FEBRUARY 21, 2007

ULTRA Light: Representatives of the company Ultra Light S.A. yesterday showed President Oscar Arias and Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides the contraptions they use to “fly” tourists over land and water. Ultra Light was one of several tourism operators to attend the Costa Rica Tourism Investment Summit held in Escazú, west of San José.

FROM Teen Idol to Activist: Latino pop star Ricky Martin yesterday gave a press conference with President Oscar Arias to announce the launch of his ad campaign Llama y Vive (Call and Live) in Costa Rica. The program aims to fight human trafficking and exploitation by encouraging victims to call and get help.

Ricky Martin Launches Campaign Against Exploitation

With a megawatt smile and carefully messy hair worthy of a former boy-band star, pop sensation Ricky Martin teamed up with President Oscar Arias yesterday afternoon to announce new efforts in the fight against human trafficking and exploitation.

Dundee Ranch Academy Trial Begins in Alajuela

The trial against U.S. businessman Narvin Lichfield got under way yesterday with Lichfield taking the stand and declaring his innocence.

President Preaches Social Responsibility to Prospective Investors

The theme of social responsibility ran through President Oscar Arias' speech to prospective investors at the Second Annual Costa Rica Tourism Investment Summit yesterday. He called tourism the “driving force” behind the development of the country, adding that such power comes with serious responsibilities.

Minister Calls South Park Episode “Trash”

Ricky Martin Launches
Campaign Against Exploitation

By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

With a megawatt smile and carefully messy hair worthy of a former boy-band star, pop sensation Ricky Martin teamed up with President Oscar Arias yesterday afternoon to announce new efforts in the fight against human trafficking and exploitation.

Martin descended on – and then ascended from, via helicopter – Casa Presidencial for a meeting with Arias and then a press conference where he launched a new print and broadcast ad campaign. In the TV ads, which began airing in Costa Rica yesterday, the Puerto Rican-born singer urges the victims of exploitation to call 911 and get help.

The campaign, sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Organization for Migration and Costa Rica's Child Welfare Office (PANI), targets the trata de personas, defined as tricking adults or children to travel far from their homes and work against their will, often becoming the victims of sexual exploitation.

IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno said during a video recording played at the press conference that an estimated 2 million people become the victims of such exploitation each year. Martin explained that because human trafficking is always conducted illicitly, it's extremely difficult to obtain exact figures regarding its proliferation.

The 911 program, called Llama y Vive (Call and Live), has been very successful in Peru, Nicaragua and Ecuador, the countries where it has already been implemented, Moreno said. He added that El Salvador will become a part of the program soon and Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico are targeted next.

The program began in 2006 as an initiative of the Ricky Martin Foundation, a nonprofit organization the singer founded seven years ago to advocate for the well-being of children internationally.

“Ticos…want to end this bad industry,” said the performer of hits such as “ Livin' la Vida Loca.” “I love being a part of that.”

Martin arrived in Costa Rica Monday to perform a concert that night at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, north of San José, and is expected to spend some time vacationing here before returning home. For more on the Ricky Martin Foundation, visit www.rickymartinfoundation.org.

Dundee Ranch Academy Trial Begins in Alajuela

By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff | lbaxter@ticotimes.net

The trial against U.S. businessman Narvin Lichfield got under way yesterday with Lichfield taking the stand and declaring his innocence.

Lichfield, who founded and oversaw Dundee Ranch Academy – the tough-love school for supposedly troubled youth, located on Costa Rica's Pacific slope – is charged with torture, holding minors against their will and international crimes (violating a law based on international treaties, in this case, torture).

Lichfield told The Tico Times yesterday he is confident that students were not abused at Dundee Ranch. At least one former student traveled from the United States to testify for the defense, while the prosecution “did not have the means” to bring witnesses from abroad to testify for their case.

Prosecutor Edgar Oviedo called the prosecution's only witnesses, three Costa Rican officials, and today he will read from testimony given by two male students after Dundee Ranch was closed in 2003. Authorities raided the school after a parent said her daughter was being held against her will there (TT, May 23, 2003), while Lichfield says the woman had no custodial rights to the girl.

The trial was scheduled to begin again today at 8 a.m. at the Alajuela Courthouse, northwest of San José, in courtroom 4 on the third floor and is open to the public. It is not expected to last past this week.

President Preaches Social
Responsibility to Prospective Investors

By Dave Sherwood
Tico Times Staff | dsherwood@ticotimes.net

The theme of social responsibility ran through President Oscar Arias' speech to prospective investors at the Second Annual Costa Rica Tourism Investment Summit yesterday. He called tourism the “driving force” behind the development of the country, adding that such power comes with serious responsibilities.

“The Costa Rican dream obligates us to look past the limits of our hotels and our businesses. We shouldn't be asking only ‘how can we build more, or taller, hotels,' but also, ‘how can raise the standard of living of our citizens,” Arias said.

The two-day event, held at a hotel in the western suburb of Escazú, attracted upwards of 300 hotel owners, consultants, developers, bankers and investors from all over the world and featured a series of seminars on Costa Rica's complex business and environmental laws, sustainable tourism, U.S. marketing techniques and updates on countrywide infrastructure projects.

The seminars were intended to help potential investors make the most of the country's opportunities and its stable political and economic environment in a sustainable manner, for the benefit of both foreign visitors and Ticos alike, according to Arias.

Arias pleaded with prospective developers to respect Costa Rica's environmental laws, which he said are critical to the future well-being of tourism and quality of life in Costa Rica.

“If there is anyone interested in the conservation of Costa Rica's natural resources, it's the businessmen who earn their living from them,” Arias said.

Minister Calls South Park Episode “Trash”

An episode of the TV show South Park that mocks Costa Rica as a dirty third-world country yesterday ruffled the feathers of Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides.

In the show's characteristically rash, politically incorrect humor, the kids of South Park are forced by their teacher Mr. Mackey to join the “Getting Gay with Kids” choir, according to the show's official Web site. The choir then takes a trip to Costa Rica to help save the rainforest, hence the episode's name “Rainforest Schmainforest.”

On a bus ride through San José, the group ogles over the prostitutes, trash and shantytowns they observe out the windows while complaining of an offensive smell. Mr. Mackey then explains that Costa Rica is a third-world country, and these are the ugly things that come along with it.

Benavides yesterday told the told Channel 7 TV News that the show should be considered “trash” created for people with little education and bad manners.

The episode originally aired in 1999, but was apparently brought to Benavides' attention recently. He said he is not worried that the episode has hurt tourism to Costa Rica, since the show is not directed at people who would visit the country anyway.

Just talking about lemons makes many a mouth pucker, and given a choice between an orange and a lemon, most would surely pick the orange. But even so, lemons do serve their purpose in our diets, and may benefit us more than we realize.

Lemons ( Citrus limonia ) and relatives, such as the sour mandarin ( C. trifoliata ), are well liked by Costa Ricans, and can be found in many backyards across the country, particularly in the coastal and midrange elevations of the country. In fact, lemon trees produce very well in the coastal regions, where orange trees often do poorly.

It is believed that the first lemons were originally cultivated in the hot, semi-arid Deccan Plateau in Central India about 2,500 years ago. Most of us were taught that Marco Polo was responsible for bringing citrus trees from the Orient to Europe, though lemons arrived in Spain during the Islamic conquest.

Lemons, along with other citrus trees, reached the New World with the Spanish. Christopher Columbus in his second voyage to the New World in 1493 brought lemon seeds to the Americas. Lisbon and Genoa lemons are two good examples of European stock.

Today, nurseries around the country offer several types of lemons. The Meyers lemon, named for Frank N. Meyer, who first bred it in 1908, is perhaps the most popular, and is a hardy cross between a lemon and an orange. This yellow, juicy, mildly sour lemon can't be beat for making lemonade, salad dressings and ceviche.

Pucker Up: Lemons are an excellent source of vitamin C for preventive health care.

Ed Bernhardt | Tico Times

Though you can usually grow lemon trees from seeds, it may take many years before these trees produce their first harvest of fruit. For this reason, it is a good idea to pick up a grafted lemon tree at your local nursery. Grafted trees often produce in the third year after planting.

To make your trees grow vigorously and bear early fruit, be sure to add plenty of organic compost in the planting hole. Then you can add small amounts of limestone, ashes and rock phosphate around the tree several times a year to ensure your tree has maximum fertility, health and vitality.

Like most citruses, lemon trees do best in well-drained, fertile soil and full sunlight. Though lemons are generally compact trees, you can prune the tips of each leading stem to create a low-growing, bush-like tree, which makes harvesting easy, even for kids.

Keep an eye peeled for aphids, which sometimes attack the new growth of citrus trees and may cause stunted growth. These insects can be controlled naturally with a solution of several tablespoons of mineral oil to one liter of water; shake well and spray the leaves with a hand sprayer. Repeat once a week until results are obtained.

Keep the area beneath the tree weed free and be careful not to accidentally cut the trunk of the tree with a machete. Citrus trees are very susceptible to soil pathogens, which infect the injured bark and can cause serious damage to the trees. Many Tico gardeners like to paint the trunks of their fruit trees with white cement or whitewash, which helps reduce the chance of infection.

We all know the story of how British sailors were named “limeys” when doctors onboard ships discovered that limes, which are high in vitamin C, prevented scurvy. They made the crews drink limewater every day to prevent this condition while sailing.

Lemons and limes are an excellent source of vitamin C, and one of the most important antioxidants in nature. One hundred milliliters of lemon juice contains approximately 50 milligrams of vitamin C and five grams of citric acid.

Lemons and limes also contain unique flavonoids called flavonol glycosides, including many kaempferol-related compounds that have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Researchers have discovered that lemon and lime juice has a strong protective effect against many pathogenic bacteria, particularly Vibrio cholera, which causes cholera. In Ayurvedic medicine, a cup of hot water with lemon juice is prescribed first thing in the morning to tonify and purify the liver.

One of the most valuable discoveries we have come across for the use of lemon rinds came from our Tico neighbors. They taught us you can cook the rinds (three or more lemon rinds per liter of water) for several minutes, strain, and use the solution as a cleaning agent. The disinfectant works wonderfully for household cleaning, and eliminates that black mold so common in the tropics. It also leaves a fresh, lemon scent, and we no longer need to use those toxic chemical cleaners.

Lemon tree, oh so pretty, and the flowers, oh so sweet, and the fruit of the lemon, you just can't beat.

For more information on tropical home gardening, visit www.thenewdawncenter.info or e-mail Ed Bernhardt at thenewdawncenter@yahoo.com.