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IN THE NEWS |
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4Tired of Crime? Give Your Input This Sunday, Aug. 29 is the last day to participate in Costa Rica’s nationwide consultation on citizen security. Organized by the United Nations Development Program, the consultation has been running for the past 10 weeks, and has opened up various channels, including community workshops throughout the country, to solicit input for developing recommendations for President Laura Chinchilla to develop a national citizen security plan. People can give input on the topic, in any language, via Facebook at Polsepaz Seguridad Ciudadana; via e-mail at info@polsepaz.org; or on the Web at http://www.pnud.or.cr.
4Foreign Trade Promoter Muscles Up The country’s Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer) announced additional services to be provided at its Miami, Florida office aimed at assisting Costa Rica-based exporters in their dealings with the United States. According to a Procomer news release, the services will include on-site inspection of containers and fresh produce; legal counseling; research on prospective trade partners; a gauge on markets and competing countries; and more. The new services are set to begin in September. Interested exporters can contact office representative Jorge Zamora at miami@procomer.com or call (001) 305-629-3581.
4La Volpe, Signing or What? Mexico’s former soccer coach, Ricardo La Volpe, came and left Costa Rica this week, striking a preliminary deal to lead this country’s national team, La Sele, and leaving the press hungry for a concrete accord. After the much-hyped visit, and even some headlines saying he had struck a deal, the daily La Prensa Libre led Thursday’s front page with a large close-up shot of the Argentine and the headline “Didn’t sign.” The story came after a Wednesday press conference that journalists mistook to be the big signing moment – “but no,” wrote a disappointed journalist at the daily La Nación. La Volpe’s visit included a tour around the La Sele’s stadium-in-progress in La Sabana Metropolitan Park, about which he said the locker rooms could certainly use jacuzzis.
4Media Killings Persist in Honduras A Honduran radio reporter’s murder early this week was the eighth recorded journalist killing since March of this year in this Central American country (TT, May 28). Israel Zelaya, who worked for Radio International, was shot twice in the head and once in the chest, according to press reports. “(Honduran) government officials have sought to minimize the crimes and play down the pervasive climate of impunity in the country,” said Carlos Lauría of the New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization Committee to Protect Journalists in a statement. Anthony Mills, press freedom manager at the International Press Institute, told CNN newswire, “we would like to again underscore the fact that Honduras has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists”.
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