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By the book: Gerardo Lazcares, one of two Costa Rican vice ministers of Public Security, points to Article 239 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which he believes many judges are misinterpreting to grant arrestees their freedom. Lázcares gave The Tico Times a behind-closed-doors talk this week about law enforcement's take on this country's crime problem. Read Friday's print or digital edition for more. |
Ronald Reyes | Tico Times
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| Costa Rican legislators pass telecom bill |
Lawmakers have approved the General Telecommunications Law, the sixth and most controversial piece of legislation required to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). |
| See More... |
| Bush to tap Maine's Cianchette as ambassador to Costa Rica |
President George W. Bush has announced his intention to nominate |
| See More... |
| Costa Rica's Grand Papagayo hotel under microscope |
Officials began investigating the Hotel Occidental Grand Papagayo this week to determine whether the 169-room hotel is pumping wastewater into the ocean fronting a coral reef. |
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| Dot-CR domains coming soon |
It's about to get easier to visit Web sites hosted in Costa Rica. Starting soon, Costa Rican Web sites will be able to end with a “.cr” domain. At the moment, sites must use a “.co.cr” domain or some variation thereof, such as “.go.cr” or “.or.cr.” |
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| Trinidad & Tobago companies to descend on Costa Rica |
Representatives of six companies from Trinidad and Tobago are set to visit Costa Rica March 3 in search of partners, distributors and potential customers and clients here, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Costa Rica, AmCham. |
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Plants at a Glance:
Scallions & Chives |
Common name: Scallion / chive
Spanish name: Cebollina / cebollín
Latin name: Allium cepa var. aggregatum / A. schoenoprasum
Family: Liliaceae
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| Costa Rican legislators pass telecom bill |
Lawmakers have approved the General Telecommunications Law, the sixth and most controversial piece of legislation required to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).
The legislation promises to open the country's telecommunications industry to foreign companies to compete with the state-run Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE), currently the only player on the field.
Yesterday, the Legislative Assembly green-lighted the law, slated to undergo a second and final debate in coming weeks, with 55 of 57 members of the assembly present, voting 36-19 in favor.
Backing the bill was the “alliance of 38,” a cross-party bloc composed of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN), the Libertarian Movement, Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) and several independent legislators.
Seventeen legislators of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), the main opposition group, and two independents voted against it.
Eleven bills need approval before CAFTA, which was passed in an Oct. 7 referendum, can go into force. |
| -ACAN-EFE
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Bush to tap Maine's Cianchette
as ambassador to Costa Rica |
President George W. Bush has announced his intention to nominate
Peter E. Cianchette, 2002 Republican nominee for governor of Maine, to be the new U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica.
In the next few weeks, Cianchette's nomination will go to the U.S. Senate for confirmation, the White House said in a statement.
The appointment is meant to replace former Ambassador Mark Langdale, who left his San José post to head the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation in Dallas starting Jan. 1.
Cianchette (pronounced “chin-kett”) served as a state lawmaker from 1996-2000, representing South Portland and Cape Elizabeth in Maine's House of Representatives, according to his Republican Party biography. In 2004, he led the Bush-Cheney campaign in Maine, where he is currently the state's Republican national committeeman.
Son of Ival “Bud” Cianchette, one of the founders of construction firm Cianbro Corp., the nominee-to-be is a partner at CHK Capital Partners, a strategic planning firm. His business credentials also include serving as chief operations officer of business and public affairs consulting firms Pierce Atwood Consulting and The Cianchette Group.
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Costa Rica's Grand
Papagayo hotel under microscope |
By Dave Sherwood
Tico Times Staff | dsherwood@ticotimes.net
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Officials began investigating the Hotel Occidental Grand Papagayo this week to determine whether the 169-room hotel is pumping wastewater into the ocean fronting a coral reef.
Eduardo Céspedes, director of Health in Carillo, said inspectors from the Health Ministry, the Liberia Prosecutors Office and the Costa Rican Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) took seawater samples for testing Tuesday.
Results could be available as early as next week, he said.
Like the Allegro Papagayo, a neighboring hotel that was closed last week when it was discovered pumping sewage into an estuary, the Grand Papagayo has been accused by its neighbors of pumping wastewater into ocean waters fronting a coral reef near Playa Buena, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste.
Both hotels are part of the government-run Papagayo Tourism Project, the largest such development in Central America.
After The Tico Times' series of reports on the Occidental hotels (see http://www.ticotimes.net/topstory.htm ), word spread quickly across such well-known Internet travel forums as The Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor.com.
Prospective visitors panicked, and some that had visited the Allegro Papagayo, even after it had been ordered closed on Jan. 31, reportedly took ill.
