Costa Rica: June 2007
Costa Rica
Sunday, June 17, 2007
President, Foreign Minister push for consensus
Online Daily update to The Tico Times Weekly Edition Newspaper, Report Highlights Problems In Education for the Disabled, Limón Turtles Saved By National Police, Businesses Ready to Hire In: "As international leaders gathered in New York yesterday to evaluate Central America's progress during the past two decades, President Oscar Arias and Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno rallied support for their Costa Rica Consensus, a proposal designed to reduce military spending in the developing world.
Arias spoke at the United Nations during an event held to commemorate the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Central American Peace Accords, signed Aug. 7, 1987 in Guatemala to bring an end to the region's conflicts.
At a conference on the challenges facing Central America today, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the drug trade and rising crime in the region have the potential to “erode support for democracy,” according to the U.N. Web site.
“Crime scares away investors. It encourages ‘brain drain,'” said Ban, who also pledged U.N. support for Central American governments.
For his part, Arias, one of the accords' signatories during his first presidential term (1986-1990), urged listeners to support the Costa Rica Consensus, which encourages developed nations to provide increased foreign aid to developing countries that decrease their military spending.
Stagno pitched"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Travel to Costa Rica for $249
Today's hot airfare deals come from American Airlines to the wonderful Latin nation of Costa Rica.Costa Rica for $249 | ajc.com: "The airline offers up to bargains — one to the capital city of San Jose and another to Liberia to reach the country's west coast beach resorts.
The sale to Liberia (city code LIR) is the most liberal with round-trip rates of $249 valid on trips finished by May 9, 2008. Trips taken on Fridays-Sundays are $20 more each way. Give a one-week or more advance purchase notice and plan to be away at least one weekend and no longer than 120 days. Blackout dates to avoid are Dec. 15-26 to Costa Rica and returns from Jan. 1-8. Extra taxes and fees bring ticket totals to about $450 (compare to other airlines at $546).
The sale rate of $245 to San Jose (code SJO) carries no advance purchase requirement, so go as soon as tomorrow. Start trips on or before June 26 or from Aug. 5-Dec. 12. Sale rates are not valid on Jan. 2-15 return flights. The minimum stay is a Saturday night and max stay is 60 days. The $245 rate is valid only on Sunday-Thursday departures and Monday-Friday returns. Trips taken on other days is at regular rates, or from $380 round-trip. After factoring in taxes, fees and extras, ticket totals are about $449 (compare to other airlines at $580).
American serves either Costa Rica city via its hub of Miami where a stop and change of aircraft is required."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
ICE plans integrated telecoms services in Costa Rica
Integration in Central America Would Spur Growth
Bloomberg Printer-Friendly Page: "Robert Zoellick, the U.S. nominee to replace Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank, said economic integration among Central American countries would help spur growth in the region.
Countries such as Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica should unite efforts aimed at countering competition from China and Southeast Asia, Zoellick told reporters today in Mexico City. Such an effort would help overcome poverty, he said.
``If the World Bank can help use regional integration in developing growth to help face that competition and to overcome poverty, that will be a success,'' Zoellick said.
Zoellick, 53, met earlier today with Mexico's Finance Minister Agustin Carstens and his counterparts in Honduras, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica to discuss these topics.
Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative, also said that one of his goals at the World Bank will be to fight corruption in the developing world that deepens poverty."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costa rica real estate, costarica, san jose
ANDRES OPPENHEIMER: Lack of financial integration hurts Central America
ANDRES OPPENHEIMER: Lack of financial integration hurts Central America: "When I interviewed Salvadorean President Tony Saca last week, I couldn't resist asking him whether it isn't insane for the five countries of Central America -- whose combined economies are smaller than Connecticut's -- to have five different central banks, five different currencies and five different investment laws.
I posed the question because, in recent years, the presidents of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica have held dozens of regional summits to step up regional integration. And yet it's hard for outsiders to notice any significant progress.
Guatemala's currency is the quetzal, Honduras' currency is the lempira, Nicaragua's currency is the cordoba and Costa Rica's the colon, while El Salvador adopted the U.S. dollar in 2001. What's worse, each country's central bank has its own regulations, making foreign trade to the region -- and within the region -- a bureaucratic nightmare.
It's easier to export chicken products from Guatemala to China than from Guatemala to nearby Costa Rica, says Dionisio Gutierrez, a part-owner of the giant Guatemala-based Grupo Multi Inversiones, whose Pollo Campero fast-food chain operates throughout Central America, the United States, Spain, Indonesia and China.
Gutierrez told me that his group recently"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costa rica real estate, costarica, san jose, travel
CCTV International: "A high-ranking official from the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry will visit Beijing to begin the process of setting up an embassy in China within the next few days, Costa Rica's Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias said on Wednesday.
Arias said there are a large number of potential candidates for the post of Costa Rica's ambassador to China, adding that only Oscar Arias, president of the country, can make that decision.
China and Costa Rica announced last Thursday that they had decided to established diplomatic ties after the Latin American country agreed to break official relations with China's province of Taiwan.
A joint communique, signed on June 1 by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Costa Rican counterpart Bruno Stagno Ugarte, says the two governments, 'in accordance with the interests and aspirations of the peoples of the two countries, agree to establish diplomatic ties at ambassadorial level beginning June 1, 2007.'
'The Costa Rican government recognizes that there is only one China and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory,' it says.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has said that the establishment of diplomatic relations with China and breaking ties with Taiwan reflected his country's 'realistic' foreign policy."
Labels: costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Visa requirements for Chinese citizens
People's Daily Online -- Costa Rica to review visa requirements for Chinese citizens: "Costa Rica's government is reviewing its visa restrictions on Chinese citizens now that the two nations established diplomatic relations, an immigration official said on Wednesday.
'We will meet officials from the President's Office and the Foreign Ministry to hear new instructions,' said Mario Zamora, a director of immigration.
He added that the change in diplomatic relations does not necessarily mean a change in visa requirements.
At present Zamora is the only person who can grant a visa to a Chinese citizen, as China is in the 'restricted visa' category. Authorization can take three months.
China expects Costa Rica to move to a more flexible regime, with the intention of boosting trade and investment.
Costa Rica's Vice Minister of Public Security Ana Duran, told media that the Vias Commission, made up of Foreign Ministry and Public Security Ministry officials, are studying the visa issue.
Costa Rica established diplomatic relations with China on June 1,breaking off diplomatic ties with China's Taiwan."
Labels: costa rica, san jose, travel
Plasma engine record
: "Scientists in Costa Rica have run a plasma rocket engine continuously for a record of more than four hours, the latest achievement in a mission to cut costs and travel time for spacecraft.
The Ad Astra Rocket Company, led by Costa Rican-born former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, said on Wednesday it hopes to use its rocket engines to stabilize space stations in a few years, and then to power a trip to Mars within two decades.
'The first objective is to move small spacecraft in low orbit by 2010,' Ad Astra executive director Ronald Chang-Diaz, the astronaut's brother, told Reuters.
In December, the scientists ran the engine for two minutes but had to turn it off because it was overheating. They have spent much of the past six months designing cooling systems.
Scientists believe propulsion engines that run on plasma, a material composed of atoms stripped of electrons and found in high-pressure and -temperature environments like stars and lightning bolts, will be faster and cheaper than rockets currently used in space travel.
Considered the fourth state of matter because it is neither a solid, liquid or gas, plasma can reach millions of degrees, making it a potentially light but powerful fuel.
It is hoped that the engine, which uses Variable Specific-Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket technology conceived in the 1970s, could eventually cut travel tim"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Rainforest leading Spa of the World
BYM Waterside Property News: "Featuring a dramatic rainforest setting at the foot of Arenal Volcano, hot springs and the new Grand Spa, Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort has been named a member of Leading Hotels of the World which also named the spa a Leading Spa of the World, the only such spa in Central America. Reflecting the resort's recent upgrades and renovations, the resort was also selected for inclusion in the prestigious Conde Nast Johansens Recommended Hotels, Inns, Resort & Spas collection, making it one of only four resorts in Costa Rica and the only luxury spa in Central America.
The Grand Spa has 11 outdoor treatment bungalows, an extensive menu of indigenous and therapeutic treatments, and an open-air Yoga Studio. The Spa capitalizes on its hot springs location with a three-unit Temazcal, the only one in Central and Latin America; volcanic mud wraps and rinses in outdoor river pools; mineral water treatments; coffee and coconut scrubs; and massage with volcanic stones. The Spa features individual bungalows, couples bungalows, and an 'all-day' bungalow suite (including meals and treatments) for adults or families.
Awarded five-star status and three-leaf Certification for Sustainable Tourism, the 114-room resort is located in northern Costa Rica in La Fortuna. Included on Travel + Leisure's 'World's Best' and Luxury SpaFinder 'Reader's Choice' lists, Tabacon sits in a"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
China oil refinery threatens Costa Rica environment
The Raw Story | China oil refinery threatens Costa Rica environment: groups: "An oil refinery would jeopardize Costa Rica's environment as planned by a Chinese company known as a polluter, environmental groups said Saturday.
Oilwatch Mesoamerica and other groups warned that recent agreements between China and Costa Rica included a refinery built by China Petroleum Corporation.
'We are studying the history of this company, which has little concern for the environment or human rights, two of President Oscar Arias's causes elsewhere in the world,' Oilwatch Mesoamerica director Alicia Casas told AFP.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Arias broke with Taiwan and normalized relations with China on June 1 and followed up with a set of cooperation agreements.
Oilwatch Mesoamerica joined with the Federation for the Conservation of the Environment to denounce a large number of accidents they said killed hundreds of people and caused a lot of pollution 'through negligence' of the China Petroleum Corporation in the Chinese cities of Cangzhou, Chongqing and Kaixian.
'We were surprised that one of the Beijing envoy's first announcements was construction of a mega-refinery, at a cost of billions of dollars,' Casas said.
She said Arias 'has an obsession' with bringing this oil company to Costa Rica."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Drug Traffickers Rising in Costa Rica
Drug Traffickers Rising in Costa Rica - Prensa Latina: "The number of drug traffickers near the schools of the capital is rising faster and faster, Public Security Vice Minister Rafael Angel Gutierrez confirmed Sunday.
According to a Security report, Costa Rican police caught 170 drug dealers within four months, trafficking marihuana, crack, among other toxic substances, around school institutions in the city.
The document specifies arrests happened on February 7, at the start of the academic school year, and on June 14.
However, Gutierrez explained the majority of these drug traffickers are released because they just carry minimum quantities of these substances, justifying it as for personal consumption.
The Office for Childhood and Adolescents of Public Education Ministry Coordinator Rocio Solis confirmed there is consumption of these drugs at schools."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Cuba Sports Trainers to Help Costa Rica
Cuba Sports Trainers to Help Costa Rica - Prensa Latina: "Cuban trainers of different sports will help the Costa Rican Puerto Limon municipality to achieve athletic development in the coming months, sources told Prensa Latina on Sunday.
Eduardo Barbosa, mayor of that locality, stated that he sought assistance by basketball, boxing, athletics, volleyball, and weight lifting trainers, because Cuba has great experience in those fields.
The mayor highlighted that maybe his country could collaborate in soccer, although this discipline has been developing in the largest of the Antilles too, and that has been proven during the Gold Cup, which is taking place in the United States.
Sports have really developed here, despite the blockade and other actions against it, and the Island s flag rises and flies frequently in the world, due to its specialists good quality and the government support, he said.
Cuba has improved and it is ready to share, with all, training and
formation of the human capital, and the search for talents in neighborhoods, an experience that we should put into practice, he concluded."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
De Anza Rotaract Club in Costa Rica
La Voz Weekly - De Anza Rotaract Club in Costa Rica: "By: Asif Ahmed
Posted: 6/18/07
The De Anza College Rotaract Club completed its first international project in Costa Rica.
Rotary is a 102-year-old international organization dedicated to worldwide humanitarian service; the De Anza branch was established two years ago. De Anza President Brian Murphy said, 'It's been De Anza's mission that Rotaract participate in an international mission.'
The De Anza branch's mission was recognized during a presentation they made at the Cupertino Rotary Club last Wednesday.
Thai-Ry Chang Urena, a Rotaract member, said that Costa Rica was selected as this year's international project because he's from Costa Rica and it would be better to go there rather than to a country where they didn't know the system.
De Anza Rotaract members stayed four days in Costa Rica and worked together with other North American, Central American and South American rotary clubs as well as other non-rotary clubs. They donated to two indigenous reservations, an elementary school and a children's hospital.
At the Quitirrisi and Talamanca reservations, they donated books, learned to press sugar cane and witnessed aspects of Costa Rican culture.
The club donated seven boxes of hospital supplies to the children's hospital, including latex gloves, hear"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Mexico 1, Costa Rica, OT
Mexico 1, Costa Rica, OT | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Jared Borgetti headed in a goal from 5 yards out in the eighth minute of overtime to give Mexico a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal Sunday.
Mexico will face Guadeloupe, a 2-1 winner over Honduras in the second game Sunday, on Thursday in Chicago in the semifinals. The defending champion United States will play Canada in the other semifinal.
Borgetti, who leads Mexico with 43 career goals in international play, took a crossing pass in front of the goal from Adolfo Bautista to score the winner.
'I believe in perseverance and strength and that the best team will win,' Borgetti said.
Mexico coach Hugh Sanchez said he thought his team's patience caused Costa Rica to lose hope. 'And that patience helped us to win.
'He who wins is the best that plays, not he who can best adapt to conditions that are not favorable.'
