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*Euro Exchange Rate Varies Up to 10¢

Europeans visiting Costa Rica are finding a great difference in the exchange

rate of Euros between banks.

A survey of several banks found a difference more than ¢10 colones. One bank

quoted ¢615 (us$1.33), while another quoted ¢625 (us$1.35) for one Euro. And

the banks were only one block apart.

An explanation given for the difference is that it all depends on which

reference points the banks use: the exchange in New York or the exchange in

Frankfurt, Germany. The other factor involved in the exchange rate difference

is if a commission is charged by the bank. Some banks charge a commission,

while some others don't.

Typically the exchange rate for US Dollars doesn't vary much from bank to

bank, state or private. However, when it comes to other currencies, like the

Euro or the Canadian Dollar, shopping around can make all the difference.

For example, most banks will not accept the Canadian Dollar for exchange. The

only bank that will openly exchange that currency is Scotiabank which is

associated with the Bank of Nova Scotia in Canada. The Banco Nacional posts

exchange rates for Euros and the US Dollar but not for other currencies,

while the Banco de Costa Rica will exchange Euros, but it becomes

complicated, while the branch calls to obtain an exchange rate from the

central offices.

One financial operation, Financiera Londres, located in downtown San José

accepts all types of currencies for exchange. In addition to the Euro and

Canadian Dollar, Londres will accept the Yen, the Pound and many other

currencies.

The Banco Central de Costa Rica sets the exchange rate for the Euro however

it doesn't post it on it's website like it does the rate for the US Dollar to

the Colon. For the rate on the Euro you need to either visit the Central Bank

or call at 243-4460 between the hours of 8:45am and 3.:30pm or by email at

centroinf@bccr.fi.cr.


*Devaluation Reached 9.5 percent

The rate of exchange closed 2004 at 459.64 colones per U.S. dollar, 40.5

colones more than at the end of 2003, therefore resulting in a 9.5 percent

devaluation as an average.

According to the Central Bank of Costa Rica, which devalues the Colon under a

controlled devaluation program, this was the figure foreseen in its monetary

program.


*President would resign immunity

If congressmen were to ask him, President Abel Pacheco would resign to his

immunity in order to allow an investigation related to allegedly irregular

donations to his political campaign. However, he pointed out that such a

decision must be preceded by a logical process, in order to properly operate

in a democracy. He said that it would not work if just anybody asked him to

resign to his immunity; that the request must come from such an authority as

the Legislative Assembly. Also, the President insisted on his innocence in

this case, which was brought back by the Prosecutor's Office in December,

when the intention to re-open the probe on the case was announced.


*Number of parties grows

According to surveys, a majority of registered voters want a new party in

power and it seems their wish will be granted, considering the vast array of

political parties when they cast their ballots on Sunday, February 5, 2006.

According to the Supreme Election Tribunal, 13 parties are already fully

registered at the national level, while 13 others are following the proper

procedures to join the former. Between 1953 and 1970, the number of parties

was 2 to 5; it increased to 6 to eight from 1974 to 1994, and jumped to 13

from 1998 to 2002.


*Growth and inequality

Latin America looks forward to strong economic growth this year, but it must

apply strong reforms if it is to keep growing in the long term and to fight

the high inequality existing among its population. This region is

characterized by the concentration of wealth among a few, therefore boosting

poverty. These are the major conclusions of several surveys by the Economic

Commission for Latin America, which show that production increased in the

region 5.5 percent as an average, the largest expansion in 24 years. However,

44.2 percent of the 225 million Latin Americans live in poverty, while wealth

concentrates in 10 percent of the households with the highest income. Central

America lags behind, since it grew only 3.6 percent as an average and the

figure is expected to fall even further, to 3.4 percent, this year.


*Agricultural exports

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 2004 was a good year for the

exports of the sector, which amounted to $2.1 billion. Bananas lead with $500

million worth of sales abroad, followed by pineapples, some $238 million, and

coffee fell to a third place among the agricultural dollar-earners, with

close to $214 million. Plants and flowers netted $162 million.


*Vendors evicted from the streets

The Municipality of San Jose demolished the stalls of 466 street vendors who

were evicted from the sidewalks of the capital city of Costa Rica. Complaints

from legal businesses from the areas where the vendors operated, as well as

from citizens who claimed that their security was compromised by the

obstacles that the stalls represented, were among the main reasons for the

city government to decide on the eviction. Now the Municipality is looking

for places -not on the sidewalks or the streets- to relocate the vendors.

Mayor Johnny Araya asserted that it is their duty to ascertain that citizens

can move freely through the city, and that they will act against any vendors

who try to go back to the streets.


*PAC Deputies to Take Exam

With the political problems that politicians are facing, one party, the

Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), headed by former presidential candidate, Otón

Solís, is asking any person who seeks the nomination for Legislative Deputy

with it's party to take an examination after a training session.

The PAC is asking any one who aspires for a deputy seat under their flag to

let them know months in advance so that they can attend classes and pass the

exam.



*Brazilians wish to adopt orphans from Asian tsunami

Many Brazilian couples have applied to the Sri Lankan embassy for adopting

children who lost their parents in the tsunami that hit Asia last month, a

Sri Lankan diplomat said here Thursday.

Sohaku Bastos, Sri Lankan consul in Rio de Janeiro, told reporters that most

requests are from this city, and these applicants have already donated goods

or money to tsunami victims.

He said that thousands of Sri Lankan orphans are housed in governmental

facilities, while the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

is making a provisional registry of their identities.

Five hundred tons of aid materials donated by Brazilians are ready to be

shipped to Sri Lanka, Bastos said.

The consul warned that the terrible situation of the one million homeless

people in his country could worsen in the coming monsoon season, which is

characterized with strong winds and torrential rains.


*800 Colombian paramilitaries to be demobilized in January

Eight hundred paramilitaries of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia

(AUC) will lay down their arms on January 14-18 in Colombia's northwest

province of Cordoba.

Legal adviser of the AUC, Carlos Lucio, told local radio station Caracol on

Thursday that the paramilitaries to be demobilized belong to the North Bloc

of the AUC and will be demobilized in Santa Fe de Ralito, in Cordoba.

The government of President Alvaro Uribe has reached an agreement with AUC

leaders to dismantle the far-right paramilitary organization by December this

year at the latest.

About 2,000 men of the AUC's Catatumbo, Calima, Cundinamarca, Bananero, Sur

del Magdalena and Isla de San Fernando blocs have handed over their arms over

the past three weeks.

Under an agreement between the government and the AUC, at least3,000

paramilitaries had to lay down their arms by the end of 2004.

The 20,000-strong AUC originates from vigilante groups set up by cattle

ranchers and drug traffickers to combat left-wing guerrillas.

Colombia has been locked in a four-decade civil war, the longest in Latin

America, in which government forces, leftist guerrillas and far-right

paramilitaries fight one another. The conflicts kill more than 3,000 people a

year.



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