JANUARY 15, 2007

A FRIENDLY Match: Reynaldo Parks (left) from the Costa Rican soccer team Saprissa fights to regain the ball from Veracruz's Sebastian González during a friendly game played yesterday at Luis Pirata Fuentes stadium in Veracruz, Mexico.

ENCOUNTERS with Iran : Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited newly sworn-in Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega yesterday in Managua as part of his tour of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador. The two leaders visited an Islamic center in Managua's Barrio Cuba Libre, cemented plans to open up diplomatic relations between their two countries and discussed collaborating on economic, industrial, and energy matters, according to the wire service

Police this weekend arrested two Peruvians alleged with trafficking people to Canada via Costa Rica, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

Traffic police confiscated the cars of 33 drivers during the first three days of annual festivities in the town of Palmares, northwest of San José, according to the daily La Nación.

The Costa Rican Consulate in Managua Saturday began operating with extended hours in an effort to keep up with the increasing number of Nicaraguans requesting visas to Costa Rica, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

In honor of the U.S. holiday to commemorate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the U.S. Embassy and Consulate will be closed today and will reopen tomorrow with their normal office hours, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., according to a statement from the embassy.

Peruvians Arrested Suspected of Human Trafficking

Police this weekend arrested two Peruvians alleged with trafficking people to Canada via Costa Rica, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

National Police, together with Intern ational Police (INTERPOL), had been searching for a Peruvian identified by the last name Del Risco, suspected to be part of an alleged human-trafficking ring.

Their investigations led them to another Peruvian, identified by the last name Moreno, “suspected of acting as a coyote in Costa Rica,” who was arrested Friday at Juan Santamaría Intern ational Airport, northwest of San José, the statement said.

Moreno had allegedly arrived to the airport with three Peruvians who planned to travel with false Guatemalan passports. Authorities discovered they had stayed a few hours in a hotel in San José, where they received the falsified passports to make their journey, according to the daily La Nación.

On Saturday, Del Risco was arrested in San José after National Police were alerted by INTERPOL that he was attempting to leave Costa Rica.

Immigration Director Mario Zamora told La Nación that Del Risco and Moreno were allegedly paid between $5,000 and $10,000 per person they helped enter Canada.

“This reveals the threatening presence of more groups of traffickers in the country,” Zamora said.

-Tico Times

Drunk Driving Puts a Damper on Palmares Festivities

Traffic police confiscated the cars of 33 drivers during the first three days of annual festivities in the town of Palmares, northwest of San José, according to the daily La Nación.

Among them were a man whose blood alcohol content registered 2.35 milligrams of alcohol per liter of blood, five times the maximum legal limit to drive, and a young woman who was so drunk and disoriented that upon leaving Palmares, she headed toward the neighboring town of San Ramón rather than toward her house in Curridabat, east of San José, the daily reported.

These two drivers, as well as others who had their cars confiscated, were asked to make their way home in a taxi or get a ride with a sober friend. To regain their vehicles, they must pay a ¢26,000 ($50) fine, obtain a certificate proving they have no outstanding fines from the Roadway Safety Council (CONSEVI) and appear before a judge.

Although 33 may sound like an alarming number of drunk drivers caught in a few days, Traffic Police Director German Marín told La Nación this figure is down from years past, when up to 60 cars have been taken away from drunk drivers during one night of the Palmares festival.

Marín attributed this decrease to many festival-goers heeding advice and assigning a sober driver or taking a rented minibus to Palmares.

In addition to the 33 cars confiscated Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 590 drivers got traffic tickets and numerous drivers got their license plates taken away for lacking up-to-date circulation permits, or marchamos.

Traffic Police plan to continue their strict operative to crack down on drunk driving during Palmares, which runs through Jan. 22, Marín said.

Officers are stationed at strategic points from Juan Santamaría Intern ational Airport in Alajuela, northwest of San José, heading northwest to the town of San Ramón.

-Tico Times

Costa Rican Consulate in Managua
Extends Hours to Meet Demand

The Costa Rican Consulate in Managua Saturday began operating with extended hours in an effort to keep up with the increasing number of Nicaraguans requesting visas to Costa Rica, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The consulate is now open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Additionally, a new official has been hired to help Víctor Láscarez, the Costa Rican Consul in Managua. Mario Charpantier, who has worked in the Costa Rican consulates in Panama and Poland, is moving to Managua in the next few days to help with “methodology and visa procedures,” the statement said.

The consulate has become flooded with visa requests, in addition to increased activity it traditionally sees in December and January, when thousands of Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica travel home for the Christmas holidays and back to Costa Rica.

On average, 2,500 people come to the Managua consulate with various immigration requests every day. During the past few weeks, the consulate has extended its regular hours, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., to as late as midnight to meet this demand, the statement said.

According to Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno, opening the consulate on Saturdays is an attempt to improve its services and better attend the public.

The Managua consulate moved to a new location in June 2006. It also acquired new personnel, computers and furniture. It is located in Managua, 100 meters east and 250 meters north of the U.S. Embassy.

-Tico Times

Brazilian Delegation Visits,
Discusses Trade, Investment

A group of representatives from the Brazilian-Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce (CCBCR) visited Costa Rica last week to explore the possibility of investing here and increasing trade, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The group was made up of the chamber's president, David Cruz, and two vice-presidents, Vanda Miranda and Samir Assad. During their six-day visit, they met with representatives from organizations including the Chamber of Exporters (CADEXCO), National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR), National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) and Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER), the statement said.

With representatives from these organizations, they discussed the possibility of sharing Brazilian ethanol-production technology with Costa Rica as well as collaborating on biofuels and tourism. Additionally, they planned for a Brazilian commercial mission to travel here during the next few months to promote their country's exports.

The chamber was created July 6, 2006, during a meeting in Sao Paulo. Its object is to “promote the advantages and opportunities Costa Rica offers the Brazilian investor and business owner.”

“I’ve been cooking gourmet meals for the whole household, but, you know, I think they would just as soon eat gallo pinto. I’m not going to do it anymore.”

The person speaking was a Canadian married to a Tica friend of mine. My friend and my husband had left us alone to speak English while they visited in Spanish.

“At least they’ve been eating it,” I replied. “My husband won’t even touch my lasagna, a dish for which I’m famous among my friends and relatives in the States.”

All right… those of us who live here all know that when we get together, we tend to complain about either the Ticos or their beautiful country. I sometimes imagine that when they get together, they tend to complain about us, as well. It’s normal, and despite the fact that I have been witness to a few virulent and unjustified attacks, in most cases it’s harmless, even affectionate.

Food, of course, is a prime target. Not only is it something that is extremely important to us, it is a source of numerous and compelling cultural differences, especially in what we eat, how often we eat it and how we prepare it.

Always Together: Rice and beans form the staple of the casado, a traditional plate of the day, accompanied here by cabbage salad, fish, mashed potatoes and plátano maduro.

Tammy Zibners | Tico Times

A Gringo once asked me if I knew what the national dish of Costa Rica was. When I answered, “No,” he replied, “Leftovers” (referring, of course to gallo pinto). It’s just another tacky Tico-bashing joke, but it reveals a good deal about our attitudes. We all need to practice a little more tolerance. The Italians have a constructive saying: “Tutti i gusti son gusti” (“All tastes are tastes”). This means that the fact that I would much rather eat a crunchy stir-fry than gallo pinto doesn’t mean that I have better taste, just that I have different taste.

My husband, bless his soul, always claims that the crunchy stir-fry hasn’t finished cooking.

Food variety is another issue. I had a highly stressed friend in the United States whose husband demanded that each week she prepare exact menus for the household, with no repetitions. I wasn’t married to a tyrant like that, but I do remember always worrying about what to have for dinner that wasn’t the same as the night before. Those days are over! All I need to do anymore is make sure there is a sufficient supply of rice, beans, salad and plátano maduro.

And here’s the point. We need to understand that most Costa Ricans eat basically the same thing every day. As a result, their perception of food is different from ours. If theirs seems odd to us, ours seems odd to them. To them, it must seem rather like suggesting that we change houses every day. Why go to all that trouble?

Sometimes, my husband’s sons visit and bring boxes of pizza. Because we live in the mountains and don’t go out, I gorge. Then, as far as I am concerned, I have eaten. After they leave, my husband generally complains that he hasn’t eaten any “comida” (food). What he means, of course, is that he hasn’t had his ration of rice and beans. Until he does, he has had only snacks.

And he won’t hear of risotto a la milanesa or rice croquettes. Yes, even the preparation of the rice always has to be the same. This drives me crazy, but, let’s face it, there are worse things.

The rice-and-beans meal in a restaurant is called a casado (“married”) – because they are always together. The Costa Rican diet is based on this couple. Rice and beans are almost always present and usually form the bulk of the meal. They are often accompanied by some form of cooked ripe plantain (plátano maduro) and a salad, usually cabbage. Picadillo (chopped, sautéed vegetables or potato), eggs, a small piece of meat, chicken, fish or a regional dish may also be present.

In the Caribbean province of Limón, the rice and beans often take the scrumptious form of what the limonenses call, of all things, “rice and beans.” Here, the beans are cooked in what is called leche de coco, which is not coconut milk as we know it, but rather the liquid from strained coconut pulp.

Once in a while, there are exceptions. A popular alternate dish is olla de carne (“pot of meat”). This is a kind of meat soup, usually consisting of rib meat, potatoes, corn on the cob and especially large chunks of vegetables unfamiliar to us: plátano verde (green plantains), yuca (cassava), chayote (mirliton squash), ñampí (taro root) and tiquisque (blue taro). It is served in a bowl with rice on the side.

The fact is that, if it weren’t for the trans-fats – the manteca (in Costa Rica, this is solidified palm oil), the margarine and the highly processed oils – the Costa Rican diet would be much healthier than that of most Gringos. The combination of rice and beans forms a perfectly acceptable protein, free of the hormones and antibiotics found in meat. Add the perpetual cabbage salad and the potassium-rich plantain, and no está mal. Unfortunately, the lack of information here about the nature of fats sabotages the entire deal.

It’s also true that, when Ticos are not eating at home, they are probably out eating fried chicken, greasy hamburgers or French fries.

Too bad.

And just who, I might ask, is responsible for that?