Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 18,  2003

PANI Report: 823 Child
Pregnancies Reported Each Year
Each year an average of 823 girls under the age of 14 become pregnant as a result of sexual abuse in Costa Rica, a report issued last week by the Child Welfare Office (PANI) revealed.
(Click for more)

Central America Discussing Proposal to
Include Arts and Crafts in CAFTA
Guatemala (AFP) - Central American trade negotiators handling the region's free-trade negotiations with the U.S. (CAFTA) meet this week in Guatemala City to draft their proposal to the basic framework for the treaty which will include a section on trade privileges for the area's arts and crafts.
(Click for more)

Central American Presidents Will Meet
to Define Agenda for Meeting With Bush
Tegucigalpa, Honduras (AFP) - President Abel Pacheco is on Isla Roatán off Honduras' Caribbean coast today to meet with the leaders of the other four Central American countries involved in the region's free-trade negotiations with the U.S. (CAFTA).
(Click for more)

Comic Exhibit
"Certamen de Cómic e Ilustración Injuve 2000," a cartoon and illustration
exhibit opening tonight at 7 p.m. at the Spanish Cultural Center, Av. 13,
Ca. 31. Info: 257-2919.

Handicrafts Classes
Quilting, Puppets, Cloth Angels, Country Painting, Hardanger, Needlepoint,
Smock, more! Individual instruction in English or Spanish. In Colima de
Tibás, 150 m west of the Cruce Llorente-Colima, Tuesday through Saturday.
No registration fee. Info: 236-6937 (business hours) or 235-1738 (after
hours).

Jazz Concert
Cuarteto Esporádico, Manuel Obregón, Fidel Gamboa, Jaime Gamboa, Kin Rivera
will be playing at Bar Key Largo, Av. 1, Ca. 5-7. Info: 225-2692.

PANI Report: 823 Child
Pregnancies Reported Each Year

Each year an average of 823 girls under the age of 14 become pregnant as a result of sexual abuse in Costa Rica, a report issued last week by the Child Welfare Office (PANI) revealed.

"The highest number of pregnancies, 956, was reported in 2000," the report stated.
"Last year, 600 pregnancies were reported, but the official figures have not been compiled yet.

"All of the minors were victims of sexual abuse and developed high-risk pregnancies," it continued. "The pregnancies caused great emotional damage and most of the victims have had to undergo permanent psychological counseling."

In 2001, PANI attended to 1,203 sexual abuse cases, 762 of which were perpetrated by family members living in the same home as the victim. That same year, the National Children's Hospital dealt with 132 separate cases of sexual abuse.

The issue of teen pregnancy gained national attention in February after the media reported on the pregnancy of a nine-year-old Nicaraguan girl in the Caribbean-slope town of Turrialba. (TT Daily, Feb. 19)

After much speculation, the girl and her parents returned to Nicaragua where doctors performed a therapeutic abortion. The abortion, carried-out at a private clinic in Managua, was sharply criticized by the Catholic Church, which excommunicated her parents and the doctors who performed the procedure.

-AFP

Central America Discussing Proposal to
Include Arts and Crafts in CAFTA

Guatemala (AFP) - Central American trade negotiators handling the region's free-trade negotiations with the U.S. (CAFTA) meet this week in Guatemala City to draft their proposal to the basic framework for the treaty which will include a section on trade privileges for the area's arts and crafts.

"During the preparation meetings a proposal will be drafted that will include a request to include Central American arts and crafts in the list of products that would be granted preferential access to the U.S. market," Guatemalan Economy Minister Gustavo Soberanis explained.

"We're bringing up arts and crafts as one of the distinctive elements of the treaty's negotiation," head Guatemalan negotiator Salomón Cohen explained. "The U.S. is the primary market for Central American arts and crafts. There are 1.5 million artisans in the region, one million of which are Guatemalans from poor rural areas. A significant portion of artisans are also women."

Under the treaty, arts and crafts could become subject to Intellectual Property Rights laws, which would significantly increase their price, Cohen added.

The proposal will be discussed during the third round of CAFTA negotiations from March 31 though April 4 in El Salvador. At the previous round of talks in Ohio last month, the U.S. presented its proposal for a framework.

-AFP