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For art's sake: An improvisational performer with Grupo Cirko Arakne put on a show Saturday in San José's Parque España. Crafts fairs, performances of tango, belly-dancing, magic, music and theater took over the city's parks during the weekend's Transitarte festival. |
Harmony Reforma | Tico Times |
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| Scientists spot previously unseen volcano in Costa Rica |
Costa Rican scientists have discovered a never-before seen volcano in the San Carlos forest, 170 kilometers north of San José, a find they've been sitting on for at least a year. |
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| Costa Rica, United States settle online gambling dispute |
Costa Rica and the United States have reached a settlement on a trade dispute caused after the U.S. enacted laws designed to target online gambling. |
| See More... |
| Lineup for Festival Imperial finalized with Seal, Café Tacuba |
Organizers of Festival Imperial confirmed the last four bands, including the likes of Seal and Café Tacuba, that complete the line-up of 10 artists to appear at this year's event. |
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| Anti-uranium campaigner: 'We're happy Costa Rica is on board' |
As governments grapple with the reality of an Iranian nuclear program they fear will turn lethal, a growing chorus is lobbying to smack down a kind of uranium weapon critics say is already harming the environment, soldiers and civilians and poses a threat to future generations. |
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| Intrigues Abound 'Even in Eden' |
If a writer self-publishes a novel, there is usually a reason: It's a bad read.
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Scientists spot previously
unseen volcano in Costa Rica |
Costa Rican scientists have discovered a never-before seen volcano in the San Carlos forest, 170 kilometers north of San José, a find they've been sitting on for at least a year.
A tour last week of the area led researchers to a 2,300 meter high volcano with a crater that measures 200 meters in diameter, the daily La Nación reported.
Located at mount El Porvenir, the volcano is dormant and is shaped like an upside down cone, Wilfredo Rojas, volcano expert with the University of Costa Rica, told the daily.
The find came after NASA infrared images taken in 2005 revealed El Porvenir's crater, which is roughly the size of that of well-known Irazú volcano and eight times that of Turrialba. Scientists here did not view the images until a year and a half ago, according to the newspaper report, and finally made the trek up the hill Thursday to confirm its existence.
It is the 250th documented volcano in Costa Rica. |
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Costa Rica, United States
settle online gambling dispute |
By Peter Krupa
Tico Times Staff | pkrupa@ticotimes.net |
Costa Rica and the United States have reached a settlement on a trade dispute caused after the U.S. enacted laws designed to target online gambling.
As compensation for cutting off Costa Rican access to online gambling customers, the U.S. has offered Costa Rica greater access to other service markets, including research and development, storage, technical testing and analysis.
The settlement took place after Costa Rica filed for arbitration before the World Trade Organization (WTO). Under a WTO agreement on services, any country that blocks access to one of a range of markets must provide compensation to the affected countries.
Canada, Japan and the European Union have reached similar settlements with the U.S.
“The agreement has been satisfactory for the country,” said Foreign Trade Minister Marco Ruiz in a written statement. |
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Lineup for Festival Imperial
finalized with Seal, Café Tacuba |
By Rob Bartlett
Tico Times Staff | editorial@ticotimes.net |
Organizers of Festival Imperial confirmed the last four bands, including the likes of Seal and Café Tacuba, that complete the line-up of 10 artists to appear at this year's event.
Argentine rockers Babasónicos and Mexican alternative group Café Tacuba will feature on the first day of the festival. They will share the stage with previously announced acts including Tico band Le*Pop and internationally acclaimed U.S. groups Incubus and Smashing Pumpkins.
The second day will see British-born singer-songwriter Seal and Mexican group Zoé play along with Costa Rica's Porpartes, Spanish-American pop star Enrique Iglesias and British 1980s icons Duran Duran.
Tickets are now on sale for the event, to be held at La Guácima de Alajuela on April 19 and 20.
“We have brought together really top-drawer artists who will give us performances that would be worthy of an international festival in the developed world,” said Carlos Cañas, Brand Manager of Imperial.
“At Cervecería Costa Rica we are very pleased once again to offer Costa Ricans and those from neighboring countries the possibility of enjoying two days of concerts with some of the all-time greats of music,” he said.
Meanwhile, “La Ruta Festival Imperial,” which promoters describe as “a way to bring music and the public closer together and to build up the atmosphere ahead of the main event,” is continuing. The coming week will see events held at Jazz Café in San Pedro tonight, La Birrería in Heredia on Thursday and the Mundoloco festival in Sabanilla, East of San José, on Saturday.
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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Anti-uranium campaigner:
'We're happy Costa Rica is on board' |
By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net |
As governments grapple with the reality of an Iranian nuclear program they fear will turn lethal, a growing chorus is lobbying to smack down a kind of uranium weapon critics say is already harming the environment, soldiers and civilians and poses a threat to future generations.
Opponents of depleted uranium (DU) – a by-product of nuclear production inserted into ammunition – call it the agent orange of our time. Western militarized countries such as the United States, France and Britain, meanwhile, claim the health risk has yet to be substantiated. And campaigners argue that further investigation is precisely what is needed to persuade the international community to stop using DU.
Over the weekend, representatives of the five-year-old International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW) met in San José, Costa Rica, to muster support for a worldwide prohibition of DU. On Friday, anti-uranium campaigner Ria Verjauw spoke to The Tico Times at the San José-based Friends Peace Center about progress that's been made since a visit last year.
