Costa Rica information, activities and news
Honduran civilians berate Army soldiers in an armoured car near the presidential house in Tegucigalpa Sunday morning. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was arrested early Sunday morning by troops who surrounded his home ahead of a controversial constitutional referendum. Zelaya was flown to Costa Rica, the Honduran Congress has voted Roberto Micheletti in as interim leader and the nation has been put on a 48-hour curfew.
* Media air tropical music, soap operas, cooking shows
* Main Honduran newspapers accused of supporting coup
* Reporters Without Borders slams “news blackout” (Adds details of Twitter use to beat information blackout)
TEGUCIGALPA, June 29 (Reuters) – Honduras has shut down television and radio stations since an army coup over the weekend, in a media blackout than has drawn condemnation from an international press freedom group.
Shortly after the Honduran military seized President Manuel Zelaya and flew him to Costa Rica on Sunday, soldiers stormed a popular radio station and cut off local broadcasts of international television networks CNN en Espanol and Venezuelan-based Telesur, which is sponsored by leftist governments in South America.
A pro-Zelaya channel also was shut down.
The few television and radio stations still operating on Monday played tropical music or aired soap operas and cooking shows.
They made little reference to the demonstrations or international condemnation of the coup even as hundreds of protesters rallied at the presidential palace in the capital to demand Zelaya’s return and an end to the blackout.
“The spurious government is violating our right to information, blocking the signals of channels like CNN,” Juan Varaona, a protest leader at a barricade, said as burning tires sent plumes of black smoke into the sky.
CNN en Espanol is the Spanish-language channel of the U.S.-based 24-hour news network CNN.
Others blasted the two main Honduran newspapers and said they were still online because they supported the coup.
“El Heraldo and El Tribuno are two papers that were part of the coup plot, them and some television channels controlled by the opposition,” said 27-year-old Erin Matute, a government health worker.
“This morning, they were the only ones with signals, the others were shut down,” Matute said at a barricade on a side street in the capital.
El Heraldo’s website ran one headline saying “Semblance of normality across Honduras.”
Some Hondurans used Internet social networking site Twitter to urge on demonstrators and spread news about the protests.
“Down with the coup! Brothers of Honduras break the information blackout and watch the repression on Telesur on the Internet,” one message said.
Some protesters burned and smashed El Heraldo newspaper stands and others used them as barricades to block streets around the presidential palace.
PRESSURE ON OAS, WEST
Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders criticized the media shutdown.
“The suspension or closure of local and international broadcast media indicates that the coup leaders want to hide what is happening,” the group said in a statement.
“The Organization of American States and the international community must insist that this news blackout is lifted.”
The coup — triggered by a dispute over Zelaya’s push to extend presidential terms — is the biggest political crisis to hit Central America in years.
It followed a week of tension when Zelaya, an ally of Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez, angered the Honduran Congress, Supreme Court and army by pushing for a public vote to gauge support for changing the constitution to let presidents seek re-election beyond a single four-year term.
Before he could hold the poll on Sunday, the Honduran military seized Zelaya and flew him to Costa Rica in Central America’s first successful army coup since the Cold War era of dictatorships and war in the region.
The Supreme Court, which last week overruled Zelaya’s attempt to fire the armed forces chief, said it had told the army to remove the president.
The flu virus that’ s claimed 311 lives worldwide played a hand in the death of a 35-year-old woman from San José Sunday.
The woman had a severe case of pneumonia, health officials reported, and it was only after she died that the strain was detected.
“We haven’t identified any source,” said Daniel Salas, spokesman and doctor at the Health Ministry. “ We are currently investigating where the strain could have come from.”
Costa Rica has 210 confirmed cases and two deaths, according to the latest numbers from the Health Ministry. In mid-May, a 53-year-old man from Heredia, north of San José, died of several health complications, the Influenza A(H1N1) virus among them.
Symptoms are very similar to the normal flu and can range from a mere stuffy nose to a combination of fatigue, high fever and body aches.
According to recent numbers from the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 210 cases spread among 116 countries. The WHO currently considers the situation a pandemic.
Health officials are advising frequent hand washing, among other sanitary measures. They are encouraging anyone who may have been in contact with the virus and who is exhibiting symptoms to visit the closest medical facility.
Costa Rica and the European Union are said to be close to finalising an agreement of association, which would include bananas
Costa Rica and the European Union are reportedly close to finalising the terms of an agreement of association, under which Europe is said to have offered to lower its controversial import tariff for the Latin American country’s bananas.
The two sides are currently meeting in Brussels with the aim of reaching a deal over the terms of the agreement, which would cover sugar and coffee as well as bananas, during a further round of talks that are scheduled to start of 6 July. (more…)
The United States has joined forces with Costa Rica in a multi-year campaign to combat gangs, organized crime, firearms and narcotics trafficking, from operating across international borders. The effort, known as the Merida Initiative, named for the Mexican coastal city where it was conceived, demonstrates a strong commitment by the U.S. and its neighbors in Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti to confront criminal organizations whose actions plague the region and spill over into the U.S.
On June 17, Ambassador Peter Cianchette and Costa Rican Ministry of Public Security Janina del Vecchio together signed a letter of agreement for their 2 countries to implement the campaign. Under the initiative, Costa Rica will receive more than $1.142 million to fund 3 special projects aimed at combating criminal gangs and the trafficking of narcotics and firearms. They include helping take part in a regional fingerprint exchange, improved policing and police equipment, and improved prison management. The Costa Rican government will also receive other assistance under the Merida Initiative such as support for maritime patrols to interdict smuggling, an assessment of and aid for the nation’s border security, and participation in a number of training programs.
Over the years, as Central America has become a transshipment point for South American narcotics bound for sale in the U.S., organized crime groups have learned to take advantage of the different law enforcement and legal systems in the region and exploit their weaknesses. Lack of border control is also a problem, particularly in some of the remote areas straddling Guatemala and Mexico.
The U.S. recognizes its shared responsibility to address the problems that result from criminal activities and drug abuse. The Merida Initiative will provide aid for all the nations of Central America so they may better communicate and work together in partnership with the U.S. to combat a common scourge.
Honduran troops staged a coup against President Manuel Zelaya Sunday morning and evicted him to Costa Rica.
Honduras’ unicameral National Congress later Sunday agreed to remove Zelaya from office and designated Congress Speaker Roberto Micheletti as his successor.
Soldiers apprehended Zelaya and forced him to depart to Costa Rica after days of mounting political tensions over a proposed referendum, which Zelaya’s opponents said was nothing more than a power grab.
A vote had been planned for Sunday that would have registered popular support for a proposed constitutional change that could have led to Zelaya’s re-election. Current law would have prevented him from running again after his term ended in November.
The country’s supreme court said it had authorized the coup to hinder the referendum. If approved, the non-binding referendum would have given Zelaya authority to progress with plans to rewrite the constitution. (more…)
The serial rapist who judicial officials believe has preyed on at least seven women including a 16-year old girl is still walking the streets in Puerto Viejo, they said.
Agents believe they know who the rapist is, said a judicial official Wednesday. But the one case that may have enough evidence for a conviction, hasn’t even gotten the suspect in preventative detention. Instead the suspect must simply sign in to the prosecutor every 15 days, said a court spokeswoman.
In January of 1997, a court sentenced the suspect, Rolando Alonso Brown Humphreys, to 13 years in prison for rape. Brown only served six of those 13 years, said Guillermo Bermúdez, the regional director of the Judicial Investigation Organization in Limón. “His sentence was probably cut in half for good behavior. He may have swept the floors and helped clean,” said Bermúdez. Brown was released in 2003.
Since 2003, eight women have reported rapes or attempted rapes in the Puerto Viejo area, said Bermúdez. Three of the reported rapes were this year, said the Limón judicial director. (more…)
Colorado securities regulators have warned a Costa Rican company to stop peddling exotic trees over the Internet to Colorado investors interested in reforesting portions of the Central American country.
The state on Thursday issued a cease-and-desist order against Finca Leola, its manager Fred Morgan of Alajuela, Costa Rica, and Boulder salesman Gregory Fitzpatrick.
According to the state’s allegation, the company was improperly seeking investors over the Internet to buy mahogany and teakwood trees.
The pitch: Investors were told they would have title to the trees planted in the country until they are harvested over a period of 12 to 25 years. They are promised an annual return in addition to ownership of a “socially responsible” investment.
TheE! channel has announced that they will no longer allow Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt news. The network posted a poll online asking the viewers to vote on whether the couple should be banned or not. An astounding 94% voted for the ban.
