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Police Watch Over Pilgrimage to La Negrita
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Thousands of devout Catholic Costa Ricans have embarked on an annual pilgrimage to visit the country's patron saint, Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles, commonly known as La Negrita, in the old colonial capital of Cartago, east of San José.
As tradition goes, the pious are walking along the main highway leading to Cartago, and police officers on foot, horse, motorcycle and bicycle are patrolling the route, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry. Police will also oversee walkers entering the basilica Wednesday.
Additionally, mobile units of lawyers, doctors, paramedics and Red Cross officials are available to help in the event of a problem, the statement said.
So far, one fatal accident along the route has occurred, according to Red Cross spokesman Carlos Bolaños. A young man identified by the last name Rodríguez, 26, was hit by a car and killed yesterday in Curridabat, east of San José, Bolaños said. A man identified by the last name Campos, 53, was also hit and injured.
“Traditionally, accidents that occur along the walk are caused by the number of people in the streets and people driving too fast,” Bolaños said. “We advise walkers to maintain a safe distance from the shoulder of the road.”
The main highway to Cartago will be closed today and will remain closed until Wednesday, Day of Our Lady of the Angels, Bolaños said.
Police have advised walkers not to carry objects of value with them, to stay in groups and not to stray from common routes, said Public Security Ministry spokesman Humberto Balestino.
Walkers can count on their cell phones to work during their journey, according to a statement from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the government-run telecommunications monopoly.
ICE reinforced cell phone service provider equipment in the Cartago area so that cell phone users will be able to stay connected during their journey.
The idea is to allow Costa Ricans to “maintain their faith through this tradition with the greatest security and calmness -- not just for pilgrims, but also for their families and friends,” the statement said.
Orosi Under Alert For Potential Landslides
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) has declared a green, preventive alert for the Orosi Valley, in the Cartago province, east of San José, because of recent heavy rains that could cause landslides, said commission spokesman Diego Barrantes.
The alert was declared Sunday and will last as long as the commission perceives landslides could occur, Barrantes said.
Heavy rains Saturday caused houses near the valley's Granados ravine to flood as steep land began to crumble, according to the daily La Nación.
CNE workers are inspecting the area to predict and prevent landslides, Barrantes said.
-Tico Times
Athletes Bring Home Five Gold Medals From
Central American and Caribbean Games
The Costa Rican La Selección Sub-21 soccer team, made up of the best players under age 21, defeated Honduras 1-0 Saturday to win a bronze medal in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia, which began July 15 and ended Sunday, according to the official Web site of the games.
Costa Rica's Kenny Cunningham scored the winning goal in the game, placing his country in third place behind the Venezuelan team, which won a silver medal, and the Colombian team, which triumphed with a gold medal on its home soil.
The Sub-21 soccer team's bronze medal qualifies it for the Pan-American Games, to be held in June 2007 in Río de Janeiro, Brazil. This competition is the next step toward qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Pekín, China, reported the daily La Nación.
The soccer team's bronze medal marked the fifth won by Costa Rican athletes at the games -- swimmer Claudia Poll won two gold medals in the 200-meter and 400-meter-freestyle competitions and a silver medal in the 100-meter-freestyle competition, and Kristopher Moitland won a bronze medal in the tae kwon do competition.
-Tico Times
Central American Ombudsmen
Discuss Murders of Women in Region
Ombudswoman Lisbeth Quesada is among Central American ombudsmen who are meeting in Guatemala City for the third annual meeting of the region's ombudsmen, during which they plan to analyze increasing numbers of murders of women in the region.
Guatemalan ombudsman Sergio Morales told journalists that “one of the main subjects we will discuss during this meeting is the violent death of women, a phenomenon that affects all Central American countries.”
“We will define a methodology for an investigation to be carried out in each country in the region to determine the causes of this increase in murders of women,” Morales said.
In Nicaragua, it is reported that one woman is killed every day, while in Guatemala an average of 560 women are murdered every year, Morales said.
Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are the countries registering the greatest number of violent acts against women, he added.
The meeting began yesterday and will run through Friday. Ombudsmen Paul Rodríguez, from Belize; Beatrice Alamani, from El Salvador; Ramón Custodio, from Honduras; Omar Cabezas, from Nicaragua and Mónica Pérez, from Panama, are participating alongside Quesada.
The ombudsmen also plan to discuss issues related to immigration, the impact of free-trade agreements on the region, patient care in public hospitals and youth gangs, among other issues.
-ACAN-EFE
‘Superman Returns’ Sinks Faster than a Speeding Bullet
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Finally, the last son of Krypton is back to fight for justice – Superman flies again. Directed by Bryan Singer, “Superman Returns” is based on a vague history established in “Superman” (1978) and “Superman II” (1980), starring the late Christopher Reeve.
After several years away from Earth, Superman returns to a world that apparently doesn’t need his help anymore; even his beloved Lois Lane has moved on to a new relationship and has a son. Only his nemesis Lex Luthor – played in a big way by Kevin Spacey – recently released from prison, refuses to forget his hated enemy. Now Superman must adjust to this new reality and stop an evil plan that could destroy Earth – sound familiar?
It took Hollywood a long time to bring this mega project to fruition; rumors about the actors and scripts circulated throughout the Internet and on entertainment news sources until Warner Bros. Studios finally put together a remarkable group of people to bring back the man of steel.
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New Man of Steel: Unknown Brandon Routh dons the red cape in “Superman Returns.” |
The performances are fine, but not great. The unknown Brandon Routh, who quit his job as a waiter to don the blue uniform and red cape, won’t disappoint fans as an acceptable Superman. Kate Bosworth, on the other hand, is never believable as the workaholic journalist Lois Lane. However, Oscar winner Kevin Spacey definitively transmits the essence of the fiendish Lex Luthor – if it were true that a movie is as good as its villain, this one would have been a smash. And the late Marlon Brando returns from the grave as Jor-EL, Superman’s father, thanks to archive footage and computer technology to recreate Brando’s voice.
Though Singer has experience directing successful big-screen comic-book adaptations, such as “X-Men,” it would seem that the setting of Metropolis did little to inspire his creativity, because he never achieves the magic that captivated audiences in the 1980s films starring the late Christopher Reeve. With a weak plot lacking any originality, the movie offers nothing new, neither in the story nor in the action scenes. The last minutes of the film look like a cheap soap opera and seem an unfortunate way to close a movie that promised to be an epic film – a promise that ended up broken.
However, as long as Hollywood needs something to rescue the box office, it’s likely we will continue to see sequels of this profitable franchise. Let’s hope they find different and new ideas with which to deliver them to us.
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