|
Currency | |
|
Dollar Exchange: | |
|
Central Bank | |
|
|
 Sell ¢495.80 |
|
CR Colon: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
US Dollar: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 Dic 2005 |
|
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, December 16, 2005
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Solís Asks Arias
For Public Meeting
In a creative use of advertising, Citizen Action Party (PAC) presidential candidate Ottón Solís sent a letter yesterday to National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate Oscar Arias asking him for a public meeting to try and find consensus.
(Click for more)
Baby Jesus Stolen
from
National Theater
The baby Jesus statue from a nativity scene that traditionally decorates the National Theater gardens in downtown San José in December was stolen on Tuesday, sources from the theater said yesterday.
(Click for more)
Bike Race to Involve 15
Teams, Seven Countries
The 41st Annual Bike Tour of Costa Rica, which starts today and continues through Dec. 29, will bring together 15 teams from Costa Rica, Germany, Chile, Mexico, France, Argentina and Venezuela.
(Click for more)
December 16
“Nace Jesús “
A Christmas show that tells the story of Jesus' Birth with beautiful songs performed by Gaviota Band and Matices Trio, choirs, live orchestra and more than 30 artists on stage, Dec. 16-18, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, Av. Ctrl./2, Ca. Ctrl.
Christmas Concert by Mozart Chorale Choir and the Big Band
Playing songs by Glenn Miller, The Beatles, and more as well as Christmas carols, Dec. 20, 8 p.m., Teatro Mozart. Info: 250-7373.
National Surf Circuit
Taking place Dec. 17-18, Tamarindo Beach, Guanacaste. Info: 363-9921.
Cultural Sunday
Including presentation of Marimba U.N.A., retaila (long sarcastic poems told fast) show by Walter Quesada, and some humor by César Meléndez (actor of the Monologue “El Nica”), Dec. 18, 11 a.m., Galerón Cultural, Monteverde, Puntarenas. Info: 645-6078, 383-1063.
Edited By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Solís Asks Arias
For Public Meeting
In a creative use of advertising, Citizen Action Party (PAC) presidential candidate Ottón Solís sent a letter yesterday to National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate Oscar Arias asking him for a public meeting to try and find consensus.
Solís cc'd the “Costa Rican people” on the letter, and distributed it to the masses sealed in an envelope tucked inside various daily newspapers.
A meeting between Arias and Solís – number one and two in the polls, respectively – was originally proposed by Arias (President from 1986-1990) following the Nov. 26 presidential debate, televised on Repretel.
At the time, Solís rejected the idea, saying he would talk to Arias after the elections.
Solís has since changed his mind, and in the letter he suggests that Arias has done the same.
“Just a month ago, you spoke against consensus and said ‘you would do what you believe is proper, period.' I celebrate your change of mind because the democratic system requires a permanent effort at dialogue,” Solís writes.
The candidate goes on to say that the conversation should take place in public, calling private conversations undemocratic.
“Let's give the people the opportunity to know more than the short, empty phrases of some campaigns and debates with one-minute responses,” he writes.
Arias told the daily Al Día that what he originally proposed was a calm conversation between two leaders willing to come to agreement, not a “media circus.” Solís wants to pose for the cameras, not engage in dialogue, he continued.
Any public meeting between the two candidates could not be held until Jan. 2. Starting today, campaigns, including propaganda and public debates, are on an obligatory break for the holidays, required by the Supreme Elections Tribunal.
Solís was Minister of the Interior during the Arias administration but later left the party and started PAC.
Baby Jesus Stolen
from
National Theater
The baby Jesus statue from a nativity scene that traditionally decorates the National Theater gardens in downtown San José in December was stolen on Tuesday, sources from the theater said yesterday.
The chief of theater restoration, William Monge, told journalists that baby Jesus disappeared Tuesday afternoon because of carelessness by security guards.
Theater officials filed a complaint on Wednesday, although no suspects have been identified yet, according to Monge.
The 80-year-old statue is carved in wood, and authorities fear it might be sold to collectors of religious antiques because similar thefts have occurred in churches across the country in the past.
“We are worried about the situation, but have not ruled out the possibility of recovering baby Jesus,” Jorge Rojas, director of the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ), told the daily La Nación.
Although the statue's original value is approximately $800, this could increase greatly because of its antiquity, sources said.
Monge explained that no reward has been offered because theater officials trust that “remorse” and a “bad conscience” will drive the thief to return it.
--ACAN-EFE
Bike Race to Involve
15
Teams, Seven Countries
The 41st Annual Bike Tour of Costa Rica, which starts today and continues through Dec. 29, will bring together 15 teams from Costa Rica, Germany, Chile, Mexico, France, Argentina and Venezuela.
A total of 86 cyclists are expected to start the race this morning at 5 a.m. after the opening ceremonies at the national cycle track in San José, where the first cyclist bearing the yellow leader shirt will be determined.
Among the local favorites are Henry Raabe and Federico “Lico” Ramírez from the BCR-Pizza Hut team, who won the Chiriquí Tour in Panama last month, as well as Marconi Durán of the Pasoca-Dos Pinos team and Déiber Equivel of the Interfin-Banex team.
Nine teams with a total of 51 cyclists from Costa Rica will participate in the event, while the other six squads will feature 45 athletes.
Other notable cyclists taking part in the tour are Miguel Arroyo from Mexico, the 2000 tour champion; Faruk Bar from Germany; Enzo Cesario and Gonzálo Bastidas from Chile; José Chacón from Venezuela; Jean Currit from France and Argentinean Ariel Frossaco.
The tour consists of 14 stages, the most prominent being the ninth segment between Pérez Zeledón and San José, which is considered the “queen” phase of the event because of its almost 40 ascending kilometers up the winding “hill of the dead” – so named because its winding curves and dense fog cause many auto accidents – until reaching an altitude of more than 2,100 meters.
– ACAN-EFE
