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20 Jan 2006 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 20, 2006
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NASA Aircraft Takes Off from
Juan Santamaría Airport
An aircraft from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) yesterday blasted off from the remote terminal at Juan Santamaría International Airport in the province of Alajuela , on a mission to study the ozone layer and climate change.
(Click for more)
Foreign Trade Ministry Reports
Banner Year, New Strategies
The Costa Rican export sector is getting off to a strong start in 2006, according to Foreign Trade Ministry leaders. Not only was 2005 a banner year for exports, but also, as of December, the ministry and the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) have launched a new array of strategies for promoting the country's products in key foreign markets.
(Click for more)
Investigation Reveals
Police
Could Have Stopped
Fatal Dog Attack
The killing of Natividad Canda, 25, by two rottweilers on Nov. 10, 2005 in the eastern province of Cartago could have been avoided, according to a Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) investigation, according to the daily La Nación.
(Click for more)
January 20
Tribute to Bon Jovi Concert
Diversus Band is performing a tribute concert to Bon Jovi, one of the most important rock bands of the last 20 years Sat., Jan. 21 at 9:30 p.m. at Meridiano al Este, Barrio La California . The show is supported by Universal Music. Reservations: 221-0650, www.meridianoaleste.com .
Adventures Under the Sun Wilderness Adventure Programs
For ages 12-17, surf camps, Jan. 20-24; surfing the Nicoya Peninsula , Jan. 20-29; sea kayaking, surfing, horseback riding, canopy tour, Osa Peninsula , Jan. 20-29, 228-3056, www.adventuresunderthesun.com .
Swing en 4 in Concert
Jazz, fusion, samba, Latin American rhythms, with painting demonstration by Moisés Gorn, Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m., Hotel Villa Caletas, road to Jacó, central Pacific coast, www.swingen4.com .
Palmares Fiestas
Enjoy the Apache (Racoon) Carnival tonight, 5:30 p.m. Concerts with Mentados and Bamaselo Bands and Tego Calderón, 9 p.m. Also Jan. 22, 12 p.m., concert by Mexican bands Reik and Elefante.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
NASA Aircraft Takes Off from
Juan Santamaría Airport
By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
An aircraft from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) yesterday blasted off from the remote terminal at Juan Santamaría International Airport in the province of Alajuela , on a mission to study the ozone layer and climate change.
From Jan. 14 to Feb. 12, the NASA WB-57F aircraft will make 12 or more flights, with one launch each day, NASA scientist Eric Jensen told journalists during a press conference before takeoff.
The aircraft can reach an altitude of 60,000 feet, approximately twice as much as a commercial aircraft, forcing its two pilots to wear spacesuits because of the low air density, which NASA scientist Paul Newman said is 5% of the density we experience on land.
The small but large-winged aircraft will carry 29 instruments to confirm insights regarding ozone depletion in the tropics, Jensen announced at the press conference, during which U.S. Ambassador Mark Langdale and Fernando Gutiérrez, Costa Rican Minister of Science and Technology, also delivered speeches.
It will measure high-altitude clouds, showing how clouds change with pollution, Jensen explained.
According to the scientist, high-altitude ice cloud formations may indirectly affect the amount of sunlight that reaches earth.
A team of biologists in Costa Rica last week published a study in the famed British journal Nature linking this cloud-cover, attributable to global warming, to the extinction of two frog species in the country and the reduction of amphibian populations in general (read more in today's print or pdf edition).
Results of the NASA study are expected one to two years after obtaining preliminary insights at the end of this campaign, according to Newman.
Foreign Trade Ministry Reports
Banner Year, New Strategies
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
The Costa Rican export sector is getting off to a strong start in 2006, according to Foreign Trade Ministry leaders. Not only was 2005 a banner year for exports, but also, as of December, the ministry and the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) have launched a new array of strategies for promoting the country's products in key foreign markets.
