Archive for January 7th, 2010
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
A California airport was closed for several hours after a passenger carrying honey in plastic bottles triggered a security alert.
Police were struggling on Wednesday to explain why two baggage screeners at Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield had to be taken to hospital on Tuesday after opening the bottles and becoming nauseated from the fumes.
A police spokesman said the bottles, which were being carried by a gardener, had tested positive for explosives even though the contents was later confirmed to be just honey. The two screeners may have felt nauseous because they were “just nervous”, he added.
Amid heightened airport security tension following the alleged attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound plane, Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport in Minnesota was also closed temporarily on Tuesday after a sniffer dog indicated a suspicious piece of luggage.
The bag turned out to be a marker that airport staff put on the luggage carousel to tell other staff that all items have been unloaded from a flight.
There was further embarrassment at Newark International Airport in New Jersey where it emerged that a security camera supposedly monitoring a corridor where a major security breach occurred on Sunday had been broken for six days.
The busy airport was evacuated for nearly seven hours after a passenger reported a man walk the wrong way through an exit corridor without being challenged.
The comedienne Joan Rivers has complained angrily about officious security after she was kept off a flight from Costa Rica to Newark on Sunday because a gate agent was suspicious about her passport containing both her married and professional names.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
At Christmas time in Costa Rica every salaried worker who has worked a complete year receives an extra months salary. This Christmas bonus is called an aguinaldo in Spanish. The extra money comes in handy to pay debts, purchase Christmas gifts, for entertainment and for almost any other use one can think of. Unfortunately, most Costa Ricans spend all of this money or end up of saving little of it for future needs.
Come January and almost everyone is hurting for money.To make matters worse a lot of bills come due the first of the year. People have to pay their yearly car insurance, their license tags, post office boxes and other annual obligations. It is virtually an uphill financial battle until they get on their feet again. This time of year is referred to as “la cuesta de enero” in Spanish which means “Uphill January” for a good very reason.
During my frequent lectures to aspiring residents and on my monthly retirement and relocation tours I always talk about all aspects of the Costa Rican culture in order to familiarize my guests with how the locals live.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
The Honduran attorney general’s office issued charges against three military chiefs who ousted President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint in June, in what could prove to be the first big move taken by the government against the military for its role in the coup.
Roy Urtecho, the Honduran deputy attorney general, said his office was charging them with “abuse of authority” for forcing the president out of the country. The charges, presented to the Honduran Supreme Court, were brought against Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, commander of the Honduran armed forces; Venancio Cervantes, commander of the air force; and Luis Javier Prince, commander of the naval forces.
Mr. Zelaya was ousted after a long standoff with the country’s courts, congress and military over a referendum that would have floated the idea of rewriting the constitution. The military and civilian government has maintained that he was ousted on orders of the Supreme Court.
But the attorney general’s office says the the military men overstepped their authority by sending Mr. Zelaya out of the country. The Honduran constitution prohibits the forced removal of citizens from the country. While Mr. Zelaya had been legally deposed as president, he still was a citizen when he was flown to Costa Rica.
Mr. Zelaya appeared in the Costa Rican airport on the morning of June 28, where he held an indignant news conference in his pajamas.
The move comes as the U.S., which has supported Mr. Zelaya’s return to power, made its own final efforts to resolve the crisis.
Craig Kelly, a senior U.S. diplomat for Latin America, completed a two-day visit to the country meeting with Mr. Zelaya, interim President Roberto Micheletti and President-elect Porfirio Lobo. After the meeting, Mr. Micheletti said Mr. Kelly repeated a request for him to step down, which he has refused to do.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Just over than a month before elections in Costa Rica, presidential candidate of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN), Laura Chinchilla is leading opinion surveys, though lacking the number of votes needed to win in a first round.
Results from a survey carried out by Borge and Associates firm give Chinchilla 36.7 percent of the votes followed by Otto Guevara, from the Libertario Movement with 16.2 percent and Otton Solis from Accion Ciudadana with 8.5 percent.
The figures reflect a fall of nearly 10 percent in support to Madam Chinchilla against a previous Borge and Associates poll carried out in Nov. The poll also found that 35 percent of eligible voters have no favourite candidate and unsure to go to the polls.
At least 2.80 million Costa Ricans have been called to elect their president, two vice presidents, 57 deputies and 495 members of municipal councils on Feb 7. If predictions of a second round are confirmed, the voters will have to go to the polls on April 4.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Costa Rica’s national Emergency Commission has declared a medium-level alert after an eruption of ash at the Turrialba volcano.
