The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, November 06, 2002

LIZANO STEPS DOWN: Central Bank chief calls it quits. Story Below.
TT/Photo

November 06

Christmas Night
On-line wine and licour store invites all to its official presentation and demonstration of Christmas Baskets, Wed., Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m., Costa Rica Country Club, Escazú, register at www.sylstore.com/Suscripciones.htm

XVI Grano de Oro Painting Contest
All participants must be over 18 years old to participate in art contest. The topic is "coffee," and selected works will be exhibited in the XVI International Coffee Week (Nov. 9-13) at Herradura Hotel Convention Center, paintings will be received tomorrow, Nov. 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Nov. 7, awarding is Nov. 8. Contact Sintercafé Executive director Ligia Molina, 232-5402, lmolina@sintercafé.com

Volunteers Needed
Asociación Canadiense de Costa Rica needs volunteers for their big Christmas Gala, which will be Sun., Dec. 8. Call Vicky 282-3479 for registration and more details.

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Shannon Martin ESL Center
Gets Green Light in Golfito
By Tim Rogers
Tico Times Staff

After months of tirelessly pursuing her dream of creating an education center in the southern Pacific port town of Golfito to honor the memory of her slain daughter, Jeanette Stauffer this week announced the new "Shannon Martin English and Technology Center" will open its doors for classes next February.

Located in the facility of the Costa Rican Coast Guard Academy, the education center -- complete with computers donated by the U.S. Embassy --will offer free English classes to members of the community, Coast Guard officers and the local police.

"I am ecstatic that the program will be up and running by 2003," said Stauffer, in Costa Rica this week to inquire about the progress of her daughter's murder investigation and seek support for the English school. "The purpose of this school is to provide the people of Golfito with an opportunity to learn English and job skills to hopefully find jobs in the tourism industry."

Stauffer first started planning the English school in Golfito more than a year ago, while visiting the site where her 23-year-old daughter was brutally stabbed to death in May 2001.

Martin, a University of Kansas senior who studied in Golfito during the winter and summer of 2000, loved the people of Golfito and Stauffer wanted to immortalize her daughter's sentiments by creating a school to give back to the community.

"The best way our family has to cope with the brutal killing of our daughter and sister is to provide opportunities for the people of Golfito -- to bring opportunity out of the excruciatingly painful tragedy," Stauffer wrote in the Sept. 27 Tico Times "Perspective."

Kristin Syverson, a recent graduate of Villanova University who befriended Martin while studying with her in Golfito, will teach classes.

"I am really excited for the opportunity to teach the community English, so they can find employment to support themselves and their families," Syverson, 23, told The Tico Times yesterday. "I love the people of Golfito and I am doing this to give back to them."

The community is equally excited about the educational opportunity.

"This is incredible for us," said Costa Rican Coast Guard director Mario Barrientos. "This will really help the Coast Guard and the community, which is trying to break into the tourism market, now that the free-trade zone is about to close.

"This English school will make Golfito more attractive to tourism businesses that are looking to invest [in Costa Rica]," he added.

Barrientos said the Coast Guard is going to remodel the building that will house the school and its computers.

With the infrastructure in place, an enthusiastic teacher lined up and a grateful community eager to learn, Stauffer is asking the expatriate community here to help raise funds to pay Syverson a salary.

"We still need funding," the young teacher admitted. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to do this without money to live off of."

To make a donation, or to find out more about the Shannon Martin school, please contact Stauffer at GolfitoTechCenter@yahoo.com.

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Eduardo Lizano Resigns as Central
Bank President, Replacement Named
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

After 10 years of serving off and on as country's top economic official, Eduardo Lizano resigned as Central Bank President yesterday. Filling Lizano's shoes, President Abel Pacheco named economist Francisco de Paula, who served as Finance Minister during the last half of the former President José María Figueres administration (1994-1998).

The resignation came as no surprise to the Pacheco administration; Lizano had previously hinted that he would step down at the end of the year. But to make the new government's transition easier, Lizano had agreed to stay on for the first six months of the administration.

"We're sorry to see him leave, he'll be missed," Pacheco said. "He's made many sacrifices in his personal life serve the country. He's given up large financial gains in the private sector and valuable time with his grandchildren to guide the country's economy. We thank him dearly."

Lizano was first appointed Central Bank President in 1984 during the Luis Alberto Monge administration (1982-1986), he continued through the end of the Oscar Arias administration (1986-1990). In 1998, President Miguel Angel Rodriguéz reappointed him to serve during his term. Pacheco also originally asked Lizano to stay at the helm for his entire administration.

"The Central Bank's main challenge continues to be the reduction the government's fiscal deficit," Lizano explained. "During the last 18 years we've worked hard to keep Costa Rica's economy stable, and have managed to stay clear of major economic crises. Solving the fiscal problem should be the institution's main concern now."

De Paula holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and has been a professor of economics at both the University of Costa Rica and at the Harvard-affiliated Central American Business Administration Institute (INCAE).

He has promised to continue with Lizano's macroeconomic policies and has made clear he has no intentions of "rocking the boat" in terms of monetary and exchange rate policy. "I see my appointment as a passing of the torch, a relay, and not a real change," he explained.

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Colombians Bring Concerns to
C.R. Embassy in Bogotá

The Costa Rican Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, "returned to normal" yesterday afternoon, after 35 war refugees entered the building in the morning hours to protest their lack of housing, food subsidies and access to basic services.

Miguel Díaz, spokesman for Costa Rica's Foreign Ministry, said the Colombians who entered the embassy were not violent and were not seeking asylum or help from the Costa Rican government.

"They were just trying to make their concerns heard," Díaz told The Tico Times.

The embassy staff reported the incident to Colombian authorities, who sent police to Tico government building. The protestors, however, left the embassy peacefully.

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