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09 Dic 2005 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, December 09, 2005
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Beach Town
Objects to Coca-Cola
Like their compatriots months earlier, businesses, consumers and environmentalists in Playa Nosara, in the northwest province of Guanacaste, are objecting to Coca-Cola distributors bringing them only plastic bottles, instead of glass.
(Click for more)
Nicaraguans, Ticos
Take Part in ‘ Gritería '
Hundreds of Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica attended religious ceremonies held Wednesday night in San José 's Plaza de la Democracia to exalt the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception in a tradition known as “ la gritería, ” or “the shouting.”
(Click for more)
Record Numbers to
Face Off in Copa del Café
The 42 nd annual youth tennis tournament, the Copa del Café, will take place from Jan. 2-7 and feature a record 190 players from 38 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe, the tournament organization announced yesterday.
(Click for more)
December 09
Flamenco Show
Thirty-one dancers, ages 7-50, from the group Al Andalus, directed by Rocío González, Dec. 10, 9 p.m., at the auditorium of Edificio Cooperativo, behind San Pedro Mall.
Christmas Celebration at Museum
Including a mass, the blessing of the Nativity Scene, a concert of Christmas carols, and a sharing of a tamal and agua dulce, Dec. 9, 5 p.m., National Museum.
Nativity Scene of Los Heraldos del Evangelio (Heralds of the New Testament)
Presentation of small figures in dioramas that move and special effects, Dec. 10-Jan. 14, finishing with the traditional Rosary to Child Jesus, Mon.-Sat. 3-7 p.m.; Sun. 3-8:30 p.m., in the white house 200 meters west and 75 south of the main entrance to Club La Guaria in Moravia. For further information call 235-5410.
Cricket Match
Lamberts CORSAIRS will represent San José against Raleigh International, the GAP-type organization seeking revenge for its September defeat off the bats of CCCCR, Dec. 11, 10 a.m., at CATIE agricultural college, Turrialba.
Edited By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff
lbaxter@ticotimes.net
Beach Town
Objects to Coca-Cola
Like their compatriots months earlier, businesses, consumers and environmentalists in Playa Nosara, in the northwest province of Guanacaste, are objecting to Coca-Cola distributors bringing them only plastic bottles, instead of glass.
Hotel owners, restaurateurs, supermarkets and residents signed a letter to Coca-Cola Femsa S.A., the company that bottles and distributes Coca-Cola in Costa Rica, saying that they are disturbed by the switch from glass to plastic fundamentally because of its environmental impacts.
“If you go to one of the beautiful beaches of this beautiful country, often you will observe plastic bottles tossed everywhere, while you will never find as many glass bottles,” states the letter, signed by Roberta Jones, president of the Nosara Civic Association, and more than 60 others.
The letter signers also complain that they have not been paid their ¢100 ($0.20) deposit for the glass bottles they still have in their possession. They suggest that Coca-Cola offer a deposit for plastic bottles, so that people have a financial incentive for returning the bottles instead of throwing them away.
In September, residents and business owners of the Southern Zone initiated a boycott of Coca-Cola Femsa products also because they objected to the company's decision to deliver them only plastic bottles. Restaurants and hotels made the switch to Pepsi products.
Coca-Cola Femsa officials responded that the switch was meant to facilitate shipping and said recycling efforts were planned (TT, Sept. 9).
In Nosara, where the switch to plastic was made several months ago, Coca-Cola Femsa has installed “special containers for the collection of plastic bottles,” but they are not emptied often enough when they are full, according to the letter.
The letter signers say that they understand it is not Coca-Cola's job to educate people about the environment, “but if you can avoid damage, why not do it?”
Nicaraguans, Ticos
Take Part in ‘ Gritería '
Hundreds of Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica attended religious ceremonies held Wednesday night in San José 's Plaza de la Democracia to exalt the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception in a tradition known as “ la gritería, ” or “the shouting.”
Chanting the phrase “Who causes so much joy? Mary's Conception!” Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans shared in this traditional Nicaraguan religious celebration. The activity was organized by the Nicaraguan Embassy in Costa Rica, the Costa Rican National Museum and the Archdioceses and Municipality of San José.
During the celebration, organizers announced the creation of an association dedicated to promoting brotherhood between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, whose relations have been strained by the recent deaths of two Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica – one allegedly because of a xenophobic attack and the other after being mauled by guard dogs (see today's print or online PDF edition of The Tico Times for more on these deaths) – and an ongoing border dispute over navigation rights on the San Juan River, which flows along the border between both countries.
For more than 150 years, Nicaraguans have celebrated the “ gritería ” every Dec. 6. Each year, thousands of Catholics take to the streets to dedicate songs and prayers to the Virgin and set off fireworks, after which sweets are distributed among the participants.
– ACAN-EFE
Record Numbers to
Face Off in Copa del Café
The 42 nd annual youth tennis tournament, the Copa del Café, will take place from Jan. 2-7 and feature a record 190 players from 38 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe, the tournament organization announced yesterday.
Julio Castillo, member of the organizing committee, said yesterday at a press conference that for the first time in the history of the tournament a pre-classification phase will be introduced to determine the 64 players who will contend for the cup in each bracket (female and male).
The cup is a part of Group One of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which has become one of the most competitive tournaments in the world for players under age 18.
One hundred players have been registered in the male bracket for the 2006 tournament, including Dutch citizen Thiemo De Bakker, who will be ranked as the third best player in the world in his category next January, and Czechoslovakian Roman Jebavy, who is ranked 62.
Latin America will be represented by Mexican Alejandro Moreno, Argentinean Guillermo Durán, Venezuelan Ricard Hernández and four Costa Ricans: Eduardo Pinto, Oliver Nowalsky, Esteban Vargas and Andrés Kaver.
Registered to compete in the female bracket are 90 competitors, highlighted by the appearances of the Dutch Bibiane Schoofs, ranked 17 th in the world, Renee Reinhard, ranked 32 nd, and U.S. citizen Julia Cohen, who is ranked 35 th and has been a tournament finalist on two previous occasions.
The tournament will take place at the Costa Rica Country Club in Escazú, west of San José.
– ACAN-EFE