Verjauw represents ICBUW's chapter in Belgium, which on March 7, 2007, became the world's first country to ban DU. She believes Costa Rica could follow suit. The coalition is planning to organize a conference here later this year for a further push for support in the region.
TT: What progress have you made in the past five years?
Ria Verjauw: We've done a lot of lobby work with the Belgian coalition. Last year Belgium (passed) a law that bans depleted uranium on Belgian territory – that was a great victory, the first country in the world to ban such a weapon and with the pressure of the United States. It's not so easy. But we did it.
Last year, for the first time in history, the United Nations accepted a resolution that says more research is needed on the issue and that member states can send in reports on this issue at the end of this year. That's now one of our principal concerns, to get as many possible nations to send in a report that shows that depleted uranium weapons are harmful.
So the movement is making some headway.
Well, we started with maybe 20 people – from Japan, the United States, the ( United Kingdom ) – and now the coalition has 96 organizations worldwide in 26 countries. Yesterday (Thursday) a new organization joined us, the CEPPA ( Costa Rican Peace Studies Center ) group that was here during the presentation that I gave.
Where does Costa Rica stand on this debate?
(Friday) we met with an adviser from the Foreign Ministry who told us they are working on a report to send in. We are very happy that Costa Rica is on board with the issue.
What are the chances of Costa Rica pushing the ban forward from its seat at the UN Security Council?
Just like Costa Rica, Belgium is a non-permanent member (of the Security Council) for two years. But these small states, in fact, don't have any power because of the veto rights of the big states, the United States, China (etc.). Small states can bring in issues but they don't decide. Their power is very, very minimal.
As opponents of DU, why aren't you campaigning against nukes in general?
What we see is that when you focus on one particular kind of weapon, then you can be successful. People tell us we should include nuclear weapons (in the draft convention). Of course we are opposed to nuclear weapons. But if you do that, then the chance of success is not as realistic as focusing on one weapon.
If it is harmful, what do governments' stand to gain by putting their soldiers even more in harms way by using DU bullets?
They don't care about their soldiers. Depleted uranium is cheap, it's highly pyrophoric (easily incendiary), it has great penetrating power, and it's a way they get rid of nuclear waste. But they poison another population by using it.
How does it affect future generations?
A big concern is the damage to DNA – we still don't know. What we hear from doctors in Iraq is that women who need to give birth don't ask anymore, “Is it a girl?” or “Is it a boy?” They ask, “Is it normal?”
What do you know about cases of DU in Latin America ?
Very little. We know of certain testing grounds but we need to do more investigation on that. We hope to find more NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to get on board so that we can provide correct information. |
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Intrigues Abound 'Even in Eden' |
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If a writer self-publishes a novel, there is usually a reason: It's a bad read.
The rule, of course, has exceptions. For example, you may be a writer living in Costa Rica, where finding a publisher, especially one for an English-language book, is about as easy as finding a luge instructor.
Such was the dilemma for Albert A. Correia, a Californian transplant to San José. Unable to find a buyer, Correia forked up his own cash and published “Even in Eden” himself.
The book is a delightful tale of greed, power, sex, drugs, betrayal, revenge, murder and goodness, all set against the backdrop of this beautiful, peaceful yet deceptively sweet country we have come to love.
The book tells the fictional story of Gerardo Granados, a recent medical school grad, and his father, Faustino, a nationally beloved physician. Their dream is to build a network of low- or no-cost clinics across the country.
They lack financing, however. That's where José Sánchez, a powerful member of the Legislative Assembly, and his ambitious but corrupt son, Orlando, come into the picture.
Orlando – who holds a nasty grudge against Gerardo for a betrayal that dates back to their high school years – wants nothing to do with the Granados family. That is, until he realizes this could be the chance he has been waiting for to exact revenge.
Hence, the book's title has a double entendre: “Even in Eden,” as in bad things happen even in nice places; and getting “Even in Eden.”
Like many a Costa Rican adventure, Correia's tale begins in the Gran Hotel Costa Rica, where Gerardo is grabbing a quick cup of coffee.
At an adjacent table, unnoticed by Gerardo, are the Sánchezes, who are discussing Orlando's political future. At another table we meet two sisters, the worldly Yessenia, just back from California, and Yenori, the innocent, whom Yessenia is trying to recruit into the get-rich-quick world of “Club Fun,” patterned not so loosely after one of San José's better-known hooker hangouts.
As those stories unfold, taking us from the central Pacific party town of Jacó to the Caribbean port of Limón, a wide cast of characters enters the stage, including a sort-of-good Gringo and a really evil Gringo, some good Ticos and some bad Ticos, some Colombians – most bad – and a narrator named the Grand Tico.
Yessenia, a sadomasochistic drug addict, eventually enters a sordid relationship with the bad Gringo but marries Gerardo, who later unwittingly becomes implicated in her lover's mysterious overdose death.
The finale is satisfying, though less dramatic than anticipated by the buildup of the many overlapping stories.
Which is where the book drags. While Correia is an able storyteller and skilled at plot twists and character development, the volume of characters (Grand Tico included) and their chatter detract from the storylines.
The book also suffers from typo, spelling and grammatical errors – no fewer than 26 over one 100-page stretch. Many of them were brought on by the computer and language barriers between Correia, who speaks rudimentary Spanish, and his Costa Rican printing contractor, who speaks rudimentary English.
Still, the shortcomings in “Even in Eden ” are nothing a good editor and publisher couldn't overcome. They should give “Even in Eden ” – or at least its sequel, which Correia has already started writing – a chance.
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