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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, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 238 | |||||||||
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There still is
time to duck
the tax on corporations By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats who own corporations in Costa Rica have until Dec. 13 to duck the 2013 tax on companies. The exact amount this year is not known because the tax is supposed to be half of the base salary of a judicial auxiliar administrativo 1. If the judiciary gives raises as of Jan. 1, the corporation tax goes up, too, Right now the amount for an active corporation is 180,000 colons or about $360. When the law was written legislators exempted companies that were registered as small or medium enterprises with the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio. Luis Álvarez, a vice minister, said Wednesday that about 2,000 owners of corporations took advantage of this exemption last year. At the same time the judicial employees got a 14 percent raise that affected the amount of the tax. The ministry announced Wednesday that it would expedite any applications that are filed before Dec. 13. Under the law, the ministry has to give a response within five working days, so any application filed after Dec. 13 will collide with the Christmas holiday and will not be handled until next year, said the ministry. The exemption is not for everyone. Expats who own a vehicle or a home via a corporation such as a sociedad anónima or limited partnership are out of luck. In order to take advantage of the exemption the corporation must be engaged in business. However, those who own an inactive corporation as many expats do only have to pay half the tax for an active corporation. Álvarez noted that the company must meet certain requirements. The company must be up to date with its financial obligations with the Caja Costarricense de Seguros Social. It also must have filed a tax return and have riesgo de trabajo coverage for employees. Of course if there are no employes, the requirements are less. The ministry had a Web page designed to enroll companies in the program. Applications must be made on line and the requirement documents must be scanned, the Web site says. The ministry was promoting the registration in an event held with Microsoft Corp. Wednesday. The program PYME Accede allows small and medium size companies to obtain training for employees, credit and half-priced software from Microsoft. The program also involved the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, which provides the training. Seven firms get cash prizes because they are successes By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Officials from the ministry of economy held a ceremony Tuesday night to award seven local entrepreneurs with cash prizes for their exemplary success stories. The Premio a la Excelencia en el Empresariado Local was presented by President Laura Chinchilla to owners of very small, self-started businesses, according to a press release from the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio. Each of these seven businesses also received a $2,500 prize as part of the award, according to the release. The annual awards ceremony is organized by the ministry along with the Citi Foundation and the Adry Association. This is the sixth consecutive year that these firms have given out these awards. The businesses that won are part of a ministry program that gives loans to local entrepreneurs who do not have alternative means to put their business ideas into practice. Ministry officials said that the ceremony is meant to highlight the successes of entrepreneurs with small, start-up businesses and demonstrate how other Costa Ricans can create their own successful stores. The winning business are Caribbean Kalisi Coffee Shop, Osvaldo Valverde Campos, Turrialba Gurmet S.A., Productos Morrjons S.A., Banco Mujer Nuevo Amanecer, Banco Mujer Santa Marta and SIBU Chocolates, the press release said.
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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, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 238 |
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The Museo de Niños is where parents want to bring their children for the annual Christmas lighting. The spectacular event is different each year and sometimes television stations run the entire show. This photo is of a previous Christmas event. |
 Museo
de Niños file photo
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| 4,000 lights designed to awe kids at
museum celebration |
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By
Kayla Pearson
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff In six days patrons can see the castle of dreams at the Museo de Niños lit up with Christmas lights before it is surrounded by bursts of fireworks for the 12th annual ceremony, themed this year “Regalo de Fe.” Characters Musíeto and Museíta will broadcast messages of faith, love and hope throughout the event as they emcee the illumination of the facade of the museum Wednesday. Just as the sky turns dark at 5 p.m. a crowd will begin a countdown from 10. At the final number, a flipped switch will trigger 4,000 lights designed to sparkle against the night sky. The show will include six original songs by national singer |
Hans Wüst created
specifically for the occasion, a play, projections on the facade
created by the company Luz Art, giant puppets, fireworks and many other
surprises, said museum spokespersons. For the second year, different police and fire agencies will work to create a safe route for patrons to travel from different parts of the city to the event. Police blocked off entire streets for pedestrians. The activity is completely free and is described by the museum as a Christmas gift for all Costa Rican families who constantly visit the Museum. Prior to the show, persons can share their personal message of love, faith and hope on the museum Facebook under the application “gift of faith.” The link can be found HERE! |
| Public-private partnership seen as
solution for crime at parks |
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By
Aaron Knapp
