The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 12, 2004

OLYMPIC-bound: Tico striker Alvaro Saborío celebrates after scoring a goal against Honduras Tuesday night. Costa Rica's sub-23 men's soccer team defeated Honduras 2-0 to earn a place in this year's Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
TT Photo/AFP

Environmentalists, Community
Vow to Stop Miramar Gold Mine
Environmental groups and community activists have announced they will file an injunction before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) to stop the exploitation of the Bellavista Mine - an open-pit gold mine in Pacific-slope town of Miramar de Puntarenas, 70 kilometers west of San José.
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More Colombians Seek Asylum
About 8,000 Colombians who fled the violence in their country now live in Costa Rica, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (ACNUR). That number makes Colombians the second most represented nationality of refugees in the country, behind Nicaragua.
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February 12

5th Annual Guanacaste String Festival
Festival includes the Leatherbacks, Latin group Son Caliente, Guanacaste folk music by Benjamin Paniagua, blues by Jerry Flenner, acoustic country by Laurie Buchana and punk rock by Johnny Trash. Proceeds benefit Tamarindo Pro Mejoras' beach cleanup program, 7 p.m., La Bodega at the Tamarindo Resort. Info: 653-0742, owlhumm@hotmail.com.

La Calle de la Gran Ocasión
Theatrical production about the different relationships of a couple, Feb. 12-15, 8 p.m., Sala Vargas Calvo, behind the National Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 5 in San José.

"Great Love Stories" Film Festival
Festival including movies such as "Gabriela," "Cumbres Borrascosas," and "The Dark Side of the Heart," Feb. 12-14, Calderón Guardia Museum, 100 m. east, 125 m. north of Santa Teresita Church in Barrio Escalante. Info: 255-1218, 222-6392.

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Environmentalists, Community
Vow to Stop Miramar Gold Mine

Environmental groups and community activists have announced they will file an injunction before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) to stop the exploitation of the Bellavista Mine - an open-pit gold mine in Pacific-slope town of Miramar de Puntarenas, 70 kilometers west of San José.

The mine, operated by the firm Río Minerales, a subsidiary of Canadian mining firm Glencairn Gold, has come under fire in recent months. Representatives of the community and various environmental groups have said it threatens the local ecosystem (TT, Jan. 30).

"The Popular Forum and the Environmentalist Association Yiski are completely opposed to this type of exploitation of natural resources," said Yiski's president, María Elena Fournier. "In addition to cutting down trees in neighboring villages and contaminating rivers with chemical products, it endangers the lives of people that live in this community."

In January 2001, before President Abel Pacheco issued a permanent ban on open-pit mining, the Environment Ministry approved the project. Opposition by the community and environmental groups delayed the mine's opening for several months.

The mine began operations last month.
--AFP

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More Colombians Seek Asylum

About 8,000 Colombians who fled the violence in their country now live in Costa Rica, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (ACNUR). That number makes Colombians the second most represented nationality of refugees in the country, behind Nicaragua.

A report released Wednesday by the Ombudsman in Bogotá, Colombia, indicated that more than 13,000 Colombian refugees reside in Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama.

Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama "have seen how the Colombian conflict has become a regional problem that has lead to an ever-increasing number of requests for asylum, or to increasingly common illegal migrations of Colombians toward other countries," according to the report.

After those bordering countries, the report named Costa Rica as one of the most troubling cases of immigrants seeking asylum.
--AFP

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Donation from Japan
Will Help Build Operating Room

A $67,000 donation from Japan will help build a much needed eye-surgery room at the Dr. Raúl Blanco Cervantes National Hospital of Geriatrics and Gerontology.

The contract for the donation is expected to be signed today by Japanese Ambassador Tadanori Inomata and Olga Quirós, president of the Pro-Hospital Association.

The National Hospital of Geriatrics and Gerontology is the only geriatric hospital in Costa Rica. More than 70% of its patients suffer from eye problems, and 75% of those have cataracts, a clouding of the eye's lens that causes blurred and double vision. Surgery is necessary if the problem is not treated early.

Despite this, the hospital does not have an ophthalmology surgery room.

The donation, funded by Japan's Assistance Program for Community Projects, will also help improve the quality and capacity of eye surgery at the hospital.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005