“My husband became very ill Sunday night Feb. 3 after having dinner at the buffet,” wrote Lisa McIntyre, of California, in a letter addressed to well-known Internet travel agencies Orbitz.com and Expedia.com. |
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| Dot-CR domains coming soon |
It's about to get easier to visit Web sites hosted in Costa Rica. Starting soon, Costa Rican Web sites will be able to end with a “.cr” domain. At the moment, sites must use a “.co.cr” domain or some variation thereof, such as “.go.cr” or “.or.cr.”
Network Information Center-Costa Rica – a Costa Rican entity empowered by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to administer the “.cr” domain – will make the domain available first to Web sites owning “.co.cr” real estate.
For instance, someone owning www.test.co.cr will have 90 days to register www.test.cr, after which that domain will be first come, first served.
The annual fee for registering a “.cr” domain will be $100, according to government newspaper La Gaceta. For more details, see NIC-Costa Rica's Web site, www.nic.cr.
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-Tico Times |
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Trinidad & Tobago companies
to descend on Costa Rica |
Representatives of six companies from Trinidad and Tobago are set to visit Costa Rica March 3 in search of partners, distributors and potential customers and clients here, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Costa Rica, AmCham.
The trade mission consists of representatives from L.J. Williams Limited, Vemco Limited, Republic Bank Limited, Illuminat Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Ultra Pharm Marketing Limited and Resonance Caribbean.
Costa Rica signed a free-trade agreement with Trinidad and Tobago, one of the 12 member nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), in September 2005 (TT, Sept. 23, 2005).
The companies will be available for meetings starting at 8 a.m. at the Hotel Barceló San José Palacio, Salón Rivera Velázquez.
Interested businesspeople can sign up for an appointment through AmCham, by e-mail at cfabrega@amcham.co.cr or aguzman@amcham.co.cr, or by phoning the chamber at (506) 220-2200.
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-Tico Times |
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| Plants at a Glance: Scallions & Chives |
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Common name: Scallion / chive
Spanish name: Cebollina / cebollín
Latin name: Allium cepa var. aggregatum / A. schoenoprasum
Family: Liliaceae
Geo-distribution: Scallions or green dividing onions originated in the Near East; settlers from the Old World introduced them to the neotropics. They are found growing in home gardens from low to high elevations in Costa Rica. Chives, a close relative to scallions, are also well distributed.
Botanical Description: The scallion is noted for its long (up to 60 centimeters), green, hollow leaves, typical of the onions, which arise from numerous bulbs in the soil. These bulbs continually divide as new offshoots. There are many varieties of scallions, some with a red or white paper-like skin surrounding the bulbs. The flowers range in color from violet to white. Chives also come in many varieties and can be distinguished by their smaller (30 cm) green leaves and bulbs.
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| Green Onion: Scallions grow best in rich, fertile soil and full sun. Eating fresh scallions is a good way to prevent many health problems. |
Ed Bernhardt | Tico Times |
Medicinal Uses: Scallions and onions, like garlic, have been used for centuries as both food and medicine. Eating fresh scallions is a good way to prevent health problems. They have been proven effective in reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol, and are known to be a strong antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agent.
Onion juice has been shown to inhibit numerous harmful microbes and fungi, including Candida albicans. Traditionally, fresh onion juice has been used to treat upper respiratory infections, including pneumonia, coughs, sore throats and bronchitis. Thrush or yeast infections are also treated with onion juice. Recent research demonstrates that onion juice is also beneficial in aiding asthma, arthritis, cancer, circulatory problems, colds, flu, infections, insomnia, liver disease, sinusitis and ulcers.
Preparation: Adding plenty of fresh onion greens to your diet is an excellent way to help prevent health problems. For treating coughs, colds and flu, blend or extract the juice of several scallions, strain, and mix with 15-30 milliliters of honey in a clean glass container. This is an excellent home remedy for treating children, since the honey hides the pungent taste of the onion juice. Dosage: One to six tablespoons per day. You will also find that blending scallions and orange juice together provides a helpful health drink. Fresh onion juice can also be applied orally on the tongue in cases of yeast infection.
Gardening Notes: Scallions and chives are much easier to grow than the bulb onions you buy at the store. Leading agricultural supply stores offer seeds for planting in flats or cups in prepared potting soil. Though the seeds are slow to germinate and grow, once they are well established they can be transplanted to garden beds or containers with rich, fertile soil located in a sunny area. Three months after planting, the onions will begin to produce new offshoots from the mother plant, which can provide a steady supply for replanting.
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