Archive for June 22nd, 2009
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Costa Rica is now part of the Mérida Initiative giving the country access to us$4.3 million dollars in anti-drug trafficking funding.
In his last public act as ambassador to Costa Rica, Peter Cianchette, signed the agreement Wednesday at Casa Presidencial, who will be heading home with his family to the US come Monday.
The Mérida Initiative is a security cooperation between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries of Central America, with the aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational crime and money laundering. The assistance includes training, equipment and intelligence.
The money is expected to be used to purchase better equipment and the modernization of the Costa Rican coast guard, to fight the war on drugs. The participation in the initiative also allows the exchange of fingerprint information.
Cianchette declined to give an interview on his depature. Appointed in May 2008 by former US president, George W. Bush, Cianchette was instrumental in the implementation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) or Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC), as it is known in Costa Rica, and in providing aid to the recovery effort of the Cinchona earthquake of January 8 this year.
In the coming months, representatives of the US government will meet with Costa Rican officials to review the progress of the project and provide assistance in implementing monitoring of drug traffickers.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
The actor quit the reality TV after insects “impregnated” him.
Actor and reality TV star, Stephen Baldwin, quit NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!” because insects reportedly laid their eggs under his skin. The season seemed to be favoring Baldwin and it was even thought he could win the whole thing on the season finale this week, but he left the jungles of Costa Rica unexpectedly, Saturday-with no explanation.
Reports are now indicating that the actor reveals he was bitten over 125 times by “flying critters.” He was told by a doctor that the insects had implanted larvae under his skin.
Baldwin told radio airwaves, “I suffered in the first eight days of production, while in the jungle, over 125 insect bites on my body. . . . I had about thirty on my left leg . . . 20 or 30 on each arm, kind of all over and two of them, much to my surprise became quite lumpy initially.”
Reportedly Baldwin was so fathomed by the process, that he video-recorded the medic team removing the larvae from his skin, which he described as “the creepiest thing that you could think of.”
Posted in Costa Rica News | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
ALL I CAN SAY IS YOU GOT TO BE JOKING…
The Sala Secunda supreme court for labor cases has found an employer responsible for the wellbeing of a worker up until the individual enters his home.
The case involved a guard at a site in Heredia who left work at midnight and was the victim of a robbery at his very own front door some three hours later. The man suffered a bullet wound to the foot.
The court ordered the employer, Seguridad Elmo S.A., and the Instituto Nacional de Seguros to pay the man 506,587.50 colons for being incapacitated and 89.303 colons for each of five years for a small amount of permanent disability. At the current exchange rate that is about $886 for being incapacitated and about $156 in each of five years.
The man, Victorino Orozco Orozco, suffered the injury Dec. 3, 2001, at his la Carpio home. He had just arrived home in a taxi about 3 a.m., according to court records.
Among other factors, the court magistrates noted the probability of criminal actions in the dark early morning hours.
In making the ruling the magistrates appeared to expand the meaning of two sections of the labor code that protect workers when they are carrying out functions of their jobs.
The magistrates expanded that section to include employees when they are coming from or going to their homes as long as they have not made a deviation for personal purposes. (REMEMBER THIS GUY TOOK 3 HOURS TO GET HOME)
The national insurance company was involved because the security firm carries riesgo de trabajo or workplace insurance
Magistrates were not swayed by the argument by the guard firm’s lawyers that the man took three hours to arrive home. Neither was the court swayed by the allegation that the man took his firearm from his job site without permission and that he has a continuing dispute with a neighbor. (UNBELIEVABLE)
Orozco brought the case to two lower courts without success.
By extension, the Sala Secunda decision covers all employees coming and going to work and makes the employer responsible for their safety and well being. (this should open a can of worms)
ANOTHER GREAT STORY FROM MY GOOD FRIENDS AT AM COSTA RICA
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
