December 07

Arts Fair
Parade, hip-hop and trova concert, puppet show, 11 a.m., in front of School of Arts, University of Costa Rica (UCR), San Pedro, east of San José.

42nd Lighting of the Children's Hospital Christmas tree
Clown show, 5 p.m.; lighting, 6 p.m; music by Carpe Diem, 6:15 p.m.; firefighters' parade, 7 p.m., National Children's Hospital, San José. Info: 222-0122.

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

Arias Meets with Bush,
Discusses Education and CAFTA

President Oscar Arias met with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush yesterday at the White House in Washington D.C., and the two leaders told the press after their 45-minute meeting that education and the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) were among items they discussed, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

Arias spoke to Bush about his administration's “dream and determination” to increase the amount Costa Rica spends on education from 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) to 8%.

Arias also asked Bush to pardon the more than $104 million Costa Rica owes the United States to allow Costa Rica to instead invest these funds in education and environmental protection.

Bush lauded Arias for his emphasis on education and said he would “investigate whether or not the United States can help.”

CAFTA, backed strongly by both Presidents, was another topic of conversation. Bush remarked that “trade is the best way to help reduce poverty around the world,” while Arias boiled down why he feels CAFTA is crucial for Costa Rica.

“My country is a small country – we produce what we do not consume, and we consume what we do not produce. This is why trade is so important to us,” emphasizing that his administration is determined to approve the agreement as soon as possible.

Arias remarked that he was “familiar” with the Oval Office where the meeting took place, having met in the room with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Bush's father, former U.S. President George H.W. Bush. However, on those occasions, he was at the White House to discuss Nicaragua, not Costa Rica, he said.

Arias was accompanied during the visit by Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno, Housing Minister Guillermo Zúñiga, Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz and Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles, while at Bush's side were U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Ambassador to Costa Rica Mark Langdale and Press Secretary Tony Snow, according to the statement.

Casino Project Creates Controversy

Economic growth of more than 4% annually in Central America and the Dominican Republic during recent years hasn't substantially reduced unemployment in the region, according to a study presented yesterday by the Intern ational Labour Organization (ILO).

Gerardina Gonzá, ILO regional director for Central America and the Dominican Republic, said employment should be among these countries' top development policies.

“Latin America has shown a tendency toward improvement in the labor market in recent years, but this has not been the case in Central America, where we have observed an increase in unemployment and informal labor,” González said.

ILO yesterday presented its report “2006 Labor Panorama for Latin America and the Caribbean.” The report, based on data from 2005 from Central America and the Dominican Republic, found that more than 1 million of the 10.7 million inhabitants in the region are unemployed.

Countries with the highest unemployment rates are the Dominican Republic (18.9%) and Panama (12.1%), followed by El Salvador (7.3%), Nicaragua (7%), Costa Rica (6.9%), Honduras (6.1%) and Guatemala (4.4%).

The report found that some Central American countries have reduced unemployment since 2004, among them Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. However, the rest of the nations have registered an increase in unemployment since then. No data was available from Guatemala in 2004, so the report could not determine whether unemployment has increased or decreased there.

On average, unemployment in the region registered 9.7% in 2005 and was shown to affect in particular young people who do not complete high school or attend universities, González explained. In Central America, 17.4% of young people are unemployed.