Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, October 12, 2005
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
President Pacheco to
Attend
Summit in Spain
President Abel Pacheco headed for Spain last night in order to attend the 15th Latin American-Iberian summit in Salamanca, which starts tomorrow.
(Click for more)
Second Dengue Death
Reported This Year
The Public Health Ministry confirmed yesterday that the second death from hemorrhagic dengue this year took place Oct. 1 when the disease took the life of a 29-year-old woman.
(Click for more)
Central American Security Ministers
Meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense
Costa Rica will be represented during a discussion of military topics between U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Central American Security Ministers.
(Click for more)
October 12
Round Table: Alternative Medicine
Round table discussion on the scientific basis and application of alternative medicine including meditation, homeopathy, acupuncture and hypnosis. Also, marimba music will be performed. Costa Rican Doctors' and Surgeons' Association, 6 p.m.
Presentation: Bribrí and Math
Two Universidad Nacional (UNA) students will present the results of their research on indigenous Costa Ricans of Bribrí ethnicity and the way they apply and understand mathematics. Carlos Monge Library, Universidad Nacional in the province of Heredia, 2 p.m.
Edited By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
President Pacheco to
Attend
Summit in Spain
By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
President Abel Pacheco headed for Spain last night in order to attend the 15th Latin American-Iberian summit in Salamanca, which starts tomorrow.
Pacheco was expected to be joined by at least 20 heads of state from Spain and Latin America, including Chile 's Ricardo Lagos, Mexico's Vicente Fox, Venezuela 's Hugo Chávez, Brazil 's Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva and Colombia 's Alvaro Uribe.
During the summit, the leaders were expected to discuss the development of a project to strengthen the common culture between the two regions; the adoption of a Latin American-Iberian justice, liberty and security network; and advances in education, particularly at the university level and research and development.
“We will discuss very important things for our future; number one is the fight against poverty, and education, because the two are intertwined,” Pacheco said yesterday during the press conference following his weekly Cabinet meeting.
The leaders will continue negotiations regarding debt forgiveness in exchange for investment in education, a discussion that began last year when the Latin American-Iberian summit was held here.
Costa Rica will also hold bilateral meetings with Ecuador, Panama and Brazil to discuss the new tariff system proposed by the European Union, which Latin American banana producers say would devastate the region's production. The proposed tariff of 187 euros ($230) per ton of bananas imported from Latin America would prevent producers from maintaining their current levels of access to the European markets, regional leaders say. The current system is a combination of quotas and a tariff of 75 euros ($92) per ton of bananas.
Following the summit, scheduled to end Saturday, Pacheco will head to Sevilla to meet with fellow Central American leaders and Manuel Chávez González, president of the Autonomous Assembly of Andalucía.
They are expected to discuss Andalucía's contributions to Central American integration.
Pacheco will then visit the Autonomous Community of Galicia in Santiago de Compostela, where he will visit a tourism school and learn about the area's experience in fishing.
“They are master fishermen. The fish and shellfish of Galicia are known around the world,” Pacheco said, adding that the fish hatcheries of the region are also ecologically attractive. “This is what we need to be doing in Golfo Dulce and the Golfo de Nicoya: fish hatcheries.
“Costa Rica has 10 times more sea than land,” he continued. “We are an immense nation if you count the sea we have. But we don't fish. I don't understand why… so I am trying to find a way for Costa Rica to have a real fishing fleet.”
Pacheco, who will return to Costa Rica Oct. 19, will be accompanied by First Lady Leila Rodríguez, Minister of Foreign Relations Roberto Tovar and Minister of Foreign Trade Manuel González.
Second Dengue Death
Reported This Year
The Public Health Ministry confirmed yesterday that the second death from hemorrhagic dengue this year took place Oct. 1 when the disease took the life of a 29-year-old woman.
The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, died at Hospital San Juan de Dios in downtown San José.
According to the Public Health Ministry, 25,613 classic dengue cases and 40 hemorrhagic dengue cases had been registered in the country by Oct. 1, an increase of 283% compared to last year.
Most cases were reported in the country's Atlantic and Pacific regions.
The first hemorrhagic dengue death since 1999 was reported in August, when 24-year-old Christian Rodríguez died in a hospital in the Pacific port city of Puntarenas.
In 1999, two people died of this disease, a more severe form of dengue.
Dengue produces fever, body aches and rashes, and is transmitted by female infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which lay their eggs wherever water is accumulated.
-ACAN-EFE
Central American Security Ministers
Meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense
Costa Rica will be represented during a discussion of military topics between U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Central American Security Ministers.
President Abel Pacheco said today in a press conference that Costa Rica will participate in decision-making on topics such as measures against drug trafficking, arms trafficking, the trafficking of people, and all of “these tons of problems that trouble the whole region.”
“As Costa Rica does not have a military... we will attend these sorts of meetings as listeners. In terms of police action we will participate, but if it is military action we will restrain ourselves and remain quiet,” Pacheco said.
He added that it is necessary to join forces in order to combat the organized youth gangs known as maras because “today these mafias are more international than the governments themselves, and we have to respond with equal coordination.”
“The maras…have major ramifications in Mexico, the United States and the northern countries in Central America. I am sure that there are maras present in Costa Rica, and we have to be taking the appropriate measures because it is a battle we have to win together,” the President said.
The security conference will be held today and tomorrow in Miami, Florida, and is the first meeting in history of a U.S. Secretary of Defense with the defense ministers of all seven Central American countries.
On the agenda is the creation of a joint rapid deployment battalion that would offer aid in the case of natural disasters and also have missions for regional security and peacekeeping.
Costa Rica has announced that it would not take part in such a battalion, citing its historically pacifist position and lack of a military.
-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