Archive for March, 2009
Friday, March 6th, 2009
Costa Rica’s Blue Flag Ecological Program (Programa Bandera Azul Ecologica) has awarded Rios Tropicales the Blue Flag for Rivers with Two Stars for its Private Reserve by the Pacuare River.
Rios Tropicales, led by its founder – renowned conservation and sustainable adventure tourism advocate – Rafael Gallo, has achieved the highest level of recognition to date from the Costa Rican government with the Blue Flag For Rivers with Two Stars award.
Rios Tropicales received the award for its protection and enhancement of 16 kilometers of rafting river corridor along the world-class Pacuare River and neighboring tributary Terciopelo Creek, including contributing to the reduction of pesticides used along the creek. This is the inaugural year of the new Blue Flag for Rivers Award and Rios Tropicales is the only company in Costa Rica to achieve Two Stars to date. (more…)
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Friday, March 6th, 2009
The government of Costa Rica hopes to increase its power generation by tapping into volcanic hot spots, and to that end it has introduced a controversial bill in Congress that would allow drilling into volcanoes in national parks.
In January, the governmental Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) announced that it is contracting equipment for the geothermal power station of Las Pailas, on the side of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano, in the northwest province of Guanacaste.
The plant is scheduled to become operational in 2011, adding 35 megawatts to the 163.5 that are already supplied by the five units of the Miravalles volcano power station, in operation since 1994.
That same year, a third project, the Borinque, on the northeast side of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano, will be launched.
Geothermal power uses underground steam from volcanic regions. The energy is harnessed by extracting the heat from within the earth’s crust, in the form of a fluid that is used to move the turbines. Two holes are drilled in each case: one is used to draw hot water, and the flow of water is then cooled and re-injected into the other. (more…)
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Friday, March 6th, 2009
Recently, legislation proposed by the Costa Rican government to dramatically increase the income requirements to become a CR resident have caused quite a stir within the expat and retiree population, and rightfully so. This is no miniscule rise by a few percentage points to boost the bottom line; these increases, including a five hundred percent increase in rentista income requirements, are not only unfeasible but also send out the wrong message. Has Costa Rica, the longtime destination for North American retirees and expats, hit the crest of the wave and no longer wants its gringo neighbors to keep moving southward?
Of course not. It is unrealistic that the government would – or could – sacrifice such a vital stream of revenue. For better or worse, the Costa Rican economy is largely based on the influx of outside dollars; to suddenly pass regulations that significantly inhibit this flow of money would be economic suicide. But that is what these new regulations would seemingly do. Pensioner requirements for residency are slated to increase from six hundred dollars to two thousand, or a mere nine hundred dollars more than the average U.S. pension. Those falling into the rentista category face similar changes, with requirements increasing from one thousand dollars a month to five thousand. (more…)
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Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Terrorists stay away from Costa Rica, now that it has a new anti-terrorism law, that was signed by Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, on Wednesday, that gives Costa Rican authorities more ammunition to fight organized crime in the country.
The law, Ley de Protección de Víctimas y Testigos (Law on Protection of Victims and Witnesses), and other ther participants of the Intervinientes del Proceso Penal (Criminal Procedure Act) and the strengthening of the Ley de Fortalecimiento de la Legislación contra el Terrorismo (anti-terrorism legislation) were initiatives organized with the support of government, the Legislature and Poder Judicial, the Ministerio Público and the Instituto Costarricense de Drogas (ICD).
The new law, simply known as the Anti Terrorism law, establishes an Oficina de Atención a la Víctima del Delito, an office for the attention of crime victims, through which victims and witnesses can receive support that includes psychological treatments, surveillance and relocation. (more…)
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Thursday, March 5th, 2009
JetBlue has announced regular service to Costa Rica from Florida, beginning on March 26. The airline says it will begin flying regular daily round trips between Orlando and San Jose.
The airline will be using its 100 sear Embraer E190 jets on the route and will offer connecting service to San Jose from 14 cities, including New York, Boston, Washington and Austin, Texas.
Costa Rica will be the ninth country served by JetBlue, continuing the airline’s push into Latin America. JetBlue also says the new route bolsters its Orlando focus city.
San Jose will be JetBlue’s 22nd nonstop route from Orlando.
In a press release, JetBlue says it “will further expand its commitment to Central Florida” with previously announced new service to Bogota, Colombia, and to Nassau in the Bahamas.
