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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, Vol. 13, No.
250
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Child
protection agency
gets low marks in review By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's child protection agency got low marks in a study released Tuesday by the Contraloría General de la República. The study report said that the agency, thePatronato Nacional de la Infancia, was not responding adequately to complaints submitted to local offices about children and adolescents probably at risk. There also were weaknesses in the tracking system and in alternatives for protection, such as shelters and foster homes. The agency also has not done enough to promote the right of young people, the Contraloría said. The Contraloría issued a laundry list of instructions to the Patronato to analyze the causes of these delays and deficiencies.  Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública
photo
Law
officers prepare to make an arrest
City murder two years ago results in series of arrests By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
An investigation that began with the murder of a naturalized U.S. citizen Nov. 3, 2011, culminated with 17 raids in the Limón area Tuesday morning and the arrest of 16 persons. The dead man was Víctor Manuel Grizales, who was gunned down outside the Caribbean bus station. In the investigation, anti-drug agents learned about an elaborate cocaine and marijuana smuggling operation. The cocaine was smuggled north but the marijuana came in shipping containers from Jamaica to Costa Rica for local use. Among those detained were two cashiers for the Banco de Costa Rica and two police officers. The policemen are suspected of providing information to drug smugglers. The cashiers are suspected of exchanging dollars for colons. The Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública was quick to point out that the bank's security agents uncovered these irregular transactions. The cocaine operation carried the drug from Colombia to Costa Rica by boat and then placed the substance in shipping containers for transport to Europe. The center of the operation was in Barrio Cristóbal Colón, Cieneguita, Limón, police said. Some 28.4 kilos of cocaine were confiscated in Belgium not long after the death of Grizales, and a series of other confiscations followed. Fraud with Internet ads alleged against six persons By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Six persons have been detained on suspicion of running a fraud via Internet Web pages. The suspects live in San José, Heredia and Guanacaste. The Judicial Investigating Organization said it had nine complaints against the group. The individuals are accused of offering for sale in online ads motorcycles and quadracycles and vehicle repair parts and then seeking payment in advance. The vehicles or parts never were delivered, said agents. During the arrests Tuesday agents said they found nine firearms and a kilo of marijuana. Hotel operators estimate vacation occupancy at 73% By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The hotel chamber estimates that 84 percent of the available rooms on the beaches and in the mountains will be filled during vacation. The Cámara Costarricense de Hoteles released the results of its survey Tuesday. The overall occupancy including city hotels and those in the northern zone was 73 percent. As is typical during vacations, Central Valley hotels expect the lowest occupancy at 56 percent. Some 67 hotels are represented in the survey, said the chamber. |
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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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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 250 | |
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| No brainer: Those dancing with Zapote
bulls need insurance |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The national insurance company is reminding those holiday bull fighters that they need insurance coverage. They sure do. These are the participants called toreros y montadores improvisados who get in the ring with a fighting bull for the benefit of an audience and, in come cases, an international television audience. Bull baiting stems from colonial times, but it was not until 2008 that the executive branch decreed that insurance was necessary. The Instituto Nacional de Seguros offers the policies. Private insurance companies have not shown the desire to do likewise. The Instituto Nacional provides a package that covers accidental death, total or partial disability and medical costs for an accident. The policy comes as a package, and those who participate in the ring cannot pick and choose. In recent years operators of bull rings, such as the one in Zapote have cracked down on the use of alcohol by bull baiters. The Zapote festival starts again Christmas Day. Each year there are deaths of bull baiters, usually in festivals and fairs distant from San José. Some of the participants are compensated because they take collections from the audience, particularly on behalf of a colleague who has just been carried off to the resident aid station. Some of the participants have been doing this for years and wear distinctive clothing the let fans follow their antics. |
 Cruz Roja photo
Cruz Roja worker await their
next patient as toreros improvisados
await the next bull at the Zapote bull ring or rondel.Luckily bulls have short attention spans and usually can be distracted from chasing down a targeted subject by a slap on the rump. The bull fighters may be amateurs, but the bulls are not. These critters weigh in over 1,000 pounds, and some have leaped from the bull ring into the bleachers, thereby causing a massive exit. More frequently it is the bull baiter who takes a trip into the bleachers, propelled there by the horns and massive neck of a fighting bull. During the last Zapote festival bulls injured 169 and sent 46 persons to hospitals, said the Cruz Roja. |
