Archive for February, 2010
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
The Government said there are now 34 death claims since 2000 possibly related to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles. It’s just the latest in a series of setbacks for the automaker as it tries to gain back consumer confidence.
Dealers have just come off of a rough year. First, there was the massive recall for sticky gas pedals, then the recall for an anti-lock brake glitch. And now, the death complaints. But Toyota execs say they’re working to gain back customer’s confidence.
The president of Toyota said he plans to come to the U.S. to talk to American workers and dealers about the problems, although a date hasn’t been set. Toyota execs have already met with dealers to push a new marketing campaign starting in March.
The automaker is also considering offering longer warranties on its vehicles and 0% financing for 60 months in some areas of the United States.
“The dealers are working 24/7 to get these fixes in,” said Ed Tonkin, the incoming chairman of the NADA. “If they do come with an incentive, I think it will be just to kind of peek the consumers interest to come back in and take a look at Toyota. They’re great cars, they’re doing the right thing.”
Researchers said the changes may not be enough. Kelley Blue Book found 27-percent of new car shoppers considering a Toyota before the recall are no longer interested in the brand.
Toyota’s president plans to issue an update on the recall sometime on Wednesday.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Costa Rica remains on the list of tax havens published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to documents seen by the wire service AFP on Monday.
The Central American country of 4.5 million people had signed an agreement in July saying it would take steps to ensure free exchange of financial information. But while Costa Rican officials made strides toward complying with the OECD, the country has failed to pass legislation in congress.
In December, Finance Minister Jenny Philips said, “We are continuing trying to comply with the OECD, but we can’t commit to legislators passing (appropriate legislation.).”
She said her ministry is looking to reduce the time it takes for judges to review and authorize the release of financial information of suspected tax evaders, but that she needs more time.
“The French government has taken a very tough, very strong position,” Philips said at the December press conference. “But at the moment France decides to pressure, other countries have to unite and say, ‘Wait a minute.’”
According to various news sources, the French government will begin imposing fines of as much as 50 percent – up from 33 percent – on dividends and interest fees paid by French firms to people or other firms domiciled in tax havens.
As of press time, the OECD had yet to make the updated tax haven list public.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Amino has won the Costa Rican licitation to provide STBs to support a major IPTV roll-out by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute. The network operator plans to launch services in the first half of 2010, targeting up to 100,000 homes across the country. Amino will work closely with systems integrator ITS on the service roll-out and will provide 38,000 units including its A125, A130M and A530 DVR STBs phased over the next two years.
ICE is the state-owned network operator in Costa Rica and offers a range of fixed, mobile and broadband communications services and power across the country. Systems integrator ITS will manage the deployment working with Amino, Minerva Networks, Harmonic, ATEME and Widevine equipment.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Smuggling cash out of Costa Rica has become a headache for the airport authorities, with the arrest on Sunday of a Mexican woman carrying some us$250.000 dollars in her carry on luggage.
So far this year, the Policía Control de Drogas (PCD) – drug enforcement police – have seized more than us$532.000 dollars in cash from various travelling heading out of San José’s Juan Santamaría International airport.
The woman is now in the hands of judicial officials, mainly the Fiscalía de Alajuela, who will be looking for preventive detention and begin their investigation into origin of the cash.
Days earlier (Friday), Costa Rican authorities arrested two Mexican nationals with more than a ton of cocaine that was expected headed north. Police found the stash during a raid of home near Miramar, Puntarenas, following reports by area residents of strange activity coming from the residential home that was being used as a warehouse to store and pack drugs for shipment.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Legislators in Costa Rica begin discussion on the reforms of the new Ley de Tránsito that is to go into effect on March 1. And one the items up for discussion is the changes to the drunk driving provisions.
The current legislation says that anyone with a blood alcohol reading of 0.75 is impaired and is subject to criminal prosecution, including jail and a permanent loss of the drivers license.
However, the Instituto Sobre Alcoholismo y Farmacodependiencia (IAFA) is pushing for the limit to be dropped to 0.50, arguing that the the 0.75 is too permissive and is not enough of a deterrent.
Guiselle Amador, director of the IAFA, is of the opinion that by keeping the limit at 0.75 many will continue to drive drunk and thus the country will continue with more fatal traffic accidents.
Amador backs her arguments of experts that say that a 0.50 limit for those 24 years of age and over and 0.20 for those under that age, is required to keep drunk drivers off the road.