“JetBlue is picking up the route from Dutch carrier Martinair, which pulled out of Orlando earlier this year,” the Orlando Sentinel writes in its Tourism Central Florida blog. Steve Gardner, the executive director at Orlando International, says JetBlue’s Costa Rica route “further establishes our city as a gateway to the Latin American markets.”
JetBlue notes that it still must get the OK from the Costa Rican government operating authority before it can begin the service, but Costa Rican officials sounded supportive of the new route. “The United States is still our biggest market, and the arrival of JetBlue and its new Orlando route opens new possibilities for Americans to visit us and for Costa Ricans to have more options to visit the U.S.,” Costa Rica Tourist Minister Carlos Ricardo Benavides said.
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Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Nicaragua has reneged on a 150-year-old treaty by hampering Costa Ricans from using a vitally important river, the world court heard Monday.
Relations between the two countries have been strained for years over access to the San Juan River, which forms nearly half of the border between the two countries.
Costa Rica filed the case to the International Court of Justice in 2005. Costa Rica argued that Nicaragua has illegally hindered its use of the river since 1998 in defiance of an 1858 treaty.
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Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Disney announced a series of layoffs this week, and one economist said it may be just the beginning of more bad news for the tourism industry.While this recession is not quite as severe as the drop in travel after Sept. 11, it’s lasting a lot longer and that means the negative impact on the tourism industry will likely get worse, an economist told WESH 2 News.
Disney plans an undisclosed number of layoffs after profits in its parks fell 24 percent in the first quarter.
Union workers, including characters, custodians and many people on the front lines have been told their jobs are safe, but University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith said he wouldn’t be surprised to learn of more layoffs in the year ahead.
“Recession begins and then at a later date, that’s when the layoffs start so we’re just getting into that cycle when we’ll see more layoffs,” Snaith said.
Tourism accounts for almost 200,000 jobs in the metro Orlando area and 62,000 of them are at Disney alone.
Snaith said a recession usually hits the tourism industry last, which means it will also take longer for tourism to recover.
“Until people become confident that their jobs are not threatened or if they’ve lost their job, until they find a news job, that type of spending is likely to remain suppressed,” Snaith said.
A union leader said the Disney Casting Center continues to hire and there’s been no word of a hiring freeze. That leads him to believe the layoffs are truly a consolidation and he’s hopeful the rank and file workers will keep their jobs.
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Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Prices of basic goods and services during January and February combined rose by 0.82 percent, slowing by 1.85 percent from the same period last year, according to the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC).
Inflation in February alone was 0.44 percent, below the 1.11 percent registered the same month in 2008, the institute said in its latest Consumer Price Index (IPC). The index details price changes in different areas from services to products to entertainment.
Last month, the groups that increased the most included food and beverages consumed outside the home (0.76 percent), clothing and footwear (0.75 percent) and house rental fees and services (4.68 percent).
The IPC tracks the basic consumer basket, which includes more than 292 essential or commonly used products and services.
From that basket, 65 percent registered a hike in their prices when compared to January’s prices, while only 28 percent showed a decrease. The remaining 7 percent of products and services showed no variation.
In a statement released on Tuesday regarding the INEC monthly report, the consulting firm Aldesa said the moderation of economic activity worldwide along with the drop of prices of commodities and the increase of interest rates on a local level would continue to temper inflation.
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Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
In the dispute over navigations rights of the San Juan river, Costa Rica made its oral arguments before the International Court of Justice (known colloquially as the World Court or ICJ) against its neighbour, Nicaragua.
Costa Rica argues that Nicaragua has denied the navigation of the river, impeding, on occasion, access to schools, markets and medical services.
The ownership of the river is not in dispute, Costa Rica is not making claim to the river which clearly belongs to Nicaragua, only that it wants to the free access to navigate the river as it is stipulated in a 150 year old treaty between the two countries.
Costa Rica’s vice-chancellor, Edgar Ugalde, made the arguments before a panel of 14 judges, telling them that Nicaragua “fully denies the rights of Costa Rica”. (more…)
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Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Although there was a reduction of traffic accident deaths caused by drunk drivers, the carnage on the nation’s highways hasn’t dropped.
According to figures by the Consejo de Seguridad Vial (Cosevi) there have been 52 deaths recorded in the two months of this year, compared to 53 for the same period last year.
Germán Marín, director of the Policía de Tránsito (traffic police), said the numbers show that drunk driving has slipped to third place in causing traffic accident deaths, however, climbing the scale is speeding and imprudence by pedestrians.
