Subscribe to our Daily News RSS feed.

Read the Daily News on your mobile device.

Creciendo en Grande Institute
Features Movie forum, “Heal Your Life,” July 6, 6:30 p.m., Creciendo en Grande, Zapote, 600 m west, 300 m north of Casa Presidencial.

Mundoloco Concerts
Magical Mystery Band and D' tour, Beatles classics and originals, July 6 at 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café Escazú. Info: www.domuncolo.com.

“Gol e Arte”
Collective exhibit with soccer theme, through July 11, José Figueres Ferrer Culture House, Barrio Escalante, 300 m north, 300 m east of Santa Teresita Church.

Last week, President Laura Chinchilla's government came to terms with one group of informal taxi drivers, or porteadores, presenting legislation that would resolve their differences in the Legislative Assembly. But less than a week later, another group of taxi drivers is planning a protest.

The National Transporters' Federation (FENAPO) will protest Tuesday morning in the streets of San José, ending at the Legislative Assembly. The organization, which represents at least 6,000 drivers, says it will hold a peaceful demonstration. However, protests by the informal taxi sector have typically involved drivers stopping or slowing down their cars in traffic, causing traffic jams and delays for commuters.

Public Works and Transport Minister Francisco Jiménez said the government respects the right of the drivers to protest, but added that Transit Police will interfere if the demonstration creates traffic jams. Jiménez added that the protest will not result in any changes to the bill that entered the Legislative Assembly last week, stating that an unsatisfied FENAPO withdrew from the negotiations before they were completed.

In an open letter published June 29 in the daily La Nación, FENAPO head Yuribeth Méndez said the government made little effort to keep FENAPO involved in the talks.

Last Wednesday, June 30, Chinchilla's government and the porteadores appeared to have ended an eight-year standoff. The new agreement required the porteadores to register with the government – which involves obtaining a commercial patent, paying taxes, enrolling in the public health systems, maintaining records of contracts and keeping up-to-date insurance – and stated the drivers can only do door-to-door pick up.

The Chinchilla administration predicted that only 5,000 of the estimated 14,000 unregistered drivers will be able to work legally if the proposed legislation passes (TT, July 2).

The Costa Rican government is calling for greater security in the country's schools after a student walked into the office of a school principal last Thursday and shot her in the head. The attack occurred at the Colegio Montebello, a private school in Heredia.

The principal, Nancy María Chaverri, remains in delicate condition after being taken to San José's Hospital México.

“If we are doing some things, we have to be doing more,” President Laura Chinchilla said at a press conference Monday, after speaking to the affected families over the weekend. “We need a more ambitious program to confront violence in schools.”

The Ombudswoman's Office asked teachers to “use dialogue, mediation and communication” to minimize or avoid conflict.

“We insist that education authorities follow up on situations that can generate conflict and that they intervene in a preventive and diligent manner,” read a statement issued Friday by the Ombudswoman's Office. The National Association of Educators (ANDE) insisted that the Chinchilla administration address the loss of values in schools and implement tougher security measures.

“We demand that immediate action be taken in schools in the wake of the violence we are experiencing,” said ANDE President Alexander Ovares. “Teachers are helpless in situations like these and lack the support of the Education Ministry and the government to deal with situations of aggression.”

Authorities have yet to say what led the 17-year-old to enter Colegio Montebello with the intent to murder Chaverri. He is currently being held on two months of provisional detention.

The private school in Heredia where the incident occurred, Colegio Montebello, suspended classes on Friday, moving up the school's mid-term vacation by one day.

According to the Education Ministry, incidents of violence between students are actually decreasing, from a reported 69,610 in 2003 to 35,492 in 2009. The number of reported cases of violence between teachers and students has also dropped, from 114,212 in 2003 to 63,986 in 2009.

For more on the issue of school violence, see “Bullying in School Lightens Up” in the July 2 issue of The Tico Times.

Related Story

Bullying in School Lightens Up

Costa Rican environmentalists announced Monday that they will march for seven days – covering roughly 170 kilometers – to protest the stalled open pit gold mine in Crucitas, near the Nicaraguan border.

Marchers will leave Monday, July 12, from Casa Presidencial in Zapote, a district in southeastern San José, and arrive in Crucitas on Sunday, July 18.

During the seven days, protesters will pass through Alajuela and Sarchí, northwest of San José, follow national highway route 15 and regional route 141 to Boca de Arenal and then continue along secondary roads to Crucitas.

Before departing, the group will present a petition to President Laura Chinchilla to revoke the executive decree that will allow the mine to operate if court challenges are resolved in its favor.

The Crucitas gold mine project, which was first proposed in 1993, was declared constitutional April 16 after a two-and-a-half year battle in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV). The court ruled that the project did not constitute an unacceptable threat to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, as guaranteed by the country's Constitution. However, only hours after the Sala IV's decision last April, the project was halted by an administrative appeals court, where a ruling on the legality of the project's environmental impact study is still pending.

Crucitas opponents claim that the mine will cause irreparable environmental damage such as deforestation and soil and water contamination. Mine proponents deny the charges and say the project will bring employment and economic opportunity to an economically depressed corner of Costa Rica.

A recent survey by the Institute of Social Studies in Population at the National University found that 85.9 percent of Costa Ricans surveyed who have heard of the proposed mine oppose it. Only 4.6 percent of those polled said they favor the project (TT, July 2).