In addition, the IAFA is asking that legislators include a provision for an educational course for those caught driving under the influence.
“This tool is ideal to educate, prevent and detect early those with problems with alcohol”, said Amador.
Amador also believes that the other public institutions like the INS (Instituto Nacional de Seguros, the national insurer), the CCSS (the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, the country’s social security) and the COSEVI (the nation’s driving authority) work together to reduce drunk driving and road fatalities.
The IAFA is also seeking that legislators allow a portion of the fines collected from drivers towards prevention and driving instruction.
In 2009, 43 people lost their lives to drunk driving, aside from the many more who suffered injuries from traffic accidents involving drunk drivers.
The World Health Organization figures indicate that between 20% and 50% of all fatal traffic accidents around the world involve alcohol abuse.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Although stem cell therapy is illegal in the USA, Global Surgery Providers is facilitating stem cell treatments at offshore hospitals affiliated with renowned U.S. hospitals.
Some of the most remarkable medical breakthroughs of the 21st century are emerging from stem cell research. Such devastating afflictions as cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are now being treated with adult stem cells, and the results are encouraging.
Stem cell research, however, is one of several leading-edge scientific fields that is currently against the law in the USA. This is one reason why many acclaimed American medical institutions have set up hospitals and other research facilities abroad. Among these are Harvard Medical, Johns Hopkins, the Mayo Clinic and 18 of the leading U.S. medical schools.
Now a Georgia company is making it possible for U.S. citizens to reap the benefits of the stem cell therapies that are being performed in other countries. “This sounds like science fiction,” says Jack Schafer, CEO of Global Surgery Providers, Inc., “but I actually saw a human heart valve growing in a petri dish. And because these body parts are created from the patient’s own adult stem cells, there is no danger of rejection.”
Global Surgery Providers (GSP) was one of the first medical tourism facilitators in America to be certified by the Medical Tourism Association. Now they have begun arranging overseas stem cell therapy for their clients.
“We recently sent a paraplegic patient to Costa Rica for stem cell treatment.” Mr. Schafer said. “He has no use of his lower body and has been confined to a wheelchair for ten years. We are hoping that stem cell therapy will be able to re-grow the nerve cells in his damaged limbs.”
Whether Americans are considering medical tourism for stem cell therapy, dental implants or hip replacement surgery, Mr. Schafer warns consumers not to attempt to organize everything themselves. In fact, having a facilitator such as Global Surgery Providers make all the arrangements can actually save the patient as much as several thousand dollars.
GSP not only deals with overseas hospitals and medical clinics, but they also arrange accommodations, transportation, a dedicated local car and driver, an English speaking Medical Concierge, and the exclusive use of an international mobile phone for 24/7 contact with friends and family back home.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
While in January Costa Rica saw a rise in seismic activity, February has been rather quiet. The Obvservatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica (OVSICORI), reported only two earthquakes so far this month.
In January the OVSICORI reported registering 14 earthquakes, many located in the Zona Sur (southern zone), while a number originated in the area of Barva de Heredia.
In contrast to January, February has been quiet, seismic wise.
Experts say that is is common that there months with intense activity and months that are not, Costa Rican being a country with high seismic activity.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Costa Rica, Central America’s second-biggest economy, will recover this year from its first recession in 27 years as exports, tourism and foreign investment rise, central bank President Francisco de Paula Gutierrez said.
The $29.4 billion economy will grow 3.2 percent this year after an estimated 1.3 percent contraction in 2009, Gutierrez, 60, said in an interview at his office in San Jose.
“Much of last year’s contraction was caused by a heavy fall in trade, and we’re already seeing dynamic exports yanking us out of recession,” Gutierrez said. “Our economy is enormously interdependent with the world’s.”
The economy suffered last year from a 9 percent drop in exports to $8.7 billion, according to government trade agency Procomer. President-elect Laura Chinchilla takes office in May having vowed to bolster economic growth by deepening trade with China and boosting public spending. She will have to be careful not to run up an already “unsustainable” fiscal gap, Gutierrez said.
The budget deficit grew to 4.3 percent of gross domestic product last year from a gap of 0.4 percent of GDP in 2008 and a surplus of 0.8 percent in 2007, Gutierrez said.
The central bank’s goal of keeping inflation below 6 percent this year will be a “challenge” after prices rose 1.6 percent in January from the previous month, Gutierrez said. Last year’s 4.1 percent inflation rate was the lowest in 38 years, though still Central America’s highest, Gutierrez said.
