The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, June 1, 2004

THOUSANDS join protest: Led by employees of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) and other public and private institutions, between 10,000 and 20,000 people flooded the streets of the capital yesterday in a march against the proposed Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States.
Tico Times/Jeffrey Arguedas

More than 10,000 Fill Streets of San José
In Country’s Largest Anti-CAFTA March
With demands to keep Costa Rica out of the hands of the “imperialist” United States, more than 10,000 protestors flooded San José streets yesterday with banners, T-shirts and chants in objection to the Central America Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).
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Only Six Earthquakes
Hit Country Last Month
Only six earthquakes rattled Costa Rica in May and those treated the country gently, which should make it a month known for its floods and not for its tremors.
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June 1

Trova Concert
Argentine trova singer Victor Heredia performs tonight at 8 p.m. at the Melico Salazar Theater in San José. Tickets are on sale at BK Music in San Pedro, Guadalupe, Escazú and Puriscal.

Buildings of the World
Admire selected buildings of the world recreated in miniatures by Bernardo Lelchuk. The exhibit runs until June 8 at the Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center in Cartago. Info: 207-7555.

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More than 10,000 Fill Streets of San José
In Country’s Largest Anti-CAFTA March
By Rebecca Kimitch
rkimitch@ticotimes.net

With demands to keep Costa Rica out of the hands of the “imperialist” United States, more than 10,000 protestors flooded San José streets yesterday with banners, T-shirts and chants in objection to the Central America Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

Employees from dozens of public institutions, students and representatives of hundreds of social organizations participated in the march and work stoppage, the largest since CAFTA negotiations began in January 2003.

The march came just days after the final version of CAFTA was signed Friday by the top trade officials of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States.

Negotiations for the free-trade agreement ended for most Central American countries in December and for Costa Rica in January (TT, Jan. 30). Since then, union groups and universities have had time to analyze the final document and formalize their arguments against the agreement (TT, May 7), which still must be approved by legislators.

“There have been other marches, but this is the first that really focuses on just CAFTA… little by little we are understanding what it will really do,” said Mario Retana, a union leader for the National Association of Public and Private Employees (ANEP). “We couldn’t take to the streets until we knew what it really said. Now I understand how bad it really is.”

Rogelio Cedeño, secretary general of the Patriotic Union for Education (SINPAE), said, “Going into this march we had modest expectations, and many people that we didn’t expect have shown up.

“People are conducting work stoppages in other parts of the country. This reveals there is an outbreak of consciousness among the people of Costa Rica, the ice has been broken, the fear is gone, the people have realized how much is at stake,” he added.

Organizers estimated as many as 20,000 people participated in the march, including 7,000 employees of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) – many wearing yellow ICE hats and singing the ICE anthem – according to Fabio Chaves, president of ICE union ASEDICE.

However, Public Security Ministry spokesman Nicolas Aguilar estimated between 10,000 and 11,000 people attended.

No problems were reported along the march’s route, where 600 officers were present, Aguilar added.

Teachers, environmentalists, Marxists, anarchists, dairy farmers from San Carlos, employees of the Ministry of Pubic Works and Transport, the Social Security System (Caja) union and a nurses’ union could all be found among the waving banners and bright yellow ICE shirts.

Also donning their yellow and red colors were members of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), who made their anti-CAFTA presence well known at the march, with several of the party’s deputies speaking to the crowd gathered outside the Legislative Assembly in east San José, where the march ended.

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Environment Ministry Suspends Employee
Investigated for Suspected Corruption

The Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE) has announced the suspension of an employee of the ministry’s Technical Secretariat (SETENA) being investigated on suspicion of extortion.

According to a statement from the ministry, Francisco Brenes is being investigated for allegedly soliciting $10,000 and a case of whiskey, in exchange for which he would agree not to hinder the construction and urbanization program called “Cerros Escazú” in Ciudad Colón, west of San José.

“It’s a grave fact that affects the Environment and Energy Ministry, and of course the administration, therefore we will faithfully follow the guidelines handed down by the President and our own convictions and principles,” Environment and Energy Minister Carlos Rodríguez said. “We are going to proceed with zero tolerance.”

Isaac Rojas, president of the Costa Rican Federation for the Conservation of the Environment (FECON), said rumors about corruption in SETENA have been circulating for years, and that this case should “obligate MINAE, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) and other competent institutions to carry out a profound investigation of SETENA and its principle functionaries.”

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Only Six Earthquakes
Hit Country Last Month
By Robert Goodier
rgoodier@ticotimes.net

Only six earthquakes rattled Costa Rica in May and those treated the country gently, which should make it a month known for its floods and not for its tremors.

April has the distinction of the quake-month title, with 29 total according to the National Seismological Network (RSN) of the University of Costa Rica’s two-month report that pegged April as a period of high seismological activity sandwiched between two months of geological calm.

After March’s six quakes, April jolted both Papagayo in the northern Pacific region and Dominical in the southern Pacific area with quakes of 5.8 and 5.1 on the Richter scale, respectively (TT Daily Page, April 13, 30). Most of the month’s activity, however, was unfelt or barely felt.

Many of those that were felt, if only a slight quiver, occurred in coastal areas, such as Papagayo and Dominical that experienced the two big ones. There, an oceanic tectonic plate is submerging beneath the isthmus and triggering quakes as it goes under, according to geologists.

April’s quakes did not produce serious damages, only shakes and a few broken dishes.

The six quakes of May demonstrate a considerable decrease in seismological activity. The final two occurred May 28, one of magnitude 3.7 near San Vito de Coto Brus and the other, measuring 2.9 on the Richter scale, in the Southern Zone’s Perez Zeledón.

The difference in activity between each month is explained by the aftershocks generated by the two large quakes in April, RSN geologist Mario Fernández said.

Most of the quakes struck just below the surface at relatively shallow depths. The deepest of April’s was 24 kilometers. Costa Rica’s quakes originate at an average of 15 kilometers down, according to Fernández.

They can reach depths of 200 kilometers, which is still shallow compared other places in the world, where epicenters can be up to 700 kilometers deep, Fernández added.

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Costa Rican Plastic Aims to Conquer
Central American, Caribbean Markets

The Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) and the Costa Rican Association of the Plastic Industry (ACIPLAST) have a plan to promote exports of Costa Rican plastic products to Central America and the Caribbean.

Roughly 70% of Costa Rican exports of plastic containers, tubes, accessories, bars and rods are shipped to those two regions, according to PROCOMER.

The plan to promote plastic exports involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Costa Rican plastics firms, generating information about customs and tax procedures in prospective markets and preparing studies on potential clients for Costa Rican firms. PROCOMER plans to help firms obtain financing to begin exporting and sorting out the logistics of transporting their products to those markets.

Authorities and companies admit there is a need to act more aggressively to promote the sector’s exports.

Total plastic exports dropped in 2003 to $129 million, having reached $136 million in 2002. Despite last year’s decrease, the overall number of products, companies and destinations for plastic exports has grown steadily over the last three years, according to PROCOMER.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005