FEBRUARY 23, 2007

GEARING up to Protest: Students gathered at the Plaza de la Democracia in downtown San José yesterday for a concert to warm up for Monday's protests of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

NEW Wheels for the Ministry: The Public Security Ministry yesterday showed off 73 new cars and 100 new motorcycles purchased with money donated by the government of Taiwan. Here, President Oscar Arias, Taiwanese Ambassador Tzu-Dan Wu and Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal stroll through the lot of new vehicles.

Country Prepares for Anti-CAFTA March

As President Oscar Arias yesterday made a last-minute plea for nonviolence to those planning to march against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) Monday, protestors geared up for action.

Japan to Train Government Officials In Computer Skills

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) yesterday announced it will be giving the Costa Rican government a hand in its effort to use more advanced technology. JICA is offering scholarships for government officials to travel to Okinawa, Japan, to receive computer training this year and next, according to a statement from the agency.

Camera Manufacturer Expands Costa Rican Operation

The British camera company Vitec Group Friday inaugurated a new facility in Cartago, east of San José, marking a $3.5 million investment to expand its operations here, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

U.S. Embassy Opens New Consular Section

Country Prepares for Anti-CAFTA March

As President Oscar Arias yesterday made a last-minute plea for nonviolence to those planning to march against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) Monday, protestors geared up for action.

The protest is expected to draw union members, students and several newly formed coalitions that oppose this controversial trade pact to the streets of downtown San José, where they will converge on the Legislative Assembly.

“God willing, everything will happen normally, the country will not be paralyzed and there will be no blocking bridges, highways or city streets,” Arias said in a statement from Casa Presidencial, adding that he hopes protestors “really show the world our civility, our prudence and our tolerance, to manifest our ideas with absolute clarity.” The President also requested that protestors not conceal their identities behind masks.

Meanwhile, a young crowd of university students and others gathered at the Plaza de Democracia yesterday afternoon for a concert that was expected to last into the night with nine bands performing.

University of Costa Rica (UCR) Student Federation leader John Vega said the concert was a warm-up for Monday's protests, in which the federation plans to bus students to La Sabana, in western San José, to march toward downtown.

The Costa Rica-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) announced in a statement circulated to U.S. companies here that it will remain closed Monday from 8 a.m. to noon in anticipation of the protests. Although there will reportedly be more than 6,000 officers on duty, the protest could still become difficult to control depending on its size, the statement said.

Despite protestors' assurances that the march will be peaceful, the chamber said it is prepared for the slowing down or halting of public services and traffic, and warned those who must cross the city to get to work to leave one hour early.

-Tico Times

Japan to Train Government
Officials In Computer Skills

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) yesterday announced it will be giving the Costa Rican government a hand in its effort to use more advanced technology. JICA is offering scholarships for government officials to travel to Okinawa, Japan, to receive computer training this year and next, according to a statement from the agency.

The use of information technology is key to improving the government's bureaucratic processes, or trámites, to provide the public with efficient services, the statement said.

The scholarships are available to all government officials who work with information technology. The classes in Japan will touch on administration, client-server applications, developing multi-media information and communication broadcasting.

Five scholarships are available for this year, and three more will be offered next year. The agency will possibly expand the program after that, the statement said. Those interested in applying can fill out a form at the Ministry of Foreign Relations' Scholarships Office.

“We want the government of Costa Rica to select the ideal candidates to receive training in Japan, apply this knowledge in the country and generate a positive impact,” said JICA Costa Rica representative Tomio Takahashi.

The scholarship program was created as a response to Costa Rica's request for help with its “Digital Government” initiative to apply new technology and telecommunications strategy's within the national and local government, the statement said.

-Tico Times

Camera Manufacturer
Expands Costa Rican Operation

The British camera company Vitec Group Friday inaugurated a new facility in Cartago, east of San José, marking a $3.5 million investment to expand its operations here, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

The company makes tripods and camera attachments used to film nature documentaries such as those shown on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic and for sporting events.

President Oscar Arias, Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz and Vitec Group president Gareth R. Williams attended the inauguration of the new building, which will employ more than 100 Ticos.

“For me, it's a great pleasure to imagine a group of National Geographic explorers traveling through the African planes and the Amazon jungle... carrying on their shoulders tripods that say ‘Made in Costa Rica',” Arias said.

Williams explained why his company chose Costa Rica to set up shop. “We need a country that offers an environment of political stability, with a work force with high educational standards... that understands the need for quality because we have to be competitive worldwide. We need a country whose government understands the need to attract and retain foreign investment... we believe we have found this place and it's called Cartago in Costa Rica,” he said.

-Tico Times

U.S. Embassy Opens New Consular Section

The U.S. Embassy in San José yesterday offered local press a tour of its Consular Section, recently overhauled to make for speedier visits.

The Consular Section now features more client windows and a computerized customer-attention system that lets U.S. citizens seeking passports or other services, or others seeking visas to the United States, know when their turn is coming. The embassy previously announced that once the renovations were complete, current wait times for visa appointments would be reduced significantly or even eliminated altogether.

For more information on the embassy and its services, visit sanjose.usembassy.gov.

Bypass wasn't getting along too well with his wife of 40 years. He wouldn't tell me why, but I concluded it was a simple case of what in the trade we call OS, or Overfamiliarity Syndrome. Two people living together that long know exactly what each is going to say in any given situation, but the one with OS, on hearing the same dumb joke for the thousandth time, is liable to rush out of the house screaming, “I can't stand it any longer!”

Normal couples deal with the problem by preserving a companionable silence from breakfast to suppertime, but that option was not open to Bypass. While he himself was a man of few words, his wife was the original motormouth, whose maximum silent time was one minute.

So Bypass tried another option. Two doors down the street lived a comely divorcée by the name of Clara, who went on monthlong cruises twice a year, financed by a generous alimony. So at the next street party, Bypass, fortified by strong drink, drew her aside and said, “Clarer, will you take me on your next cruise?” Clara immediately responded, “Sure. Next week suit you?” Bypass, who had come prepared for an argument, was taken aback by this glib response, and promptly assumed she was a loose woman, but managed to stammer out, “F-fine, I'll give you a call.” Which, with some misgivings, he did, and after telling his wife he would be gone for a month on a business trip, he and Clara departed Miami in a first-class cabin bound for the Azores.

Novelty is an important component of any social relationship, so the couple had little problem getting along for the first eight hours. But from then on the escapade became, from one point of view, a total disaster. At dinner that night, Clara pronounced the Dover sole uneatable and the Chardonnay undrinkable, and sent back the baked Alaska three times before even tasting it. On returning to their luxurious cabin, she complained bitterly about the facilities and, worst of all, positively rejected any form of intimacy before Bypass even brought up the subject. And, it must be admitted, conversationally Bypass is a crashing bore.

From another point of view, however, the trip was a roaring success. Thoroughly fed up with each other, the couple abandoned the cruise after only a week and flew home separately. Bypass reported to his wife that he had cut short his business trip because he missed her, even going so far as to kiss her passionately that night. She, of course, being by no means stupid just because she talked too much, had readily guessed the truth, but responded in kind. Thereafter, Bypass learned simply to withdraw his attention while his wife was speaking, and the two lived together reasonably happily ever after.

The moral of this story is “Try a little harder before you try another.” Or how about “The grass is not necessarily greener two doors down the street”?