Daily Edition: San Josι, Costa Rica, September 21, 2005
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Hundreds March to Protest CAFTA
Hundreds of protestors turned out yesterday to voice their opposition to the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), filling the streets with familiar signs and chants. The marches were organized by workers' unions and student groups, beginning at Parque la Merced and marching to Casa Presidencial in Zapote, in southeast San José.
(Click for more)
Courts Rules Against Bus
Company for Charging Dog
The seeing-impaired apparently have champions in the justice system the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) has ordered a bus company to pay damages to Roy Rojas, a blind man who was charged an extra fare when he brought his seeing-eye dog on board.
(Click for more)
September 21
Creative Encounter
Fine arts workshops, traditional games and storytelling, 10 a.m., Cerro de Sabanilla, Alajuela.
12th International Guitar Festival
Luis Aguilar (C.R.), Pepe Romero (Spain), tonight, 8 p.m.; Teimuraz Ronishvili (C.R.), Mario Ulloa (C.R.), Armandinho (Brazil), Sept. 22, 8 p.m.; Manuel Montero (C.R.), Juanjo Domínguez (Argentina), Sept. 23, 8 p.m.; Jorge Chicoy (Cuba), Cristóbal López (Mexico), Jason Jenkins (U.S.), Federico Miranda (C.R.), Jorge Molina (C.R.), Sept. 24, 4 p.m.; Balá Duo (C.R.), Assad (Brazil), Sept. 24, 8 p.m.; closing concert with all participants and César Lara (Mexico), Robbin Blanco (Mexico), Buddy Tetreault (U.S.), University of Costa Rica Guitar Orchestra, Castella Conservatory Guitar Orchestra, Sept. 25, 8 p.m., National Theater.
Movie Night
Featuring Mosso Mosso Jean Rouch Comme Si, (French) at 7 p.m., at Sala Gómez Miralles at the Centro de Cine; La Reine Margot (French), Patrice Chéreau at 6 p.m., Veritas University, Zapote; Flores de Otro Mundo (in Spanish) at 7 p.m., at Plaza del Farolito, Barrio Escalante, 257-2919, free entrance.
Edited By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
Hundreds March to Protest CAFTA
By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff
lbaxter@ticotimes.net
Hundreds of protestors turned out yesterday to voice their opposition to the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), filling the streets with familiar signs and chants. The marches were organized by workers' unions and student groups, beginning at Parque la Merced and marching to Casa Presidencial in Zapote, in southeast San José.
The march, which began with somewhat scanty numbers in comparison to previous anti-CAFTA protests, grew in size as it went along, and joined forces with student protesters who had stopped traffic at the major roundabout in San Pedro, east of downtown San José. The protest was intended to coincide with President Abel Pacheco's weekly press conference at Casa Presidencial, yesterday devoted to the final report submitted by the Council of Notables, a five-member group chosen by Pacheco to study the text of the agreement for the past two months.
Rafael Beita, an accountant at the National Insurance Institute (INS) the state institution that has a monopoly over insurance in Costa Rica but would face competition under CAFTA said he was marching because certain articles in the agreement go against the rights of Costa Ricans.
It doesn't do us any good to have foreign insurance companies come here to compete with us because INS is the institution that maintains the national firefighter corps, he said, walking along Avenida Segunda. I don't believe a foreign insurance company coming here would assume that responsibility.
He added that while there are some parts of the agreement that would benefit Costa Rica, there are others that don't, and it deserves more study.
What we want is that it is negotiated, and not imposed, he said.
Manuel Gómez, an 18-year-old high school student, told The Tico Times he is against the treaty because the United States wants to dominate us, as they always have done since the beginning, and we are fed up with it.
Some U.S. citizens were also among the protesters.
I'm here to show solidarity with the Costa Rican people and to show that there are conscientious Americans as well, said Jason Moyer Lee, one of several study-abroad students from Long Island University who were marching in the protest. I think that any free-trade agreement always fucks the little guy, and Costa Rica is definitely the little guy against the United States.
See Friday's print or online pdf version of The Tico Times for the full story.
Courts Rules Against Bus Company for Charging Dog
The seeing-impaired apparently have champions in the justice system the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) has ordered a bus company to pay damages to Roy Rojas, a blind man who was charged an extra fare when he brought his seeing-eye dog on board.
The decision came in response to a request for an injunction Rojas, a 25-year-old blind student, filed against the bus company Transportes Unidos Alajuelenses S.A. (TUASA).
Rojas filed the request after an incident in May in which he and his seeing-eye dog boarded a bus on the Heredia-Alajuela route and the driver charged him two fares one for Rojas and one for his dog.
The court ruled that the act constituted discrimination against a blind person because a guide dog is an organic extension of the blind person, and no extra fare should be charged for the animal.
A year ago, the chamber ordered taxis to have auditory meters and the government to modify paper money to allow blind passengers to differentiate denominations by touch (TT, Sept. 3, 2004). In November the court ruled a blind man could enter and eat in a restaurant with his guide dog.
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