No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveEnvironmentalists Call on Guatemala to Veto Whale Law

Environmentalists Call on Guatemala to Veto Whale Law

GUATEMALA CITY (EFE) –Environmentalists and human-rights activists this week called on Guatemalan President Oscar Berger to veto legislation ratifying the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.“Guatemala has no whaling interests and it doesn’t make any sense that it ratify a convention geared toward regulating the hunting of whales,” said Carlos Albacete, of the Tropico Verde environmental group. “There is evidence of foreign influence to get the country to enter that commission, with the goal of getting it to vote in favor of opening up commercial whale hunts.”Two weeks ago, the Guatemalan Congress approved, at the request of the administration, legislation ratifying the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.Environmentalists said that if Berger signs the legislation, Guatemala could cast the deciding vote on reopening commercial whale hunts, which have been prohibited since 1986 by the International Whaling Commission.Colectivo Madreselva member Carlos Salvatierra said ratification of the convention came “only two weeks after a visit to Japan by President Berger” and after ruling party Congressman Victor Ramirez supposedly visited that country to learn about Japanese whale conservation programs.“That’s enough evidence to conclude that the signing of the convention has been induced to favor foreign interests,” Salvatierra said.Japan, Iceland and Norway are the main whaling countries in the world.

Trending Now

Costa Rica Court Moves to Lift President Chaves’ Immunity

Costa Rica’s Supreme Court of Justice on Tuesday asked Congress — for the first time in the history of this country with a well-established...

Costa Rica to Launch Electric Air Taxis for Sustainable Travel in Guanacaste

Costa Rica is poised to revolutionize its transportation landscape with the introduction of electric air taxis, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional ground travel...

Life After MS-13 in El Salvador as Residents Seek a Fragile Peace

Esperanza Martinez lost three relatives who were murdered and saw numerous bodies left in the streets of her neighborhood, a former stronghold of the...

Protests Rise Over Panama Canal’s New Water Project

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino on Tuesday defended the construction of a new reservoir for the interoceanic canal and criticized those who oppose the...

Hondurans March to Mark 2009 Coup as Election Battle Heats Up

Thousands of government supporters marched Saturday in the capital of Honduras to commemorate the anniversary of the 2009 coup that ousted then-leftist President Manuel...

A Costa Rica Love Story: From Rustic Cabina to Separate Dreams

My Tica wife and I have been together for over a quarter century. When we met, I was living a simple life here. Three...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica