Top 10 Costa Rica

Brazil and Costa Rica have urged Latin American countries to unite in the face of the global financial and food crisis.

“Latin American unity is now essential to face the financial crisis in the developed countries,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said here Wednesday following a meeting with visiting Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

He said he will meet in September with experts from the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and the Central American Integration System (Sica) to reach a trade agreement.

Arias said “there is no better moment” to advance negotiations on the Latin American blocs, which began more than five years ago but have not made any concrete achievements yet.

“Latin American challenges unite us in the fight against poverty, inequality and insecurity,” he added.

A bilateral agreement on bio-fuel cooperation was signed at the meeting.

Arias is scheduled to travel to Sao Paulo on Thursday to attend a business forum and visit an ethanol manufacturing plant, followed by a meeting with former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

In an effort to get travelers off the beaten path and support destinations in developing countries, a group called Ethical Traveler has published a list of the “10 best ethical destinations.”

The organization said in a statement that many countries “are making noble attempts to preserve their natural assets, create a user-friendly infrastructure, and build an economy where their citizens share the benefits of tourist revenue. By bringing our commerce to such places we encourage their efforts, and inspire neighboring countries to support these values as well.”

To create the list, Ethical Traveler looked at environmental protection, social welfare and human rights in the world’s developing nations. The honorees on the Ethical Traveler’s list, in alphabetical order, are Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Namibia, Nicaragua, and South Africa.

The organization used various resources to make the determinations, including data collected by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network; progress made by countries in reducing infant mortality rates as measured by UNICEF; and reports on civil liberties and human rights from sources like Amnesty International and Freedom House.

With the ink hardly dry on Costa Rica’s pact with the European Union regarding banana import tariffs, the EU has decided that the long negotiations in Geneva is part of its failed attempt to liberalize trade with the rest of the world. But this country insists on the legality of the agreement and demands that it be respected.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the attempt to come to an agreement with another 30 nations had simply not worked and their failure makes the Costa Rican banana accord invalid. This decision comes as a bitter blow to the country’s hopes in getting the tariffs reduced gradually to make this country more competitive with other banana-producing nations, principally in Africa, that were once European colonies. Those countries have no import duties. Read the rest of this entry »

Authorities say three Iraqi men have been jailed in Costa Rica on suspicion of using false passports.

The Attorney General’s office said Tuesday the men flew from Costa Rica to Guatemala using fake travel documents from Greece, Great Britain and the former Yugoslavia.

All were refused entry and were returned to Costa Rica, where authorities detained them Monday.

Costa Rican law allows them to be held for three months while they are being investigated on the false documents charge, a crime punishable up to six years in prison.

A statement from the prosecutor’s office did not name the men.

Costa Rica’s General Management of Migration is to intensify the entrance controls in the north border of the country, before the possible arrival of 4,000 Salvadorans in the coming days.

Costa Rica will play El Salvador on August 20 in San Jose in a World Cup qualifier towards South Africa 2010.

he International Federation of Associated Football (FIFA) had said the game was “of high risk” for the large amount of people from El Salvador that could come to Costa Rica and because of the Ricardo Saprissa stadium violence background, where the game will take place.

The Costa Rican Soccer Federation (FEDEFUTBOL) said it will only allow the entrance of 500 Salvadoran citizens, the press from El Salvador said at least 4,000 fans will travel to Costa Rica.

Zamora said the greatest concern of the authorities is the possible entrance of members of the so called “maras”, violent gangs that prevail in El Salvador and other Central American countries.

The Banco de San Jose, along with the Costa Rican branch of Credomatic, have joined forces to promote a Carbon Neutral Campaign nationwide.

The campaign invites Costa Rican as well as residents to join forces and contribute in mitigating gas emissions produced by their vehicles. The Banco de San Jose and Credomatic have contacted the Scientific Tropical Center in order to obtain accurate information regarding gas emissions from all circulating vehicles in Costa Rica. Read the rest of this entry »

A free concert in Costa Rica ended in violence last weekend (27 July), after some 3,000 fans were denied entry to a gig in San Pedro featuring Argentinean ska band Los Pericos.

After being refused entry into the 5,000-capacity San Jose Universidad Latina after it became full, thousands of angry fans reportedly set about breaking windows at the university, as well as looting shops, cars and even a church. Local police and anti-riot squads had to use smoke gas to restrain the mob. Ten minor injuries were reported and 35 arrests were made.

