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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 251 | |||||||||
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will enter its ninth round By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Deputies again failed Monday to elect a new magistrate to the Sala III criminal appeals court. The deputies in the assembly have voted eight times without one candidate getting the required 38 votes or two-thirds vote. The leading candidate is Carlos Chinchilla, a current lower court judge who fell just one vote short of election in the last ballot Monday. His main opponent has been Francisco Dall'Anesse, the fiscal general, who got 17 in the last round. So far deputies have voted three times with a number of candidates in the running. Then they voted five times with just Chinchilla and Dall'Anesse as hopefuls. Wednesday all the announced candidates will be on the ninth ballot. The eventual winner will take the seat now held by Rodrigo Castro Monge, who is retiring. The Sala III of the Corte Supreme de Justicia decides criminal appeals. The Partido Acción Ciudadana is backing Dall'Anesse while the other major political parties support Chinchilla. Dall'Anesse is the man who engineered the arrest and pretrial detention of two former presidents, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría and Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier. Both men are leaders of the partido Unidad Social Cristiana. Dall'Anesse also has expressed a desire to speak with another former president, José María Figueres Olsen, who has declined to return to Costa Rica from Europe. Figueres is a leader of the Partido Liberación Nacional, which is the majority party in the congress. Liberación leaders say that Dall'Anesse has not explained some expenses he paid from public funds during his term as the nation's chief prosecutor. Dall'Anesse also has been criticized for seeking the court magistrate job while he still has major criminal cases in process. Ricky Martin to visit for concert in February By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Evenpro, one of the larger Latin American music producers, annouced that Ricky Martin will be in concert here Feb. 19. The concert is to be held at Saprissa Stadium in Tibás, a venue that recently hosted the Black Eyed Peas. Martin was recently in Buenos Aires, Argentina, promoting his latest album, “MTV Unplugged”. In reminiscence of his acting days, the pop-singer took the opportunity in Buenos Aires to make an appearance in one of the local soap operas. His recent album, released in November of this year, has already sold millions of copies around the world. Martin was also named the 2006 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year. Our reader's opinion
U.S. has history of backing dictators like Pinochet Dear A.M. Costa Rica: In his letter to the editor, George Chapogas misrepresents the facts about archfascist Pinochet. The U. S. government, through covert operations, acted to destabilize Chile and install Pinochet. New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer recounts these in his recent superb book "Overthrow." The United States has a long history of supporting dictators: Duvalier, Trujillo, Suharto, Marcos, Park Chung Hee, Chiang Kai-shek, Saddam Hussein, Somoza, Mobutu, and legions of others. The current administration supports dictatorships in the former Soviet republics while attempting a coup against the democratically elected Chávez (brilliantly chronicled in the documentary "The Revolution Will Not be Televised") while forcing Aristide, the democratically elected president of Haiti into exile. Today, Venezuela is stable. Haiti is in chaos. Dick Cheney publicly lauded Kazakhstan's dictator, Nursultan Nazarbayev, while on a visit there this past May: "All Americans are tremendously impressed with the progress that you've made in Kazakhstan in the last 15 years. Kazakhstan has become a good friend and strategic partner of the United States." Reuters reported in 2003 that "transcripts of White House tapes show Nixon and Kissinger relieved about the toppling of Allende, who killed himself the day of the coup. The transcripts quote Kissinger, then national security adviser, as saying newspapers were 'bleeding because a pro-Communist government has been overthrown.' "'I mean instead of celebrating — in the Eisenhower period we would be heroes,' Kissinger told Nixon on Sept. 16, 1973, five days after the bloody coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet. About 3,000 people were killed or disappeared under Pinochet's 17-year rule. "'Well we didn't — as you know — our hand doesn't show on this one, though,' Nixon told Kissinger in the Sept. 16 transcript. "'We didn't do it. I mean we helped them,'' Kissinger told Nixon, adding that '(deleted) created the conditions as great as possible,' in an apparent reference to a person or institution. "'That is right, and that is the way it is going to be played,' Nixon responded." Apparently, Mr. Chapogas believes that it is fine that 3,000 Chileans should have been executed for their beliefs. The current Chilean president, hardly a flaming radical by any standards, refused to attend Pinochet's funeral because she was tortured under his regime. Pinochet looted millions from Chile. Even the most hard-core extreme fascists in Chile have been appalled by this. And not even the most diehard conservative can be unfazed by the brutal 1976 car bombing which( killed former Chilean ambassador and Allende defense minister) Orlando Letelier and his American assistant Roni Moffit near Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. This terrorist act, linked to the Pinochet regime, remains unpunished. The historical record on Pinochet is clear for those of us who inhabit the reality-based universe. We invite others to join us to inhabit the realm of established fact, but we do recognize that they may wish to continue to reside on their respective delusionary planets. Harry S. Pariser
