Archive for September, 2009
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
The de facto Honduran government closed on Monday a radio station and a TV channel, against that regime, due to a decree suspending the Constitutional guarantees for 45 days.
The de facto government closed TV channel Canal 36 and radio station Radio Globo. Police spokesman Orlin Cerrato told reporters they proceeded according to an order of the National Commission of Telecommunications (Conatel), which is the governmental institution that regulates the communications in Honduras.
Policemen and soldiers entered Radio Globo about 5:30 a.m. (1100 GMT), took the transmission equipment and then occupied the facilities.
The decree was published on Saturday and it prohibited “the issuing of information for any oral, written or TV means, which offends the human dignity, public officers or attempts against the public peace and order.”
“Conatel, trough the National Police and Armed Forces are authorized to suspend any radio station, TV channel or TV cable system, which do not adjust their broadcasting to the current dispositions,” the decree said.
After President Manuel Zelaya ousting in June 28, Canal 36 and Radio Globo broadcasted messages from Zelaya and summoned mobilizations to support him.
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
The Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos (CFIA) is calling on the government to declare a national emergency over the state of the nation’s bridges and is asking the presidential candidates to include the subject in their works projects.
The call comes after an intensive study completed by the CFIA on the state of the bridges in the country, this after the debacle over the “platina” situation on the Virilla bridge.
You remember, the bridge that paralyzed the Central Valley on three separate occasions when work on the bridge closed the East-West route of the General Cañas for more than 48 hours on each occasion. And the bridge that still sports a 10cm gap between its spans.
The CFIA is using the Virilla as an indicator of the situation that is common on many bridges around the country, mainly due to the lack of maintenance by this and previous governments, where bridges are left to deteriorate, while vehicular traffic passing over them has greatly increased.
The board of directors of the CFIA is asking that this government and future governments make bridge maintenance and repair a priority and only by declaring a national emergency will the problem be taken seriously.
The CFIA claim is supported by a study of the Laboratorio Nacional de Materiales y Modelos Estructurales (Lanamme) and to take the dust off the study done by the Agencia de Cooperación Japonesa (Jaica), with the idea that that the Dirección de Puentes del Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) use the document as a basis for planning their maintenance and rehabilitation work.
The CFIA will be also looking to make the bridge situation an issue in the upcoming presidential elections.
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
A Fall River Probate Court judge has ordered a man charged with kidnapping his son three years ago to return the child to his mother or pay $40,000 to help the mother return the boy from Costa Rica.
Judge Anthony R. Nesi’s ruling on Thursday found David Albanese, 29, guilty of failing to comply with two previous court orders that issued sole custody of the child to the mother.
Nesi ordered Albanese to return his 3-year-old son — who has been in Costa Rica since Albanese took him there in August 2006 — to the United States and to have the boy in the mother’s custody by Nov. 1.
If Albanese fails to comply with the court order, he will have to pay $40,000 to the child’s mother, Melanie Majewski, to cover her travel and legal expenses to return the boy to Massachusetts. The child is staying with relatives in Costa Rica.
Albanese is free on $400,000 bail from his April arraignment on criminal kidnapping charges in New Bedford District Court.
Albanese was arrested in July 2008 in Costa Rica by authorities acting on a warrant that Acushnet police obtained in September 2006 charging him with kidnapping a minor by a relative. Albanese was extradited to the United States earlier this year.
Albanese said through his lawyer that Majewski had written a notarized letter in August 2006 allowing him to take the child with him to Costa Rica while Majewski improved her living situation.
The letter had no conditions that he return the boy to Massachusetts.
However, before Albanese left for Costa Rica, Majewski made him sign a notarized letter that he would return the child to the United States by Sept. 10, 2006, court records said.
During a telephone conversation in September 2006, Albanese allegedly told Majewski he had “tricked” her and said he would not be sending the child back to her in Massachusetts, court records said.
Majewski was living in Acushnet at the time and filed a complaint with local police after her telephone conversation with Albanese, court records said.
