Top 10 Costa Rica

The ministro de Vivienda (Housing minister), Fernando ZUmbado, admitted to a legislative panle that the us$1.5 million dollars donated by the government of Taiwan that was to have been used to build homes for the poor were diverted to other programs.

Zumbado appeared before the legislators Thursday afternoon to give an account to a sesson of the legislative commission dealing with public spending. This is the first statement made by Zumbado to the commission, following his comments to the media last week that he committed no improprities.

The minister admitted that the Taiwanese funds were never used to build homes for the poor in Pavas in accordance with the stipulation of the donation.

Clutching a handful of documents, the legislator for the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), Alberto Salom, grilled Zumbado on where the funds were eventually used.

The agreement that established the trust fund between the government of Taiwan, the Ministerio de Vivienda and the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE), clearly indicates a us2.5 million donation. However, Zumbado was adamant that only 60% (us$1.5 million) was ever received.

ZUmbado is expected to make more appearances before the commission to satisfy legislators of their doubts over the missing us$1 million.

A careless act by a young driver yesterday afternoon on the autopista General Cañas, near the San José Palacio hotel, caused a massive traffic jam to and from San José and caused the death of one person, when five vehicles, including a bus were involved in the collision.

Tránsito officials report that the young man drove 300 metres the wrong way on the road exiting the General Cañas to San José Palacio, then proceeded to make a sharp right turn to access the autopista, crossing both lanes of traffic, causing a chain reaction between the five vehicles. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tribunal Penal de Heredia (Heredia court) yesterday denied releasing Cherlyn Tomayko from detention at the women’s prison, El Buen Pastor, after the ministra de Seguridad Pública announced the decision on Wednesday to grant the “Gringa” refugee status.

Tomayko is in the centre of a legal battle after her ex-husband filed charges of kidnapping when the woman fled to Costa Rica with her children, fleeing spousal abuse. Tomayko was detained by Interpol and being held at the Buen Pastor since last September, fighting extradition. Read the rest of this entry »

Two sectors greatly affected by the expanded vehicular restrictions of San José are hearses and car rental companies.

In the case of funeral cars, drivers have little or no option to choose an alternate route to churches and cemeteries located in the restricted area. According to Tránsito (traffic) officials, the law is the law and though some traffic officials allow funeral cars to proceed without being fined, they are exposed to the ¢5.000 colones fine like all other vehicles violating the restriction.

As to rental vehicles, the problem is that most tourists do not know of the restrictions and/or are not able to make a choice of alternative routes. Read the rest of this entry »

Cherlyn Tomayko, the woman arrested by the International Police (INTERPOL) and currently in detention in the women’s prison, El Buen Pastor, for kidnapping her children, was given refugee status in Costa Rica, ending her battle for freedom.

The announcement was made by the ministra de Seguridad Pública, Janina Del Vecchio, saying that the granting of refugee status was based on merits of the case and nothing negative was considered or would be considered against the US.

The United States expressed annoyance at the decision announced by Del Vecchio shortly after 3pm yesterday. The US annoyance was such that the US Embassy in San José has suspend the official donation of a airplane to the Ministerio de Seguridad, which was programmed for today. Read the rest of this entry »

Canada’s junior women’s team opened the NORCECA junior women’s championship on Tuesday with a narrow 25-15, 21-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-10 win over Costa Rica.

Canadian captain Sofie Schlagintweit of Abbotsford, B.C., led the attack from the outside, recording 16 points in the contest, while Calgary’s Caroline Jarmoc added 15 tallies.

Canada is competing in Group A in the preliminary round along with the United States, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico and host Mexico make up Group B.

The top three teams will qualify for the 2009 junior women’s world championships.

The Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (RECOPE in Spanish) repeatedly requests increases in fuels from the Regulatory Authority, as a result of the upward trend of oil in the international market. The vast majority of Costa Ricans are extremely worried about this trend, because it also propels the prices of all goods and services. As one means to control the trend, Costa Rica is about to join a Venezuelan initiative that enables Central American and Caribbean nations to obtain a better deal on the price of oil. Venezuela is Costa Rica’s leading oil supplier.

Costa Rica has been of the countries most affected by the changes in the prices of internationally-traded products recorded in recent years. Many of the goods the nation imports, such as oil, building materials, and food products have increased much more than those she exports. For Costa Ricans, this deterioration of what is known as terms of trade –the ratio of the price a country receives for its export commodities to the price it pays for its import commodities– implies impoverishment, because their income loses purchasing power and they are increasingly less able to meet their basic needs. According to the Economic Commission for Central America and the Caribbean, Costa Rica has suffered a 25-percent deterioration between 1999 and the present, the fourth worst country in that direction in the region, after Nicaragua, Honduras, and Haiti, the three poorest of the 19 nations evaluated.

