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| ELECTION Energy: This group of children in San José showed their support for National Liberation Party (PLN) mayoral candidate Johnny Araya yesterday during the municipal elections. Ticos around the country voted for mayors and other municipal leaders yesterday; results are expected to roll in today. |
Jeffrey Arguedas | ACAN-EFE |
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| Ticos Vote in Municipal Elections |
Costa Ricans around the country voted for mayors and other local leaders yesterday in the municipal elections. Although official results in the races aren't expected until today, elections officials yesterday were already opining on voter turnout. |
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| Arias Promotes Mexican Investment in Costa Rica |
President Oscar Arias took advantage of his recent trip to Mexico for the swearing in of President Felipe Calderón to meet with Mexican business leaders and encourage them to invest in Costa Rica, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial. |
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| Costa Rican Israeli Embassy Opens in Tel Aviv |
| The fruit of a decision that shone a spotlight on Costa Rican-Israeli relations was born Friday when the Costa Rican Embassy opened in Tel Aviv, abandoning the space in Jerusalem where it had operated for 24 years, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry. |
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December 04
Special Little Theatre Group Open House
7-9 p.m.; previews of Christmas show to be performed Friday and Saturday and children's matinee Sunday, Blanche Brown Theatre, Bello Horizonte, Escazú, west of San José. Info: 355-1623, www.littletheatregroup.org.
Lighting of the National Children's Museum
The museum will be illuminated Caribbean-style with fireworks, calypso music and a gospel concert by Master Key, 5:30-8 p.m., National Children's Museum, San José. Info: 258-4929.
Christmas Choir Festival
Today through Friday, 6 p.m., National Museum, San José. Info: 257-1433, ext 223.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net
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Ticos Vote in Municipal Elections
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Costa Ricans around the country voted for mayors and other local leaders yesterday in the municipal elections. Although official results in the races aren't expected until today, elections officials yesterday were already opining on voter turnout.
Jorge Rojas, a poll worker in San José, told the wire service ACAN-EFE “very few people came to vote -- really it seemed that no one was interested in the election.”
Parks, restaurants and stores in the San José area were abuzz with their normal Sunday activity, and the streets of Avenida Central were jam-packed with Christmas shoppers, suggesting voting wasn't the first thing on many citizens' minds.
However, those with strong party ties generated pockets of enthusiasm in some areas, waving flags with their parties' colors and honking horns. In the eastern suburb of San Pedro, the flags of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), National Liberation Party (PLN) and Libertarian Movement Party (ML) infused color to the streets.
Yesterday's elections marked only the second time Costa Ricans have voted for municipal leaders. The first election, held in 2002, had a 77% absentee rate (TT, Dec. 1). Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) president Oscar Fonseca told ACAN-EFE yesterday that this year's turnout didn't seem to be much better.
Politicians including PAC party head Ottón Solís have complained that the timing of the elections during the Christmas season, as well as a lack of awareness about the role of local government, are partly to blame for low voter turnout.
The Tribunal began counting votes from the election last night and is expected to have results this morning.
Stay tuned to The Tico Times Daily News page for updates on the municipal election results.
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Arias Promotes Mexican Investment in Costa Rica
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President Oscar Arias took advantage of his recent trip to Mexico for the swearing in of President Felipe Calderón to meet with Mexican business leaders and encourage them to invest in Costa Rica, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.
Arias met with more than 50 business representatives during a meeting organized by the insurance company Stewart Title. Alongside him were Foreign Trade Minister Marcio Vinicio Ruiz, Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga and Minister of Public Works and Transport Karla González.
One promising company Arias' delegation talked with was the Mexican home appliance retailer Elektra, which has eyes on opening up in Costa Rica. General Motors Capital also showed interest in offering long-term mortgages to U.S. citizens who invest in Costa Rica, a concept the company has developed in Mexico, Ruiz said.
Arias called the meeting successful and “evidence of the interest of important companies in expanding their markets in Costa Rica,” according to the statement. He also assured Mexican business leaders they will find qualified workers in Costa Rica should they choose to set up shop here, explaining his plans to increase investment in education from 6% to 8% of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010 to better train students in math, foreign languages and science.
“Our education policies complement our foreign investment policies,” Arias said.
The meeting followed the turbulent inauguration ceremony of National Action Party (PAN) candidate Calderón, whose opponents shouted throughout the ceremony and threw chairs to show their support of Calderón's opponent Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) candidate Andrés López Obrador, according to the daily La Nación. The race has left Mexico divided, as López Obrador's supporters remain adamant that their candidate won and that Calderón committed election fraud.
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Costa Rican Israeli Embassy Opens in Tel Aviv |
The fruit of a decision that shone a spotlight on Costa Rican-Israeli relations was born Friday when the Costa Rican Embassy opened in Tel Aviv, abandoning the space in Jerusalem where it had operated for 24 years, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The Tel Aviv embassy is now up and running from its headquarters on Abba Hillel Silver Street; those who wish to contact the embassy can e-mail emcri@netmedia.net.il.
President Oscar Arias announced the decision to relocate the embassy in August (TT, Aug. 18). At the time, Costa Rica and El Salvador were the only two embassies in the world located in Jerusalem, a city long at the center of bitter disputes among religious groups.
At the time, Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno explained the decision as an effort by Costa Rica to respect the United Nations, which since 1980 had called for its member nations to move their embassies out of Jerusalem.
The move is also an effort to promote quality and efficiency at Costa Rican embassies abroad, Stagno said in the statement released Friday.
The Costa Rican Embassy was moved from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv in 1980 by then-President Rodrigo Carazo and moved back to Jerusalem in 1982 by then-President Luis Alberto Monge. |
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