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff A conservation director said that the long-term solution for keeping national parks open and safe for visitors will be a joint effort between both the public and private sectors. Alejandro Masis, director of conservation in Guanacaste, said he closed off part of a national park because he does not have enough staff to protect visitors from robbers. He said that the government does not have enough money to provide the staff needed to keep the area open and that private businesses will need to pitch in to keep the local tourism industry thriving. “These are public places, but they are also places that benefit the private sector by bringing tourists to the area,” said Masis in a telephone interview. “This has to be a joint public-private venture.” The plan is to close the Santa María sector, one of two sections of the Parque Nacional Rincón de la Vieja, which straddles the Alajuela-Guanacaste provincial border near Liberia. Data from the Ministerio de Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones says that this section of the park draws 5,000 visitors per month. A.M. Costa Rica reported Wednesday that the closure of this section is because crimes against tourists has dramatically increased recently, according to officials. Masis echoed this sentiment and added that the park needs more employees to give visitors guided tours, maintain the park and simply to keep an eye on visitors and potential robbers. “In the past months, the frequency of armed robbery of tourists has increased dramatically and even cases of vandalism to our infrastructure,” he said. “It's materially impossible for us to guarantee the minimum level of safety.” Masis said that he needs 140 employees to reopen this section of the park, and Costa Rica's cash-strapped government will likely not have the budget to fill these positions any time soon. “Even if at a governmental level they opened up more positions, we know it'll never be enough,” said Masis. Masis also said that the government recently rescinded a measure that allowed parks to secure funding from non-governmental organizations, which has exacerbated the situation. He said that he is coordinating with the Fuerza Pública in order |
to get police officers permanently stationed within the park for more security. Additionally, he is meeting with businesses in the area in order to look for solutions on how to keep tourists safe with the impending high season. Masis said that three non-tourist sections of the park have been closed already in order to concentrate the staff on the most frequently visited area, but this is not enough. He said that this is the first time this park has had to close a tourist destination, but he also said that the nearby Parque Nacional Volcán Tenorio has also used this strategy. “Right now, this is how it is and this is how we have to deal with it,” said Masis. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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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, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 238 | |||||
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| Rate
of immigration slowing and more Ticos move away By
Kayla Pearson
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Although the number of foreigners who immigrated to Costa Rica in the last 10 years has doubled, the rate of immigration growth has decreased from 7.5 percent a year to 2.4 percent a year, according to the latest census by Migración y Extranjería. As of 2011, the top nationalities of immigration are Nicaraguan at 75 percent, Columbian at 4.2 percent and American at 4.1 percent. The office used the data to compare the period 1984 to 2000 to the period 2000 to 2011. Costa Rican census data combined with the United States census and research by the Banco Central also showed that while the rate of immigration is down, the rate of emigration is up. It is estimated that 250,000 Costa Rican citizens live outside the country. Of this number 187,689 Costa Ricans live in the United States and the 62,311 more live in countries such as Canada and England. The figures are expected to quickly pass 300,000 citizens living abroad or 6 percent of the population as more data is compiled, the agency said. Many of the persons who left last year are the country's young adults, with most of them being around 27 years old. The number one reason for leaving was for jobs. In addition, Costa Rican women are having nearly half the amount of babies as Nicaraguan women. It is documented that for every 1,000 Costa Rican mothers within the fertility age bracket of 15 to 44 years, only 55 give birth a year. This is compared to the 100 births that come from Nicaraguan mothers in the age range. In 2011, 20 percent of births were by foreign mothers. The children who live in Costa Rica and have foreign parents are not accessing higher education. Only 2.3 percent of the population of the four public universities are foreigners, and only 3 percent of scholarships go to these children. Also, only 3.7 percent of youth with foreign backgrounds are enrolled in the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje for special training and apprenticeships, according to the data. “The level of participation of the migrant population in all these services is far below their demographic representation,” immigration officials said. This is not to say these persons do not have jobs. Although foreigners only make up 9 percent of the population, they make up 12.3 percent of the workforce. “This exemplifies the important occupational role migration plays in Costa Rica,” said immigration spokespersons. Yet, these workers may not be receiving all their social benefits. Some 40 percent of foreigners treated in public facilities lacked Caja health insurance. This is more than triple the number of uninsured Costa Ricans receiving health care. Immigration officials have determined these factors and more as items to consider in upcoming policies, a release said.  Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Suspected fraudster is getting a
ride to jaily Seguridad Pública photo Charge of faking
cédulas
leads to arrest of suspect By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The immigration police arrested a man Wednesday on allegations that he offered services to obtain fake residency documents. The suspect, who has the last names of González Sanabria, is being accused of giving out false cédulas. It is estimated he made 200,000 colons a transaction from his work, said immigration agents. Investigators began looking into the case after a mother asked about the authenticity of a document she received and officials found it was false, a release from immigration said. González's arrest was coordinated with the fraud unit. Police transferred him to the Ministerio Público. Acidity in Southern Ocean causes damage to snail shells By
the British Antarctic Survey media staff
The shells of marine snails – known as pteropods – living in the seas around Antarctica are being dissolved by ocean acidification according to a new study published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. These tiny animals are a valuable food source for fish and birds and play an important role in the oceanic carbon cycle. During a science cruise in 2008, researchers from British Antarctic Survey and the University of East Anglia, in collaboration with colleagues from the U.S. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, discovered severe dissolution of the shells of living pteropods in Southern Ocean waters. The team examined an area of upwelling, where winds cause cold water to be pushed upwards from the deep to the surface of the ocean. Upwelled water is usually more corrosive to a particular type of calcium carbonate, aragonite, that pteropods use to build their shells. The team found that as a result of the additional influence of ocean acidification, this corrosive water severely dissolved the shells of pteropods. Ocean acidification is caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. |
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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, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 238 | |||||||||
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| U.S.
