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A.M. Costa Rica
Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 226 | |||||||||
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Another march to the Caja
planned for this Thursday By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A confrontation of politicians and students against police is becoming a major political issue. Students will march again Thursday, and they will be supported by some unions. The demonstrations are supposed to be in support of the financially troubled Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. But the demonstrations also are linked to presidential politics and the revitalization of the same organizations that opposed the free trade treaty with the United States. The Asociacion Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados came out with a 14-point manifesto in which it defended the students and criticized the Fuerza Pública. The union appears to be supporting Juan Carlos Mendoza, who is seeking the presidential nomination of the Partido Acción Ciudadana. Mendoza was one of several lawmakers who were roughed up by police in the confrontation. Meanwhile, La Nación today came out with a scathing editorial basically disputing the version of events given by Carmen Granados, another Acción Ciudadana lawmaker. The newspaper challenged her version that she was knocked down by police. The newspaper said that a Channel 7 video clearly shows that she sought help from students to climb up on a patrol car in which detained youths were being held. She later fell. That was when the fighting between police and protesters took place. There are other YouTube postings that seem to bear out the lawmaker's claim. The security ministry has defended the action by police and said the main goal was to keep open Avenida 2 to passers-by and traffic. The demonstration was in front of the Caja building on that avenue. In fact, there were two confrontations with police. One took place about noon and was quickly quelled. The one involving the lawmakers took place in the late afternoon. Those who participated, except the students, came from all over the country. The condition of the Caja and the continued health of that agency will be a key element in the presidential campaign that begins in earnest next year. Two more earthquakes hit in Santa Cruz vicinity By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Tuesday started with a sharp shock in the Santa Cruz vicinity. The Laboratorio de Ingenieria Sismica reported a 4.1-magnitude quake there at 2:28 a.m. The epicenter was estimated to be 10.2 kilometers or about 6 miles north northeast of Cuajiniquil de Santa Cruz. The quake was felt in Nosara, Nicoya, Paquera and Santa Cruz, said the Laboratorio. That was the second moderate quake in the area under nine hours. At 6:12 p.m. the Laboratorio logged what was estimated as a 4.2 magnitude quake about 7.6 kilometers (about 5 miles south southwest of Veintisiete de Abril de Santa Cruz. The Red Sismológica Nacional attributed this to the contact between the Cocos and Caribbean tectonic plates. It said the quake was felt in Santa Cruz, Playas del Coco, Tamarindo, Sardinal and Nicoya. The Laboratorio estimated the magnitude at 4.4. Earlier in the day there was an estimated 3.3-magnitude earthquake that the Laboratorio said was 1.5 kilometers (about a mile) north northeast of San Cristobal de Desamparados. The Red attributed the 3:30 p.m. quake to a local fault. As A.M. Costa Rica reported Monday, an early morning quake took place in the hills above Jacó. The magnitude was estimated at 4.4 and the time was 2:46 a.m. The Laboratorio said the quake was at Sabanillas de Acosta and about 12.7 kilometers south southeast of Puriscal. Cost of generating electricity will be increased 4.5 percent By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's price regulating agency has approved a 4.5 increase in the rate the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad charges for generating electricity. Even if residents here do not get their power directly from the firm known as ICE, they likely will feel the impact. The regulating agency, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos, said it was beginning a study of other power providers with the goal of giving them an extra increase to compensate them for what they will have to pay to ICE. The increase is designed to cover the extra costs to the company for producing electricity with petroleum-fired generators. The base period was the first half of the year. ICE uses thermal generation when there is not sufficient power being produced by hydro plants. The Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz, the Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia, the Junta Administrativa del Servicio Eléctrico de Cartago and the nation's many cooperatives purchase power from ICE. The firm also has direct customers. The price regulating company said an ICE customer with a monthly electric bill of 14,400 would pay 600 colons more, a bit more than $1.20. ICE customers also will pay other costs that also were increased, including public illumination. ICE sought a 26 percent increase in generation.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page | |
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 226 |
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| Emergency workers being trained for
