Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, September 28, 2005
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pacheco:
Country Already
Preparing for CAFTA
President Abel Pacheco explained yesterday the various measures his administration is taking to prepare for the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which he still has not sent to the Legislative Assembly, but will submit “shortly.”
(Click for more)
Hawksbill Turtle Nests
Hatch on Pacific Coast
Two rare hawksbill turtle nests have hatched successfully at Playa Caletas in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, producing 216 baby turtles, according to a statement the Sea Turtle Restoration Program (PRETOMA) released yesterday.
(Click for more)
Search for Nun Taken
By River Continues
The search continues for a Nicaraguan nun, identified as Gladys Lacayo Mendiola, who fell Saturday into the Río Sarapiquí river, in northern Costa Rica, and is missing, search officials announced yesterday.
(Click for more)
September 28
Fotoveritas Film Forum
Tonight features “El Arca Rusa” ( Russia ), by Aleksandr Sokurov; 6 p.m., at Veritas University auditorium, Zapote. Info: 283-4747.
“Mujeres Bonitas” Film Festival
Tonight features “ La Niña Santa,” by Pedro Almodóvar, 7 p.m., Plaza del Farolito, Barrio Escalante. Info: 257-2919, free entrance.
Piano Concert
Performed by Juan Pablo Andrade at 8 p.m., National Theater.
Edited By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Pacheco: Country Already Preparing for CAFTA
By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
President Abel Pacheco explained yesterday the various measures his administration is taking to prepare for the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which he still has not sent to the Legislative Assembly, but will submit “shortly.”
Pacheco and his ministers explained that the complementary agenda necessary for CAFTA goes far beyond the $219.4 million package of low-interest loans presented in June as the government's strategy for making Costa Rica more competitive (TT, June 24).
“We are going to create a great change for Costa Rica,” Pacheco said.
According to the President and his ministers, many of the projects and goals of the Pacheco administration as a whole are related to the complementary agenda for CAFTA.
The government has been taking steps to “ensure the just and fair distribution of wealth” generated by CAFTA, explained Foreign Trade Minister Manuel González during the press conference following Pacheco's weekly Cabinet meeting.
Economy Minister Gilberto Barrantes proceeded to delineate the various steps the government has taken in recent months, and years, tying them to CAFTA and explaining how they will improve the country's preparedness to take advantage of the trade agreement.
He included achievements that were not necessarily put in the framework of CAFTA – such as $6 million donation from the government of the South Korean government for a biodiversity research center, and creating a network of small and medium businesses.
Barrantes also mentioned a host of bills that await approval by the Legislative Assembly that would improve the country's conditions for CAFTA, from customs reform to putting the country in accordance with intellectual property rights agreements.
A bill to strengthen the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the state-run telecommunications monopoly, is in Pacheco's hands and ready to be sent to the Legislative Assembly for approval; and a bill to change the National Insurance Institute (INS) to prepare for CAFTA will be in his hands within 15 days. Both institutions will be opened, at least partially, to competition under CAFTA.
Pacheco stressed that the aim of the ICE law is to strengthen the institution against private competition, not dissolve it.
“How could I close ICE and give to a man to sell it for more money? I can't do that. The people are the owners of ICE,” he said.
“This is a panorama of what we have been doing regarding this. I don't know if the Legislative Assembly will approve CAFTA or not... this is a matter for the assembly. Our job is to give them the largest number of tools and send it,” Pacheco said.
Hawksbill Turtle Nests
Hatch on Pacific Coast
Two rare hawksbill turtle nests have hatched successfully at Playa Caletas in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, producing 216 baby turtles, according to a statement the Sea Turtle Restoration Program (PRETOMA) released yesterday.
Hawksbill turtle populations, in critical danger of extinction, have declined dramatically because poachers and hunters steal their eggs and hunt them for their ornate carapace, used to make jewelry, sunglasses and combs.
On Costa Rica 's Pacific coast, hawksbill turtles are “so rare that witnessing a nesting female is an extraordinarily unusual event,” the statement said.
PRETOMA, which has monitored sea turtles in Playa Caletas since 2002, noted in July the unexpected arrival of a hawksbill turtle that deposited 127 eggs at the beach.
The turtle was immediately tagged and its eggs transferred to a hatchery for protection.
Three days later, the same procedure followed the unexpected arrival of another hawksbill that laid 103 eggs.
On Sept. 15, 63 days after the incubation of the first nest began, 100% of the eggs hatched successfully and 127 baby turtles were delivered into the ocean. Sept. 17 was the birthday of the second batch, when 85%, or 89 turtles from the second nest, survived and were liberated at sea.
PRETOMA is currently working alongside the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE) to declare Caletas and its surrounding areas a National Wildlife Refuge.
Search for Nun Taken By River Continues
The search continues for a Nicaraguan nun, identified as Gladys Lacayo Mendiola, who fell Saturday into the Río Sarapiquí river, in northern Costa Rica, and is missing, search officials announced yesterday.
A Red Cross spokesperson told ACAN-EFE that the institution had confirmed the identity of the missing nun, whose nationality was reported by the family members the nun had come to visit.
Lacayo, 32, belongs to the order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She fell into the river Saturday when she was trying to cross it.
The river was particularly high because of the rainfall that Costa Rica experienced over the weekend.
The nun had arrived in Costa Rica 20 days earlier to visit her sister in Tres Rosales de Sarapiquí, in the province of Heredia, north of San José.
According to neighbors, she fell into the river as she attempted to cross it on a wooden walkway.
Jeancarlo Cortés, Lacayo's nephew, told the daily Al Día that he continues to hope the body of his “beloved aunt” will appear and ease the minds of the entire family.
“Since she disappeared, I have come every day to see if the river returns her to me,” he said.
– ACAN-EFE
Daily News | Home | Top Story | Business News | Central American News
Editorial Cartoon | Weekend | Exchange Rates | Fishing | Culture | Classified Ads
Display Ads | Subscribe! | Travel Guide | Archives | Links | About Us | Newsstand Locations
Contact Us