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Tope horse
parade again will start at Plaza González
Víquez
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Once again this year the Tope Nacional begins at Plaza González Víquez and heads north and then west on Avenida 2 and Paseo Colon, the Municipalidad de San José reported. This is the celebration of the Día Nacional del Caballista. that takes place every year on the day after Christmas. The Policía Municipal will have 40 officers on horseback to patrol the parade route. The Fuerza Pública mounted officers |
also will participate
in crowd control. The event is supposed to start at 11 a.m. The municipality noted that metal chairs are prohibited as are beach umbrellas and anything else that can cause injured if an accident happens. Plastic chairs are permitted. The sale of alcohol also is prohibited on the public streets. However, the Tope is known for is heavy beer consumption by riders and spectators alike. |
| Agency Web site contains maps of most of
nation's bus routes |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's public service regulator now has about 80 percent of the nation's bus routes on its Web site. The routes have been checked by geolocational devices and overlaid on a basic map. The menu is intelligent. When a reporter entered the term Quepos, the Web site responded with a list of possible bus route numbers in that area. With another click the route appeared. The agency, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos, also has an application on an adjacent Web page that provides fares for bus and train service. The Web site is HERE! |
 Bus
route from San isidro to El Roble.
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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 S.A. 2013 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, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 250 | |||||
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| Interracial marriages increase in U.S. along with public
acceptance. |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
In 1959, only 4 percent of Americans approved of interracial marriage. Today, 87 percent do, according to a Gallup poll. President Barack Obama was born to such a marriage, and census figures show that the fastest growing demographic under 18 is children of mixed race. When New York City’s new mayor-elect, Bill de Blasio, a white man married to an African American woman, takes office Jan. 1 with his wife and their two children at his side, his family will mirror this new American landscape. It hardly could be more different from 1958, when people who married across racial lines were subject to arrest in 22 U.S. states. Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving wed that year in Washington, D.C. She is African American and he is white. Six weeks after, when they returned to their home state of Virginia, police broke down the door of their house in the middle of the night. “I saw this light, and I woke up, and it was a policeman standing beside the bed. He told us to get up, that we were under arrest,” Mrs. Loving later recalled. They were sentenced to 25 years of banishment from Virginia. The Lovings sued, and in 1967 the Supreme Court struck down anti-miscegenation laws in the 16 states where they were still on the books. Since then, interracial marriage has steadily increased, to 15 percent of all new marriages and 8 percent of existing marriages. “Society has become more accepting of it although we still get looks sometimes,” says New Yorker Gerri Buchanan. She is African American and has been married to Tom Rogers, who is white, for five years. They met online, and found they shared similar values, commitment to family foremost among them. Both have children from previous interracial marriages: His school-age daughters and her adult son. In New York, multiracial families like theirs and mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's are nothing out of the ordinary. Still, New York City has not previously had a racially mixed first family, and political observers say that de Blasio’s was a factor in his surge to an overwhelming win last November. Ken Tanabe, the founder of Loving Day, a multi-city celebration of interracial families held each year on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, said de Blasio's election reflects New York’s increasing diversity - within families as well as in neighborhoods. “It’s always been a diverse place, but there are more and more couples that are interracial, and more and more people that identify as multi-ethnic, and with the election of Bill de Blasio, I think we’re seeing more and more acceptance and support for those families and couples and individuals,” he |
 Bill de Blasio, when he was New York City public advocate in July, marched with his wife, Chirlane McCray, and two children, Chiara and Dante, at a rally of health care workers. said. "If you look at who voted for him across all these different demographic groups, he did well across the board,” Tanabe added. “That’s remarkable,” he said, because “interracial marriage in politics is extremely rare. And he’s using that almost as an asset.” Writer Aja Monet says that the de Blasio marriage also has special resonance for African American women, who are often sexualized or ignored by popular culture and politics. “If you don't look a certain way, if you’re not Eurocentric in your figure, or in your identity. I mean look how many times people have torn down Michelle Obama based on her body, on how she looks, and this is from white men a lot of the time,” she said. “And then you have this other man, who is ‘Let me kiss my beautiful black wife in front of you, and I love her, and it’s not about that.’” “I think there’s comfort in being represented by people who really reflect the type of lives we live every day,” Ms. Monet said. Rogers and his wife also voted for de Blasio. They supported him for his policies, not his personal life, they say. Still, his racially diverse family was appealing to them. “As it is depressing for me to see people not mingle, it makes me happy to see people like the de Blasios, who are kind of like us,” said Rogers. |
