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Butt out: Venezuelan soldiers yesterday patrolled the woods near San Antonio del Táchira, at Venezuela's border with Colombia. The Costa Rican government weighed in on the simmering conflict, implying Venezuela should stay out of the Colombian-Ecuadorian affair. |
George Castellanos | EFE |
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| Costa Rica urges feuding neighbors to take a deep breath |
Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno called for dialogue yesterday to cool tensions over a Colombian air strike in Ecuadorian territory that killed Raul Reyes, the No. 2 leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC). |
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| Violence, accidents claim 100 people in February |
After 100 deaths in February, the Costa Rican Red Cross is asking people to be careful. The only other months that reached or exceeded the century mark were March and October 2007. |
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| Osa conservation campaign coming up short |
A campaign to raise money for Osa peninsula conservation is struggling to meet its goals. |
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Enrique Iglesias confirmed to
appear at Costa Rica's Festival Imperial |
Spanish-American pop-star Enrique Iglesias is the latest big name act to sign up for the Festival Imperial. |
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| The Secret of Life |
Shelby, my science adviser, came racing down from his hilltop laboratory yesterday to boast that he had discovered the “secret of life.” Reluctantly, because I hate to discourage enthusiasm, I pointed out that there is no secret to life.
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Costa Rica urges feuding
neighbors to take a deep breath |
By Gillian Gillers
Tico Times Staff | ggillers@ticotimes.net |
Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno called for dialogue yesterday to cool tensions over a Colombian air strike in Ecuadorian territory that killed Raul Reyes, the No. 2 leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC).
As Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, mobilized troops toward their borders with Colombia, Stagno called for “prudence and…a peaceful solution to the controversy.”
A Foreign Ministry statement warned against the “internationalization of a delicate affair that is primarily bilateral.” President Oscar Arias, who spoke by phone over the weekend with Correa and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, described the conflict as being between Ecuador and Colombia, implying that Chávez should not meddle.
“Latin America faces too many challenges to engage in military conflict now,” Arias said in a statement.
As Ecuador broke diplomatic ties with its northern neighbor, Colombian authorities said they found documents on Reyes' computer showing that Venezuela paid the guerrillas at least $300 million. The Organization of American States will hold an emergency meeting today on the conflict.
Reyes lived in Costa Rica in 1998 and met with Arias in the late 1990s to discuss the Colombian peace process, according to the daily Al Día.
Costa Rica could eventually play a role in conflict mediation from its perch on the United Nations Security Council. |
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| Violence, accidents claim 100 people in February |
After 100 deaths in February, the Costa Rican Red Cross is asking people to be careful. The only other months that reached or exceeded the century mark were March and October 2007.
“This is the most violent February in the last eight years,” a press release states. “This increase in death worries the Red Cross and we are renewing our call the public to be careful and take precautionary measures on the roads and at the beaches because these areas constantly generate accidents.”
In February, fatalities from car accidents, including hit-and-runs, topped the list (39), shootings and stabbings came in second (25), and drownings rounded out the top three (16).
San José province leads the country in violent deaths and the principal cause of death is car accidents. |
-Tico Times |
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| Osa conservation campaign coming up short |
By Nick Wilkinson
Tico Times Staff | nwilkinson@ticotimes.net |
A campaign to raise money for Osa peninsula conservation is struggling to meet its goals.
The Osa Campaign, an alliance between three environmental nonprofit groups and the Environment Ministry, announced it was extending a second campaign selling temporary tattoos – all “nontoxic and biodegradable” – in an attempt to raise $1 million by the end of March. The organization achieved a $250,000 fundraising goal in April 2007 and set the bar even higher this year.
“People are not reacting,” Director Isabel Moya said. “We need to sell a million tattoos and we've sold 125,000. All we're looking for is the public to engage with the need to conserve the Osa's biodiversity.”
Moya said each purchase is matched by the Costa Rica-U.S.A. (CRUSA) Foundation, one of the partnering nonprofits. She also said the money raised is used to fund research and development of sustainable practices and create legal taskforces to combat mega-projects, such as hotels, on the peninsula.