Doris Osterlof, Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade, said yesterday during a press conference in downtown San José that the new, three-year International Marketing Plan (2006-2008) is all part of the ministry's long-term export goal: reaching $11 billion in exports by 2010. For 2005, the minister set a smaller goal of $6.9 billion, and the export sector exceeded this goal with $7 billion. In all, exports grew 11.5% over the 2004 total.
“It's a very dynamic sector,” Osterlof said, emphasizing – as Minister Manuel González has frequently done in the past – that Costa Rica's export products and markets are becoming ever more diverse. Mango exports jumped more than 40% in 2005; cassava, tires and aluminum sheets were among the other products that showed significant growth.
In addition, Costa Rica continues to grow in new markets. While the United States remains the country's largest export market, buying 42.7% ($2.99 billion), exports to other destinations such as Hong Kong , China , Holland and the other countries in Central America are on the rise.
Asked whether the ministry seeks to reduce the country's reliance on the United States , Osterlof said, "We're distributing the dependence, but not substituting the ( U.S. ) market."
To ensure that the country continues to move toward its 2010 goal, the ministry and PROCOMER approved the International Marketing Plan in December.
Jorge Zamora, PROCOMER Marketing Manager, described the project. The international marketing team will “promote Costa Rica on the worldwide level” and “strengthen the image of Costa Rica in our target markets,” Zamora said, adding that he agreed to head up the team when PROCOMER General Manager Martín Zúñiga asked him to “re-focus the marketing management and work on an active marketing plan.”
One focus of the plan is creating a permanent system of “trade intelligence,” with analysts researching the product needs and optimal prices in Costa Rica 's key markets. The plan also calls for an increased number of international trade fairs and commercial missions, beginning with an industrial fair in the Dominican Republic Feb. 9-12, and for the opening of more Costa Rican trade offices abroad. One such office will open in Belgium next month, in part to handle marketing during the 2006 World Cup, to be held in Germany in June. ( Costa Rica 's National Team will appear in the opening game against Germany , creating a significant opportunity for Costa Rican advertising.)
Zúñiga said funds for the marketing plan come from PROCOMER'S $6 million annual budget, but that the organization is hoping to form alliances with the private sector to defray costs such as convention hall space for trade shows.
Asked whether the approaching end of the President Abel Pacheco's term in office – and, therefore, Trade Ministry staff members' terms as well – will create a break in continuity of these efforts, Osterlof said that “changes in government don't affect export promotion.”
Zamora added that the marketing plan is “already being implemented.”
Investigation Reveals Police
Could Have Stopped Fatal Dog Attack
The killing of Natividad Canda, 25, by two rottweilers on Nov. 10, 2005 in the eastern province of Cartago could have been avoided, according to a Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) investigation, according to the daily La Nación.
Canda, a Nicaraguan, was entering the mechanic shop Taller Mecánico Zúñiga when the shop owner's two guard dogs began attacking him; he was later taken to Cartago's Max Peralta hospital, where he died a few hours later. According to La Nación, the attack lasted for 54 minutes after 911 operators received a phone call alerting them of the situation, although some police officers said at the time that the entire attack lasted at least an hour and a half (TT, Nov. 18, 2005).
An autopsy performed on Canda's body revealed his “accidental” death was caused by “laceration of organs” and “hemorrhaging,” according to a statement from the Judicial Branch citing an investigation carried out by Cartago police.
OIJ investigations revealed that on two occasions during the attack, police could have shot the dogs but didn't, according to La Nación.
It is now in the hands of the Prosecutor's Office to determine if police and others present, including Red Cross workers and firefighters, committed a crime by not shooting the dogs.
The Pubic Security Ministry is also conducting an internal investigation of the case in which the two officers present during the attack have stated their case.
“The explanation they gave us is that shooting the dogs came along with the risk of wounding the victim,” Public Security Minister Rogelio Ramos told La Nación.
Canda had lived in Costa Rica for nine years as an undocumented immigrant and had a criminal record here, according to the daily.
Daily press and EFE reports
