The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 27, 2003

LULA UNDERSTANDS: Brazil's President writes thank you letter to Pacheco.
AFP/TT

Lula's Letter Vindicates Pacheco
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent a letter to President Abel Pacheco this week thanking him for sending Women's Affairs Minister Esmeralda Britton to his presidential inauguration Jan. 1.
(Click for more)

UN Issues Drug Trafficking Report
The amount of cocaine and marijuana trafficked through Central America has not diminished and local consumption of illegal drugs has increased, the United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report issued yesterday.
(Click for more)

February 27

Spanish Night Fiesta
Casa España invites all to its Andalucía Fiesta, which includes tapas, live music, Flamenco by Cuadro Flamenco Aljibe, Flamencos de Costa Rica, Grupo Tierra Flamenca at 8 p.m., behind the ICE, north Sabana. Info: 296-95-75.

Dan Robinson Latin Jazz Hop
A Latin jazz show with hip-hop by singer Dan Robinson accompaigned by pianist Walter Flores, Marcos (bass), Gilberto Jarquín (drums) at 10 p.m. at Jazz Café, 2 blocks east from Outlet Mall, 253-8933.

Learn Some Dance or Martial Arts
Pro Danza offers classes in Belly Dance, Ballet, Yoga, Hip-Hop, Flamenco, Tango, Latinmotion, Baile Popular, Jazz-Modern, Streching-clases, and Dance-thearpy. In the martial arts you can choose among Karate, Hapkido, Aikido, Iaido-Club, Tai-Chi, or enjoy a Shiatzu-Massage. The dance studio is in the industrial zone, 50 m east of office-center Pizza-Hut, Pavas. Info: 290-2293, 290-2271.

Film Show "El Gabinete del Doctor Caligari"
By Robert Wiene, German Impresionism, at 6 p.m., Calderón Guardia Museum, Av. 11/13, Ca. 25, Barrio Escalante. Info: 255-1218.

Workshop "Iniciation to the Awakening of the Wild Woman," by Clarissa Pinkola, at 5 p.m., Chubascos Restaurant, Moravia. Info: 273-1863.

Return To Top Of Page

Shipwreck Victims Return Home

After an unwanted two-day "vacation" in Costa Rica, the 13 shipwreck victims saved off the coast of Cuba last weekend and brought Monday to the Caribbean port town of Limón boarded planes and buses and left for their respective countries yesterday.

The crew --four Panamanians, four Hondurans, two Colombians, an Ecuadorian, a Peruvian and a Cuban -- were rescued by a Colombian-registered Dole banana ship that responded to an SOS sent out Saturday night when the Belize-registered ship carrying 25 buses was damaged in high seas and began to sink (TT Daily Page, Feb. 25).

Only three of the sailors suffered minor bumps and bruises, and were treated and released from the hospital in Limón.

The group went their separate ways yesterday, with eight of sailors leaving Costa Rica on a bus through Panama and five flying out of San José. The shipping company the sailors work for picked up the tab for the victims' stay here and transportation costs home.

Return To Top Of Page

Lula's Letter Vindicates Pacheco
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent a letter to President Abel Pacheco this week thanking him for sending Women's Affairs Minister Esmeralda Britton to his presidential inauguration Jan. 1.

The letter was in response to the daily La Nación's criticism of Pacheco for not attending the event in person, and sending Britton -- a "minister without portfolio" -- in his place (TT Daily Page, Jan. 9).

Lula told Pacheco he was touched by the gesture of sending a woman.

"It was with great pleasure that we received Minister Britton as your personal representative," he wrote in the letter, which Pacheco read aloud during this week's cabinet meeting. "I was informed of the important activities she has been involved with in the fight to defend the rights of women and minority groups."

Lula also announced in the letter his plans to create a Women's Affairs Office in Brazil similar to the one Britton heads here.

"Our government plans to pay special attention to women's rights; and to accomplish this we will create a government office charged with protecting them," he wrote. "Minister Britton's presence at my inauguration ceremony demonstrated Costa Rica's sensitivity and understanding of this important challenge Brazil must face."

Pacheco said he was pleased with the letter and lashed out at the media for having questioned his decision to send Britton earlier in the year.

"I sent a person in whom I have great confidence," Pacheco explained. "I would have loved to have personally attended the ceremony, but had I gone on the trip, I would have been criticized for leaving the country and taking a vacation.

"That's why I sent someone who exemplifies Costa Rica's commitment to human rights," the President stressed.

Return To Top Of Page

UN Issues Drug Trafficking Report
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

The amount of cocaine and marijuana trafficked through Central America has not diminished and local consumption of illegal drugs has increased, the United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report issued yesterday.

The report also noted that the amount of mainly European travelers smuggling small amounts of drugs in and out of Central America rose in the past year.
While the report cites some drug interdiction progress in many Central American countries last year, the report claims that government corruption and weapons trafficking continue undermine efforts to crack down on the illegal drug trade.

The report also found that drug traffickers are exploiting free-trade assembly areas, especially in the Caribbean.

"The Caribbean Drug Control Coordination Mechanism has estimated that 40-50% of the cocaine being transported through the Caribbean in containers on ships passes through free-trade areas," according to the report.

The report stressed the importance of continuing to work on joint initiatives to combat international drug trafficking, and warned that countries should not forsake the drug war for the war on terrorism.

"The Board calls on Canada, the United States and countries in Europe, as the main destinations of the illicit drug shipments, not to reduce their drug control assistance in favor of measures against terrorism, but to look for new ways to combine both," the report states.

Return To Top Of Page