environmental agency bars BP from new contracts By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United States has suspended British oil giant BP from bidding on any new federal contracts, in response to the company's performance during the 2010 drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it took the action “due to BP's lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company's conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill and response.” The ban does not affect existing BP contracts. The EPA said the ban could be lifted when the company can “provide sufficient evidence . . . demonstrating that it meets federal business standards.” BP said in a statement that it is working with the EPA to demonstrate present responsibility. Eleven workers died when the oil platform exploded in April 2010, causing the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history. The platform then sank, spewing nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf over the next 87 days. Wednesday's ban was announced the same day the U.S. Interior Department held a sale on eight million hectares of offshore oil and gas prospects in the western Gulf of Mexico. The department said the sale drew $133 million in bids. BP did not participate. The ban comes two weeks after BP agreed to pay $4.5 billion to settle criminal charges in the case. Under that deal, BP will plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct in the deaths of the 11 workers. Two senior BP platform managers also face manslaughter charges for allegedly ignoring warning signs in the runup to the blast. Both men entered pleas of not guilty in federal court Wednesday. Additionally, a former BP executive pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to Congress. After election, parties draw closer on immigration By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
After an election in which Hispanic voters overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama and Democratic candidates, Republican and Democratic lawmakers are presenting new proposals on reforming U.S. immigration laws. Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a group of Democratic, Hispanic lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives, held a news conference Wednesday to lay out their fundamental principles for comprehensive immigration reform. Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois said his caucus has been working since 2004 to try to get Congress to reform the nation's immigration laws, but he said Republicans had demonized immigrants instead of tackling reform. "Because of congressional inaction, good people, good people who are only asking for the chance to work hard and help their communities and keep their families together, have been forced to stay in the shadows and been forced to go around our legal system because they could find no way through it," he said. The principles laid out by congressional Democrats would require undocumented immigrants to come forward and register with the government and pass an English language test and pay taxes before they would be able to join the process to become U.S. citizens. Sen. Robert Menendez said the United States would benefit from bringing the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in this country out of the shadows. He is a Democrat. "Reform is in our economic interest as well our national security. I cannot know who is here to pursue the American Dream versus who is here to do it harm unless I get millions of people out of the shadows into the light and come forth and register with the government," he said. Tuesday, three Republican senators introduced their own immigration bill, known as the "Achieve Act," which would grant a pathway to permanent residency — but not citizenship — to some undocumented young immigrants who serve in the military or attend college in the United States. Outgoing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, a Republican, said her party's proposal would not give special preference to immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally over those seeking to come to the country legally. "They will not get in the front of the line, they will get in the back of the line. They are not kept from getting that citizenship track, nor are they given a preference in that citizenship track," she said. Sen. Hutchinson and outgoing Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, said they believe it is better to tackle the tough problem of immigration one step at a time, instead of trying to enact a massive reform of the system. |
Your place to stay here As high season approaches, we like to feature our advertisers who offer long- and short-term rentals for expats and tourists.
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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, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 238 | |||||||||
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Latin America news |
Deforestation is
big topic
at U.N. climate conference By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
At the U.N. climate summit in Doha, environmental activists are urging participating countries to think big about how to control deforestation in the developing world, which accounts for 16 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. United States, Europe and other advanced economies have already agreed to pay developing countries to protect their forests, but progress has been slow. In Indonesia, a moratorium on new forest development appears to have little effect as farmers and large companies continue cutting down trees for timber, then burning off the land to create palm oil plantations. The moratorium in Indonesia is part of a $1 billion deal with Norway to protect forests that store vast quantities of carbon dioxide or CO2, one of the greenhouse gases that many scientists say contribute to global warming. It is one of over 300 such projects in 52 countries, such as Bolivia and Tanzania, under a United Nations initiative called REDD, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. So far, most of these projects have yielded only modest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Fred Boltz, a senior vice president at Conservation International, says progress on REDD has been slow because it involves much more than preventing forest fires. “We are talking about transforming the global economy, the paradigm for valuing forests, recognizing their importance in meeting our climate challenges. And that transformation is complex. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take a lot of financial and intellectual investment," said Boltz. He says to succeed, REDD needs better enforcement, greater incentives for businesses to take part, and more money than $10 billion already promised. Environmentalists say both big companies and impoverished farmers need help to meet the world's growing needs for food, fuel and minerals without cutting down forests. But Boltz says there is a global consensus that strong measures must be taken to reduce deforestation, which produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks and planes in the world, to prevent catastrophic global warming. “Deforestation constitutes about a sixth of our problem. And if we don’t solve the entirety of the problem, we lose. So there is that political will and recognition of the urgency and the necessity of resolving REDD," he said. Boltz says at the Climate Conference in Doha, he expects incremental progress to be made to link effective regulation to increased funding for conservation. |
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| 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 | ||||||