Costa Rica's Allan Aleman was ejected in the 43rd minute when he got his second yellow card for vehemently arguing a non-call. That forced Costa Rica to play with 10 men the rest of the way in regulation.
Moments after Borgetti scored, Costa Rica lost Alvaro Saborio to a red card because of a hard foul. In the final minute of overtime, Mario Camacho received a red card for a hard foul and Costa Rica finished the game with"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Clarkson Biology Professor Will Travel to Costa Rica as Fulbright Scholar
Clarkson University - News - Clarkson Biology Professor Will Travel to Costa Rica as Fulbright Scholar: "Clarkson University Associate Professor of Biology Tom A. Langen has been named a U.S. Fulbright Scholar. He will travel to Costa Rica during the 2007-2008 school year, during which he will also receive a National Geographic Society Committee for Research & Exploration Grant.
Langen's Fulbright grant will support him for a semester of research and teaching at the International Program in Wildlife Conservation & Management at the National University of Costa Rica. He will teach a new course on animal behavior for wildlife conservation, and conduct research focusing on the impact of public roads on Costa Rica National Parks. Clarkson will provide him with a paid sabbatical leave for the other semester.
The National Geographic Society Grant will support Langen's field research at the Guanacaste Conservation Area, a major national park in Costa Rica which is bisected by the Pan-American highway. Because of concerns about wildlife road mortality, both in terms of impact on sensitive species and as a hazard to motorists, there is increasing pressure for management agencies to develop accurate methods of locating hotspots of road mortality for mitigation purposes.
Langen will determine whether there are hotspots of road crossing and road mortality for animals along the highway as it crosses the national park, which wa"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Why People are Starting to Move Towards Specialist in Country Travel Agencies Rather than Typical Home Based Walk in Agencies
Why People are Starting to Move Towards Specialist in Country Travel Agencies Rather than Typical Home Based Walk in Agencies: "Over the past years with the boom in people connected to the internet and also people buying from the internet, travel agencies have seen a shift in the way that people are now looking for and booking their holidays.
Typically people would walk into a travel agency request a brochure and then discuss the brochure and its offering with a travel agent. Now this is a very easy and simplistic way of doing things as the client can just choose a package that they like, pay for it and they are off on holiday. However as time has gone by people are demanding more and also expecting more. With the boom of the information on the internet it has meant that people can now book directly with hotels and can cut out the middle man. Costa Rica Holiday has seen its business double every year over the last 6 years and is fast becoming the leader is luxury travel to Costa Rica.
Below goes into more detail of the benefits of using todays modern on line incountry travel agency and what value that this brings to the customer and the local economies:
Why is an in country travel agency better than a home based agency? Many people think that a home based agency is great as they can walk into the shop and pick the package that they want, right out of"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Mandarin Oriental Plans Costa Rican Resort
Mandarin Oriental Plans Costa Rican Resort - Luxist: "Costa Rica is becoming the latest hot spot for major development projects. The latest is from Mandarin Oriental which has announced a beach resort and branded Residences at Playa Manzanillo, in Guanacaste province, on Costa Rica's northern Pacific coast. The Mandarin Oriental, Costa Rica will be part of a 538-acre gated golf and residential development, Rancho Manzanillo, which will feature branded Mandarin Oriental residences, beach and golf villas, and private homes. The resort will include the 18-hole Fred Couples Signature Championship golf course and 200 acres will be protected tropical dry forest. The hotel will be build on a costal ridge with bay views and hte suites will be designed using native woods and stone. The hotel will also have 'tree house suites' away from the main building and set below the trees. The resort will include three restaurants, a lounge and three bars and a 20,000-square-foot spa. The 130-room resort will open in 2009.
Other Costa Rican developments
Marisol Development
Punta Leona
Thunderbird Resort
St. Regis"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costa rica real estate, costarica, san jose, travel
visa on Jamaicans
Jamaica Gleaner News - Costa Rica imposes visa on Jamaicans - Friday | June 15, 2007: "Effective today, Jamaicans wishing to travel to Costa Rica will need to obtain visas.
However, Jamaicans who have valid visas to enter the United States or countries within Europe are excluded, the Costa Rican Embassy said.
The embassy further advised that all persons wishing to enter Costa Rica must have a valid certificate of vaccination against yellow fever.
In applyingfor a visa, the following documents must be submitted: a police record; proof of vaccination against yellow fever (vaccine must be received 10 days prior to travel); valid passport (passport must have at least eight months' validity); job letter, if going to take up employment and bank statements.