Foreign investment will grow 2 percent this year after dropping 35 percent to $1.3 billion last year, Gutierrez said.
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Are you starting to plan your retirement and worrying about how the state of the economy will effect your life style after you turn 65? Are you watching your friends make plans to cash in their paper assets, move to a smaller home, and cut down on spending? This is what many people are doing in the face of a recession in the United States right now. But you imagined having a little money to travel, visit Paris maybe, or go on a cruise. Is all of that just a fantasy now?
Well some people have discovered out how to make the dream a reality and retire in style by living and investing in the heavenly paradise of Costa Rica! It all begins with the real estate market. Those who know say the real estate market in Costa Rica is one of the most stable in the world, and prices are easily comparable to US property or lower. You could easily find a beautiful beach house for $300,000 overlooking the ocean. Or buy a piece of land near the beach for $100,000 and build your dream home. Imagine spend your days walking on the beach, a drink on the terrace, watching the sunset, and socializing with new friends who share your enthusiasm for a good retirement!
You may think it sounds crazy, that people only go to Costa Rica on vacation, but that’s no longer true. More and more foreigners are retiring in Costa Rica, especially Americans but also Europeans and other foreigners. And they are all doing it the same way: investing in property which will only go up in value for years to come, while living their retirement in the sunshine. But how? you ask. The following are just a few examples of the things that make it so easy to live the dream and retire in Costa Rica:
ONLY 2 HOURS AWAY
Costa Rica is only 2 hours away from Florida and all the comforts of home. Take a log weekend in Miami and do some shopping, or grab a connector flight to visit your family, and have them come visit often! And be careful who you invite to come visit you, it is so easy to get to Costa Rica that they will certainly come!
ESPANGLISH
Maybe not everyone speaks English, but no matter where you are, there is probably someone around who will be able to translate. A large majority of the population can speak at least some English, and most of the private schools are English Immersion, so from a young age many of these kids are bilingual. And hey, why not take some Spanish lessons yourself? Stretch your brain a little and make some friends while you are at it.
COST OF LIVING
The cost of living is comparable to the US if not slightly lower. There are some items which are shockingly inexpensive, while others are what you are used to at home. Groceries, restaurants and shopping tend to be about what as you are used to, however workers such as a live in maid or gardener are much less expensive than in the US. During retirement, it can often be a great blessing to have people around to help you with the daily chores.
HEALTH CARE
Health Care in Costa Rica is known for its quality and inexpensive price tag. Many of the doctors are trained in the US or Europe, and hospitals are very modern with all the latest equipment and technologies. Not to gossip but Costa Rica is known for its movie star plastic surgery!
MEDICARE
Both the Costa Rican government and Medicare and are making it extremely easy for ex-patriots to receive their Medicare cheques in Costa Rica through a network of banks in now offering direct deposit to your Costa Rican bank account.
VISAS & LEGAL ISSUES
Do I need a visa, or how does it work? If you are 45 years or older you can apply to be part of a retirement program set up by the Costa Rican government to encourage foreigners to come to Costa Rica. Benefits include tax exemptions and incentives, but the greatest thing is that you don’t have to pay tax on your retirement income in Costa Rica!
CAN I OWN PROPERTY IN COSTA RICA?
In Costa Rica foreigners are in no way penalized when purchasing property. Foreigners have the same rights as a Costa Rican and the law will treat them as an equal. You can also incorporate your own company and purchase the property through your company for additional tax breaks.
OF COURSE THE BEAUTY …
The words Cost Rica actually mean Rich Coast, a name Christopher Columbus bestowed on this country overflowing with natural beauty, lush rain-forests, mountains, cloud forests, and sandy beaches. Costa Rica is world famous for its diverse natural habitat and beautiful sunsets.
So there you have it, not a bad list of reasons to rent out your house, cash in your paper assets, and retire to a beach house in Costa Rica! There may be a coming recession, but you don’t have to live in it, or let it spoil your long awaited liberation from the rat race.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
“Mike,” from BetFirstClass (BFC) is awaiting his fate on a sealed indictment that stems from the US Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Oklahoma.
I can’t even imagine what it must be like to spend Valentine’s Day in a Federal Detention Center located in Houston, Texas.
Unfortunately, the main guy behind BetFirstClass was picked up on Friday afternoon at 3 PM in Cancun, Mexico by the Mexican authorities. He had just deplaned from San Jose, Costa Rica.
