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CAFTA Opponents Hold Independence Day Protests
Hundreds of opponents of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) saw Friday's Independence Day holiday as a prime occasion to protest the agreement.
Protestors, including students and union leaders, marched peacefully behind the Independence Day parades in San José and gathered in the Plaza de la Democracia to speak against the agreement and President Oscar Arias, who supports it.
Protestors organized various cultural activities, including a concert with local musicians, to express their fear that the agreement would threaten the country's individuality. Many also expressed concern that CAFTA could harm Costa Rica's environment.
Jesús Vásquez, president of the High-School Teachers' Association (APSE), said that on the anniversary of Costa Rica's independence from Spain, all Costa Ricans should be aware that their country is “on a very dangerous track.”
“Today, surrounded by our national culture, we wanted to sound an alarm so that people will realize the dangers that come with this agreement and the polarization we are living through in Costa Rica,” Vásquez said.
Costa Rica is the only signatory country that has not ratified the agreement, which is being considered by a Legislative Assembly commission.
Meanwhile, President Oscar Arias addressed the nation Friday. His speech not only lauded the country's achievements but also pointed out the hard work required for Costa Rica to get ahead, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.
Costa Rica “is still not totally free because it remains wrapped up in old beliefs of former policies that, though they were effective at the time, have stopped serving the best interests of the country,” Arias said.
Costa Rica “has not gathered the force necessary to separate from the past those traditions and values worth conserving from those that have become heavy chains for the advancement of our society.”
Creating security among citizens, investing in education and implementing fiscal reforms are steps Arias said are necessary for the country to advance.
-ACAN-EFE and Tico Times
Coffee Harvest Grows, Exports Decrease
Costa Rica's coffee harvest for the 2006-2007 season is expected to be 2% larger than the previous season's harvest; however, exports of coffee during the first seven months of this year have fallen 3%, according to the National Coffee Institute (ICAFE).
Last year's harvest produced approximately 2.3 million 46-kilogram sacks of coffee, and this year's harvest is expected to see about 60,000 sacks more.
However, during the first seven months of this year, coffee exports reached $185 million, a 3% decrease over the $190 million exported in 2005, according to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER).
Coffee is Costa Rica's third strongest agricultural product, behind banana and pineapple.
Last year coffee exports reached $230 million, a 15.5% increase over the $199 million sold in 2004.
-ACAN-EFE
Estonian Former Prime Minister Visits Costa Rica
Former Prime Minister of Estonia Mart Laar is visiting Costa Rica this week to meet with police authorities and business leaders, according to a statement from the Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).
Laar, who this year won the Milton Friedman Award for advances in freedom, was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992-1994 and 1999-2002. He is scheduled to arrive today and leave tomorrow.
He will lead a conference called “Visionary Leadership: Transforming a Small Country into a Dynamic Economy.”
“Mart Laar began his second term as Prime Minister of Estonia in 1999 in the middle of a financial crisis,” the statement said. “He implemented policies that opened monopolies, reduced taxes for businesses and urged the expansion of international commerce, allowing the economy to grow 7% per year.”
Through these reforms, Estonia achieved a better growth in per-capita income than all the former Soviet Union states.
-ACAN-EFE
Costa Rican Surfers Headed to Huntington Beach, California
The top surfers from Costa Rica have been selected to compete at the World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach, California, Oct. 14-22, according to a statement from the Costa Rican Surf Federation.
The competition is considered the Olympics of surfing, drawing the best surfers from all over the world to vie for team and individual gold, silver, bronze and copper medals.
The Costa Rican team will take to the waves against 28 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The games are hosted by Surfing America, the national governing body for the sport of surfing in the United States, the statement said.
Tico surfers headed to Huntington Beach include Gilbert Brown, Nino Myrie, Luis Vindas and Diejo Naranjo, who will compete in the Open division, while women to take to the waves include Lisbeth Vindas, Nataly Bernold, and substitute Lupe Galluccio.
Bodyboarders Ivan Castrillo and Walter Gatgens will also be part of the Tico team.
Costa Rican Surf Federation president Andres Pilurzú said the trip to Huntington Beach represents great advancement for the Costa Rican National Surf Team.
“This is a group of athletes who have recently risen many levels,” Pilurzú said.
-Tico Times
Pleasingly Plump Paula
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Paula Kowalski and I go back like forever. Successively we have been classmates, sweethearts, lovers, married and divorced, but now we are just very good friends, and I am content with that. I love the girl dearly, but the trouble is I just can't stand her for more than three months at a time. In my cups I have raised my hand to her; in my need I have cheated on her and then lied about it, but she has always forgiven me, like a mother forgives her child no matter what the offense. In fact, my shrink claims she is my surrogate for the mother I never knew, and our stormy partings the inevitable result of the shame I feel at my incestuous behavior.
Whatever. But the truth is that there is something about her larger than life, and certainly I am far from the only one to fall under her spell. For instance, I was writing for Metro, and just for kicks I took her along to a story conference. For hours we sat around the table tearing the script to pieces and reassembling it more to our liking until Ross Herschell, the director, said, “Okay men, I think we have a winner. Shall we give it a push?”
Everyone nodded agreement except Paula, who, after remaining silent all day, now said very loudly, “It's a flop!”
Since as a sit-in she hadn't even been included in the question, Herschell simply ignored her and initiated the long and outrageously expensive process of making the film. Which turned out to be a resounding flop.
The Hollywood rule is “three flops and you're out,” so Herschell, to protect all his bases, hired her for his next conference. Once again Paula remained silent until, even before the final question, she said, “It's a winner!” And a winner it was, netting Metro more than 3 million smackers.
After that, Herschell had her vet every story, even before conference, and refused to touch anything she turned down. As a result, he had an unbroken string of successes until he got canned for political reasons. But Paula didn't miss a beat, and promptly became the darling of every director who could get his hands on her.
She had always been on the chubby side, and I believe it was Oliver Stone who dubbed her “Pleasingly Plump Paula.” Between that and a troublesome renal problem, she soon became affectionately known throughout the industry as “PP.” Then, after a cancer scare, she gave up smoking and compensated by overeating. Inevitably, she put on a lot of weight, and that was when her luck, or perhaps I should say her talent, ran out. She miscalled three flops, and the iron rule was now applied to her. She had been largely responsible for propelling a minor studio into the big time, but bankers don't deal in sentiment, and she was out on her ear.
Which was fine by me, as I got her all to myself until our next fight. But that is another story altogether.
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