[dailyarchive/2005_02/exchange_rates.htm]
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 14, 2005
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President Pacheco
Leaves Hospital
President Abel Pacheco left the Hospital Calderón Guardia on Saturday after two days of medical exams following chest pains he experienced Friday morning. Doctors say he did not suffer a heart attack and that his symptoms were brought on by work-related stress, although tests revealed he does have small fissures in his arteries.
(Click for more)
Fishing Law Approved
In Second Debate
A long-awaited fishing law that includes sanctions against fishing in protected areas, unlicensed fishing vessels and shark-finning was approved Friday by the Legislative Assembly in second debate.
(Click for more)
Health Ministry to Install Latrines
In Low-Income Regions
In an attempt to improve the quality of life of some of Costa Rica's poorest families, officials from the Ministry of Health's Basic Rural Sanitation Program (SANEBAR) plan to install 1,500 fiberglass latrines in homes around the country this year.
(Click for more)
February 14
Happy Valentine's Day!
For the Day of Love enjoy one of the following activities.
Concert of the Duo de Madera
Librería Internacional invites everyone to take advantage of its fair and delight themselves with the musical presentation by the Duo de Madera at 6 p.m. at the Paseo de las Flores store or at 8 p.m. at Multiplaza, Escazú.
Pimpinela in Concert
Ballad concert to celebrate Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 8 p.m., Planet Mall, Mall San Pedro, tickets on sale at Más x Menos, Hipermás, Maxibodegas supermarkets, Bansbach stores and Sharper Store, 207-2025.
Sinatra on Valentine's Day
Expresso Band performs live music remembering Frank Sinatra, Feb. 14, 6:30-10 p.m., Villa Hermosa Restaurant, Costa Rica Marriott Hotel, San Antonio de Belén, 298-0806.
Edited By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
President Pacheco
Leaves Hospital
By Katherine Stanley With EFE Reports
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
President Abel Pacheco left the Hospital Calderón Guardia on Saturday after two days of medical exams following chest pains he experienced Friday morning. Doctors say he did not suffer a heart attack and that his symptoms were brought on by work-related stress, although tests revealed he does have small fissures in his arteries.
The fissures, also known as coronary ischemia syndrome, involve an energy deficiency in the heart muscle.
However, Luis Paulino Hernández, general director of Calderón Guardia, said Friday that Pacheco's recent symptoms are not necessarily indicative of future problems, and that he is in “excellent general health.”
A Casa Presidencial spokeswoman confirmed to The Tico Times that all of Pacheco's medical tests had “turned out well,” with no serious problems revealed.
Pacheco, 71, did not offer declarations to the press upon his departure from the hospital, returning directly to his home in the western San José suburb of Pavas under heavy escort.
The President received various visitors during his stay, including Vice-President Lineth Saborío and Minister of Health Rocio Sáenz.
Asked on Friday if Pacheco had been subjected to any particular stress lately, Saborío said, “Tension, stress, that's part of governing every day.”
Hernández said the President, who is a diabetic, would need to follow a healthy diet and exercise regimen to help ensure good health.
In addition, doctors recommended that Pacheco take a weeklong vacation to reduce his exposure to stress.
However, Pacheco announced in a Sunday statement that he would do no such thing.
“Leaving my obligations is impossible,” he said. “I can't. It would do me more damage to go on vacation because of a medical order and begin to suffer because of what is going on.”
He said he would return to work today, Monday, but with a slightly less strenuous agenda than usual.
“They tell me to take care of my stress, but we'll see how I do. It is difficult to be President, if you love your people, and not suffer stress,” Pacheco added.
Throughout his stay, Pacheco maintained his characteristic, genial tone. He sang the praises of the hospital staff, saying “they treated me like a king;” told the Costa Rican people to be “calm – this little old man isn't dying;” and said in a phone interview with the television program Buen Día that “they gave me every possible test. I think the only one I'm missing is the Papanicolau (pap smear).”
Fishing Law Approved
In Second Debate
A long-awaited fishing law that includes sanctions against fishing in protected areas, unlicensed fishing vessels and shark-finning was approved Friday by the Legislative Assembly in second debate.
Environmental groups such as the non-profit marine protection organization MarViva have been lobbying in favor of increased fishing regulations for nearly 10 years.
“Finally, Costa Rica has a law that regulates the fishing sector, the types of fishing, and the prohibitions and requirements for the authorization of these activities,” MarViva legal director María Virginia Cajiao said in a statement.
“The law establishes 18 new penal categories, which obligate authorities to exercise greater control,” she added. “Also, the law includes important prohibitions against shark-finning…and sports-fishing in national parks.”
The Fishing and Aquaculture Law Project was approved in first debate on Dec. 16, 2004 – for the second time. After the assembly approved it in July of last year, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) declared two of its articles unconstitutional. This temporarily prevented the project from progressing to the second vote it needs to become law.
However, legislators modified the offending articles to deal with the Sala IV objections (TT, Jan. 14).
Costa Rica's previous fishing law, which dated to 1948, was struck down by the Sala IV in 1995 because penalties for violations were not clearly defined (TT, July 23, August 6, 2004). This created what the MarViva statement describes as “a legal void.”
The new law establishes the Costa Rican Fishing Institute (INCOPESCA) as the body in charge of enforcing the law. It makes the fishing or hunting of cetaceans and turtles illegal, and establishes higher fines and prison sentences for shark-finning – the process of cutting off sharks' valuable cartilage-filled fins and discarding the rest of the body.
President Abel Pacheco must now sign the Fishing and Aquaculture project for it to enter into law.
Health Ministry to Install Latrines
In Low-Income Regions
In an attempt to improve the quality of life of some of Costa Rica's poorest families, officials from the Ministry of Health's Basic Rural Sanitation Program (SANEBAR) plan to install 1,500 fiberglass latrines in homes around the country this year.
According to a statement from the ministry, the Family Allowance Fund (FONDESAF) will finance the purchase of the latrines, which will cost approximately ¢27 million ($58,696). The Health Ministry will oversee their installation, provide transport for the materials involved, and offer training to families that receive latrines so they know how to use and maintain them.
If all goes according to plan, the latrines will be purchased in May, with installation to begin in June. The ministry is currently analyzing the socioeconomic needs of the country's poorest cantons to select the communities that will receive the latrines.
The “dry latrines” work in areas without water, the ministry's statement said.
The Health Ministry began the Process of National Latrine Distribution in May, 1998. Through this process, the ministry has already installed approximately 20,000 latrines in various regions of the country. Ministry officials hope to eliminate the shortage of latrines nationwide, currently estimated at 25,000, by the end of 2015.
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