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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 11, 2005
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| WHO'S invited to breakfast? Chefs prepared approximately 15,000 plates of gallo pinto Sunday in the latest battle in the war between Costa Rica and Nicaragua to make the world's largest dish of rice-and-beans. |
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Floods Displace Thousands
In Sarapiquí, Talamanca
Thousands of people were still waiting on their rooftops yesterday for rescue from floods that have displaced thousands on the Caribbean slope since Saturday.
(Click for more)
Costa Rica Strikes Back
In Regional Gallo Pinto War
In the third battle of the cultural food war between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Costa Rica struck back Sunday after its 2003 defeat and created the world's largest gallo pinto (beans-and-rice) dish.
(Click for more)
No More Red Octobers
For Isla del Coco
“Red October,” the name given to illegal fishing activity in the marine protected area off Isla del Coco, an island 530 kilometers southwest of Cabo Blanco, on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast, was successfully eradicated in 2004, according to the non-profit organization for marine protection MarViva.
(Click for more)
January 11
Summer Activities for Kids
The National Museum is offering the class “The Butterfly World” for kids ages 9-12, from 9-11 a.m. Other workshops for kids include: “Movies and Painting,” Jan. 11-21, 10 a.m.-noon; “Making Postcards,” for children ages 9-12, Jan. 11-21, 10 a.m.-noon; “Working with Clay,” for children ages 6-12, Jan. 11-21, 10 a.m.-noon; and “Origami,” anyone over age 9, Jan. 11-21, 10 a.m.-noon. Info: 257-1433, 256- 8643.
Jam Session
Enjoy and participate in a night of music improvisation with the trio Kin Rivera (drums), Walter Flores (piano) and Mario Alvarez (bass), 10 p.m. at Jazz Café in San Pedro.
Acting, Body Movements and Mime Classes
Registration open, classes start Jan. 15 at Giratablas Theater in Los Yoses. Info: 253-6001.
Edited By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Floods Displace Thousands
In Sarapiquí, Talamanca
By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
Thousands of people were still waiting on their rooftops yesterday for rescue from floods that have displaced thousands on the Caribbean slope since Saturday.
According to the Red Cross, at least one person has died and seven have disappeared in a record rainfall expected to end tomorrow. Those missing include both children and adults. No further information about them was available at press time.
The latest update from the National Emergency Commission (CNE), which has declared a red alert – its highest – in the region, reports more than 6,000 people have left their homes for emergency shelters.
At last count, 66 community halls, civic centers, gymnasiums, churches, and clinics in Sarapiquí, a canton in the northern province of Heredia, and towns along the Caribbean coast, including the port city Limón, have been converted into dormitories.
Stretches of roads throughout the region are underwater, buried or damaged by landslides, and the latest reports indicate 19 bridges have been damaged, at least 12 of which have collapsed. Others having suffered damage but are operating under regulated use.
Red Cross representatives said communication channels have been broken with many communities. Arnoldo Alpizar, Red Cross national chief of telecommunications, said he fears that more people could die.
Rescue crews have one helicopter at their disposal for rescue operations and, at press time, Alpizar said they were exploring the possibility of renting another or borrowing one from their Panamanian counterparts.
However, the rain and stiff winds – approaching 40 kilometers on the open sea off the Caribbean coast, according to the National Meteorological Institute – have made flights dangerous and so far precluded the use of helicopters.
Photos from a small Public Security Ministry aircraft flying over the flooded areas reveal those in most dire need of attention.
In towns such as Sixaola on the Panamanian border and those in the upper Talamanca region, boats are the only means of transportation. Police commissioner Pablo Bertozzi said he is making “every effort” to evacuate those communities.
The emergency commission announced in a conference yesterday it will request the declaration of a state of emergency in order to divert more government funds to the rescue and reconstruction efforts. Existing funds are depleted by reconstruction in the southern Pacific zone after the Nov. 20, 2004, earthquake that destroyed homes and roads, commission president Luis Diego Morales said.
“We are working in an emergency situation and we need an (emergency) decree,” he said.
He estimated the floods have caused ¢2 billion ($4.35 million) in damage and rescue costs.
Rescue teams include 250 Red Cross workers, as well as regional police forces, coast guard and air vigilance, and firefighters.
“We will put every human and material resource available toward the rescue and sheltering of those who are isolated or in risky conditions,” said Walter Navarro, nationwide police force director, in a statement.
The emergency commission has asked for, and received in part, supplies from private businesses, according to Alex Solís, the commission's chief of operations.
The Red Cross is accepting money and non-perishable food donations. For information on donating, call 233-7033.
Costa Rica Strikes Back
In Regional Gallo Pinto War
By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
In the third battle of the cultural food war between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Costa Rica struck back Sunday after its 2003 defeat and created the world's largest gallo pinto (beans-and-rice) dish.
Costa Rica first made the world's largest gallo pinto and earned a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records in August 2003, weighing in at 970 pounds, but barely two weeks later, Nicaragua celebrated its Sept. 15 Independence Day with a bigger gallo pinto, weighing 1,200 pounds (TT, Sept. 19, 2003).
Thanks to rice producer Arroz Imperio, Costa Rica retaliated Sunday in what pundits predict has degenerated into an all-out food fight, cooking 1,825 pounds of beans and 3,042 pounds of rice, for a gallo pinto that weighed 4,867 pounds. Imperio representatives are in the process of getting the dish registered in Guinness.
Twelve chefs and 32 students from the Inter-American Hoteliers University cooked up approximately 15,000 plates of the traditional dish from 10 a.m. to the mid-afternoon.
Attendees of the event – held at the west end of Paseo Colón, near La Sabana Park in San José – could purchase plates of the dish for ¢300 ($0.65) and 2,100 plates were sold. Proceeds from the sales, along with the leftovers, were donated to the kitchens of the Path of Hope Association ( Asociación Camino de Esperanza ), which gives away 27,000 meals every month in poor neighborhoods around the country.
Read more about the “world's largest gallo pinto” in Friday's Tico Times print edition or online digital PDF version.
No More Red Octobers
For Isla del Coco
By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
“Red October,” the name given to illegal fishing activity in the marine protected area off Isla del Coco, an island 530 kilometers southwest of Cabo Blanco, on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast, was successfully eradicated in 2004, according to the non-profit organization for marine protection MarViva.
Every year, marine currents near the island and national park of the same name, which belongs to Costa Rica, result in a high concentration of species in the protected area. In the past, the situation has attracted hordes of vessels for illegal fishing.
A year after the implementation of an effective patrolling strategy, MarViva's chief of operations Francisco Estrada says he believes no illegal fishing occurred during the 2004 “high season.”
“I can almost guarantee there was no illegal fishing, because, although vessels were spotted on radar 70 times, they were never caught fishing,” Estrada told The Tico Times yesterday.
Estrada said the daily newspaper La Nación reported 70 vessels were sighted last year during “Red October.” However, he said that's not necessarily the number of vessels in the area because the same boat may have been spotted on radar more than once.
An official statement from MarViva last week said that in 2004, “Red October” was reduced by 95%.
The patrolling strategy is a joint effort by the Environment Ministry (MINAE), the National Coast Guard Service and MarViva.
The Environment and Energy Ministry started working toward the eradication of illegal fishing in the area in 2002, when fishing vessels were denied entrance to the national park through a decree. MarViva joined the movement in 2003, when the organization began assisting the ministry in implementing a strategy for effective patrolling.
Fernando Quirós, director of the Isla del Coco Marine Conservation Area, said 2004 was the second year in a row “Red October” was halted, proving that alliances and teamwork were the solution.
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