 residents in some 118 square kilometers, about 29,150 acres. It has upscale urban living, depressing slums and sprawling rural areas. Each canton has its own municipal government. |
The Desamparados birthday party will begin
Tuesday and run through Nov. 5. It is being dedicated to the memory
of
José "Chepito" Ureña, a local painter. The birthday celebration begins with an exposition in the municipal building Tuesday. And there is an exposition of local paintings in the Museo Joaquín García Monge starting Wednesday. A week from today there will be a musical evening of songs and dance at the Gimnasio del Colegio Nuestra Señora de los Desamparadeños at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, there will be a short parade with macaradas, those extra-tall characters, starting at noon from the Explanada del Parque Centenario. through the center of Desamparados central. A horse ride is planned from San Marcos de Tarrazú arriving at the Museo Nacional de la Carreta y el Campesino Costarricense en Porvenir de Desamparados, at about 4 p.m. There will be a 6 p.m. Mass at the Templo Parroquial de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados. At 7 p.m. on the Explanada student bands will compete followed by fireworks at 9 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 5 will see activities for children and more music from the Banda Juvenil Municipal de Desamparados, again in the centro. |
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Fourth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 27, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 214 | ||||||
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Bush signs measure to build
fence along border with México
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. President George Bush has signed a law authorizing construction of more than 600 miles of fence along America's border with Mexico. Illegal immigration is an important issue in some of next month's congressional elections. President Bush says illegal immigration is on the rise in the United States, because the government has not been in complete control of its southern border for decades. "We have a responsibility to address these challenges," he said. "We have a responsibility to enforce our laws. We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously." Bush says the legislation he signed into law will help meet that responsibility by increasing the number of border agents, creating new vehicle barriers and adding beds to detention centers for illegal immigrants. But the new fence at the centerpiece of the Secure Borders Act may never be built, as only a portion of the necessary funding has been approved. Estimates for more than 600 miles of fence range from $6 billion to $8 billion. Congress has so far approved just over $1 billion for a fence that would cover nearly one-third of America's border with Mexico. Still, President Bush says the extra lighting, high technology cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles authorized in the bill will help make the border more secure. "We are modernizing the southern border of the United States so we can assure the American people we are doing |
our job of
securing the
border," he added. "By making wise use of physical barriers and
deploying 21st century technology, we are helping our border patrol
agents do their job." Plans for the new fence have added to border tensions with outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox who called it shameful and compared it to the Berlin Wall. Most members of President Bush's political party from states along the southern border have championed the fence as a national security issue. But many oppose the president's proposed guest worker program, which would allow illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States for a specific period of time. While his own Republican Party blocked that plan in Congress, President Bush says he intends to press ahead with the temporary worker plan after next month's elections. Bush says it is not practical to deport as many as 12 million illegal immigrants. "They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship," explained Mr. Bush. "That is amnesty. I oppose amnesty. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation." Immigration is a hot topic in some of the races where opposition Democrats hope to win control of the House of Representatives. A public opinion poll by the cable television network CNN says two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how President Bush is handling immigration. A majority of Americans favor building new fences. |
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One guerrilla group agrees to
open peace talks on Colombia
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
and special reports Colombia's government and the second largest rebel group have agreed to open formal peace talks to end decades of fighting. The government's peace envoy, Luis Carlos Restrepo and a leader, Antonio Garcia of the rebel Ejército de Liberación Nacional, known as ELN, announced the plan during talks in Havana, Cuba, Thursday. The two men said they agreed to seek peaceful conditions and the inclusion of Colombian society in the peace process. Earlier this year, ELN rebels split with their former ally, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, known as FARC, because of their desire to pursue talks with the government. FARC leaders have rejected talks with the government. This week, Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe withdrew an offer for talks with the FARC, blaming the leftist fighters for a car bombing. The blast wounded 23 people in Bogota. |
Meanwhile in
Washington, a U.S. official said that Colombia's human rights record
has improved. Colombia has made
tremendous progress over the last five years to six years, said R.
Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of State for political affairs. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Bogotá, Colombia's capital, after meeting with Colombian officials, Burns hailed the "dramatic reduction" in the level of violence carried out by Colombian terrorist and paramilitary groups against Colombia's citizens. Burns said the process for the State Department to certify Colombia's respect for human rights is on its regular schedule. The official said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the person who certifies, and "so when the time is right,” a recommendation will be made to her on the certification. Approximately $27.5 million of 2006 U.S. fiscal year funds for the Colombian armed forces would be released if Rice certifies that Colombia is meeting certain specific criteria on respect for human rights. An additional $27.5 million in funds could be released in the next few months. |
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Correa promises to make
sweeping changes in the government of Ecuador
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Ecuadorian presidential candidate Rafael Correa has vowed to pursue a series of political reforms if elected in next month's run-off vote. In an interview, the former economy minister said he believes many voters support a call for sweeping changes in the government. He pointed to what he called the high number of voters who cast blank ballots in legislative elections this month. |
Correa also rejected
allegations from critics who say he is a radical
leftist with strong ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. His rival, businessman Alvaro Noboa, has vowed to renew stalled talks on a free trade deal with the United States, if elected. Correa has criticized a possible trade deal with Washington. Opinion polls released this week show that Noboa is widely favored to win in the Nov. 26 run-off. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 27, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 214 | ||||||
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