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21 Mar 2006 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 21, 2006
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Japanese Embassy Donates
To Help Control Dengue
With the rainy, mosquito-breeding season just around the corner, the Japanese Embassy yesterday donated $93,421 to the National Center for Productivity (CEPRONA) to purchase insecticides and educational materials to help prevent dengue, a mosquito-transmitted illness that saw a huge increase in cases last year (TT, Dec. 23, 2005).
(Click for more)
CAFTA ‘Funeral'
Staged in San José
In the short but varied history of protests against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA), this was by no means the largest, but it was arguably the most dramatic. About 300 anti-CAFTA activists, with university students and artists in the lead, made their way down Ave. 2 in downtown San José yesterday with a horse-drawn carriage bearing the coffin of the agreement, which they left outside the Legislative Assembly with the message that legislators should “bury” the pact.
(Click for more)
First Day of New Routes in
San José
Sees Relatively
Smooth Traffic Flow
Aside from a minor collision and some back-ups on main streets, the first effective day of San José 's new bus routes went fairly smoothly, according to Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) spokesman Fitzroy Villalobos.
(Click for more)
Costa Rican Businesses on
Commercial Mission to Canada
Costa Rican agricultural businesses leaders traveled to Vancouver, Canada, on a commercial mission yesterday.
(Click for more)
March 21
International Arts Festival, in La Sabana Park, west of San José and around the city, featuring Concert by Miriam Jarquín and Blues Latino, Guadalupe Urbina, María Pretiz, Rosanna Telford, Sasha Campbell, Las Hemanas Tucker, stage outside of the National Stadium, 9 p.m. Puppets, La Calle de los Fantasmas (Argentine), Children's Tent, today and tomorrow, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Cinema, Un Largo Invierno sin Fuego (Swiss), south side of Sabana Lake, 7:30 p.m. Play, La Muchacha de los Libros Usados, National Theater, today and tomorrow, 9 p.m. Play Celestina (Spanish), Melico Salazar Theater, today through Thursday, 8 p.m. Dance, France, Teatro de la Aduana, today and tomorrow, 8 p.m. For complete schedule, visit www.festivaldelasartes.com.
Successful Stress Reduction Speaker's Forum
Presentation in English by Janet Copeland, 7 p.m., Big Mike's, Escazú, west of San José. Info: 289-6333.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Japanese Embassy Donates
To Help Control Dengue
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
With the rainy, mosquito-breeding season just around the corner, the Japanese Embassy yesterday donated $93,421 to the National Center for Productivity (CEPRONA) to purchase insecticides and educational materials to help prevent dengue, a mosquito-transmitted illness that saw a huge increase in cases last year (TT, Dec. 23, 2005).
The Public Health Ministry will collaborate with CEPRONA on the project.
“Last year, the dengue phenomenon was very worrisome. We shouldn't repeat the same problem,” said Japanese Embassy Business Director Yasuhisa Suzuki, who suffered from dengue himself last year while in Nicaragua.
The donation will benefit almost 2 million residents in the regions most at risk for dengue: the Atlantic and Pacific coastal areas and the Southern Zone.
The Public Health Ministry has initiatives under way to combat the disease, including fumigation and campaigns to educate citizens against leaving standing water, in which dengue-carrying mosquitoes breed, outside their homes and businesses, said Teresita Solano, Public Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology.
“This (the donation) reinforces our efforts to help people assume control of preventing dengue,” Solano said.
CAFTA ‘Funeral'
Staged in San José
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
In the short but varied history of protests against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA), this was by no means the largest, but it was arguably the most dramatic. About 300 anti-CAFTA activists, with university students and artists in the lead, made their way down Ave. 2 in downtown San José yesterday with a horse-drawn carriage bearing the coffin of the agreement, which they left outside the Legislative Assembly with the message that legislators should “bury” the pact.
Wearing black and, in some cases, openly weeping, a select group of “mourners” wore head coverings featuring photos of President-elect Oscar Arias and U.S. President George W. Bush – the two protesters wearing these photographs made a show of holding hands and embracing – as well as CAFTA negotiators Anabel González and Alberto Trejos. Organizer César López said before the march that one objection of his group, the Cultural Movement Against CAFTA, is that the agreement was “negotiated by a few… who weren't elected by the people.”
Asked whether the relatively small turnout represents a setback for the opposition movement – many past anti-CAFTA marches have measured turnouts in the thousands – López told The Tico Times “people are informing themselves.”
“People are going to go out to the street, as they always have – against filibusters, against the ICE Combo (controversial legislation to reform the government monopoly Costa Rican Electricity Institute, defeated after widespread protests in 2001), against war, against corruption,” he said.
The spectacle – followed by a sacred dance of rebirth performed by a group of Bribrí, members of one of Costa Rica 's indigenous groups – drew plenty of attention from bystanders, whose reactions ranged from confused laughter to support. One man, leaning against a lamppost in front of the National Theater, said he thought the protest was “very nice,” even though he fully supports the trade pact.
The agreement, which has been ratified in the United States and all other signatory countries except Costa Rica, is under consideration in the Legislative Assembly's International Affairs Commission.
See Friday's print or online pdf edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.
First Day of New Routes in San José
Sees Relatively Smooth Traffic Flow
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Aside from a minor collision and some back-ups on main streets, the first effective day of San José 's new bus routes went fairly smoothly, according to Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) spokesman Fitzroy Villalobos.
“The traffic flow was much smoother in some areas that are usually very saturated,” Villalobos said, referring to Paseo Colón, previously used by all westbound buses to exit San José. With the new routes, buses instead use either Avenida 10 or Avenida 1, while private vehicles have priority on Avenida 3 (TT, March 17).
Some bus stops were also changed, though none have been moved more than 400 meters from their original locations, Villalobos said. However, several bus-riders told Channel 7 TV News yesterday they couldn't find their stop.
“This was only the first day. People will soon get used to the changes and will probably be able to save three to four minutes on their daily commutes,” Villalobos said.
Since last week, traffic police have been handing out flyers explaining the new routes, and an additional 50 police were on the streets yesterday to help orient pedestrians and drivers.
The new bus routes are part of a larger plan to improve the city's traffic flow.
Costa Rican Businesses on
Commercial Mission to Canada
Costa Rican agricultural businesses leaders traveled to Vancouver, Canada, on a commercial mission yesterday.
A spokesman from the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) said the commercial mission, to take place from March 22-24, includes the participation of Costa Rican businesses and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA).
A PROCOMER statement called CPMA “the best exhibition of agricultural products in Canada.”
According to the report, the nine Costa Rican companies participating in the commercial mission displayed samples of fresh and canned products with the goal creating a greater presence for them on Canadians' tables.
PROCOMER Director Martín Zúñiga said Costa Rican exports could significantly increase their sales to Canada, which is among key countries on Costa Rica 's marketing plan.
Of the $7 billion of products Costa Rica exported last year, only $54 million were to Canada.
Last year the main exports to Canada were sugar, tires, gold, coffee, ornamental plants, textiles, hair dryers and wood, among other products.
-ACAN-EFE
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