Archive for June, 2008
Monday, June 30th, 2008
Costa Rica has named former assistant coach Rodrigo Kenton as the new head of the national soccer team, a spokesman for the Costa Rica Football Federation said on Monday.
Kenton, 53, who was in charge of Guatemala’s under-20 team, takes over from Hernan Medford who was fired last week after a long losing streak in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
“Kenton will travel from Guatemala to Costa Rica on Wednesday and be officially presented as national team coach on Thursday,” national team spokesman Randell Vargas said.
Kenton coached the Costa Rican Olympic team in Athens in 2004 and served as assistant to Bora Milutinovic when the Serbian coached Costa Rica to a second-round appearance in the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
He also assisted Milutinovic in 1998 when he was coaching the Nigerian team in the World Cup in France.
Under Medford, Costa Rica went 12 successive games without a victory until they beat Grenada 3-0 on June 21 in the second leg of a World Cup qualifier. The two sides drew 2-2 in the first leg.
The win sent Costa Rica into the next round of qualifying against El Salvador, Haiti and Suriname.
Costa Rica has qualified for the World Cup three times.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Monday, June 30th, 2008
Travel in groups - There is safety in numbers. Even if it is a family of two kids and two adults it is much safer to stick together as one. An example of traveling in numbers is the incident where a 70-year old ex-military gentleman killed a 20-year old mugger on a Costa Rican tour bus. When patronizing a bar, avoid requests of a local wanting to
Driving - If you are driving a rental car, ensure it is a 4×4 vehicle and the doors are always locked whether parked or driving. Park in well lit areas close to main roads. When stopped at stoplights, ensure one vehicle length distance from you and the car in front of you. To not stop and look at maps in areas that seem unsafe. Drive like a Costa Rican and not a tourist in order to not stand out. If you see an erratic driver you can report them to Policia de Transito. The roads in Costa Rica are in much poorer conditions than that of the US, UK or Canada. Many potholes are in the roads and coupled with rainstorms this can be extremely dangerous. Drive with caution. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Monday, June 30th, 2008
After six years of having signed the Free Commerce Treaty, Costa Rica and Canada strengthen even more their commercial ties.
Relations have been extremely beneficial for both countries, proof of this being that exportations from Costa Rica to Canada have increased in 136% since the year 2002. Canada’s ambassador to Costa Rica has stated that his country places a great deal of emphasis in bilateral commerce. Over the past few years, an approximate investment of $463 million was directed towards Costa Rica by Canadian firms.
Currently, Canada has increased its demand for Costa Rican products such as pineapple, banana, organic products and flowers. One of the Canadian chain stores interested in increases their Costa Rican offer is Loblaws. There is also an “Exporters Mission” that will be carried out in September 2008 by Canadian firms. A meeting is also scheduled for next year in which the topic of services will be introduced into the treaty. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Monday, June 30th, 2008
In today’s highly competitive outsourcing market, a closer proximity to the United States , Central Time Zone and Spanish language capability as an added value are now considered almost basic requirements when making a decision on what call center to use for your important project. Leaving this to chance is not even an option anymore.
Many of the offshore call center agents are bilingual in their native Middle Eastern or Asian language which is difficult to the North American ear. Whereas Spanish is more useful and practical as a second language for potential untapped markets throughout the North, Central and South American populations as well as those countries where Spanish is either a primary or secondary language. This aspect alone has made Costa Rica a very attractive “near-shore” outsourcing solution. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Lawmakers voted this week to prohibit parents from spanking their kids.
The bill, passed in a second vote Wednesday, would outlaw physical or emotional punishment or mistreatment of children. The proposal will become law once it is signed by President Oscar Arias.
Ombudswoman Lisbeth Quesada, whose office proposed the bill in 2005, cheered the vote.
Nothing justifies hitting children, she said in a statement.
Still, lawmaker Luis Antonio Barrantes, who serves on the committee that approved the bill, said the proposal lacks mechanisms for enforcement.
It’s symbolic, he said. There are no clear sanctions, but it does send a clear message that you mustn’t mistreat children.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
A group of volunteers from different countries worked for a month and a half to build a nursery designed to protect turtle nests at Matapalo Beach, in the Costa Rica Central Pacific. This is the second such facility built there, since the useful life of the first one had come to an end. Also, groups of volunteers patrol the beach during the spawning season –June 1st through November 30th– to prevent the action of poachers, among other predators. As an average, 500 turtles come to nest at this beach, according to Gustavo Gamboa, the Matapalo coordinator for the Association of Volunteers at the Service of Protected Areas (ASVO in Spanish).
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Established here in 1988, VF Corporation employed 4,000 workers at one time, but now is halting its operations in Costa Rica and will lay off its last 400 employees. VF operated here under the name WR and assembled Wrangler and Lee jeans. Company sources said that the decision to shut down the plants here is due to a drop in the sale of jeans in the United States. Costa Rican exports of textiles have dropped by 26 percent, from $811 million in 2002 to $429 million in 2007, according to the Foreign Trade Promoter.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
United Airlines is going to halt operations in Guatemala next September 2; Spirit Airlines postponed flights to El Salvador from Miami due to start in August; American announced that it is canceling flights from Puerto Rico to the United States and to Caribbean islands. However, Costa Rica will not be affected by such cancellations, sector sources said. The increase in the price of fuels and the more expensive operation costs are quoted among the reasons for the cancellations.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
The months of tension between the governments of Oscar Arias and Raul Castro seem to have come to an end. There is frequent and growing dialog between the ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two nations, even though the absence of diplomatic relations remains. Minister Bruno Stagno has met several times with his Cuban peer Felipe Perez. The Costa Rican official discarded any formality in those meetings, even though he admitted that the Ministry keeps open dialog with Cuba and permanently watches over what is going on in the Island. Dr. Arias, who is for democracy and trade opening, endured attacks from Cuba early in his current term. He was called “a lackey of Yankee imperialism” by Havana. According to analysts, the changing trend is due to an apparent new order of things in Cuba, where Raul Castro took over his brother Fidel at the helm.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Some 97 commercial businesses in Playa Tamarindo have abided by the sanitary measures of the Ministerio de Salud (health ministry), which has led to a significant decrease in the contamination of the beach water.
