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COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

Area Lawyer Furthers Int’l Women’s Rights

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(March 8 is International Women’s Day.)

TO the non-legal mind, court systems can be confusing – especially the international ones far from our personal experience. But Costa Rican international human rights and women’s rights lawyer Ana Elena Obando sees The new International Criminal Court (ICC), which will preside in the Hague, as an opportunity.

The court was initiated by the United Nations to hear cases of war crimes and genocide, or cases that violate international standards of conduct in wartime, as well as to make civil and military leaders accountable for war crimes and, hopefully, prevent future acts of violence against civilian populations.

A historic first for this court, conceived in the United Nations and born in Rome in July, 1998, is that it will codify war crimes against women and provide victims with protection, participation in the justice process and compensation.

SUCH crimes are being taken seriously by the court only because women’s advocates and lawyers such as Obando worked long and hard to push for the issue. She has been a strong advocate in promoting the ICC and securing gender awareness within the court. Obando worked at the international level with gender awareness groups and the Women’s Caucus, lobbying and meeting with U.N. delegations and international human rights organizations and writing up “countless” legal drafts to ensure the participation of women both as members of the court and as defendants.

One result of work she and her colleagues have done is that seven of the 18 ICC judges are women, including Costa Rica’s former Vice-president and Minister of Justice, Elizabeth Odio.

Gender perspective, however, means more than just a few women on the blackrobed panel. It means training all court personnel to be gender sensitive to women’s participation, as victims, witnesses or legal staff, explained Obando. It means making people aware that forced pregnancies and rapes by enemy soldiers are crimes against humanity.

“It is important that those working with the court, including investigators, translators and reporters, are gender aware,” she said.

WOMEN as war victims have never been visible, and crimes against women have come to light only recently with the case of the Korean Comfort Women against Japan. Rape and sex crimes committed during a conflict were previously considered a “normal” part of war.

Gang rapes by enemy soldiers, forced prostitution, forced sterilization, forced pregnancy, sex slavery, mutilation, psychological injuries from threats and abductions by armies, para-militaries or rebels all come under this category.

Obando has been a rising legal star in Costa Rica whose interest in the law began at an early age. Her father, a lawyer, encouraged her interest and curiosity, and by the time she was in high school at Colegio La Salle, she knew law would be her career. Her interest in women’s causes came from her awareness of sexual and domestic abuse.

She earned a bachelor’s degree, Cum Laude (1985) and a law degree, Summa Cum Laude (1986) from the Universidad Autonoma de Centro América. She holds a Master’s in Justice Studies from ArizonaStateUniversity. She is a founder of “Mujer, No Estas Sola,” a support group for abused women, and continues to work for human rights, especially for women.

ALTHOUGH the ICC has the support of the majority of the countries in the world – 92 governments have ratified the agreement so far, 30 more than needed – the United States opposes it and has tried to weaken it with bilateral agreements that would deny aid to countries that bring U.S. citizens before the ICC.

This would include military personnel committing human rights violations in countries where they are based or engaged in war. Currently, 37 wars are being fought in 28 countries, eight of which ratified the ICC, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo and Senegal.

 

Night Diving in Costa Rica: Discover the Thrill of Underwater Nightlife

Tico Times
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Night Diving in Costa Rica: Discover the Thrill of Underwater Nightlife

Nighttime is the right time for diving in Costa Rica. Like a night hike in the forest or in the city, you will need somewhat advanced skills and a guide. And just like the forest and the city, a host of creatures unseen in the daylight appears after the sun goes down.

When you are diving into nightlife, it helps to reconnoiter the site during the day and figure out the path you will take after hours. Of course, all equipment must be double-checked. Redundancy of crucial items is standard. The extra work pays off big.

Strange beasts that remain hidden in cracks, crevices and caves in the day venture forth into the night – such as hundreds of lobster that walk around on the bottom as if it were some kind of beach party.

Fish sleep on the rocks, reef and sand like vagrants. