No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveGold Panners Evicted During Holy Week

Gold Panners Evicted During Holy Week

AFTER more than six months ofcamping out in protest in front of the CasaPresidencial in Zapote, west of San José,a group of former gold panners were sentpacking March 24, Jueves Santo, a legalholiday.According to President Abel Pacheco,the patience of Casa Presidencial’s neighborsfinally ran out. Their complaintsabout the tent city of plastic sheets andhand-lettered signs prompted a HealthMinistry order that the oreros return totheir homes.Although the number of protestorsonce totaled 200, “very few” remainedwhen a ministry official approached themat 6 a.m. – on the day before Good Friday,when no newspapers are published – toorder them to leave. Pacheco said no forcewas used to ensure their departure.“For reasons of health and to preventviolence against the gold panners themselves…a very humane removal processwas completed,” he said, adding neighborshad complained about the protestorsand the truck that passed by the campweekly to remove human waste. Thesecomplaints caused the concern for thecampers’ safety, the President said thisweek.The former gold panners said theyrepresented 914 people evicted in 1986from Corcovado and Piedras Blancasnational parks, both in the Southern Zone,for working on protected lands.Although Pacheco sent a bill to theLegislative Assembly Feb. 7 calling forpayments of ¢2 million ($4,450) to 141miners registered in two government surveysin 1986 and 1992, the protestorswere holding out for more, and larger,payments – to 800 additional families, inthe amount of ¢3.5 million ($7,560) (TT,March 4).

Popular Articles

Poás Volcano Eruption Blankets Costa Rica’s Central Valley in Ash

Volcán Poás erupted with significant force today, sending an ash and gas plume soaring over 2,000 meters above its crater, marking the most intense...

Costa Rica Faces Tourism Slump Despite High Season

Costa Rica has recorded seven consecutive months of declining international tourist arrivals, a troubling trend that began in September 2024 and persisted through March...

Bérénice Béjo Stars in “Mexico 86” as a Revolutionary Guatemalan Mother

“Mother can also fight, rifle in hand, when democracy is in danger,” declares French actress Bérénice Béjo, who plays a Guatemalan activist in “Mexico...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait

Latest Articles