psychological response |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rica's emergency commission held a session Monday to train responders to aid in emotional recovery after natural disasters strike, a press release said. The workshop was held in Nicoya, and it included numerous other groups that provide assistance during the natural disasters. Commission officials said they seek to put greater emphasis on social recovery in following disasters by dispatching brigadas de apoyo psicosocial or psychosocial brigades, the press release said. The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias is a government organization responsible for handling as well as planning relief and recovery efforts after a natural disaster hits. These natural disasters can include storms, floods, volcano eruptions and earthquakes. After most disasters such as the Sept. 5 earthquake, the commission focuses primarily on getting physical aid to injured and homeless people and repairing damaged infrastructure. |
At this workshop, commission
officials said that helping victims of these disasters to emotionally
recuperate is a key part of the regional recovery process, the press
release said. In addition to training their own employees, commission workers also trained representatives from the Universidad de Costa Rica, the Colegio de Psicólogos, the Colegio de Trabajadores Sociales, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social and the Cruz Roja Costarricense. The press release said that social workers have already been involved with people affected by recent disasters. They held light-hearted group sessions where they encouraged people to openly discuss their fears and how they might conquer those fears. The commission also used the workshop to organize the efforts of how their brigades would be deployed, the press release said. Officials especially wanted to make sure that these groups could be sent to all the communities that might need their help with adequate staff and supplies. Nicoya on the peninsula of the same name suffered major damage in the Sept. 5 earthquake that took place off the Pacific coast there. |
| High court acts against magistrate
accused of leaking decision |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The country's highest court said Monday it would take action against a former replacement magistrate who is accused of giving information to the operators of the Crucitas gold mine. The former magistrate is Moisés Fachler, but the Poder Judicial did not use his name when it announced the decision of the court. Julia Varela Araya, a magistrate, has been investigating the situation since November 2011. That is when Fachler is accused of giving an advanced text of a Sala I decision to the operators of the gold mine. The full Corte Suprema de Justicia said that a notation would be made in the personnel file of Fachler that is kept in the personnel department of the Asemblea Legislativa. That effectively means he will not be appointed to the court, even in a replacement role. Lawmakers appoint the magistrates. The court also said that the Asamblea Legislativa, the Procuraduría de la Etica and the Ministerio Público would be notified. So there is a chance of some kind of legal action. Some 17 of the 22 magistrates supported the decision. Those who did not were of the Sala I and could not participate because they were witnesses in the investigation. |
Anabelle León, president of
the Sala I, made the initial complaint. The Sala I issued a negative decision in the Crucitas case, and the Canadian owner and its Costa Rican subsidiary, Industrias Infinito S.A The Sala Primera had agreed to hear the appeals of a lower court decision against the Las Crucitas mine. The appeals accepted were from the government, the gold mining firm Infinito and the Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservación, which support the mine. Also accepted were appeals from Asocrucitas, a group that opposes the mine. Specifically the Sala I declined to reject a lower court decision. The Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo had found against the company and ordered that its concession be annulled. This is the mine in north Costa Rica where an estimated 800,000 ounces of gold were to be extracted via the open pit method. Costa Rica later passed a law prohibiting commercial gold extraction. The mining company is expected to seek international arbitration. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 226 | |||||
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 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad photo
Traffic still was reduced to one
lane in either direction Monday as crews finished the work on the
eastbound lanes.Key San
José-Alajuela route
should be open this morning By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Workmen put down asphalt Monday for the final touch on the collapsed eastbound lanes of the Autopista General Cañas. The highway was expected to be open early today. The job required 8,000 cubic meters or about 10,464 cubic yards of fill to bring the section up to highway height. This is the location where a washout required highway officials to install four portable bailey bridges to carry the daily traffic. Then last week one of the bridges collapsed under the weight of an 84-ton self-propelled crane. The collapse came just as workmen were finishing a concrete spillway to replace the one washed away by a storm and debris. Now there again are three eastbound lanes. Workmen are about to reroute traffic again so they can dismantle the existing two bailey bridges and fill the excavated area under the westbound lanes. That is where the trouble began when a three-meter hole appeared in the road surface as a result of the washout. Once that section is filled and asphalted, the highway will be back to normal. This is the route between San José, Alajuela and Juan Santamaría airport.  Consejo Nacional de Vialidad photo