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 251 | |||||||||
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| Here's
brief vocabulary for those who would take advantage |
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| Montado en la carreta An interesting aspect of this dicho is that it does not exactly mean to get onto the wagon. Rather it’s meaning is a little ambiguous and implies just the opposite, that is, to get off the wagon. In standard Spanish, montar is a very versatile and useful verb. It means, “to mount” as in getting on a horse or a bull, or “to get aboard” as in getting on the train or into a car. It also means “to ride” and “to climb up,” as well as “to erect,” and “to assemble.” The word also has sexual connotations, which, gentle readers, for now we shall leave to your creative imaginations. Today’s dicho is often used to refer to someone who never likes to help out with anything. They are the ones, for example, who enjoy going out to dinner with friends, but conveniently disappear into the lavatory when the bill shows up. These folks love to go along for a nice ride, but when the time comes to pay the driver they hop off the wagon. We call them montados/as. You might say ¡Que montado/a! Of one who has taken shameless advantage of your kindness or generosity, especially if this person is someone you know only slightly or perhaps not at all. You can also protest such behavior by exclaiming: ¡Ay, no se monte! It is, after all, important to let such types know that you’re onto their tricks. You could also say, Ni piense en montarse, which is the same as saying in English, “don¹t even think of taking advantage!” Even the abbreviated ¡Ni lo piense! Should suffice to get your meaning across in most cases. But occasionally you will find yourself in the presence of a really big montado who pretends he doesn’t get it or perhaps his hearing is not working so well. So for those occasions when one needs to be a bit more direct, say something like: Ni se imagine que se va a montar, “Don’t even imagine that you¹re getting a free ride.” Montarse en la carreta also has the very same meaning as the English expression that so-and-so has “fallen off the wagon,” which is to say that they have gone out and got totally drunk. It seems that some people each year spend the week between Christmas and New Years Day in such a state. |
Zapote had become a showcase for such behavior. This is one of the biggest reasons that the festivities there have lost their charm for many of us. I, for one, have not shed any tears because the Zapote fiestas have been canceled this year. For those who have never visited the end-of-year Zapote festival, let me explain that it used to be a family-oriented event, sort of like a carnival with a midway that had rides for the kids, booths selling food and souvenirs, and of course the bull fights. After the introduction of alcohol several years ago and the granting of huge vendor spaces to various bars and night clubs, the wholesomeness of the function quickly began to fade. By 2005 Zapote had sunk to little more than a seedy hangout for drunks, drug dealers, and prostitutes. That’s when the decision was finally made to suspend the Zapote fiestas indefinitely. Even the bullfights had declined to little more than a rabble of drunken young men tormenting and baiting the poor bewildered animals. These young, often drunk or stoned idiots were frequently injured or even killed being trampled or gored by the bull. Now, what I've just been doing here with my little tirade about Zapote constitutes an illustration of yet another definition of that versatile word montarse. When a person gets onto a certain topic and simply won’t stop harping away on it, we call this a montada (¡Que montada!). This is the equivalent of “getting up on a soapbox” in English. Here again, the person doing the montada is, por supuesto (of course), a montado/a. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 251 | |||||||||
| What
you can do with Rover when you are out roving |
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By Noel Dekking
