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>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
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TODAY'S CONTENTS
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*Feature Article:
Nosy neighbours: Home-hunting holidays in the jungles of Costa Rica
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2100-1357401,00.html


*News Digest

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FEATURE ARTICLE
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*Feature Article:
Nosy neighbours: Home-hunting holidays in the jungles of Costa Rica
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2100-1357401,00.html


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WHAT'S NEW AT THE COSTA RICA PAGE!
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Our real estate section has just been totally updated with lots of
new listings, mostly in the residential real estate section, but also
we have a new rental on the rental page and some new additions to the
land for sale section.

http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/real.htm

We are adding new things every day, and when our merger comes with
COSTARICACENTER.COM, we will have a fully operational Mercado Central
for you to buy Costa Rican products over the internet from local merchants
[if you have a reputable business here, and want to sell through the
Mercado, just let us know. We can help you to accept credit cards and
all the major e-currencies on the net! We break through the Great Barrier
that many Costa Rican merchants face getting their products on the net!].

Hotels and tourist businesses will be able to add their own links, and you
will be able to place your own online classifieds and MUCH MUCH MORE!

Watch this newsletter for our official launch, coming soon!

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DISCUSSION
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NEWS DIGEST
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*Venezuela Agrees to Supply Oil to Costa Rica

Venezuela has signed an agreement to supply Costa Rica with oil and refined

products as part of regional cooperation and integration between Latin

America and the Caribbean.

The agreement followed renewal of the San José Oil Accord, which initially

was signed in August 1980. In late October, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

and Mexican President Vicente Fox agreed that Venezuela and Mexico each would

supply 80,000 barrels a day of oil and products to Costa Rica, OPEC News

Agency reported.

Separately, Venezuela signed a supply agreement to provide the Dominican

Republic with up to 50,000 barrels a day of oil and products.

"We have re-launched the Caracas Energy Agreement, and we are committed to

begin sending shipments of oil and products as soon as possible," the

Venezuelan state news agency, Venpres, quoted Chavez as saying during news

conference.

The Dominican Republic and Venezuela had suspended their cooperative Caracas

Energy Agreement in 2003 because of political differences. Venezuelan Energy

and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez said relations between the two countries

have improved.


*EBI Continues With La Carpio Landfill

Costa Rican-Canadian consortium EBI has decided to continue operating the San

José city La Carpio landfill, which will serve as a model for the proposed

Azeri landfill, EBI Costa Rica commercial manager Diego Fernández told

BNamericas.

EBI (Empresas Berthierville Incorporadas) is therefore reversing a previous

decision to close the La Carpio landfill, having resolved local disputes that

caused violent protests in part over its presence there.

"There was violence due to social issues," he said. "The people that live in

the La Carpio area had closed off the landfill, demanding improvements from

the government such as street repairs and improvements."

Protestors mistakenly blamed EBI for local infrastructure problems

considering its presence attracted public works projects, Fernández said.

While the government did install local infrastructure to support the

landfill, the consortium was never responsible for non-landfill works.

Since EBI's arrival in 1999, the government has developed local sewerage and

water systems plus electricity and telephone lines. EBI also made funds

available for social programs such as schools.

The misunderstanding has since been cleared and La Carpio is a model

landfill, with several Latin American countries visiting the area to learn

from this "technological environmental park," he added.

The landfill receives some 600 tonne per day of waste. First-phase

construction costs totaled roughly US$6mn, and Fernández estimates it will

operate for another 15 years. La Carpio was designed to ease the strain on

the Río Azul landfill which takes in some 1,200 tonnes per day of waste and

is scheduled to close by October 2005.

La Carpio will now be used as a model for the proposed Aserrí landfill.

According to local reports EBI recently bought the 27 hectares Aserrí site

for US$1.35mn.

The new 400 tonnes per day landfill would receive waste from the cities of

Desamparados, Alajuelita, Aserrí and Escazu, and "it may serve some 11 other

municipalities," Fernández said. It would have a useful life of 20-25 years.

National environmental department SETENA is holding public audiences in the

area surrounding Aserrí for residents to approve the landfill. "That is an

important step for us, as we need the approval of the inhabitants," he said.

If all goes well, Aserrí may be opened during the first half of 2005. "We

have everything ready - the machinery bought, etcetera," he said. "If Setena

gives us the go-ahead tomorrow, we could have 50% of our operations up and

running in no time."



*Teacher Accused of Stalking, Near Riot Angry Parents

A near riot ensued yesterday by angry parents when police officers were

removed a teacher accused of stalking, from the República de Argentina school

in Barrio México.

The Ministerio de Educación (Education Minister) is concerned, that with

yesterday's arrest, the total cases reported this year is 77.

The teacher, only identified by his last name, Garro, is accused of stalking

several students. Parents outside the school became angry and caused a large

scale commotion to show they feelings.

Education officials are asking all parents to talk to their children and if

their child has been harassed and/or abused by a teacher, they urge that to

report immediately. The Education Ministry has guidelines that indicate what

is considered "acoso" or "abuso" and parents can consult school officials if

they are in doubt in the event a child comes forward to tell.

In the case of the Barrio México school, the teacher will be re-assigned to

an administrative function, one that does not have contact with children,

while an investigation into the allegations is conducted.


*Street Vendors Must Go, Court Rules

The fight between the Municipality of San José and the street vendors has

been going for years.

At the beginning of this year, the Municipality decided, once again, to move

the vendors off the streets and following several attempts, including using

force, the vendors made appeals to the courts and slowly, the last appeal was

decided on this past week.

However, the news was not what the vendors had expected. The Constitutional

Court or Sala IV, ruled that the vendors must go.

