Archive for October 9th, 2009
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Exports of Costa Rican bananas to Europe and the US are projected to rebound next year as the industry closes a door on flooding damage
The Costa Rican banana sector is now completely back on its feet following floods in November 2008 and February 2009 after significant investment on behalf of the government, Corbana (the National Banana Corporation) and growers – a move which should translate into above-average exports in 2010.
“The latest export projection for this year is approximately 90m boxes, against 103m boxes in 2008,” Jorge Sauma, CEO of Corbana told Fruitnet.com.
“Next year, however, we estimate shipments to rebound to 107m boxes (depending on the weather), which is almost 19 per cent higher than the 2009 prediction.”
As part of the recovery, Corbana and producers have been working closely with the Costa Rican government to build dykes and install other preventive infrastructure in the Limón region in order to minimise the future impact of winter weather conditions on plantations and thereby avoid further losses.
During the first semester of 2009, Costa Rica exported 54 per cent (23m boxes) of its banana output to the European Union, which represents a 13 per cent decline on the year-earlier period when 26.7m boxes were shipped.
The US absorbed 43 per cent of total exports during the first semester, while other world markets received 3 per cent of the volume.
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Friday, October 9th, 2009
A raid in a drug-riddled area north of San José was conducted by government officials on Wednesday, two days after a 78-year-old man was shot and killed when caught in a drug-related firefight.
The operation involved some 80 officials from the Public Security Ministry, the San José Municipality, the Health Ministry, the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) and the Immigration Police.
Sniffer dogs found marijuana and crack cocaine in some of the half-dozen businesses raided by police, according to Public Security Ministry spokesman Carlos Hidalgo, who said 16 Dominican and Colombian citizens were arrested. He added that a number of illegal weapons were also found.
The Dominicans and Colombians entered the country illegally and had no immigration papers, Hildago said.
The coordinated raid was aimed at combating lawlessness in an area well-known as a haven for crack dealers from the Dominican Republic and Colombia. It came after the murder of knick-knack salesman José Aguilar, who was caught in the crossfire of a shootout between two members of drug gangs.
Asked prior to the raid about the blatant drug trafficking by foreigners in the area only four blocks north of the Banco Nacional in downtown San José, officials said capturing traffickers is problematic as possession of small quantities of drugs is not illegal.
Immigration officials said their hands are tied because they cannot deport alleged criminals until after they are convicted. OIJ officials said the problem falls under the jurisdiction of the Public Security Ministry, which, in turn, said it can’t take action without proof.
Hidalgo denied that the murder of Aguilar served as a catalyst for the officials to finally take action, saying that the authorities had made arrests in the area before.
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Friday, October 9th, 2009
Now that the 2010 presidential elections is official, what can voters expect from the candidates? Promises on security, jobs and honesty, is the answer by the experts, though it won’t be known until after the elections if the elected will keep the promises.
The verdict in the Caja-Fischel trial and the surprising guilty sentence of former president Rafael Angel Calderón is surely to have an impact on the candidates.
As well candidates will focus on the idea of eliminating God from the constitutional oath. (more…)
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Friday, October 9th, 2009
If you cellular phone hasn’t been working at is should, don’t blame the phone, but ICE since it unified the two GSM cellular networks last month.
And now, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) says that it will be making further adjustments to their networks, which are supposed to solve the problems of the past several weeks, though may cause more connection problems in the meantime.
ICE says the changes will affect some 10% of the 459 radio bases it has installed in the country, the majority located in the San José metropolitan area.
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Friday, October 9th, 2009
The Carnavales de Limón is back. After a two hiatus, the Caribbean coast will once again live its colour, costumes and traditional food, music and art.
The Limón carnival this year will begin on Thursday, October 15 and continue until Sunday, October 18.
The last carnival in the port city took place in 2006.
In 2007 Salud (Health officials) cancelled the yearly event due to sanitation problems in the city of Limón and last year an outbreak of Dengue forced a cancellation for a second year in a row.
This year, the carnival was threatened by the AH1N1 virus flu like it cancelled the “romeria” in August.
However, Salud officials have determined that risk of infection is low and are permitting the carnival to be held under strict health controls.
It is estimated that the carnival will attract some 5.000 visitors.
For more info click here. www.carnavalesdelimon2009.blogspot.com
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Friday, October 9th, 2009
The Organization of American States (OAS) has failed to bridge the gap between the ousted Honduran president and the coup government.
An OAS delegation of foreign ministers sent to Honduras to for reconciliation talks left the country on Thursday, without any major achievement.
In a statement read by Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno, the delegation underlined the need for further dialogue between the parties and demanded respect for human rights.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was sent into exile to Costa Rica after being ousted in a June 28 coup.
The OAS statement called for the restoration of “all institutional guarantees” as a basic condition for dialogue between Zelaya and the de facto government led by former Congress speaker Roberto Micheletti.
It further demanded that “President Zelaya be guaranteed living and working conditions in accordance with his high dignity.”
The OAS delegation, which included OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza, met with Zelaya on Wednesday at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, where he took refuge upon returning from exile on September 21.
The foreign ministers reiterated their support for Zelaya, whom the international community wants to see reinstated as president, Zelaya aide Rassel Tome said.
The OAS delegation headed by Insulza included the foreign ministers of Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico and Panama.
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Friday, October 9th, 2009
Costa Rica like the rest of its neighboring countries in Central America is known for their beautiful people (judging from the number of winning beauty queens from the region), pristine white sandy beaches, rainforest and last but not least, the awesome volcanoes.
The volcanoes have been in existence since the dawn of time and scientists have estimated that their age is close to 65 million years old. Currently the volcanoes do not pose any present danger to the country as most of them are considered to be dead or inactive volcanoes. However there are 5 of them that are still in the active mode but other than the occasional spewing of hot larvae and gas, they are not endangering the people in the surrounding areas unless you go too close to the top of the volcanoes. The volcanic eruptions over the years have increased the fertility of the land. As a result, plants and vegetation grow rapidly in the area which in turn provide food to the thriving wildlife in the region. You can plan the visit to the volcanoes either in the beginning or the end of your Costa Rica honeymoon depending on whether you want your honeymoon to have a great start or end it with a bang! (more…)
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