As many as 40,000 illegal miners — mostly poor, Quechua-speaking laborers from Peru's Andean highlands — have invaded some of the most pristine and biologically rich sections of ancient forest in the Amazon basin. In just a few years, they have laid waste to more than 120,000 acres, leaving behind Amazonian deserts of pestilent orange craters that bleed into the rivers when it rains.
Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís attended the signing ceremony, saying the planned geothermal projects “will not interfere with territory in national parks.” Instead, he said they involve “new technologies that permit the exploration and utilization of wells without damaging conservation areas.”
A 14-year-old boy from the United States was hospitalized in San Carlos after the fall, Red Cross press representative Freddy Román told The Tico Times.
National Police stopped the van in Cuervito, Puntarenas, near the Panamanian border. Police seized 121 kilos of cocaine, 10 weapons, including several 9 mm pistols and submachine guns, and four fake DEA vests.
It was a random idea, back in 2001. I was 21, fresh out of college, and it seemed reasonable. On paper, I liked Costa Rica and wanted to explore the country at 16 kilometers per hour. So why not?
Stung by falling attendance and criticism over its treatment of orca whales, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. will build new habitats for the animals at its theme parks.
Riot police, backed up by reinforcements in armored vehicles, hurled smoke and tear gas canisters and slowly moved in to break up the crowd, which local media said numbered around 200. Seven people were arrested.
Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Tom Howes were rescued on July 2, 2008 in an operation that also saw the liberation of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 11 other hostages.