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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 S.A. 2013 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, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 250 | |||||
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| India retaliates against U.S. for arrest of its diplomat By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Indian authorities removed concrete security barriers in front of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi Tuesday in apparent retaliation for the arrest and allegedly heavy-handed treatment of an Indian diplomat in New York. New Delhi police used tow trucks and a backhoe loader to drag away long concrete blocks from roads running past the embassy and leading up to gates of the compound, a witness said. The barriers had prevented vehicles from approaching the compound at high speeds. Police and government officials refused to respond to repeated requests for comment on why the embassy barricades were taken away, but Indian television networks, citing unnamed sources, reported that the removal was one of several retaliatory measures that India planned to take. A senior government official, who asked not to be named, said police posted in the area would ensure continued security. “We take the security of all diplomatic missions in India very seriously. Checkposts are provided. This is only an issue related to traffic flows,” the official said. In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it had told the Indian government at a high level that Washington expects New Delhi to protect its embassy and stressed it did not want the incident with the Indian diplomat to hurt bilateral ties. “We understand there are sensitive issues involved here,” said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf. “We don't want this to negatively impact our bilateral relationship.” As the dispute over the diplomat's treatment grew, several top Indian politicians, including the leaders of the two main political parties and the national security adviser, refused to meet with a delegation of U.S. lawmakers visiting India this week. India's National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon branded as barbaric the treatment of the diplomat, who according to Indian media was handcuffed upon arrest last week and strip-searched before being released on bail. The diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly underpaying her nanny and committing visa fraud to get her into the United States. Ms. Khobragade, who was released on $250,000 bail after surrendering her passport and pleading not guilty to the charges, faces a maximum of 15 years in jail if convicted on both counts. India has become a close trade and security partner of the United States over the past decade, but the two countries have not totally overcome a history of ties marked by distrust. “Everything that can be done will be done, I assure you. We take this thing very seriously,” India's Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid told TV news network CNN-IBN. “We have put in motion what we believe will be an effective way of addressing this issue, but also put in motion such steps that we believe need to be taken to protect her dignity.” Indian television networks said the other steps included checking the salaries paid by U.S. Embassy staff to domestic helpers and withdrawing consular identification cards and privileges such as access to airport lounges for some U.S. diplomats and their families. India's Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Embassy said they were unable to comment on the media reports. Ms. Khobragade's arrest triggered a fierce debate in India over how to respond to the alleged mistreatment of the helper. Shashi Tharoor, an Indian government minister and former United Nations diplomat, said many envoys in New York from developing countries were themselves paid less than the U.S. minimum wage, adding that it was unrealistic to expect them to pay domestic staff more. Ms. Khobragade falsely stated in her nanny's visa application that she would be paid $9.75 an hour, a figure that would have been in line with the minimum rates required by U.S. law, according to a statement issued last week by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The diplomat had privately agreed with the domestic worker that she would receive just over a third of that rate, the U.S. attorney said. With general elections due in less than six months, India's political parties are determined not to be labeled soft or unpatriotic. Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, and Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family that leads India's ruling Congress party, both declined to meet the U.S. delegation. “Refused to meet the visiting U.S.A. delegation in solidarity with our nation, protesting ill-treatment meted (to our lady diplomat in U.S.A.,” Modi said in a tweet. A senior member of Modi's socially conservative party, currently the favorite to form the next government, said India should retaliate by putting partners of gay U.S. diplomats in the country behind bars. India's Supreme Court last week effectively ruled homosexuality to be illegal. “The reason why they have arrested this Indian diplomat in New York is violation of the law of the land in the United States. Now the same violation is taking place wherever U.S. Embassy official have obtained visas for their partners of the same sex,” former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said. “If American law can apply to Indian diplomats in New York, the India law can apply here,” he said. The case is the latest concerning alleged ill-treatment of domestic workers by India's elite, both at home and abroad. In June 2011, an Indian maid working for the country's consul general in New York filed a lawsuit alleging that he was using her as forced labor. A member of parliament's wife was arrested last month for allegedly beating her maid to death at her home in Delhi. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, consular officials enjoy immunity from arrest only for crimes committed in connection with their work. Ms. Harf, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman, on Monday said diplomatic security staff had followed standard procedures during Ms. Khobragade's arrest and then handed her over to U.S. Marshals. On Tuesday, she declined comment on whether Ms. Khobragade was strip-searched, referring such matters to the Marshals Service. Diary of a top aide to Hitler given to Holocaust Museum By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The long-lost diary kept by a top aide to Adolf Hitler as he oversaw the genocide against Jews and others during World War II, a key piece of evidence during the Nuremberg trials, was handed over on Tuesday to the U.S. Holocaust Museum. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found and seized Alfred Rosenberg's 400-page diary in Wilmington, Delaware, this year, ending a nearly 70-year hunt for the diary which disappeared after the Nuremberg trials in 1946. “The finding and return of the Rosenberg Diary is one more small but significant step towards a full and complete understanding of the depraved mindset of those responsible for the mass killing of Jewish people and ethnic groups during World War II,” said U.S. Attorney Charles Oberly. Rosenberg was privy to much of the planning for the Nazi state, the mass murder of the Jewish people and other ethnic groups as well as planning of conduct of World War II. Rosenberg was a defendant at the Nurembreg Trials in Germany, from 1945 to 1946. He was found guilty on all four counts of the indictment for conspiracy to commit aggressive warfare, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Rosenberg was hanged on Oct. 16, 1946. After the surrender of Germany in 1945, Allied forces took ownership of all documents created by the defeated German government. To prepare for war crimes trials, U.S. government agencies selected relevant documents as potential evidence, including the Rosenberg diary. One of the prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials, Robert Kempner, removed various documents including the Rosenberg diary from U.S. government facilities in Nuremberg and smuggled them back to the United States. After Kempner's death in 1993, heirs to his estate agreed to forfeit his possessions to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, but the diary was not among them. The museum began searching for it and eventually Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found and seized the diary. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations special agents focus heavily on criminal investigations that involve the illegal importation and distribution of cultural property. Fed meeting today to study strengthening U.S. economy By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. consumer prices were flat in November, but a bounce back in the annual inflation rate from a four-year low will probably give the Federal Reserve cover to start dialing back its massive monetary stimulus. The Labor Department said Tuesday its Consumer Price Index was restrained last month by declines in gasoline and natural gas prices, after slipping 0.1 percent in October. In the 12 months through November, the CPI rose 1.2 percent. It had increased 1.0 percent in October, the smallest advance since October 2009. “This is not a game changer. The composition of price changes suggest we are going to see sub-2 percent inflation for some time to come,” said Laura Rosner, economist at BNP Paribas in New York. Economists had forecast consumer prices nudging up 0.1 percent last month and increasing 1.3 percent from a year ago. Stripping out the volatile energy and food components, the so-called core CPI rose 0.2 percent after rising by 0.1 percent for three consecutive months. That took the increase over the past 12 months to 1.7 percent, rising by the same margin for a third straight month. The inflation report was released as Fed officials were due to start a two-day meeting to assess the economy and deliberate on monetary policy. Though some Fed officials are concerned about inflation being too low, that will probably not stop the U.S. central bank from reducing the pace of its monthly bond purchases. Key data including employment, retail sales and industrial production have all pointed to an economy that is on an upswing. Some economists expect it to announce a reduction in its $85 billion monthly bond buying program at the end of the meeting today, although more believe it will wait until January or March before trimming its purchases. Persistently low inflation would probably serve as a caution to officials and see the Fed keeping interest rates low for a long time even after it begins to reduce its bond purchases. A 1.6 percent drop in gasoline prices and a 1.8 percent fall in the cost of natural gas offset increases in electricity, keeping inflation subdued last month. U.S. Senate clears way for vote on bipartisan budget agreement By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Senate has voted to advance a bipartisan deal to fund the federal government for two years, paving the way for final passage later this week. The compromise agreement reduces the risk of a government shutdown, after two years of bitter budget wrangling in Congress. Senators voted 67 to 33 to end debate and proceed to a decision on the agreement reached last week by Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Democratic Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray. Twelve Senate Republicans broke ranks with their fellow party members and voted with Democrats to move forward on the measure. Murray said both sides made sacrifices to get a deal. "This bipartisan bill takes the final steps towards rebuilding our broken budget process and hopefully towards rebuilding our broken Congress," said Ms. Murray. Bitter budget fights have paralyzed Congress for much of the last two years and resulted in a costly, 16-day government shutdown in October. After the shutdown ended, Congress appointed members of the house and senate from both parties to a small committee to craft an agreement. The deal sets government spending at about $1 trillion annually for the next two years. It raises revenues through increased security fees on airline passengers and by cutting pensions of future federal workers. Most Senate Republicans voted no, saying the bill does not do enough to tackle the country's debt. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a Republican, was not happy with the result. "But what occurred is not sufficient in any way and it has been postured to look a good bit better than it is. Essentially we remain on an unsustainable financial path in America," said Sessions. Some Democratic lawmakers were unhappy that the bill does not extend unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless that are set to expire Dec. 28. Additionally, the bill does not address the debt ceiling, which will likely have to be extended around February of next year. Congressional leaders, however, said the compromise deal would provide much needed certainty for the U.S. economy by avoiding the risk of another government shutdown in January. The budget bill passed by an overwhelming 332-94 vote in the House of Representatives last Thursday, and is expected to pass in the Senate as early as today, before heading to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to get new inductees April 10 By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
What do you get when you combine U.S. music acts Hall and Oates, Nirvana and KISS? Three of the soon-to-be newest members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Cleveland, Ohio, institution announced the inductees Tuesday. The move will be made official on April 10 at a ceremony in New York. Also receiving the honor are U.S. pop star Linda Rondstadt, British folk singer and Muslim convert Cat Stevens and Peter Gabriel, lead singer of the British band Genesis before pursuing a successful solo career. Artists are eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame 25 years after their first release. Nirvana, led by the late Kurt Cobain, gained entry in its first year of eligibility. The selection comes nearly 20 years after Cobain committed suicide at the age of 27. The Beatles' manager, the late Brian Epstein, as well as The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham will receive non-performing awards for lifetime achievement, while Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band is being honored with the award for musical excellence. More than 700 voters from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation chose the 2014 inductees from 16 nominees. The Rock Hall says members of the public were also able to cast votes online, forming a fans' ballot of their top five artists, but it was tallied as only one vote along with the other ballots. Spacewalk planned to fix the broken cooling system By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
NASA has decided that two American astronauts will conduct a series of space walks, starting this week, to fix a broken cooling system on the International Space Station. One of the station's two ammonia cooling systems shut down last Wednesday, forcing astronauts to power down unnecessary equipment and suspend some of the laboratory's science experiments. NASA says the six-member crew of the space station is not in any danger. But after engineers on the ground failed to devise ways to bypass a faulty valve inside the pump, located outside the station, the U.S. space agency decided to have the astronauts replace the pump. Flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins will begin the repairs Saturday. Two more spacewalks are scheduled for Monday and Christmas Day. The repair work has delayed a cargo flight planned for Thursday. The station crew includes three Russians and one Japanese, aside from the two Americans. Rock that yields diamonds found in Antarctica deposit By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A type of rock that often bears diamonds has been found in Antarctica for the first time in a hint of mineral riches in the vast, icy continent that is off limits to mining, scientists said Tuesday. A 1991 environmental accord banned mining for at least 50 years under the Antarctic Treaty that preserves the continent for scientific research and wildlife, from penguins to seals. Writing in the journal Nature Communications, an Australian-led team reported East Antarctic deposits of kimberlite, a rare type of rock named after the South African town of Kimberley famed for a late 19th century diamond rush. “These rocks represent the first reported occurrence of genuine kimberlite in Antarctica,” they wrote of the finds around Mount Meredith in the Prince Charles Mountains. No diamonds were found during the geological work that is allowed on the continent. Kimberlite, a volcanic rock from deep below the Earth's surface, has now been discovered on all continents. Geologists doubted the find could be commercial, largely due to Antarctica's remoteness, cold and winter darkness. Teal Riley of the British Antarctic Survey said less than 10 percent of deposits of similar kimberlite were economically viable. “It's a big leap from here to mining,” he said. Minerals including platinum, gold, copper, iron and coal have previously been found in Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty is binding only on its 50 signatories but has the backing of major powers, including