The commission says ash fell in a radius of about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the peak, affecting some small nearby communities. The 10,958-foot (3,340-meter) volcano is 42 miles (70 kilometers) east of San Jose, the capital.
The commission said in a statement Tuesday that authorities evacuated 21 people from a community near Turrialba. The national park that includes the volcano will be closed to visitors.
Activity at the volcano has increased in recent months. The last major eruption there occurred 145 years ago.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
If you are one of the hundreds of drivers pulled over by the Policía de Tránsito, for not having paid the 2010 Marchamo and in addition to the ¢13.000 colones fine and had the vehicle’s license plate confiscated, here is a guide to getting the plates back.
First off, only the registered legal owner of the vehicle can make a request for a return of the license plates.
In many cases, the driver or current “owner” of the vehicle is not the “registered” owner, the name that appears on the vehicle’s title provided by the Registro Nacional.
This happens when the buyer, to avoid having to pay the transfer tax and process of changing over the registration, keeps the vehicle in the name of the seller. Although there may be a contract of sale involved, in many cases there isn’t, it is not sufficient proof of ownership until a lawyer files the forms and transfer documents.
If the vehicle is in the name of a corporation, as many foreigners do, the process involves the obtaining of a “personeria” from the Registro or your lawyer that proves you have the “legal right” to act on hehalf of the corporation.
Now, with your passport or cedula and personeria (if such is the case) the first step to to visit the Consejo de Seguridad Vial (Cosevi) office after paying the fine at the local bank. The best is the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR).
In San José it is located in La Uruca, across from the Mercedes Benz dealership. If you reside in smaller towns, check with the MOPT website to locate the nearest Cosevi office.
At the Cosevi you will have to obtain a certificate that indicates there no outstanding fines against the license plate, as well as a certificate that there are no outstanding fines or orders against the drivers license of the registered owner of the vehicle, again may not necessarily be the driver of the vehicle when the plates were confiscated or the current “holder owner”.
The next step to visit the Juzgado de Tránsito (Traffic Court) in the jurisdiction where the plates were confiscated. Along with the Cosevi certificate, the title of the vehicle and your passport or cedula, you need to obtain an order from the court for the Cosevi to return the plates.
After having done all that, a process can take hours to days, you need to go back to the Cosevi, this time to the “Unidad de Placas”.
With the court order and your identification documets, you can now retrieve the plates.
That is provided you had the Riteve – annual vehicular inspection – done. If you did not, the process complicates even further, for before you can visit the Cosevi office and the courts, you must get the vehicle inspected and passed. Of course, without a license plate, you need to have the vehicle towed to and from the Riteve station. If you decide to drive the vehicle without the plates, you now run the risk of having the vehicle confiscated, another time consuming and tedious process that is best solved by paying the cost of a tow.
But be prepared to stand in line at the Cosevi and the courts as currently there more than 2.000 vehicle owners in the process, taxing a sytem that is not equipped to handle that many requests at any one time.
The line up at “Licensias” (Licensing) offices in La Uruca yesterday was more than 500 people deep, all obtaining some document or other from the licensing office.
And the lines will be even longer, as the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) reports that some 290.000 vehicles or some 30% of all vehicles in circulation have yet to pay their 2010 Marchamo.
Some of the reasons told by drivers are in this predicament for simple idiocy, that is paying the Marchamo and then not placing the sticker and more important the circulation permit in the vehicle.
Tránsito (traffic) officials have heard this story over and over, and though it may be true, there is no way for the officer of knowing it for a fact, there is no database that can be checked.
In fact, if you visit the INS website to consult the cost of the Marchamo, you will note that the amount is still outstanding, only with a note to warn that if you paid, to disregard the amount.
In fact, if you were to go into your local bank or authorized INS agent or INS offices itself, you could effectively pay the Marchamo again, even though it has already been paid.
We are not sure why the INS has not corrected this problem, probably bearing on the fact that one in the right mind would pay the road tax twice.
Our advice, check to ensure that the 2010 circulation permit is with the vehicle at all times, the 2010 sticker is fully visible through the front windshield. As well, keep the title certificate with the vehicle at all times and don’t drive without a driver’s license, as this will insure an additional fine.
If you are one of the tens of thousands who have not paid the 2010 Marchamo, do it as soon as possible, as the INS began adding interest and later penalty charges beginning on January 1.
PS. there is no cost involved in the process, save for the cost of any outstanding fines and Riteve inspection, towing and photocopies for court documents.
Posted in Costa Rica News | No Comments »
