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12 Jan 2006

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 12, 2006

THE Wind-up: Luis Enrique Argüelle powers up for the throw in the shot-put competition at the National Games. This year, the annual multi-sport event, held in Cartago, east of San José, attracted 3,020 athletes from 56 cantons.
Tico Times/ Shannon Mendes

U.S. Representative Dan
Burton Visits Costa Rica
U.S. Representative Dan Burton spoke with Costa Rican leaders about the importance of ratifying the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) during a two-day visit to the country.
(Click for more)

Arias Refuses to Debate with Solís
Nobel laureate and presidential candidate Oscar Arias, who leads the polls by 25 points, has said he won't participate in any more debates before the Feb. 5 election, namely against the second-place Ottón Solís, of the Citizen Action Party (PAC).
(Click for more)

World's Largest Cruise Ship
Cancels Visit to Costa Rica
The mammoth Queen Mary II may be the world's largest passenger cruise ship, but the waters off Costa Rica's Caribbean coast proved too much for it this week when inclement weather caused the cancellation of the ship's scheduled visit to the port of Moín, in the eastern province of Limón.
(Click for more)

January 12

Tufts Symphony
Orchestra in Concert
One of the most noted ensembles in the United States is performing today at 7 p.m. at the INBioparque amphitheater in Santo Domingo de Heredia, north of San José. The musicians are performing works by Mozart, Rossini and Villalobos, among others. Free entrance.

Cornell University Winds
Ensemble Costa Rican Tour
Workshop and concert tour by 44 Cornell University music students, Jan. 12-20; concert with Matapalo Band at Santa Cruz cultural festival, Jan. 14, Guanacaste; charity concert, Jan. 18, 7:30 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, Costa Rica-North American Cultural Center, Barrio Dent. Info: www.cuwinds.com/Costa-Rica-Project

Sasha Campbell in Concert
Sasha Campbell sings soul, hip-hop and R & B, with rapper Ainker Charles, 10 p.m. at Jazz Café, San Pedro. Reservations: 253-8933; info: 260-6134, info@hiphopcr.com.

Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net

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U.S. Representative Dan Burton Visits Costa Rica
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net

U.S. Representative Dan Burton spoke with Costa Rican leaders about the importance of ratifying the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) during a two-day visit to the country.

“This (CAFTA) is an opportunity that will bring new investment, better trade relations, economic growth and more jobs,” said Burton. “It's extremely important.”

Costa Rica is the only one of the six countries included in CAFTA that has not ratified it.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Burton met with officials from the Agriculture Ministry and Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX) as well as legislators and legislative candidates in the upcoming Feb. 5 elections.

“ Costa Rica is on the right track,” Burton told The Tico Times. “The majority of the congressmen and candidates I've talked to are in favor of CAFTA. It could be ratified as early as May or June, once the new President and Congress are in place.”

Burton added he believes negotiations or changes to CAFTA are out of the question and “going back to the drawing board is unrealistic.”

Burton also spoke to journalists about recently elected Bolivian President Evo Morales at a press conference Wednesday night.

“We'll open our doors to him, and hope the rhetoric he used in campaigning was just that – rhetoric,” said Burton, when asked whether he was concerned about Morales having ties to leftist leaders like Fidel Castro from Cuba and Hugo Chávez from Venezuela. “We're very concerned about leftists leaders moving away from free, fair elections.”

Burton was in Costa Rica with a group of food and agriculture industry leaders on a commercial mission from the U.S. state of Indiana, to meet with local business representatives in hopes of strengthening commercial ties between Costa Rica and Indiana.

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Arias Refuses to Debate with Solís
By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net

Nobel laureate and presidential candidate Oscar Arias, who leads the polls by 25 points, has said he won't participate in any more debates before the Feb. 5 election, namely against the second-place Ottón Solís, of the Citizen Action Party (PAC).

PAC officials announced Tuesday they are willing to cover the costs of a televised debate if Arias, of the National Liberation Party, will only show up.

However, Arias told the daily Al Día he wouldn't participate in another debate with Solís, “even if the Pope asked him.”

Twelve other men are contending in the race for the keys to Casa Presidencial. According to the Supreme Elections Tribunal, televised debates must include all 14 candidates or the airtime must be purchased by a private entity.

Arias, who has participated in two such debates, says the Costa Rican public is already familiar with his platform and he has nothing to gain by more debates. Representatives for the candidate, who was President 1986-1990, maintain Solís is trying to gain notoriety by attaching his name to Arias.

See this Friday's print or online PDF version of The Tico Times for more on this story.

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World's Largest Cruise Ship
Cancels Visit to Costa Rica

The mammoth Queen Mary II may be the world's largest passenger cruise ship, but the waters off Costa Rica's Caribbean coast proved too much for it this week when inclement weather caused the cancellation of the ship's scheduled visit to the port of Moín, in the eastern province of Limón.

Marisol González, spokeswoman for Cunard cruise lines, which owns the ship, said the Queen Mary II could not dock at Moín on Wednesday morning as planned because of strong waves that caused concerns for passenger safety.

Israel Oconitrillo, spokesman for the Atlantic Port Authority (JAPDEVA), said hundreds of people had come to see the ship and that authorities had been preparing for the visit “for months.”

Tourism Minister Rodrigo Castro, Limón Mayor Roger Rivera and JAPDEVA President Rolando Lee Bastos were all scheduled to participate in a welcome ceremony at 9:30 a.m.

The Queen Mary II, registered in England, can carry 2,600 passengers and a crew of 1,400. It offers five restaurants, four bars, five pools, a conference center, a mini-golf course, a movie theater and a library, among other services.

Its first journey of this cruise-ship season began in New York ; in addition to Costa Rica, the ship will stop in St. Thomas, Curaçao and Panama before returning to New York.

The ship is scheduled to visit the Pacific port of Caldera on Feb. 17 and March 13.

Minister Castro said in a statement that the ship's scheduled visits confirm Costa Rica 's status as a first-rate international tourism destination.

--ACAN-EFE

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