the United States and China. Many expect the ban on mining to be extended in 2041. “There is likely to be little opposition to an extension of this prohibition, despite the potential discovery of a new type of Antarctic ice,” Nature Communications said in a statement. Another expert said it was unclear. “We do not know what the Treaty Parties' views will be on mining after 2041 or what technologies might exist that could make extraction of Antarctic minerals economically viable,” said Kevin Hughes, of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. Riley said there was a fine line between geological mapping and prospecting with an eye to mining. Nations including Russia, Ukraine and China have been more active in surveying Antarctica in recent years. The kimberlite deposit is also confirmation of how continents drift. The region of East Antarctica was once part of a continent known as Gondwana connected to what is now Africa and India, which also have kimberlite |
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| A.M. Costa
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 250 | |||||||||
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Canadian Armed
Forces list anti-drug achievements Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The Canadian Armed Forces has ended for the year its 11-month effort against drug trafficking at sea. The areas of operation were the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Central America. The Canadian forces contributed to the seizure of 5,080 kilograms of cocaine, an announcement said. “This year’s success on Operation CARIBBE is a testament to Canada’s ability to work with our international partners and contribute to the safety and security of the citizens of this continent,” said Rob Nicholson, minister of National Defence. “I’m proud of our sailors, airmen and airwomen who continue to serve as excellent ambassadors for our nation and keep our shared maritime approaches secure.” As part of Operation CARIBBE 2013, the Canadian Armed Forces contributed seven ships, four CP-140 Aurora aircraft, and even a submarine. Four ships and three aircraft were in the Western Caribbean Sea at various times throughout the year, while the remaining craft focused on the eastern Pacific Ocean near Central America. “Canadians can be proud of the members of the Canadian Armed Forces who contributed to the remarkable successes achieved in this year’s Operation CARIBBE,” said Gen. Tom Lawson, chief of the Defence Staff. “These men and women were away from their families doing yeoman’s work on behalf of Canada. Working with our allies they made meaningful contributions to regional security, helping to stem the flow of illicit drugs destined for our shores. We can all be proud of their achievements.” While deployed, air and naval units patrolled international waters in an effort to locate, track, approach and potentially intercept suspicious vessels in order to allow U. S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment personnel to board and conduct law enforcement operations. The CP-140 Aurora aircraft played a crucial role in the operation, providing surveillance and detection that guided both Canadian and international partners’ ships to suspect vessels, the armed forces said. “This is a significant achievement for HMCS Victoria, that successfully integrated its inherent stealth capabilities into a multinational operation,” said Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, commander Royal Canadian Navy. “Through participation on Operation CARIBBE, Victoria and her crew demonstrated the unique contribution that submarines bring to today’s complex maritime environment.” This year has been one of the most successful in terms of the total amount of illicit drugs seized and traffic disrupted since Canada began Operation CARIBBE missions in November 2006. Over the years, Operation CARIBBE has helped strengthen international partnerships and build partnership capacity. Every year, under the coordination of the Joint Interagency Task Force South, partner nations intercept and seize millions of dollars worth of illicit drugs, and play a major role in suppressing illicit trafficking in international waters and airspace. This year alone, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 11, illicit trafficking operations led by the task force successfully prevented 123 metric tons of cocaine and 30,408 pounds of marijuana from reaching North American streets, the announcement said. |
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| From Page 7: Japan posts worst monthly trade deficit ever By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Japan posted its worst November trade deficit on record today, as a weaker yen drove up the cost of imported oil and gas. The energy-starved country continues to rely on costly imported energy as most of its nuclear power facilities remain closed following the 2011 nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant. A sharp decline in the yen's value has made energy imports even more expensive. It has also led to more exports of Japanese goods, which became cheaper overseas. For the month, imports grew 21 percent, while exports climbed 18 percent. This resulted in a November trade deficit of $12.9 billion. That represents a 35 percent increase from last year and is the worst November ever recorded. It also represents a record 17th straight month of trade deficits. Japan's nuclear industry was crippled following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and forced nearly all of the country's nuclear plants offline for safety checks. Meanwhile, Japan's currency last week hit a five-year low against the dollar, partly because of Tokyo's monetary easing, a policy that increases the money supply in an effort to fight deflation. Some analysts expect Japan's trade deficit to shrink early next year following a sales tax increase that has led to last-minute purchases that appear to be boosting imports. |