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Some may consider living in Costa Rica to be an extended vacation, but this doesn't stop locals from travelling within the country or around the globe, especially during the holiday season. While many of the Costa Rican animals roam freely in the street, this is likely not the preferred care that animal owners seek for their pets while they are on vacation. Luckily, the country is equipped with various options for almost all types of pets. For the pet owner who feels that there's no place like home, there is a service offered by Fur and Feather Pet Care. This company offers a home-care service where one of the representatives will visit a pet owner's home and care for the animal in its usual environment. The cost of this service depends on the arangements, an hour will generally be $20, multiple daily visits are available, and overnight stays are $35, said the firm. For the security and convenience of a traveller's home when away, the company will also provide free services such as bringing in newspapers or mail, watering plants, taking the garbage out, and rotating lights and curtains to give the home a lived-in appearance. Fur and Feather Pet Care will accomodate for almost all pets and that special circumstances and instructions are welcomed. The company is currently a member of Pet Sitters International and is licensed, insured and bonded. |
The sitters are American Red Cross
Pet CPR certified. More information can be found at www.furandfeatherpetcare.com/ The Association of Residents of Costa Rica offers information on other available options. For members of the association, there is a $25-a-night service offered with a veterinarian located near San Pedro. The service offers the convenience of leaving pets with a certified veteranarian, and pet grooming is available. For pet owners who are looking to travel throughout Costa Rica with their animal, the Association of Residents of Costa Rica also has a list of hotels that provide pet friendly accommodations. The list does not include all areas of the country, in which case one may have to call around to a number of hotels before departing. The Association of Residents of Costa Rica can be reached by telephone at 506-221-2053 The cheapest option is likely one of the many kennel services, but these generally only accommodate dogs and/or cats. The yellow pages contains many of these businesses, for which the going rate is around $5 and up per night. An example with information on the Internet is the Mi Amigo Fiel dog kennel. The price is approximately $5 a night, depending on the size of the dog. As in most cases, food must be provided, and while there are no veteranarians on site, the owners said that he has veteranarian contacts in the case of an emergency. This service is located in Heredia, just outside of San José. More information is available at www.miamigofiel.com |
| Newspeople
plan public remembrance for slain editor |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Members of the journalism profession will conduct a remembrance ceremony Saturday for Ivannia Mora at the spot she was killed and on the same date. The event will be Saturday, Dec. 23, near the traffic light in Curridabat where motorcycle riders gunned down the magazine editor. The day is the third anniversary of her death. Participants plan to wear white and carry flowers and a photo of the woman. Her friends and associates in newspapers and magazines are upset because the individuals accused of the crime were absolved Nov. 20 by what prosecutors are calling technicalities. The judges found that key evidence in the case had been obtained improperly. Chief Judge Rocío Pérez Montenegro read the sentence in the high-profile trial on live television. |
She was critical of the way
the
Ministerio Público and the Judicial Investigating Organization
handled
the case. Ms. Mora, 33 when he died, was well known in the journalistic community, and many of the reporters covering the story since then were her friends. Ms. Mora had worked with Eugenio Millot at the financial magazine Estrategia y Negocios. Shortly before her murder she left that firm to produce a similar magazine for Credomatic. Investigators detained Millot a few days later. They claimed he hired hit men to kill his former associate. Eventually agents implicated five men as either intermediaries or killers. They were on trial with Millot. The trial began in May. Francisco Dall'Anesse, the chief prosecutor, appealed the decision by the judges to the Sala III criminal supreme court. A decision is awaited. |
| First
unit of tourism police will get marching orders today |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The first tourist police for Costa Rica will be presented and sent off to popular recreation spots today. The ceremony will be at the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública. The concept was a campaign plank for President Óscar Arias Sánchez, and he will be there tomorrow afternoon, as will other officials, including top police officers. |
Administration officials are
bragging that in just six months they have
instituted the tourism police force. It is unknown at this point how
many will be in the first unit, but the budget calls for about 30.
These are supposed to be bilingual and multilingual individuals. Bag snatchings, thefts on the beach and worse have earned Costa Rica a bad name in tourism circles, and the goal of the new police unit will be to have a presence that is mainly concerned with tourist related crime. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 251 | ||||||
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