Applicants should call the Costa Rican Embassy to make an appointment for an interview and bring supporting documents along with them."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Plasma rocket engine undergoes record endurance test
domain-B - Aviation and Aerospace - News reports - Plasma rocket engine undergoes record endurance test: "A revolutionary plasma rocket engine has undergone endurance tests for a record time of more than four hours at a test facility in Costa Rica. According to scientists from the Ad Astra Rocket Company, if everything works out fine then the engine will eventually be cheaper to operate than conventional rocket models and will also reduce travel time for space missions.
It is expected that the plasma rocket engines will boost commercial spacecraft into higher orbits, stabilise space stations, and then to power a trip to Mars within two decades, cutting down travel time by about a third to around three months.
Costa Rican-born, former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, heads Ad Astra Rocket Company.
The plasma engine works on the principle of stripping electrons from hydrogen atoms and accelerating the resulting plasma in an electric field. When plasma is expelled from the back, the engine generates thrust. The technique is known as Variable Specific-Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) technology, and was conceived of in the 1970s.
Plasma (VASIMR) engines differ from conventional rockets by accelerating continuously. A conventional rocket engine generates all it's thrust in the first few minutes of a mission, and then coasts to the destination.
Plasma engines will reduce travel time,"
Labels: costa rica, costarica, san jose
Costa Rica farmers escape poverty on wings of butterflies | Seattle Times Newspaper
Nation & World | Costa Rica farmers escape poverty on wings of butterflies | Seattle Times Newspaper: "Down a half-mile of rocky dirt road, past banana groves and cattle swishing their tails through the warm, moist air, Miguel Murillo is pursuing a different breed of agriculture.
Every morning, he walks to his six backyard gardens, each flush with eye-popping tropical greenery, and gingerly removes tiny spheres from the leaves.
They are eggs, and his 'crop' is butterflies.
This is a mariposario, a butterfly farm, one of dozens across the Costa Rican countryside. Their journey begins not only here in the lush green lowlands of Central America, but also farther afield in Africa and Asia.
For the farmers, the butterflies are the means to a demanding yet family-friendly way of life that is good for the environment and good for the wallet, providing a leg up out of poverty. In the wild, the life of a butterfly is a risky proposition.
After mating with the male — sometimes for hours at a time — an adult female typically lays about 100 eggs.
Perhaps two will make it to adulthood. The rest are eaten by lizards, spiders and wasps.
Or, the eggs may never be laid in the first place, because there isn't enough of the right kind of leafy habitat.
In Murillo's gardens, hung with protective black nets"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Taiwan diplomatic strategy should be reexamined
The China Post: "Costa Rica, a Central American democratic republic, our long-standing diplomatic ally, has just announced its decision to sever formal ties with Taiwan. Now, Taipei has only 24 diplomatic allies most of which are either small or poor or both. It has been reported that President Chen Shui-bian would travel to Central America in August, trying to 'control the damage' caused by Costa Rica's shift of diplomatic recognition.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan, Beijing has pledged a grant of US$130 million to Costa Rica and another US$300 million in the procurement of bonds. We are glad that the Taipei government made the move to break relations with Costa Rica instead of continuing this battle of 'checkbook diplomacy' with a giant power in the world. It's high time for us to rethink the disproportionate price we have paid to maintain diplomatic relations with a certain number of insignificant nations in order to be a viable state."
Labels: central america, costa rica, san jose
President Martin Torrijos emergency landing
: "SAN JOSE - Panama's presidential plane with President Martin Torrijos, his wife and two cabinet ministers made an emergency landing Friday in San Jose with a cracked windshield, aviation sources told AFP.
The plan landed safely at Juan Santamaria International Airport and nobody onboard was injured, said airport spokesman Isaac Perez.
He said Torrijos and his delegation were escorted to the airport's VIP lounge.
Torrijos was bound for a two-day visit to Honduras when the plane's windshield cracked for unspecified reasons, the official said.
Traveling with Torrijos were his wife, Vivian Fernandez, the ministers of Government, Olga Golcher, and of Trade, Alejandro Ferrer, as well as deputy Foreign Minister Ricardo Duran and security chief Eliecer Suarez, the president's office said in Panama City.
There was no immediate word as to when Torrijos and his delegation would resume travel to Honduras."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Violin students traveling to Costa Rica
local: "Nineteen middle school and high school violin students from the Madison area will tour Costa Rica, where they will perform for a week, starting Monday.
The Sonora Strings, an advanced touring group of a private Suzuki string school in the city, will be led by Maria Rosa Germain, a classically trained violinist who earned a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Vartan Manoogian and Tyrone Greive, who is also the concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The MSO is a major co-sponsor of the tour and, according to orchestra officials, will continue to collaborate with the National Orchestra in Costa Rica's capital San Juan, perhaps with the goal of one day becoming a 'sister' orchestra. Later this summer, MSO maestro John DeMain will conduct the National Orchestra in San Juan and will waive his fee to help the National Institute of Music.