Cacao - the “bean” behind chocolate - is native to the Western Hemisphere. (Pronounced “ka-kow,” it is often referred to as cocoa in the United States.) It originated in the Amazon basin and was domesticated throughout northern South America and Central America. Unlike Central America’s big cash crop, bananas, the native cacao plant thrives in shade. This means that chocolate farms are often characterized by a variety of plants and trees; a boon to animals looking for varied habitat.

According to the International Cocoa Organization, cacao was Costa Rica’s most important commercial crop between 1940 and 1970. Statistics from the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization show that Costa Rica exported more than 10,000 metric tons of beans per year In the early 1960s, making our nation one of the world’s leading suppliers at the time. Read the rest of this entry »

Two international TV networks are highlighting Costa Rica’s natural attractions in full-production documentaries. National Geographic Channel and Italy’s RAI came to Costa Rica exclusively to tape shows about the country’s biodiversity.

Tropical forests, rivers and beautiful white-sand beaches were enough to convince National Geographic to call Costa Rica somewhere as close as it gets to an “earthly paradise.”

According to the prestigious TV network, Costa Rica is unique worldwide due to the immense diversity of living beings that call this tiny Central American nation home.

The documentary, which aired last July 25, was overflowing with shots of crocodiles, quetzals and the always-popular gangs of various species of monkeys.

The documentary featured Costa Rica s one of Latin America’s seven wonders, focusing on the region’s biodiversity to ground this claim. Read the rest of this entry »

Costa Rican traffic of data, Internet and telephone calls with the world is now safer, thanks to the connection to submarine cables on both coasts. The most recent link was inaugurated by President Oscar Arias and Costa Rican Electricity and Telecommunications (ICE in Spanish) authorities at Unqui Station, in Esterillos, on the Central Pacific. A 200-kilometer cable links Unqui with Global Crossing, the submarine cable in the Pacific. Until now, Costa Rican links were to the Maya 1 and Arcos 1 cables in the Atlantic.

Each day the streets of San José are full of more motorcycles and scooters as the high price of gasoline and the vehicular restrictions of San José take effect.

According to figures released by Luis Arce, members of the Cámara de Importadores de Costa Rica and sales director of Autos Livianos, a 30% increase in the sales of motorcycles and scooters is expected, which represents 52.000 more units sold than in 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

Women in Costa Rica where abortion is restricted can now use the internet to buy the medication enabling them to perform abortion at home. However, according to new research, one in ten need surgery afterwards.

For 70 Euros, women in Costa Rican can access the website (name withheld) and purchase online the abortion pill. Costa Rica is one of the 70 countries from where orders will be taken.

However, abortions in Costa Rica are illegal and is punishable from six months to two years in prison. Read the rest of this entry »

The 61 international service companies operating in Costa Rica’s Zona Francas ( free zones) will contribute some us$773 million – us$173 million more than in 2007– to overall exports, according to estimates from the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE in Spanish) based on data from the Central Bank.

The Coalition also mentioned that the exports of the sector have grown 30 percent since 2002.

These companies carry out both captive operations – their own regional ones – and also provide outsourcing for other firms, which is what many call centers do.

Regarding jobs, the sector now employs 20,000 people, from 2,900 at the start. Western Union, for example, offers services in eight languages and employs 1,200 people.

If one of the firm’s computers in Africa fails, engineers here immediately repair it. They also handle assistance for in America, Europe, and the Middle East.

The Municipalidad de San José succumed to pressure by a series of reports by Telenoticias on the flourishing massage parlour industry in Barrio Amón and the municipality’s lack of enforcement, closed four locals Friday.

Telenoticias, local channel 7 news team, offered all week a series of reports about massage parlours in old Barrio Amón operating with impunity, some without licenses, brothels and all without municipal control.

Rafael Arias, assistant to San José’s mayor, Johnny Araya, said that the closures were affected after the massage parlours were found in violation of health and security regulations and did not have their registries up to date. Read the rest of this entry »

Owners of vehicles with licenses plated ending in 1 & 2 will get a break tomorrow as the vehicular restrictions of San José do not apply on weekdays that are legal holidays, like tomorrow, as the July 25 holiday was moved to Monday.

The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) confirms that the restrictions do not apply on holiday days.