At the time of the alleged kidnapping, Albanese was on probation for a Rhode Island drug case, and had three pending cases in Boston District Court, court records said.
Albanese and Majewski testified during a May trial at Probate and Family Court in Fall River.
In addition to finding Albanese guilty of violating prior custody orders and ordering him to return the child to Majewski, Judge Nesi demanded that Albanese surrender his passport to the probation department at Probate Court.
Nesi also said Albanese could face a jail sentence if he is found in contempt of the new court order.
The judge scheduled a compliance hearing for Dec. 17.
Meanwhile, Albanese’s criminal case in New Bedford District Court is pending
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
A Nobel Peace Prize laureate who’s been mediating talks between Honduras’ interim government and its ousted president is speaking at a business and political forum in South Florida.
Costa Rica’s President Oscar Arias will speak at the Americas Conference on Tuesday at a suburban Miami hotel. He brokered a plan that would allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to power in Honduras with limited authority, but the interim government has refused to accept the plan.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton also is scheduled to address the conference later Tuesday. Clinton is also U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti. Last week, the Clinton Global Initiative announced $258 million worth of aid projects for that country.
The Miami Herald is hosting the conference.
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Alan Kardec scored twice Sunday to help Brazil beat Costa Rica 5-0 at the under-20 World Cup. The Brazilians comfortably outplayed the Costa Ricans for most of the Group E match, and were three goals up at the break.
Kardec headed in a corner kick in the 24th minute, and Guiliano delivered an expert lob over Costa Rica goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado to make it 2-0.
Kardec got his second in the 44th, lunging to meet a loose ball in the goalmouth following a Guiliano free kick.
Alex Teixeira tapped in the ball for 4-0 in the 75th, after Douglas slipped through the Costa Rican defense and struck the post with his shot.
Substitute Boquita completed the rout with a blistering shot past Alvarado in the 89th.
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) says it will spend some ¢19 billion colones (us$3.19 million dollars) for the 2010 presidential elections in a race that kicks off officially on October 7 and the voting on February 7, 2010.
The amount includes spendoing for municipal elections that occur in December and takes into account a second round of voting in the event no one candidate is ahead by a clear margin come February.
Almost 25% of the total amount will be spent on election day.
Luis Antonio Sobrado, president of the TSE, added that the expenditure includes the cost of purchasing technology for this election.
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Costa Rica’s oil bill fell 53% between January and August, compared to the same period in 2008, due to the sharp drop in oil prices, falling vehicle imports and a general decline in economic activity, state refinery Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo (Recope) said Sunday.
Recope , the monopoly on gasoline products – spent us$1.59 billion during the first eight months of 2008 to buy oil, while the bill for the same period this year came in at us$749 million.
Purchases of crude oil and petroleum derivatives, such as diesel and gasoline, were reduced, Recope said.
Recope said it imported 11.8 million barrels of fuel in the January-August period, or 1.3 million barrels less than in the same period in 2008.
Costa Rica especially benefited from the drop in oil prices on the global market, Recope finance manager Carlos Quesada told the La Nacion newspaper.
In July 2008, oil prices hit nearly us$150 per barrel in intraday trading, but they have averaged just us$60 to us$71 per barrel this year.
The recession has reduced demand for fuel in the key industrial and lodging sectors, and trimmed vehicle imports, Quesada said.
Costa Rican officials expect the bill for fuel imports to drop to us$1.26 billion this year, well below the more than us$2 billion tab registered in 2008.
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
Honduras’ de facto authorities expelled a delegation from the Organization of American States (OAS) that sought to enter into a dialogue to end the three-month-old standoff that has gripped the Central American country.
The move signaled a deepening of the crisis not just within Honduras, but between the country’s de facto government and the international community, which has tightened diplomatic and economic pressure on the nation since its military ousted President Manuel Zelaya on June 28.