The Madison students will perform as an ensemble violin choir or in smaller groups accompanied by a piano and will also perform with the National Orchestra. They will stay with host families for part of the time and will also travel around the country to visit the rain forest and a Pacific Coast resort.
The students will perform in schools, an outdoor theater, an indoor theater and a bullfighting ring and will perform with other Suzuki students in Costa Rica at the National Institute of Music.
The stud"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Nicaragua and Costa Rica expressed their willingness Saturday to talk on the bordering dispute for San Juan River
Nicaragua, Costa Rica Closer on Border Issues - Prensa Latina: "The governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica expressed their willingness Saturday to talk on the bordering dispute for San Juan River, on the fringes of the International Court in the Hague.
The willingness was expressed Friday by Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno and his Nicaraguan counterpart Samuel Santos, after opening a consulate in the southern city of Rivas, 68 miles from Managua.
Costa Rica, recognizing Nicaraguan sovereignty on the leak, and in virtue of Canas-Jerez Treaty dated from 1858, demands Nicaragua to allow bordering armed guards sailing through the river.
That right was revoked to them in 2001 by the then President Arnoldo Aleman (1997-2002).
According to Managua, the agreement only allows the neighboring country use San Juan River with trade purposes.
The Costa Rican diplomacy chief stated Friday that the international demand is not an obstacle so that both governments can talk about the river."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Central America needs to standardize
My opinion Andrés Oppenheimer : Central America needs to standardize | www.azstarnet.com ®: "SAN SALVADOR
When I interviewed Salvadoran President Tony Saca last week, I couldn't resist asking him whether it isn't insane for the five countries of Central America to have five different central banks, five different currencies and five different investment laws.
I posed the question because, in recent years, the presidents of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica have held dozens of regional summits to step up regional integration. It's hard for outsiders to notice any progress.
Guatemala's currency is the quetzal, Honduras' currency is the lempira, Nicaragua's currency is the cordoba and Costa Rica's the colon, while El Salvador adopted the U.S. dollar in 2001. What's worse, each country's central bank has its own regulations, making foreign trade to the region — and within the region — a bureaucratic nightmare.
It's easier to export chicken products from Guatemala to China than from Guatemala to nearby Costa Rica, says Dionisio Gutierrez, a part-owner of the giant Guatemala-based Grupo Multi Inversiones, whose Pollo Campero fast-food chain operates throughout Central America, the United States, Spain, Indonesia and China.
'It's a tragedy,' Gutierrez said. 'The region's presidents lack the political will to move forward. We have been talking about Central American integr"
Labels: central america, costa rica, san jose, travel
IFC wants to avoid termination of the Alterra Costa Rica contract
Business News Americas - Latin America's Business Information Leader: "The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is looking to find a way out of the impasse with Costa Rica's government regarding a concessions contract with capital San José's Juan Santamaría international airport operator Alterra Partners.
'IFC wants to avoid termination [of the contract], which would have serious repercussions for the airport and for future investments in Costa Rica,' the IFC said in a document provided to BNamericas.
In 2001, IFC committed US$120mn - including US$85mn syndicated to 10 international banks in financing - to Alterra Partners Costa Rica to expand and modernize the Juan Santamaría airport. Since then, US$90mn has been disbursed.
In 2003, an unexpected change in the tariff framework by the Costa Rican comptroller general's office 'changed the rules of the contract as previously agreed with the public works and transportation ministry [MOPT] and CTAC. This forced a suspension of construction work at the airport and created an impasse among the government, Alterra Partners Costa Rica, and the company's creditors,' the IFC said.
In May this year a six-member technical committee - consisting of two representatives from civil aviation board CTAC, two representatives from public management contract inspector OFGI, and two representatives from IFC - deemed "
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Australia's Melbourne sign Costa Rican Hernandez
ATL World Cup Soccer. All the top world soccer news daily. News from international soccer. World Cup 2006, Euro 2004, champion's league, premiership football, bundesliga, serie a, j-league.: "Australian A-League champions Melbourne Victory signed Costa Rican international Carlos Hernandez Tuesday, saying they had beaten several European clubs chasing the midfielder's services.
Victory coach Ernie Merrick said it was a coup for Australian football to sign an up-and-coming player who has scored six goals in 17 appearances for Costa Rica.
Merrick said Hernandez, 25, was instrumental in Costa Rica's qualification for last year's World CUp finals in Germany.
'What we're dealing with here is a player of enormous pedigree who is still yet to reach his prime,' he said.