Risk-analysis firm Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has announced an improvement in Costa Rica’s risk rating, moving the country’s credit rating up from stable to positive. According to the global firm, this comes in recognition of Costa Rica’s good fiscal policy management and its overall economic policy in the past few months — which has led to reducing public debt and reaching positive fiscal results without affecting public investment and expenditures in social programs.

Standard & Poor’s indicated that the revised outlook is the result of a substantial reduction of Costa Rica’s public debt burden, which improved the country’s fiscal profile and its ability to handle its obligations. The firm pointed out that a strong growth of tax revenue, coupled with the growth of the economy, have contributed to slashing debt as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — and this is expected to go even lower in 2008. S&P also said that the country’s increased exchange flexibility could reduce its vulnerability to sudden external shocks. Read the rest of this entry »

Having Visited Costa Rica, I have compiled a list of the best locations to visit. This list is by no means comprehensive or complete, it is just a checklist of all the places I would visit when I go to Costa Rica.

Arenal Volcano
The Arenal Volcano area is one of Costa Rica’s top attractions. Only 3 hours away from San Jos, in the town of La Fortuna, stands a majestic 1,633m volcano, known to be one of the most active in the world. Despite its constant activity, the volcano is very safe to visit as long as you stay within the safety perimeter. In this area take advantage of the pristine natural surroundings! Go fishing, horseback riding; take a canopy tour, rafting or experience a tremendous canyon expedition. Whatever you decide, be sure to visit the relaxing hot springs in the area, the most famous being Tabacon and Baldi. Read the rest of this entry »

With the signature of Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, the insurance monopoly held by the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), has ended, allowing Costa Ricans to make a choice once the competition enters the market.

President Arias, with INS president, Guillermo Constenla Umaña, yesterday signed the “Ley Reguladora del Mercado de Seguros”.

The law allows for the creation of a “superintendencia” (superintendent) of insurance and the strengthening of INS as an insurance provider, along with the independence of the Cuerpo de Bomberos (Fire Department), among other changes to the insurance industry. Read the rest of this entry »

Affordable plastic surgery is Costa Rica’s famed treasure. Not long ago since plastic surgery in Costa Rica was only known by few confident patients that have visited the country because of its reliable quality and less expensive plastic surgery cost. But Costa Rica’s confidentiality of offering affordable plastic surgery was a well-kept secret until 20/20 has broadcast their show on the subject. Read the rest of this entry »

Due to a recent Sala IV (Constitutional Court) decision, the Policía de Tránsito (traffic police) cannot tow illegally parked vehicles unless the owner of the vehicle is present.

Viviana Martín, the vice ministra de Transportes, assures that the only option available to Tránsitos (traffic officials) is to issue a fine if the owner is nowhere to be found. The vice-minister added that of the average 180 fines issued daily, only five vehicles end up being towed.

“We have our hands tied”, said Martín.

The vice-minister says that her traffic officials only rely on Article 129 of the Ley de Tránsito that allows the issue a ¢5.000 colones fine and assures that in many cases the vehicle owners hide from the officials to prevent their vehicle being towed.

Illegal parking is a major problem in San José, contributing to much of the downtown congestion, as vehicles parked on the narrow street impede the flow of traffic or large vehicles like buses or delivery trucks from getting by, creating bottlenecks.

China attaches great importance to its ties with Costa Rica and is ready to work with the Central American country to promote the stable, sustainable and healthy development of bilateral relations, a leading Chinese lawmaker said in San José on Monday.

Uyunqimg, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), the legislative body of China, made the remark at a meeting with Costa Rican vice-president, Laura Chinchilla. Read the rest of this entry »

Ostional is a four-mile stretch of black-sand beach in northwest Costa Rica. You probably haven’t heard of it – not many people have – but every year it plays host to one of the most dramatic, enormous, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping spectacles in nature.

Between June and December, for a couple of days synchronised with the phases of the moon, it is home to the greatest aggregation of reptiles on the planet.

They’re olive ridley turtles: giant ancient mariners, their heads encrusted with barnacles and shells, bearing the scars of shark bite and boat strike. They congregate at Ostional to breed and, soon after, the females come ashore to lay their eggs.

Unlike other species of turtle, they don’t sneak ashore silently and solo, hoping to evade the predators that would snatch their eggs and hatchlings. Instead, they arrive in multitudes so awe-inspiring that the predators are simply overwhelmed. Once, 500,000 turtles were counted coming ashore on this stretch of beach in a 72-hour period. Read the rest of this entry »