The vendors in the area called "Zona de Truega", the 400 or so vendors must

clear out and the Municipality has the legal force now to take action.

Rafael Arais, assistant to San José mayor, Johnny Araya, said that were

notified last Friday (November 5), however, talks between the Municipality

and vendors had been going on.

The legal process has ended, there are no more appeals and they must go, that

is the position of the Municipality. They will not give in. This time.

Several months back, the Municipality made it clear that it would use force

to evict vendors from the streets. Many vendors decided to go voluntarily,

however, some remained behind and fight if necessary.

Municipal officials, in a move to avoid violence, decided to sit back and

appeal to the courts for their rights. Vendors did the same.

Slowly, the streets, who were virtually free of vendors for almost a week,

returned to same old, as those who left, decided to return.

The major complaint by the Municipality is the clogging of roads and store

fronts. The area along 1st and 3rd Avenues and Calle 4 and 8, the sidewalks

are impassable and traffic comes to a stand still, as a two lane road becomes

one, as vendors on both sides of the streets operate their stands.

The area affected - La Zona Truega - is from the Mercado Central on Avenida

Central to the Coca Cola and from Calle 2 to Calle 12.

The Municipality has not made a decision when it will enforce it's right to

clear the streets, saying only that they will be open to negotiations, to

move the vendors to other areas, municipal lots.


*Guide Dogs Permitted in Restaurants

The Constitutional Court or Sala IV has ruled on an appeal by Gerardo Alberto

Mora Rodríguez, last August, that "guide dogs" are to be allowed in

restaurants and other public places.

The court said that the guide dog is, in practical terms, "an extension of

their owner and should be allowed in any place, including restaurants."

Mora, who is blind, was told by employees of La Princesa Marina restaurant in

Curridabat that his guide dog was not permitted in the restaurant. Owners of

the restaurant defended their decision by saying that they don't allow dogs

in consideration of the other patrons of the restaurant.

The Court ruled, however, that the guide dogs are trained and become part of

the owner and are not offensive towards other people.

In Costa Rica there are 18 guide dogs that trained in Michigan, used by the

blind. Roberto Sancho, former president of the Patronato Nacional de Ciegos,

says each dog and it's owner have gone through special training. Sancho is

pioneer of the guide dog program in Costa Rica that began in 1998.


*Central American, Mexican Leaders Discuss Boosting their Regional Economies

The presidents of Mexico and five Central American countries Friday discussed

ways to integrate their region, boost their economies and stop the flow of

migrants north to the United States.

Holding a one-day summit in the southern Mexican city Tuxtla Gutierrez, the

group also was expected to talk about a growing gang problem.

"For us, connecting central and northern Mexico with the southeast, and

connecting the southeast and all of Mexico to Central America is a high

priority," Mexican President Vicente Fox said at the opening of the meeting.

Shortly after taking office in 2000, Fox proposed the so-called Plan

Puebla-Panama project, aimed at integrating the region financially and

attracting jobs and industry, especially to financially depressed areas like

southern Mexico and rural Central America.

In addition to Fox, the leaders of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,

Honduras and Panama were taking part in the meeting. The six presidents were

holding private discussions and planned a news conference for later Friday.

Salvadoran President Tony Saca, who discussed regional integration with U.S.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier Friday in San Salvador, said the

Plan Puebla-Panama will improve the futures of the region's 60 million

residents.

"We are proud to be successfully carrying out the process of integrating our

region," he said.

Saca said free trade agreements are the best way to bring jobs to the region

and stop the thousands of Central American and Mexican residents who cross

illegally into the United States each year looking for work.

The leaders were also discussing ways to promote a Central American candidate

to replace former Costa Rican President Miguel Rodriguez as president of the

Organization of American States.

Rodriguez resigned as OAS president last month and has been jailed in Costa

Rica on suspicion of receiving kickbacks from a government contract granted

to a French company while he served as Costa Rica's president from 1998-2002.

Possible replacement candidates include former Salvadoran President Francisco

Flores.

The countries that make up the Plan Puebla-Panama are: Mexico, Nicaragua,

Panama, Belice, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador. Colombia was

recently accepted as an observing member.


*The "Grandma Gang" Gets Jail
The four grandmothers who were arrested Thursday for operating a "drug store"

- selling crack cocaine from their home, in Cañada II de San Sebastián, were

ordered to three months of preventive detention.

María de los Ángeles Fonseca Fonseca, 83, Margot Navarro Araya, 75, Gladis

Ledesma Fonseca, 59 and María Antonieta Solano Madrigal, 52, were arrested

following an anonymous complaint that the "grandmas" were distributing

"piedras" in the nieghbourhood.


*Airport Operator Loses Arbitration Suit

An arbitration court rejected a lawsuit against the government filed by the

operator of Juan Santamaria International Airport seeking an indemnification

from the state for approximately $79 million, official sources said Saturday.

The court declared “without place on all accounts” the lawsuit presented in

July by the consortium Alterra Partners, which has a 20-year contract with

the government for the operation and renovation of the airport. According to

the court's resolution, Alterra's claim is not arbitration material.

Alterra, whose major partner is U.S. construction-giant Bechtel, objects to a

resolution made by the office of Costa Rica 's Comptroller General that

ordered a correction of the tariffs charged at the international airport.

The comptroller's office found “excesses and errors” in the tariffs charged,

and requested a modification in tariffs, for which the company requested the

reparation.

Alterra assumed operation of the airport in 2002. Under its contract, the

business will share profits with the state and complete a $120 million

renovation and modernization of the airport's facilities.

The renovation efforts have been stalled for more than a year and half

because of disputes between Alterra and the government over accusations of

contract incompliance coming from both parties.


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