HISTORIC Handover: Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias (right) yesterday presented Legislative Assembly president Francisco Pacheco with a decree calling for a nationwide referendum of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). Pacheco then read aloud the decree, which the assembly must now approve with a simple, 29-vote majority in a single session if the referendum is to move forward. President Oscar Arias announced his plans to decree a referendum last week following a surprise decision by the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) that Costa Rica's referendum law can be applied to the controversial trade pact.

Aviation experts from Central America, the Caribbean and South America are in Costa Rica for a conference aimed at improving air travel in Latin America, according to a statement from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT).

Screening of Documentary “Youth and Democracy”
Film on the opinions of youth in Guayaquil , Ecuador, 7 p.m., free, Sala Calle 15, south side of Parque de la Democracia, San José.

Concert
By Ghandi, rock, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, east of San José. Info: www.jazzcafecostarica.com

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

Internet connection via cell phone has been available in Costa Rica for one week now, and at least 5,416 people have signed up for this new service, according to Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) spokeswoman Adriana Víquez.

ICE, the country's state-run telecommunications monopoly, sees this number as a “very good sign,” Víquez said, explaining that the institute expected few people to visit its offices to sign up for this service last week, given that it was the first week back to work and school for most people after the Easter holidays.

For a flat fee of ¢3,500 (about $7) per month, users of ICE-approved models of GSM cell phones can activate them to connect to the Internet or use them as modems to provide Internet service to a computer or another handheld device, Víquez explained. (A list of compatible GSM phones, as well as more information about Internet cell phone service, is available on ICE's Web site, www.grupoice.com.)

Using wireless application protocol (WAP) technology, this new service creates a “fusion of two technologies – Internet and phone,” Víquez said.

Users can connect to the Internet anywhere they have cell phone service. The downsides are a slower connection (42 kilobytes per second) than is available with computers and a smaller screen, meaning some images cannot be displayed, though this depends on each phone, she said.

WAP and general packet radio service (GPRS) technologies are used to connect cell phones to the Internet and simplify images for their screens, Víquez said.

Those interested in signing up for Internet cell phone service can call 115 for more information, but ICE recommends visiting one of its agencies to sign up. They should bring their identification cards proving Costa Rican residency, as well as their cell phones, so that technicians can make sure they are compatible and activate the WAP function.

Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno Monday talked to diplomats from around the world about the Costa Rica Consensus, a proposal that developed countries take developing countries' spending on arms into consideration when calculating aid packages, according to a statement released yesterday by the Foreign Ministry.

“Costa Rican is taking advantage of this opportunity to call on countries to incorporate the ethical criteria in the Costa Rica Consensus into their programs to help development,” Stagno said during a meeting of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the U.N. headquarters in New York. Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development also attended.

The Costa Rica Consensus is an “innovative financial mechanism” through which countries can offer low-interest loans and other economic rewards to “encourage the dividends of peace generated by those developing countries that practice good ethical spending,” by using their limited resources for social projects rather than their militaries, Stagno said.

Worldwide, military spending averages $1.1 billion per year, with variations between regions, money that could be much better spent on pressing social needs, Stagno said.

-Tico Times

Aviation experts from Central America, the Caribbean and South America are in Costa Rica for a conference aimed at improving air travel in Latin America, according to a statement from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT).

During the conference, which started yesterday and runs through Friday, participants will be discussing topics including air security, infrastructure, deficiencies in the planning and implementation of air travel and environmental challenges facing this industry, the statement said.

Their conclusions will be evaluated by the World Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization and could be included in a document the organization is preparing to update world norms for navigation of air space.

Viviana Martín, who serves as Costa Rica's Vice-Minister of Public Works as well as the president of Civil Aviation, is representing Costa Rica at the conference, being held at a hotel outside San José. She said she is “honored” that Costa Rica was chosen to host the event, the statement said.