Archive for February 6th, 2009
Friday, February 6th, 2009
Former Cuban president Fidel Castro is asking U.S. President Barack Obama some pointed questions about U.S. policies towards Cuba over the past 50 years.
In an article posted on a state-run Web site, an article attributed to Castro asks if Obama is aware of what he called “sinister” actions carried out by former U.S. presidents, including the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. Castro also questions the fairness of the longstanding U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.
Obama has said he would be willing to speak with Cuba’s leaders but that he would maintain the embargo as leverage to push for democratic change on the island. (more…)
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
Sudan’s U.N. envoy on Thursday blasted Costa Rica as a “banana republic” after its ambassador said there was no justification for suspending any war crimes indictment of the Sudanese president over Darfur.
“The issue here is bigger than the small minds … of some ambassador who talked with you just some minutes ago,” Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem told reporters after a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sudan.
He said the Costa Rican envoy was trying “to inflame and inflict damage” on the stalled Darfur peace process.
Speaking afterward to Reuters about Costa Rica, Abdalhaleem said, “It is a banana republic.”
His Costa Rican counterpart, Jorge Urbina, who is in his second year as an elected member of the 15-nation council, told reporters he saw no justification for Security Council intervention to suspend any indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for suspected war crimes in Darfur. (more…)
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
Although the international price for a barrel of crude oil has maintained below us$50 a barrel, fueling low prices around the world, in Costa Rica, gasoline prices are going up next week. Yup, you read it right, gasoline prices are going UP!
The Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) yesterday approved an increase of ¢16 for the price of a litre of super, ¢18 for regular and ¢3 for diesel.
This is the first increase following four consecutive price drops. (more…)
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
While during the past week a number of local and foreign companies have announced cutbacks and layoffs, Panasonic in Costa Rica made a point yesterday that it will continue operations despite the parent company’s cutback of 15.000 employees and the closure of 27 plants around the world and Japan.
Panasonic in Costa Rica, located in San Antonio de Belen, will remain intact and continue operations, according to Panasonic’s director of human relations, Manuel Emilio Carmona.
Carmona added that the current financial crisis is affecting everyone, but there are other measures to optimize resources without having to layoff people.
Panasonic has been operating in Costa Rica since 1966. Costa Rica is the regional centre for Central America employing 160 people, who work mainly in producing dry batteries, the import of plasma screen televisions, home appliances, telephones and other electronic products.
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
The province of Puntarenas celebrated the addition of two high-tech police boats, each worth ¢17 million ($30,900), to its police force Monday. The boats will navigate the rivers and canals of the Nicoya Peninsula and Gulf of Nicoya, stops along international drug trafficking and illegal immigration routes.
The new boats are outfitted with GPS navigation equipment, a computerized motor, as well as a loudspeaker system to communicate with boats under investigation.
The craft given to Puntarenas are two of five planned to be put into use around the country. The other three boats will navigate the rivers and channels of Los Chiles and Sarapiquí, in the north-central region of the country, and Tortuguero and Limón, on the Caribbean.
Nineteen National Police officials received the qualification to pilot the boats after graduating from a 90-hour intensive course, where they learned basic boat maintenance and tide reading, among other skills.
The acquisition of the boats comes as part of the National Police’s
�Oleaje de Pacífico� (Pacific swell) operation, which was launched Jan. 14. Prior to that, the Coast Guard carried out such waterway patrols.
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