Pedestrians dash out in middle of traffic with no concern to the speed of the oncoming traffic. Especially at bus stops along the autopistas, like in front of the Cariari Plaza on the General Canas and in front of Hospital Cima in Escazu, where traffic volume and speed is much greater. At both sites there is a pedestrian overpass, which goes mostly unused. (more…)
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Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Some 27 firms looking to hire 3,500 bilingual people will man booths at a free job fair Friday through Sunday in the National Center of Culture (CENAC) in downtown San José.
The fair, hosted by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), will feature call centers, medical device companies and firms that specialize in Web design, marketing, publicity and software development.
Companies from Amazon.com to Procter & Gamble will send recruiters looking for engineers, accountants, programmers, multimedia and graphic designers, translators and people with finance backgrounds. All applicants should speak two or more languages.
Firms will not accept printed resumes, but applicants can apply online at a computer cluster at the fair. They can also bring their resumes on a flash drive or disk.
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Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
AvVenta Worldwide, the global leader in digital production and interactive services, will be offering 1.500 jobs in Costa Rica. Based in Plaza Bratsi, in Heredia, AvVenta is going ahead with its expansion in Costa Rica after getting a cash infusion of us$20 million dollars from TZP Group, in its acquisition of a minority state in AvVenta.
TZP now owns between 30% and 50% of AvVenta, according to managing partner Sam Katz.
AvVenta outsources digital marketing for companies like Yahoo Inc., Oreo, Blackberry, Dell Inc., Apple Inc. and Capri Sun. Katz said the company programs things like the car ads on Yahoo or 3-dimensional views of trucks on General Motor Corp.’s Web site. It can save companies 50% to 70% on the cost of in-house advertising, he said.
Charleston, S.C.- based avVenta had about $20 million in revenue last year, and is doubling each year, according to Katz. The company has around 550 employees.
Katz touted the strengths of Costa Rica as a place to do business, saying it has a “phenomenal” education system. The company works closely with the government to train students for very specialized programming processes, and plans to hire around 300 to 500 new employees this year, adding around 20 per month.
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Monday, March 2nd, 2009
A host family in SFA’s Costa Rica Student Teaching Experience Program was the victim of a serious criminal incident prompting the University to recommend that the seven SFA students studying in Costa Rica return home while the situation is assessed. The seven SFA students have all received new student-teaching placements within Texas.
“The grandfather of one of the host families was killed in a home robbery attempt,” said Dr. John Jacobson, dean of the James I. Perkins College of Education. “Although no SFA student was physically harmed, it was clearly a traumatic experience for our students. The security of our students is always our top concern.”
The 13-week program offers teaching experience while creating an understanding of Costa Rican culture. More than 30 SFA students have lived and taught in Costa Rica since the inception of the program three years ago. While teaching there, the students work with education professionals, improve their Spanish-speaking skills, live with local families and receive an international experience that enhances their classroom education.
“Student teaching in Costa Rica has been a very popular and meaningful experience for our students who have participated in this program,” Jacobson said. “As with all international study programs, this program will be evaluated to ensure the future safety and security of all SFA students involved in international programs.”
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Monday, March 2nd, 2009
Manuel Antonio National Park will stay open, for now.
Local businesses and tourism outlets breathed a sigh of relief Friday after Health Minister María Luisa Avila gave the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) a four-month extension to resolve the park’s longtime sewage contamination problems.
Avila announced the decision after touring Manuel Antonio Friday with officials from MINAET and the Costa Rican Water and Sewer Institute (AyA). The Health Ministry had given MINAET until Thursday to correct the problems at the park, which included mosquito-breeding standing water, a garbage dump on site and sewage leaks from the bathrooms near the park’s most popular beach. (more…)
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Monday, March 2nd, 2009
A 40-year-old Chicago man was arrested Thursday afternoon in the 2005 kidnapping and slaying of a Florida man in Costa Rica, according to the FBI.
Matthew Francis Nolan, of the 6900 block of South Euclid Avenue, was arrested as he left the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for a Bankruptcy Court hearing, charged in Costa Rica with the March 2005 kidnapping and slaying of Robert C. Cohen.
Costa Rican authorities alleged that Nolan and a co-defendant were believed to have kidnapped Cohen and held him for ransom, the FBI said in a news release today. When their demands were not met, according to the FBI, Cohen was killed and his body was later found under a bridge on the Chirripo River in Limon Province.
An investigation traced Nolan’s whereabouts to Chicago. He appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason and was ordered held without bail pending his next scheduled court appearance.
Nolan is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center until extradition proceedings are completed.
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