'For Carlos to choose Melbourne Victory over a number of established clubs in Europe is quite a feather in the cap of the A-League.'
The attacking midfielder was signed on a two-year loan deal from Costa Rican club LD Alajuelense to directly fill the gap left by Brazilian Fred, who left at the end of last season for US Major League Soccer side DC United.
Melbourne Victory also announced it would play the Chinese national side on July 4 as part of a pre-season tour that also includes a July 7 match against Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda."
Labels: costa rica, costarica, san jose
Ericsson wins ICE contract for GSM lines in Costa Rica
Costa Rica reach Gold Cup quarters
ESPNsoccernet - Global - Canada, Costa Rica reach Gold Cup quarters: "Canada and Costa Rica secured victories on Monday to book their places in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-finals.
Dwayne DeRosario scored both goals in Canada's 2-0 win over Haiti which left the Canadians top of Group A with six points.
Walter Centeno's first-half free kick gave Costa Rica a 1-0 win over Guadeloupe in the early game. Both teams finished with four points, but Costa Rica progressed to the last eight due to their superior head-to-head record.
Guadeloupe can still advance as one of the two best third-placed teams, but must await the results from Groups B and C over the next two days.
DeRosario struck twice in quick succession in the first half, running on to a Paul Stalteri cross at the back post to volley the first from an acute angle after 32 minutes.
His second goal three minutes later was a penalty drilled past Haiti keeper Gabart Fenelon. Canada's Issey Nakajima-Farran had won the spot-kick when he was brought down by Haiti captain Pierre-Richard Bruny.
Canada goalkeeper Pat Onstad saved with his feet from Haiti's J. Michel Alexandre Boucicaut in the first half and denied the same player midway through the second half after recovering from a heavy collision with Ricardo Pierre-Louis
Haiti played with 10 men for the final nine minutes after Brun"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Monday, June 11, 2007
Taiwan company to continue building road
Radio Taiwan International: "A Taiwan company will continue to build a Costa Rican road, according to their contract. All other Taiwanese projects in Costa Rica have stopped since the two countries ended official ties last Tuesday.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias proposed a special budget of over 52 million US dollars to help build the public road San Carlos, their local newspaper reported.
The Taiwan company contracted to build the road, RSEA engineering corporation, said it would not break the contract unless instructed to by the government. The company began working on the road in October 2005 and plans to finish by April 2010. It is now nearly 30 percent completed The entire budget for the road construction is over 60 million US dollars."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Jean Lafleur
Canada Free Press - Printer Friendly Version: "Had it not been for his Tico neighbours in Costa Rica and the Internet, Adscam shyster Jean Lafleur would still be living the high life, on Canadian tax dollars, in Belize.
Neighbours in the very building where Lafleur had taken up loud residency with boyfriend 'Larry', tipped off Canada Free Press (CFP) in November 2005.
Costa Rican citizens came forward the day after the Gomery report was tabled. Frustrated Canadian reporters had found little by way of dramatic tidbits, while Costa Ricans had been waiting for the bombshell thy hoped would rid their land forever of one Jean Lafleur.
Flabbergasted that there didn't seem to be any posse coming anytime soon to Sam Rafael d Escazu, they had had enough.
'Our personal goal is for him (Lafleur) to move, and to get out tout suite,' a neighbour of the then in-exile Lafleur told CFP.
Their complaints did drive the flamboyant Canadian out of their country when Lafleur headed for Belize within a month.
Living high off the hog in the tropics as a notorious 24-7 party boy, Lafleur, in another era, would have given the likes of international playboy Reginald Vanderbilt a run for his money.
Ever since good fortune landed him in San Rafael de Escazu, Monsieur Lafleur and his constant 30-year-old companion 'Larry' had been living the life of the wanton playboy with"
Labels: central america, costa rica, san jose
Butterfly ranch
Butterfly ranching | Inquirer | 06/11/2007: "Costa Rica - Down a half-mile of rocky dirt road, past banana groves and cattle swishing their tails through the warm, moist air, Miguel Murillo is pursuing a different breed of agriculture.
Every morning, he walks to his six backyard gardens, each flush with eye-popping tropical greenery, and gingerly removes tiny spheres from the leaves.
They are eggs, and his 'crop' is butterflies.
This is a mariposario, a butterfly farm, one of dozens across the Costa Rican countryside. A former Peace Corps volunteer exports their product to museums around the world.
One of them, Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences, opened a permanent butterfly exhibit in November, back by popular demand after two temporary incarnations. Visitors learn of the insects' life journey - from egg to caterpillar to pupa - and see them after they finally emerge as adults in colorful flight.