Officials of the administration of de facto President Roberto Micheletti said Honduras was not expecting the visit.
They came by surprise, said Carlos López, Micheletti’s foreign minister. López said the OAS had been clearly warned not to arrive uninvited, (but) they did it anyway, he said, adding that it is within Honduras’ legal authority to deny entry to any visitor.
One member of the delegation, OAS Special Adviser John Biehl of Chile, was permitted to stay because, according to López, he was a close collaborator in the mediation in Costa Rica.
Within a week of the coup, the OAS suspended Honduras’ membership and the organization’s Secretary General José Miguel Insulza flew to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa to persuade Micheletti to back down, but failed. The international community and Micheletti have remained stuck in a stalemate ever since.
In an additional act of resistance against international pressure, Micheletti’s administration on Sunday gave the Brazilian Embassy 10 days to decide what it will do with Zelaya, whom it has sheltered in its embassy since the deposed leader secretly re-entered into Honduras on Sept. 21.
López said it was Brazil that broke with the current government (of Honduras), adding that if no bilateral relations exist then evidently they have to divest themselves of the shield, and become a private office.
In response, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Brazil won’t accept an ultimatum from a coup government.
Meanwhile, the leading presidential candidates in Honduras’ upcoming elections have met with Zelaya and Micheletti separately, and reported back to Costa Rican President Oscar Arias on their talks. The candidates had visited San José earlier in the month to meet with Arias, who has served as mediator in the crisis.
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
Nearly two thousand people are infected with A(H1N1) in Nicaragua just four months after the first case was reported.
According to the Health Ministry (Minsa), 1,999 people were affected by this pandemic, 962 of them are cured, 9 died and 28 are receiving medical treatment.
According to Guillermo Gonzalez, head of Minsa, 48 percent of those infected are located in the capital (921) followed by Masaya with 224 cases, Esteli with 186 cases, Matagalpa with 118, Leon with 93, Carazo with 73 and Granada with 60 cases. These are city highly populated, which favors the dissemination of respiratory diseases.
The most vulnerable group is young people in the ages of 20 to 34 years, with 25 percent of those infected.
On the other hand, authorities intensify the fight against dengue fever outbreaks.
Health Minister stated that also there is circulating dengue virus 3 which brings about a higher risk of infection, especially to people that already has been infected with dengue classic virus. They may be affected with dengue hemorrhagic fever.
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
It turned out to be a relatively straight forward affair in the opener in Group E as Brazil overcame Costa Rica 5-0. Three goals before the interval and two after gave Brazil a wonderful platform from which to build for the rest of the tournament.
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
After many years it looked like the San Jose – Caldera new highway was going on schedule and be completed in February 2010. This much-awaited Autopista del Sol (The autopista, a concession highway where users pay a toll) that will dramatically cut travel time from the Central Valley to the central Pacific beaches. Since May, 2009, year Costa Ricans have experience delays, traffic chaos, and toll road hikes caused by this expansion.
But it looks like they will have to continue with more hardships – suddenly the Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo, Costa Rica’s nation’s environmental panel, court stopped construction on much of the new highway from Ciudad Colón to Orotina after many of the tolls booths had been open.
The environmental unit, the Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo, said Thursday it was concerned by the effects of construction was having on the Barva acquifer and the direct or indirect effects on about 20 rivers and streams west of Ciudad Colón. The main concern is the flow of sediment into the waterways. The contractor has been criticized.
And as expected, the contractor, Autopista del Sol S.A., immediately defended, since they started, much of the work they had done was being supervision by numerous government agencies, adding, the tribunal has failed to consider a number of documents the company has presented, including those that expressed concern of the flow of sediment into the waterways. Interesting …
And strangely enough, many Costa Ricans have criticized the contractor as being too delicate with the landscape, saying that some of the highway cuts were too steep. A lesser cut means moving less dirt, which means less costs to the contractor.