The news was released by Juan Luis Sánchez, director regional del Área de Salud de Santa Cruz, who said that there remain only 15 businesses to comply and eight closed of the total 120 businesses found to be violating the health measures.
Playa Tamarindo lost its Bandera Azul (Blue Flag) designation in 2007 for contamination of the beaches with sewer water. The Bandera Azul is assigned by the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (Minae) - environment and energy ministry.
Darner Mora, director of the Laboratorio de Aguas de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) - laboratory of the water and sewer utility - confirmed that the water contamination levels of Tamarindo are much lower now than last year.
Mora said that the tests on the water were carried out three weeks ago and the results were good, adding that one testing is not enough for a final conclusion.
Mora added that his department has to now wait for the heavy season rains to carry out more tests to determine is the septic tanks are holding and not dumping sewage into the ocean.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
To promote the consciousness of Costa Ricans, this morning the vice-ministra de Transportes, Viviana Martín, followed live by the Telenoticias television news cameras, took the bus to work on this first day of expanded vehicular restrictions of San José.
The vice-minister walked from her home in Sabanilla to the nearest bus stop, escorted by two bodyguards and a television crew, she had to wait for the second bus passing as the first was already to full. This was at 6:10am. The walk from her home to the bus stop took about the same time she would normally take to drive to her office in downtown San José. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
A new system of early forecasts for storms and bad weather, with alerts every 30 minutes, will be in operation this summer in Central America and southern Mexico, the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations announced yesterday.
The system, dubbed NextStorm, will provide short-term forecasts of powerful electrical storms or heavy rainfall likely to cause flooding.
The news came while Costa Rica is still fixing up the damage in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Alma.
NextStorm represents “a major advance in putting earth observation data and other tools to work in protecting people and livelihoods in southern Mexico and throughout Central America,” GEO Secretariat director José Achache said.
”We’re thinking in terms of text-message alerts to cell phones and other kinds of easily accessible announcements, all with the aim of minimizing or avoiding injuries, deaths and economic losses due to bad weather,” said Jacqueline Schafer, assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is heading the project.
The new system, according to Panamanian meteorologist Annette Quinn, “will provide greater security for the region. Ports and air terminals, in particular, will benefit, while dock workers will be better protected against lightning.”
For two years the new system has been on trial to identify and analyze in a period of between 30 and 60 minutes the specific elements that each storm is bringing, such as lightning, strong winds, turbulence or sudden floods.
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Costa Rica’s National Salary Council on Monday green-lighted a 6.58 percent increase on minimum wages in the private sector for July 1, which the Labor Ministry says should help recuperate the purchasing power of the nation’s lowest earners in the face of a rising living costs.
On top of that, an added ¢5,000 ($9.60) should go to unskilled low-wage earners such as cleaning staff and car wash attendants and an extra ¢4,000 will go on the pay checks of semi-skilled workers, including drivers, shop attendants, guards and lower-earning office personnel.
Some labor leaders, however, are not content. They say the raise from ¢164,007 (about $315.60) a month to less than ¢180,000 ($346.40) just scrapes the surface of what is needed. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Traffic Accidents are One of the Main Causes of Death in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica’s roads are infamous and, though often riddled with potholes, these long stretches of asphalt and dirt are the only way to wind your way through magnificent rural hills and beachside towns. However, as many tourists and new residents quickly discover, Costa Rica’s roads are not just a comedic exercise in dodge-the-crater, but are also quite dangerous, causing too many fatal accidents each year. To combat the country’s rate of road fatalities, the General Comptroller (the organization that distributes governmental funds) has approved a ¢500 million ($1 million) grant for road security construction projects.
Traveling almost anywhere in Costa Rica — from hidden Corcovado, to the festive Caribbean, and onto quiet Monteverde — you will have to pass through one of the country’s many small cities and towns. The newly approved upcoming road projects will invest money into streets in the capital of San José, and those that connect them with Puriscal, San Carlos, Turrialba, Golfito, Pérez Zeledón, Esparza, Los Chiles, Guatuso, Nicoya, Bagaces and Santa Cruz, in addition to smaller, more rural areas, as well. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Costa Rican coffee farmers are facing threats from climate change but the rising temperatures are also expanding high-altitude regions where the country’s most prized beans are grown.
Human emissions of greenhouse gases could cause the earth’s surface temperature to rise anywhere between one and six degrees Celsius (1.8 and 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next 100 years, according to the United Nations, forcing growers of all crops to adapt to new weather conditions.
In Costa Rica, the temperature increases may help transform mountainous land that was once too chilly for delicate coffee trees into prime coffee-planting territory.
The strictly hard-bean Arabica coffee sought by specialty roasters is only found at high altitudes, so the shift could mean more opportunities for a country already known for its quality coffee. (more…)
Posted in Stories | No Comments »