Favorable weather allowed the
placement of asphalt Monday.New anti-tobacco treaty required tracking codes By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Anti-smoking groups are hailing a new international treaty to combat the illicit tobacco trade. Representatives of governments and international organizations Monday, meeting in South Korea, unanimously approved the protocol. The action came on the first day of a meeting of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The protocol creates a new global system requiring non-removable tracking codes on each pack of cigarettes. That is meant to make it easier to trace producers and distributors of counterfeit tobacco products. Speaking at the convention's opening session, Margaret Chan, the World Health Organization director-general, urged adoption of what she terms a game-changing treaty. “The protocol gives the world an orderly, rules-based instrument for countering and eventually eliminating a very sophisticated international criminal activity,” Ms. Chan explained. World Health estimates one in 10 cigarettes purchased are coming through illegal channels, costing governments more than $40 billion annually in lost taxes. Cigarette giant Philip Morris International issued a statement hailing the action but saying it is not a "silver bullet for resolving this serious issue." "Preventive measures not covered under today's agreement, such as regulating the essential materials used to produce tobacco products, should be considered by governments in the national implementation of this protocol," said Peter Nixon, vice president of communications, in the statement released in Lausanne, Switzerland. The company, which has seven of the world's top 15 international brands, noted that black market tobacco products combined compose the world's third largest tobacco supplier. U.N. seeking $40 million for Haiti hurricane recovery Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The United Nations and the Government of Haiti are seeking close to $40 million in extra funding for humanitarian needs in the Caribbean nation in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. “An additional $39.9 million is required to address rising food insecurity, and provide shelter, health services and potable water for more than a million people,” the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, citing the amount added to more than $110 million sought before Hurricane Sandy struck. “Of this, $23.2 million is needed to meet the most urgent needs in 2012,” the agency added. The increase brings the total amount sought to meet Haiti’s humanitarian needs over the next year to a little more than $151 million, according to the "Emergency Revision of the Haiti Consolidated Appeal: Needs Arising from the Impact of Hurricane Sandy, released Monday in Geneva. Beginning as a tropical storm in late October in the Atlantic Ocean and then evolving as it progressed, Hurricane Sandy grew into what some media reports described as a “once in a generation” storm, causing death and destruction across the Caribbean region and the eastern seaboard of the United States. In the Caribbean, five million people were affected and 72 people died. In Haiti alone, 54 people died, and hundreds of thousands of people were hit by floods and heavy winds. Along the U.S. eastern coastline and the New York metropolitan area, more than 100 people lost their lives. Haiti’s Government says that Haiti’s agricultural sector has “cost a third of its annual production because of the combination of impacts by Sandy, Isaac and the drought, according to U.N. agency. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa
Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 226 | |||||||||
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| Critics
unhappy with seats given to rights violators By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Human rights groups have criticized the election by the U. N. General Assembly of countries with spotty rights' records to its Human Rights Council. Of the 18 countries elected Monday to the Geneva-based body, human rights advocates say only about a third are qualified. The 47-member Human Rights Council is often the target of criticism for its focus on Israel and its election of some members who are accused of human rights violations Seats on the council are allocated according to regional groupings. This year, the only group putting forward a competitive slate was the Western and Others Group, which saw Ireland, Germany and the United States beat Greece and Sweden for three open seats. The United States won a second consecutive term to the rights council, after in the past choosing not to be a part. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington is better positioned and more likely to strengthen the body by continuing to be a part of it. “We made the decision in 2009 to seek a seat on the Human Rights Council because the United States believes that we must be at the forefront of speaking out against human rights abuses and speaking up in favor of those who are suffering and living under the grip of the world’s cruelest regimes," said Rice. The winners of the council’s other vacant seats were predetermined within their regional groups, which put forward only enough candidates to fill their empty seats. Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya and Sierra Leone will fill the five vacant African seats. Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates will fill the five open Asia-Pacific seats. Estonia and Montenegro will hold the two Eastern European seats while Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela take the three seats of the group of Latin American and Caribbean states. Rights groups have expressed doubts about whether at least seven of these countries, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, have adequate human rights records of their own. Human Rights Watch’s U.N. Director Philippe Bolopion criticized the lack of competition and the questionable records of some of the council’s new members. GOP considers modifying position on immigrants By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
If elections are meant as an articulation of national will, then last week’s vote appears to have sent a message on the need for immigration reform, specifically what should be done about the estimated 12 million foreign nationals residing in the United States who entered the country illegally or overstayed their visas. No, Americans did not vote directly on immigration reform, and the topic was barely mentioned on the campaign trail by President Barack Obama or his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. But the Republican Party clearly suffered at the ballot box as a result of its resistance to immigration reform. During the presidential primaries, several Republican contenders took a hard line on the matter, blasting any measure that would provide a path to legal status as an amnesty for law breakers. Romney advocated a strategy of making life in America so difficult for illegals that they would opt to leave the country, or do what he called self-deport. Tuesday, Hispanic-Americans, who make up an increasingly powerful voting bloc, got their say in the matter. More than 70 percent of Hispanics voted for President Barack Obama, a strong rebuke to Republicans. In the week since, many Republicans have gone out of their way to say that the party must change and embrace immigration reform if it is to remain competitive at the ballot box. "The immigration debate… has built a wall between the Republican Party and the Hispanic community," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, Sunday on CBS’ "Face the Nation" program. Graham noted that Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, and said that Republican rhetoric on immigration hurts the party in election cycle after election cycle. "It is one thing to shoot yourself in the foot," Graham said. "Just don’t reload the gun." Graham pledged to push for immigration reform that was once championed by President George W. Bush. At the time, Bush got more support from Democratic lawmakers than members of his own Republican Party. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa
Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 226 | |||||||||
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Latin America news |
 Servicios Periodísticos Globales S.
A. photo
Shaded rest areas will be part
of the projectNew plaza will
display
Nicoya's Colonial church By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Municipalidad de Nicoya is building a plaza in front of the famous Colonial church in the community. The plaza is expected to be able to hold up to 2,500 persons for events. The work began last week and joins Parque Recaredo Briceño and the Iglesia de San Blas, which has been declared a national heritage site. The church, the second one there, went up in 1644. It suffered some damage during the Sept. 5 earthquake in the region. The original church was built in 1544. A release from the municipality said that prior to the arrival of the Spanish the native peoples in the area used the site now occupied by the church as a holy ceremonial location. Archaeological artifacts from that period and from the Colonial era can be found in the nearby El Museo de San Blas. Marco Jiménez, the Nicoya mayor, said that the plaza will have lines that are similar to the geometric designs of the original Chorotega inhabitants. Native plants will be used for landscaping. The project has received the blessing of the Centro de Investigación y Conservación del Patrimonio Nacional del Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud, said the municipality. Two students are tops at science fair By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Two students from the Colegio Técnico Don Bosco in San José took the highest prize for their project at the Feria Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia 2012. Kevin Pérez Calvo and Mariana Quesada Morena's work in developing an alert system and data network for blind people earned them and 12 other students on five projects spots in the upcoming Intel's Costa Rica ISEF Challenge. The winners of that fair will go on to Intel's international fair next May in Phoenix, Arizona. |
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