JANUARY 08, 2007

HOME Victory: Surfer Diego Naranjo, from the central Pacific beach of Jacó, yesterday triumphed over the waves and other competitors at the National Surf Circuit's Mango Cup competition to win the Open division.

CAN I Have Your Autograph?: A crowd of young fans approached Brazilian Fernando Romboli, 17, Saturday after he defeated Holland's Tomas Schoorel to become the first player from his country ever to win the Men's Singles division at the Copa del Café (Coffee Cup). The tennis tournament was held last week at the Costa Rican Country Club in Escazú, west of San José; Russia's Anastasia Pivovarova, 17, defeated Julia Cohen, from the United States, to win the Women's Singles division.

A thief allegedly made away with a sacramental relic from the Los Angeles Basilica in Cartago, east of San José, Saturday, according to Public Security Ministry spokesman Guillermo Solano.

Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles announced Friday that the Costa Rican government plans to sue the chemical company Químicos Holanda for damage caused by a massive chemical fire at the company's chemical storage facility in the Caribbean port city of Moín on Dec. 13, 2006, according to the daily Al Día.

The textile company WR Alajuela S.A., owned by VF Corporación, announced last week that it is closing down its plant in the northwestern San José district of La Uruca, citing an insufficient demand for the pants it produces. About 400 employees will lose their jobs.

Sacramental Relic Stolen From Los Angeles Basilica

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

A thief allegedly made away with a sacramental relic from the Los Angeles Basilica in Cartago, east of San José, Saturday, according to Public Security Ministry spokesman Guillermo Solano.

The crime occurred at about 9:05 a.m. while a funeral was going on at the church. Two women said they saw a man enter and stash the relic, called the hostia consagrada, along with its metal container, underneath his clothes and slip out of the church, Solano said.

No suspects have been apprehended, and the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) are investigating the case.

Priest Juan Carlos Delgado told the wire service ACAN-EFE that church officials plan to reinforce security at the famous basilica, to which thousands make a pilgrimage each year to pay tribute to the country's patron saint, Nuestra Señora de los Angeles.

While the pieces stolen are not worth much money, “they have great spiritual and religious value,” Delgado said, calling the theft a “sacrilegious act.”

Government Plans to Sue
Chemical Company For Moín Fire

Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles announced Friday that the Costa Rican government plans to sue the chemical company Químicos Holanda for damage caused by a massive chemical fire at the company's chemical storage facility in the Caribbean port city of Moín on Dec. 13, 2006, according to the daily Al Día.

The fire, which erupted at the facility where solvents and caustic soda were stored, left two dead and 20,000 people temporarily without water (TT, Dec. 15, 2006).

Dobles told Al Día the government will sue Químicos Holanda for environmental damage and for the at least ¢250 million ($485,436) the state has spent so far to deal with the emergency.

Experts from the University of Costa Rica and Universidad Nacional are carrying out studies to evaluate the impact on water, soil and the atmosphere caused by the explosion, which produced stories-high flames that burned for 11 hours.

Their findings will be used to “take appropriate actions” against the company, Dobles said.

Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias last week reported that water had been restored to all but 2,000 residents of the Caribbean province of Limón and that surface waters and ecosystems near the site of the accident were “returning to normal” (TT, Jan. 5).

-Tico Times

Textile Plant Closures Worry Foreign Trade Ministry

The textile company WR Alajuela S.A., owned by VF Corporación, announced last week that it is closing down its plant in the northwestern San José district of La Uruca, citing an insufficient demand for the pants it produces. About 400 employees will lose their jobs.

VF Corporación shut down another textile plant in Coronado, northeast of San José, in December 2006, leaving 350 people jobless. These closures have the Foreign Trade Ministry worried, according to a statement released by the ministry Friday.

The effects of these plants closing should be analyzed carefully since they hurt prime materials providers, transport companies and state-run providers of services like water, telephones and electricity, the statement said.

“This is an alert signal for the country because of the impact the loss of formal jobs has on families,” said Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz, according to the statement.

The Minister also urged legislators to ratify the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), saying their failure to do so is causing “uncertainty” among textile companies and could lead more of them to pull out of Costa Rica, the only signatory country that has not ratified the agreement, the statement said.

-Tico Times

International Monetary
Reserves Reached $3.1 Billion in 2006

Costa Rica ended 2006 with a record $3.1 billion in international monetary reserves, 34% more than the $2.3 billion recorded in 2005, according to statistics published yesterday on the Central Bank's Web site.

Central Bank economic director Jorge Madrigal told the weekly El Financiero these figures are indicative of the country's economic stability. Added to the dollar reserves held by commercial banks, Costa Rica's reserves reached $3.8 billion, $966 million more than in 2005, showing that banks have gained a more solid standing, he added.

An increase in foreign direct investment to $1.4 billion last year, as well as income from tourism and a new exchange-rate system based on fluctuating mini-devaluations have helped build up international monetary reserves, Madrigal said.

If you want to know what it feels like to be small, take a dive in Costa Rica's Pacific Ocean. Really, the Pacific is where the wild things are. Big wild things such as sharks and rays and other fish that weigh more than you do. While Costa Rica is perhaps most famous for its biodiversity, the big-school-and- predator productivity of the Pacific is just as impressive.

True, there are not as many species in Costa Rica's Pacific as in other places in the world, but the sheer numbers of some groups of the same species are just as awe-inspiring. Fish schools that number in the thousands seem to support a few predators of very large proportions. But schools, or shoals, of fish that number in the millions support many large predators. And many large predators, from plankton eaters to meat eaters, swim with divers in Costa Rica's Pacific waters. Rays provide some classic examples.

Size Matters on the Pacific: a diver keeps a safe distance from a stingray.

Photos by Shawn Larkin | Tico Times

Manta rays feed in the open water on tiny animals known as plankton that drift with the currents. The giant manta grows to be among the largest of Costa Rica's fish – just one would probably fill any room in your house.

Mantas in Costa Rica school in enormous numbers. The flapping groups can seem to be the size of a small island. When they school in groups, they also leap from the water in what could be a sort of mating dance. Often, several at a time will fly like popcorn from the water, flapping like huge bats, before splashing back down into the water. Maybe, with a few million years of evolution, they will learn to fly!

On the sandy bottoms of the Pacific coast, large numbers of stingrays gather at certain times of the year. Stingrays do not swim through the open water like manta rays, but rather hunt along the bottom for fresh fish, eel and crab. Divers need to take care not to swim too close over them, as they can live up to their name. Their famous stingers can be longer than your hand and covered with slimy, nasty bacteria. To avoid the stingray's scorpion-like tail-sting response, shuffle your feet at the beach. If you avoid getting over them, they are unlikely to cause problems. Sometimes the sand can seem covered with these strange beasts.

Orcas make regular stops along the Pacific coast to feed on big prey such as stingrays and manta rays.

Photos by Shawn Larkin | Tico Times

Rays, in turn, are preyed upon by even bigger predators such as hammerhead sharks and orcas. Both stingrays and manta rays appear to be favorites with these large, toothy hunters. Ray congregations may even be the main reason orcas make regulars stops along Costa Rica's Pacific coast.

Pacific diving has been excellent recently by all reports. Sadly for divers, Caribbean diving has all but shut down during the past two months of big surf. With El Niño in effect, the Caribbean will probably remain a surfing paradise until March or April.

For info on diving or to contribute to this report, call 835-6041, e- mail shawn@costacetacea.com or visit www.costacetacea.com.