When attempting to navigate though Customs and was arrested immediately. Shortly, thereafter, Mike was deported to Houston, Texas. He will eventually be transported to Oklahoma.
One source states,
“Mike had been bookmaking for a long time in Oklahoma. He decided to flee the United States when his house was busted into and his computer seized back in May of 2007.”
He allegedly filed fraudulent tax returns for the years of 2004 and 2005.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
Costa Rican police seized around a ton of cocaine and arrested two suspected Mexican traffickers on Friday in the latest sign Mexican gangs are stepping up their use of the country as a storage point.
Police found 2,139 pounds (969 kg) of cocaine stashed at a rural house near the Pacific coast northwest of San Jose, and arrested two Mexican nationals at the scene. They are believed to be members of Mexico’s Juarez cartel, the public security ministry said.
President-elect Laura Chinchilla, a former security minister who won a landslide election victory on Sunday, has said combating Mexican drug gangs operating in Costa Rica will be a priority when she takes power in May.
A three-year army crackdown on drug gangs in Mexico has encouraged some traffickers to push south into Central America, setting up bases in countries like Guatemala as they seek new routes to smuggle South American cocaine to the United States.
Costa Rican authorities have seized 93 ton of cocaine between 2006 and 2009 — nearly twice the amount the country captured in the preceding decade.
Costa Rica is known for being an oasis of stability, high living standards and low crime in a region scarred by Cold War-era civil wars and plagued by violent street gangs.
But it also sits halfway between the cocaine-producing Andes and Mexico, whose smuggling gangs earn some $40 billion a year smuggling the drug north using planes, boats and trucks.
Police raided the house in Costa Rica early on Friday following a tip-off from neighbors, the ministry said.
The two suspects are from the northern Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, one of the world’s most violent spots. One had a press credential from a Mexican newspaper, the ministry said.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
The socially conservative, pro-business former vice president hails from the party of incumbent President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work in the 1980s to end Central America’s wars.
Chinchilla’s victory was widely seen as a vote for continuity in a politically stable country that enjoys one of the region’s highest standards of living.
It’s the first time Costa Rica has chosen a woman to lead the nation. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet and Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner are the other female chief executives in Latin America. In the past, Panama and Nicaragua also had female presidents.
I suppose this is one of those things you would be excited about..except, Chinchilla is opposed to same-sex marriage, abortion and the morning after pill. We are proven once again that having a vagina does not ensure you will protect others that have them.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Costa Rican legislature to remove criminal defamation provisions from its penal code after a recent Supreme Court decision eliminated prison terms from its 1902 Printing Press Law.
The provisions were eliminated from the Printing Press Law—known as Ley de Imprenta—which imposed prison sentences of up to 120 days for defamation in print media.
The court made the ruling while it was reviewing a defamation case against José Luis Jiménez Robleto, a reporter with the San José-daily Diario Extra, according to local news reports. Jiménez had been accused by a former Costa Rican official after publishing a news story on alleged embezzlement, the press reported. The journalist was sentenced in March 2004 to 50 days in prison based on the outdated 1902 press law. His conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.
The court’s decision about the press law, issued on December 18, was made public this week. Costa Rican journalists said it was a victory for freedom of the press. The daily La Nación described it as “historic.” The paper’s editor, Armando González, said that the court set an important precedent.
Under Costa Rica’s Penal Code, anyone who libels, slanders, defames, or reproduces offensive statements against someone, even public officials, can be fined or placed on an official list of convicted criminals, but not imprisoned, CPJ research has found.
“We consider the Supreme Court’s decision an important step forward toward what we hope will be the total elimination of criminal defamation in Costa Rica,” said Carlos Lauría, CPJ senior program coordinator for the Americas. “We now urge Costa Rica’s legislative assembly to eliminate defamation provisions from its Penal Code.”
Laws that criminalize speech are incompatible with the rights established under Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, which Costa Rica has ratified. As the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stated in 1994: “Considering the consequences of criminal sanctions and the inevitable chilling effect they have on freedom of expression, criminalization of speech can only apply in those exceptional circumstances when there is an obvious and direct threat of lawless violence.”
