Archive for February 2nd, 2010
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Costa Ricans could elect their first female president ever in this Sunday’s ballot, according to a poll by CID-Gallup. 43 per cent of respondents would vote for Laura Chinchilla of the governing Liberal National Party (PLN) in the election, down one point since mid-January.
Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement (ML) is second with 30 per cent, followed by former economy minister Ottón Solís of the Citizens Action Party (PAC) with 15 per cent, and Luis Fishman of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUCS) with eight per cent.
Under current regulations, a presidential run-off would be required if none of the presidential candidates garner more than 40 per cent of the vote on election day.
The PLN’s Óscar Arias won the February 2006 presidential election with 40.92 per cent of all cast ballots. Solís finished in second place with 39.80 per cent. Arias had headed the government from 1986 to 1990, and was able to run again after the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly opted to bring back presidential re-election in 2003. He was sworn in for the second time in May 2006.
On Jan. 27, while celebrating the official end of her campaign, Chinchilla acknowledged that the Central American country still needs better policies on employment, security and inequality, but added, “Costa Rica began to walk again four years ago and now is the time to move forward, not for a change that we don’t know where it can lead us.”
Costa Ricans will vote in a general election on Feb. 7.
Polling Data
Which of these candidates would you vote for in the 2010 presidential election?
|
|
|
|
| Laura Chinchilla (PLN)
|
43%
|
44%
|
45%
|
| Otto Guevara (ML)
|
30%
|
27%
|
19%
|
| Ottón Solís (PAC)
|
15%
|
12%
|
13%
|
| Luis Fishman (PUSC)
|
8%
|
10%
|
9%
|
| Rolando Araya (AP)
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
3%
|
| Óscar López (PASE)
|
n.a.
|
n.a
|
2%
|
| Other / None / Not sure
|
4%
|
7%
|
9%
|
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
For some unexplained reason, Costa Ricans are not rushing to gobble up the cellular telephone lines as has occurred in the past. In fact, only 135.738 of the 950.000 3G cellular lines have been spoken for since the introduction last December.
In the past, Costa Ricans have lined up for hours on end, waiting on a chance to get connected, every time the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) introduced new cellular lines in the market, filling up to 5.000 orders daily.
However, Costa Ricans have not yet warmed up to the 3G.
In addition to slow sales, ICE says that only 51.567 of the 400.000 TDMA customers have moved over, preferring to continue to use the TDMA, even though the 3G network offers better coverage and 3G phones incorporate the latest cellular technology.
One of the reasons could be the cost of 3G cellular phones.
To get connected to the 3G network, customers have to have a 3G cellular phone, meaning a change of equipment even if moving from the TDMA or GSM networks.
And 3G phones are not on the cheap. The low end 3G phones start about $200 to $1.000 or more for an iPhone, in Costa Rica.
Another factor is the cost the service.
Although the cost of the basic service – making and receiving calls, text messaging and voicemail – is the same that of the TDMA and GSM, adding internet service can add up to ¢15.000 colones per month.
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
This will be Latin American country’s first free trade pact with an Asian nation
Separated by a distance of more than 18,000km and multiple time zones, Singapore and Costa Rica still see enough value in what each other has to offer, having wrapped up talks on a potentially lucrative free trade agreement (FTA).
This is the latest deal that Singapore – whose relatively small and open economy is highly dependent on trade – has sealed with countries across Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
FTA talks with Costa Rica – one of South America’s biggest exporters – reached the final handshake stage last month, just over a year after the two countries announced plans to start negotiations.
The FTA is particularly significant for Costa Rica as it is its first with an Asian country, Costa Rica’s External Commerce Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said last month.
Both countries are similar in population size – but not much else. Singapore’s population is around five million, while Costa Rica has about 4.5 million people. So what’s in it for the two parties, given their vast differences in geography, language and culture, among other things?
Plenty, it would seem, judging by the speed at which discussions progressed and were eventually put to bed – it took just 10 months and four rounds of talks for the countries to come to a mutual agreement.
It was during Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez’s five-day official visit to Singapore in December 2008 that the two countries agreed to kick-start negotiations.
According to a recent report in Costa Rican newspaper The Tico Times, a Singapore delegation flew to Heredia, north of the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, to put the finishing touches to the accord.
At this last meeting, negotiators also decided on issues such as the sanitary, shipment and rules-of-origin regulations that will be imposed on products traded between the two countries. Also on the table were key issues such as quarantine and intellectual property rights.
Costa Rica’s Foreign Trade Ministry (Comex) said then that so long as there was a consensus on the theme of rules of origin, the FTA would cover all products.
Rules-of-origin regulations are important because they help ensure that a product bought from Singapore, for instance, was not originally manufactured in another country.
According to Comex, Singapore has expressed a keen interest in Costa Rica’s agricultural products such as fruit, coffee, vegetables and prepared food.