According to the Tribunal, the contractor has to come up with plan to removed the sedimentation that already has flowed into the waterways. And some sort of technique that will also prevent and/or slow the flow of water that might carry sediment into these waterways along other parts of the highway.
Regardless, the delay of this project will put others at risk, like the Atenas retention dam, not counting the fact it will continue to hurt the economy in the beach areas such as Jaco, Herradura, Manuel Antonio, Quepos and Puntarenas.
The highway is about 77 kilometers long with and estimated cost of $230 million USD.
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Friday, September 25th, 2009
Even if he loses a freshly-filed civil lawsuit, New England quarterback Tom Brady will not face NFL suspension for an alleged shooting incident at his April wedding in Costa Rica.
Two photographers are seeking $1 million in damages from Brady and wife Gisele Bundchen. Yuri Cortez and Rolando Aviles claim that Bundchen’s security team fired guns at their car when the paparazzi refused to surrender their camera equipment. Cortez and Aviles filed suit Tuesday in a New York City court.
“Bodyguards are not supposed to be pulling out guns and firing at photographers,” Aviles and Cortez’s attorney John Paul Gleason told People Magazine. “It just shows terrible lack of training and supervision.”
Because weapons were allegedly involved, Brady would be subject to suspension under the NFL’s personal conduct policy if criminal charges were filed against him or the security team. Costa Rican police investigated the incident but no charges were filed.
“The personal conduct policy is aimed at the personal criminal conduct of NFL personnel, not civil matters involving the conduct of someone’s security people,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a Thursday morning e-mail.
Brady declined comment about the lawsuit Wednesday. Brady described the shooting allegations as “absolute total b.s.” during a May interview with Sports Illustrated.
“We found two guys on our property and told them to get out,” Brady told the magazine. “Our security guys didn’t even have guns. There were no shots fired.”
Bundchen, one of the world’s top supermodels, told People in May that she wasn’t even aware of the photographers’ claims until the day after her wedding. Bundchen, 29, is expecting her first child in December with Brady, a three-time Super Bowl winner who is considered the NFL’s biggest star.
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Friday, September 25th, 2009
For years the Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) – water and sewer utility – has been combating the disappearance of water meters, many stolen from their installed location in front of homes and commercial properties, while more missing from its warehouses.
A police action yesterday at a foundry located in Tacares, in Grecia, found 4.000 meters or 43% of the AyA total loss between 2002 and 2006, a period when the utility lost some 9.787 meters, for a report loss of some ¢300 million colones.
The stolen meters confiscated by agents of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) yesterday are valued at ¢61 million colones.
However, not all the confiscated meters belong to the AyA, many belonging to municipalities and community associations.
The company raided operated as a foundry, as well as fabricating fire hydrants.
The OIJ agents, who were acting on an anonymous tip, were surprised at the quantity of stolen meters on the premises, that included a loaded tractor trailer.
According to Jorge Fuentes, spokesperson for the AyA, before October 2008, some 500 meters a month went missing and then slowed down, partly due to the fall in prices on international markets.
Fuentes added that the AyA initially believed that the meters were being shipped to neighbouring Nicaragua, until some months ago when agents lost track of a pick up truck they were pursuing in the area of Grecia, leading investigators to believe that the units were still in the country.
The surprise to AyA is that, according to early reports, a great number of the meters were sold to the foundry by AyA employees.
“We are not exempt from corruption”, said Fuentes, who added that during the period of 2002 and 2008, with more than 100 raids only 1% of the missing meters were recovered.
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Friday, September 25th, 2009
The Domino’s Pizza chain will be re-opening its doors in Costa Rica after a surprise total closure last February, with new owners and better service.
The Restaurant’s AS has purchased the franchise and said it would be opening its first store by the end of November.
The first location will open in the east end of San José with a full restaurant service, similar to the AS restaurants that features chicken.
The previous owners of the Domino franchise in Costa Rica operated only as a take out and delivery.
AS is looking to hire 75 people. Those interested can send their resume to: rrhh@rsr.co.cr
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