By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

The Presidents of Central America changed their tune Saturday during a press conference in San José, where they announced that the region will use a rotating spokesperson for upcoming trade negotiations with the European Union - not the single-representative structure most of the region had previously agreed upon.

The decision appears to represent a victory of sorts for President Oscar Arias, who, until recently, was the only leader advocating a rotating spokesperson. However, the other heads of state in town for the last day of the Central American Integration System (SICA) Summit scrambled to deny that the resolution is a change of face, arguing the new scheme is more or less what they wanted all along.

"We maintained since the beginning that there should be a regional spokesperson," Panamanian head of state Martín Torrijos told reporters. "The only (change) is that it will rotate."

During meetings over the past three months involving all the region's Presidents except Arias, the leaders selected Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Norman Caldera as the region's single negotiation coordinator (TT, Sept. 1). Arias and Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno later stated on several occasions that Costa Rica cannot be represented in the E.U. trade talks by someone from another country, and that each country involved should have its own negotiator. The leaders at Saturday's conference refused to comment on how the change in plan came about, despite multiple questions from reporters.

Salvadoran President Tony Saca outlined the new negotiation scheme at the press conference. A council made up of each country's Foreign Minster and either its Economy or Trade Minister will call the shots during the negotiations, scheduled to begin in January. Each country will also have two lead negotiators, one responsible for trade issues and one for politics and cooperation. The spokesperson, a position each country will take turns filling, will transmit the decisions of the council to the E.U. negotiator.

In addition to Arias, Saca and Torrijos, Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños, Vice-Prime Minister of Belize John Briceño and Rafael Alburquerque, Vice-President of the Dominican Republic, attended the summit, at which the E.U. negotiation issue was the top agenda item. Their meeting Saturday was preceded by three days of talks among technical teams and Ministers of Foreign Trade and Foreign Relations.

Approximately 120,000 travelers in Europe and Latin America have been inconvenienced by the Spanish airline Air Madrid's decision Friday to suspend all flights, according to the daily La Nación.

Among those affected are Costa Ricans in Europe and Europeans in Costa Rica with tickets to return home on Air Madrid flights, according to Civil Aviation assistant director Jorge Fernández.

Air Madrid blamed Spain's Promotion Ministry for the problem, saying the ministry threatened to take away the airline's license because of its numerous lengthy flight delays, La Nación reported.

The ministry has developed a plan to accommodate passengers until Dec. 21, which includes renting four or five airplanes to fly them to their scheduled destinations.

Fernández said Civil Aviation officials are communicating with their Spanish counterparts to organize charter flights for Costa Ricans in Spain scheduled to return here on Air Madrid flights. Meanwhile, in downtown San José this weekend, tourists scheduled to leave Costa Rica on Air Madrid flocked to the airline's office to seek assistance, according to La Nación.

The Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (ACOPROT) Friday released a statement expressing concern over the airline's announcement.

“Air Madrid has been, from the beginning, a great ally to the tourism sector in Costa Rica, and the possibility of suspending flights … would have a great impact and threaten our economy,” the statement said.

Air Madrid has been operating for two and a half years and flies mostly between Spain and Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Panama, Brazil, Mexico and Peru, according to La Nación.

-Tico Times

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

“Street soccer,” played on a concrete court created by mobile metal walls, arrived Friday to the National Culture Center (CENAC) in downtown San José as the nonprofit Fútbol por la Vida (Soccer for Life) and the German Embassy inaugurated a program to bring soccer to kids in low-income urban communities.

The event drew about 300 children from schools around San José, north-central Costa Rica and the Caribbean slope to inaugurate the cancha móvil, or mobile court, with a tournament.

These kids attend schools involved with Fútbol por la Vida, a nonprofit working in more than 20 communities to benefit 600 youth (TT, April 28). The organization uses not only soccer, but also education on gender, sexuality, drugs, theater and music to help students in schools in low-income neighborhoods.

The idea behind the new mobile court is to bring soccer to communities where kids might not otherwise have a place to play, explained coach Christian Díaz.

“We've seen a lot of interest from schools who want Fútbol por la Vida, and this is a way to bring it to them,” Díaz said, explaining that the organization plans to move the court around the country to hold tournaments for kids.

The project is funded by the German Embassy, and German Ambassador Volkner Fink resounded Fúbol por la Vida's vision that soccer isn't just about goals.

Fúbol por la Vida “gives soccer an added value that can help to break the vicious cycle of poverty for those who are most in need,” Fink said, adding that programs similar to the mobile court have been successful in Germany.

Culture Minister María Elena Carballo also spoke to the young audience at the inauguration ceremony, remarking on the importance of recreation for their development.