The tattoos cost $1 each and are available at Costa Rica Bank, Palí, Maxibodega, Hipermás, Más x Menos, CCM Cinemas, Rostipollos, Spoon, Campero, Wendy's, Automercado, AM PM, Subway, Costa Rica Card and Café Britt stores. |
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Enrique Iglesias confirmed to
appear at Costa Rica’s Festival Imperial |
By Rob Bartlett
Tico Times Staff | editorial@ticotimes.net |
Spanish-American pop-star Enrique Iglesias is the latest big name act to sign up for the Festival Imperial.
Tickets are now on sale for the event, to be held at La Guacima de Alajuela on Saturday and Sunday April 19-20.
The son of legendary Spanish singer Julio Iglesias, the singer has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. He is also currently at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with the single “ Dónde Están Corazón,” from his latest album, “Insomniac.” Talking of the album, the star said, “ I gave myself completely into the making of this one record – heart and soul.”
The concert will also coincide with the release of a new greatest hits CD, which will go on sale on March 25.
Iglesias will headline the second day of the festival, along with British 1980s pop icons Duran Duran. Tico group Porpartes are also on the bill for Sunday.
American alternative rock groups The Smashing Pumpkins and Incubus are confirmed to play on the first day of the festival along with homegrown band Le*Pop.
“We are absolutely delighted to have a lineup of absolutely top international bands, really iconic groups,” Carlos Cañas, CEO of Imperial, told The Tico Times.
In addition to Iglesias, a spokeswoman confirmed, two other international acts will be added to the bill, with an announcement expected soon.
Tickets for the festival are on sale through selected Mas X Menos, Hipermás and Maxibodegas supermarkets, at Vértigo stores and branches of Aval-Banco Uno. Alternatively, buy online through www.specialticket.net and www.festivalimperial.co.cr or call 206-7896.
Tickets cost ¢10,000 ($20) for the general area, ¢18,000 ($36) for the preferential section near the stage, ¢30,000 ($60) for the gallery and ¢18,000 ($36) for the stands. |
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| The Secret of Life |
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Shelby, my science adviser, came racing down from his hilltop laboratory yesterday to boast that he had discovered the “secret of life.” Reluctantly, because I hate to discourage enthusiasm, I pointed out that there is no secret to life.
A few common organic chemicals found in every puddle and a bolt of lightning to get things started creates the necessary nucleotides after every thunderstorm, and from then on it's simply a matter of luck whether they hit on the double helix and start reproducing. Aristotle was right, in a sense, though 23 centuries ago he couldn't possibly have known it. Shelby looked so crestfallen that I tried to soften the blow by asking his advice on how to create a frog, but it seems he hadn't got that far, so I shut up.
To me it seems a bit weird that anyone would want to create life in a laboratory, when the time-tested procedure can so easily be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home. And anyway, if you'll just try planting late in the day when the gnats are biting, there's too darned much life around here already.
But no doubt Shelby's aim was to create artificial soldiers to fight our wars without having to resort to the immensely unpopular draft. My own view is that we should quit declaring war as a means of reviving a listless economy, and think of some other way to make people start spending money again.
Which raises the question of why they aren't spending at the required rate, and the answer, of course, is that for people, unlike governments, there comes a level of debt at which they hesitate to acquire more, thereby automatically setting the stage for a recession. But the Keynesian solution is now old hat, and we must try something else.
So my daring contribution is not to just keep reducing interest rates so as to encourage more borrowing, but to declare a moratorium on all personal debt, reimbursing creditors out of tax funds that would otherwise go to prosecuting war. If, instead of worrying about how in the world you're going to pay off your debts, you get told that come Monday you don't have any, I guarantee you'll be off to the super the same day.
The reasoning behind this seemingly absurd proposition is that the current arrangements for creating wealth benefit the wrong people: the manufacturers of material intentionally scheduled for destruction, who are not the ones who keep the economy humming. We need to benefit the ordinary consumer who isn't pulling his weight for the reason stated.
I am aware that the concept of debt forgiveness runs counter to the principles of nonconformist morality, not to mention those of creditors who would hate to be paid off in government funds, but now is the time to strike, while the opposition is at its weakest. Anyway, have a go at it on a small scale at first, and if it doesn't work, I'll think of something else.
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