The ban went into effect on June 22nd. The network has said they will still report on the couple but only if it’s actual news. The examples given are: “she gets knocked up, he falls off a cliff, or –heaven help us- her album goes to Number 1.”
The couple’s rep told New York Daily News that they were unable to comment because they were in Costa Rica but “it’s not worth a comment.” The couple has recently been working overtime, trying to get as much exposure as they possibly can, from the reality show, I’m a celebrity, get me out of here.
The couple hasn’t released any comments on the ban yet but it would be surprising if they are silent for long. Hopefully, the network will be the first of many to adopt this ban. Would anybody really miss their faces forcing themselves into the limelight?
1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. There is no time like the present, he said it was time to present the present.
8. At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22. I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.
Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” has died after suffering cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home, according to multiple reports. The singer had been preparing for a major comeback after years of seclusion.
A fire department official said Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his rented Bel Air mansion at 12:26 p.m.
Jackson, 50, was treated at UCLA Medical Center. But hospital officials were reportedly unable to revive him, according to ABC News, the Los Angeles Times and TMZ.
His death came as Jackson prepared for a major comeback next month, after years of seclusion. He was scheduled to perform 50 shows in London’s O2 Arena, with the financial backing of two billionaires.
In recent years, Jackson had been the subject of endless tabloid headlines and financial difficulties. If his London shows had proved successful, he was expected to embark on a major world-wide tour.
Jackson first gained fame as musical prodigy with the pop group the Jackson 5. He was just a child, but under the watchful eye of his father, Joe Jackson, the group managed a string of hit singles with Motown Records.
The singer then broke out on his own in 1971, and began to craft his reputation as the “King of Pop.” His solo efforts have become some of the best-selling albums of all time, including “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad.” (more…)
After nearly 3-years battling cancer, America’s favorite Charlie’s Angel Farrah Fawcett passed away at the age of 62. She had been fighting anal cancer since late 2006, and her bravery in the face of the disease was well documented in an NBC prime-time documentary, “Farrah’s Story.”
Fawcett’s sunny good looks, flowing hair, and iconic pin-up picture in the red bathing suit inspired millions of male crushes. However it was her role in Charlie’s angels that catapulted her to icon-status.
In recent years, her disease has made headlines, with constant health updates and hounding from the media about her status.
Longtime on again/off again beau Ryan O’Neal released a statement in the wake of her death. He had grown closer with her as she battled the illness, and it was reported that the two were planning to wed.
“She’s gone. She now belongs to the ages,” O’Neal said in a statement. (more…)
The Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) is preparing to unroll a new series of bills in the coming year, including the first-ever denominations in 20,000 and 50,000 colones.
The last time the bank issued new bills was in 1998 and officials stressed the need to keep pace with anti-counterfeiting measures and to make the money accessible to people with visual impairments.
“We want to improve the security of our money,” said Marvin Alvarado, director of the Treasury Department. “At this moment, we are not taking advantage of the technology that exists today in the production of currency. Right now, counterfeiters can reproduce (our money) with ease.” (more…)
The three weeks of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here just flew by, and the whole ordeal is over at last. There’s plenty of time to reminisce, but this is a moment for celebration. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is indeed the winner of the season, and now has claim to the title “King of the Jungle.”
There were three finalists going head to head on the last episodes of the competition – Torrie Wilson, John Salley, and Lou Diamond Phillips. The final challenge they had to put up with was truly disgusting, like it was pulled straight out of a Fear Factor clip. It seemed like regurgitated food is what’s cooking in Costa Rica.
The three had to deal with a trial of endurance, exposing various body parts to a plague of frogs, roaches and spiders. There’s also the epic “cheese vomit” that was far difficult to stomach. Still, they survived and even won a gourmet feast. It was to be their last meal in the jungle, and they truly deserved all that. (more…)
Costa Rica’s main port on its Pacific coast.
Security here and at other ports and airports across the Central American country isn’t tight enough.
And that’s according to the country’s authorities.
They admit this makes Costa Rica attractive to drug smugglers, says the head of the investigations agency:
[Jorge Rojas, OIJ Investigations Agency Director]:
“There is a lack of control at Pavas airport, so people arrive and take advantage of the situation. This is of great help to drug trafficking. It is the same at some ports. The country needs to pay a lot of attention to this topic because every day we see important shipments are made to Central America, Mexico, the United States and Europe.” (more…)