There is growing international consensus that journalists should not be jailed for criminal defamation. In November, the Argentine Congress repealed criminal defamation provisions in the penal code. In April 2009, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal annulled the 1967 Press Law, a measure that had imposed harsh penalties for libel and slander.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
Of all forms of online gambling in the US, lawmakers go after sports betting the most. The reason for this can be traced back to a law called the Wire Act of 1961 which prohibits placing sports bets via “wire communication”. This old law is used to support the idea that online sports betting in the US is illegal, even though the internet did not even exist when the Wire Act was written. This is an important distinction since internet gambling in general is not actually illegal in the US, but only heavily discouraged.
This sets the stage for news that just surfaced of a Kansas City man who on Wednesday plead guilty to operating an online sportsbook in the USA. Michael Badalucco, 26, ran an underground website that channeled bets through a maze of computers all across the US before finally ending up in Costa Rica with a legal sports betting operation there.
Because the US government tries to find ways to keep players from gambling online, they make it very difficult for US players to fund their online gambling accounts. To circumvent this issue, Badalucco collected cash from his clients, and paid them in person once every week.
When caught, Badalucco waived his right to a grand jury review and pleaded guilty immediately. In return, prosecutors agreed not to ask him to act as a witness in trials to implicate others in his business.
Badalucco now faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison, though it is likely that his actual sentence will be under a year.
The case against Badalucco is the first charge to result from a long-running probe into illegal gambling websites operating out of the US. Meanwhile, many players avoid trouble by simply playing at foreign-hosted internet casinos and sportsbooks, which cannot be shut down by US authorities.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
Costa Rica and China signed a free trade agreement on February 10, 2010 making it the first Central American country to reach a free trade agreement with China. The agreement will immediately open up trade by eliminating tariffs on 58% of products imported from China and 99.6% of products exported to China. Over the next ten years, the agreement will eliminate tariffs on approximately 90% of the goods imported from China. Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz stated that this agreement creates an “enormous opportunity” for the country to boost exports with its second largest trading partner. Mr. Ruiz added that the agreement would strengthen Costa Rica’s presence in Asia.
Negotiations for a free trade agreement with Costa Rica started in June 2007 when Costa Rica declared that it no longer recognized Taiwan and asserted its recognition of mainland China. Since 2007, China and Costa Rica strengthened their relationship through several rounds of negotiations and projects. China’s imprint in Costa Rica is already evident, as China is building an $80 million soccer stadium in Costa Rica as a gift. China gave Costa Rica $20 million of aid in 2007 and the China National Petroleum Corporation has agreed to assist Costa Rica in an expansion of Costa Rica’s National Oil Refinery that could potentially triple the refinery’s output by 2015. China also purchased $300 million in Costa Rican bonds during 2008. This year, the Costa Rican city, San Jose, will inaugurate an area of the city as “Chinatown.” In October 2009, the mayor of Beijing stood with the mayor of San Jose and laid the first brick in “Chinatown.” The area will have a Chinese architectural makeover and will include several symbols of the Chinese culture.
Costa Rican leaders hope that exports will drive economic growth in the coming years. Last year, Costa Rica’s economy contracted at a rate of 1.3%. This year, Costa Rican Central Bank President, Francisco de Paula Gutierrez, predicts that the Costa Rican economy will expand by 3.2%. Mr. Gutierrez stated that a decline in foreign trade drove most of the economic contraction last year. During 2009, exports to China rose 13% to $768 million whereas exports to the United States fell by 13% to $3.1 billion. Costa Rica has already experienced higher demand in dynamic exports in the past few months and Mr. Gutierrez expects this trend to continue to strengthen in 2010. The free-trade agreement with China should increase export demand for Costa Rican products. Experts predict that Costa Rican agricultural products will benefit the most from the free trade agreement in such products as fruit juice, decorative plants, leather, pork, beef, and coffee. Experts also expect that technology exports to China will surge.
Not everyone in Costa Rica supports the free trade agreement. Several Costa Rican leaders in the industrial and agricultural sectors openly oppose the agreement. Juan Maria Gonzales, President of the Chamber of Industries stated in a press release that the scope of agreement was too broad and that China has a reputation as an “untrustworthy” commercial society. Mr. Gonzales desired stronger protection for national industries and fears that the agreement will negatively affect investment in the industrial sector. Mario Montero, general manager of the Food Industry Chamber, expressed reservations about Chinese competition in the local market. Mr. Montero also thought that the agreement should have required China to increase its labor and sanitation standards to Costa Rican levels before opening up the markets. Foreign Trade Minister, Mr. Ruiz, acknowledged that free trade agreements do not please everyone; however, he insisted that in the end the free agreement with China “will provide extraordinary benefits to Costa Rica.”
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