Lesser known are the details of their journey to Philadelphia. It be-
gins not only here in the lush green lowlands of Central America, but also farther afield in Africa and Asia.
For the farmers, the butterflies are the means to a demanding yet family-friendly way of life that is good for the environment and good for the wallet, providing a leg up out of poverty. And, in the opinion of Murillo's wife, Ligia "
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Wal-Mart in Costa Rica
Wal-Mart to Open Two New Supermarkets in Costa Rica - HispanicBusiness.com: "U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it planned to open two new supermarkets in Costa Rica at a cost of more than $30 million.
The new retail outlets will be located in Escazu, west of San Jose, and in Cartago province, some 23 kilometers (14 miles) east of the capital.
The superstores, which will be operated under the Hipermas name, will create some 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, the company said.
In addition to groceries, the supercenters will offer technology and entertainment products, take-out food, baby items and auto services, such as tires and oil changes.
The Escazu store will have 29,513 sq. meters (317,258 sq. feet) of space, while the Cartago outlet will have 25,619 sq. meters (275,399 sq. feet) of space, Wal-Mart's corporate affairs chief in Costa Rica, Yolanda Fernandez, said.
The two new outlets will raise to 146 the number of stores operated by the retailing giant in Costa Rica under the Pali, Maxibodegas, Mas x menos and Hipermas brands. EFE"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose
Table Trac Inc. Contracts With Casino in Costa Rica
Table Trac Inc. Contracts With Casino in Costa Rica: "Table Trac, Inc. (TBTC.OB), a Gaming Systems provider to small and mid-sized casinos, whose patented Table Trac system monitors the operation of casino floors, is pleased to announce that it has contracted to provide its comprehensive gaming floor system solution to a casino in the beautiful vacation destination country of Costa Rica.
'We are very excited to become the complete casino systems provider to the El Presidente casino in the country of Costa Rica. The General Manager of the property is anxious for the installation as he said he was so impressed with the complimentary reports about Table Trac from other customers in Central America,' said Robert Siqveland, Director of Marketing.
'This sale is anticipated to be the first of several in Costa Rica,' concludes Siqveland."
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
business vocabulary in Costa Rica
Latin Business Chronicle: "With more foreign companies coming [to Costa Rica] and more North Americans setting up small businesses, a brief review of important ... business phrases is in order:
1. 'You don't need any more approvals or permits on this project.'
Do not be surprised if the final, absolute, definite approval isn't. There always is another agency or permit that's needed.
Don't feel abused. Even the president faces this problem. Óscar Arias Sánchez thought that with a slim two-thirds majority in the Asamblea Legislativa he could get the free trade treaty ratified. Wrong!
He, too, was blindsided. It was the Tribunal Supreme de Elecciones that said a public referendum must be held, despite the Costa Rican Constitution giving full authority for approving foreign treaties to lawmakers.
But even the tribunal and its proposed Sept. 23 referendum date were blindsided by an appeal to the Sala IV constitutional court, which is now studying the document.
So a small contractor should not feel singled out if the local municipality comes up with a truckload of more hoops to jump through or more permits to seek via administrative procedures or tramites.
2. 'Your contract is as good as gold!'
You thought the deal was a firm one, but he thought it was an invitation for further negotiations. Anyone who deals in business [in Costa R"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costa rica real estate, costarica, san jose, travel
Costa Rica China
Latin Business Chronicle: "Costa Rican President Oscar Arias announced Wednesday that his government has ended diplomatic ties with Taiwan in order to establish relations with China, a move he said was aimed at boosting commercial ties and attracting investment from the fast-growing Asian giant. What is the significance of Costa Rica's decision? Will the remaining Latin American countries that do not have formal diplomatic ties with China follow suit?
Dan Erikson, Senior Associate for US Policy at the Inter-American Dialogue: Costa Rica's break with Taiwan is an event of enormous significance for the intense competition between China and Taiwan in Latin America. The fact that a respected leader like Oscar Arias, who has been highly critical of communist Cuba, would then perform an about-face and recognize communist China means that bar has been lowered to allow other Central American countries to follow suit. Right now, Taiwan has only 24 remaining allies in the world, and 12 are located in Latin America and the Caribbean. But Costa Rica is the first Central American country to break ranks and recognize China. Many of the small, poor countries of Central America and the Caribbean have become ensnared in the cross-strait dispute, with growing pressures on potential 'swing states' that may be on the verge of changing official recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Not all the news is bad for Taiwan"
Labels: central america, costa rica, costarica, san jose, travel
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Taiwan condemns China for wooing over Costa Rica
Eds: releads with Chen's condemning China;