Costa Rica, meanwhile, has expressed particular interest in trading various types of plastic and metal products.
Singapore’s imports from Costa Rica comprise mainly electronic valves and machine parts. Its exports to Costa Rica include precision measuring instruments and rubber.
Trade between the two nations has increased steadily over the years. It hit $413.7 million last year, up 40 per cent from 2004.
Under the FTA, Singaporean and Costa Rican firms will benefit from greater access to each other’s markets.
The accord will be signed once the necessary domestic processes are completed, Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry said in a statement on Friday. Singapore already has trade agreements with other countries in Latin America, including Chile, Peru and Panama.
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Here’s an article that gives the pro’s about purchasing homes in Central America. Yes, people Belize is in Central America.
Located in the Central America region, Costa Rica is one of the hottest holiday and surfing destination for various reasons. The country though does not chart among the top holiday destinations but gradually people are being attracted to this small nation situated near the Panama. Lately, the government of Costa Rica is making efforts to put this small country on the world map providing some of the best resorts and hospitality services to the international and local visitors who visit Costa Rica. Those people who love water and sandy beaches will find their paradise when they are here in Costa Rica because the nation is surrounded by oceans on both the sides and therefore there are plenty of beaches all over the country.
Apart from beaches that border the Costa Rica on both sides, there are plenty of rain forests and valley and mountains in Costa Rica that provides other adventurous activities to the people in the country. If you are in San Pedro you can even go on trekking and climbing the rocky mountains. You can even buckle up your sports gear and head for river rafting and snorkeling in some of the most famous rain forests in Costa Rica.
You might not be aware of this but Costa Rica was chosen as the Best Ecotourism Destination for the year 2009 because the country is working very hard to reduce the carbon emissions in the atmosphere which would give you more comfort and let you enjoy your holiday in full swing. When you are in Costa Rica you will know more about the government initiatives for conservation of forests, biodiversity and regulation of water systems throughout the country for better development of Costa Rica. If you addicted to cleanliness than Costa Rica is your place for tourism because Forbes magazine have announced Costa Rica as the fifth cleanest country in the world.
Costa Rica also has many volcanoes and if you are looking for some superb photographs of a volcano than you can head for Irazu Volcano which is also the highest volcano in the country. If you are looking for a trip to other places in Costa Rica, than you can checkout different smaller islands of Costa Rica. Cocos Island is clearly visible from Punterenas region but you can head towards the island in the boats available. You can also enjoy scuba diving and checkout the dolphins and sharks that swim in the nearby areas.
With the passage of time and efforts of the Costa Rican government many other hotel groups and airlines have started to invest in Costa Rica. Many other annual festivals and events like World Surf Championship have put Costa Rica on the global map and in the year 2009 more than 35 countries participated in the surfing competition that was held in Jaco. Even Hollywood film makers are now shooting their films in Costa Rica because of the gr
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Mexico, Venezuela and Guatemala have been included on a list of the 10 countries with the highest obesity rates last year among people over 15.
Kuwait topped the Euromonitor consulting firm’s list, released here Thursday, followed by the United States, while Mexico ranked fifth, Venezuela sixth and Guatemala tenth.
In 2009, 38.7 percent of people over the age of 15 were considered obese in the United States, compared with 31.8 percent in Mexico, 29.6 percent in Venezuela and 27.5 percent in Guatemala.
Euromonitor said Latin America as a whole still has obesity rates far below those of developed countries, although it noted that that gap will become smaller.
The projection for 2020 is that six of the 10 most obese nations will be in the Latin American region: Venezuela, Guatemala, Uruguay, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Latin America also has high numbers of overweight people, which indicates that the obesity trend will continue.
Chile, where 44.7 percent of people over 15 were overweight in 2009, ranked first in the region in that category and second worldwide, but because the concepts of obesity and excess weight are different that South American country is not among the nations with the highest rates of the former.
Obesity rates have risen considerably since 1980, when fast-food consumption began to increase in Latin America, and they are expected to climb even further because eating trends in the region point to greater consumption of food with high levels of saturated fat.
Low-income families in particular are increasingly opting for fast food over traditional meals because it is often less expensive.
Greater access to higher-fat food and increased urbanization – which results in more sedentary lifestyles – will contribute to higher obesity rates in the future, according to the report.
The statistical measure most often used to gauge excess weight and obesity is the Body Mass Index; the World Health Organization defines a person as overweight if his or her BMI is between 25-29 and as obese if his or her BMI is 30 or higher.
According to WHO estimates, a total of 1.6 billion adults worldwide were overweight in 2005 and at least 400 million were obese.
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
A strong earthquake struck Nicaragua and Costa Rica on Wednesday night, officials said.
The earthquake, which struck about 65 miles south of Managua, had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It struck about 26.5 miles deep, making it a fairly deep earthquake.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties following the tremor, which occurred at 09.15 p.m local time, and no tsunami warnings were immediately issued.
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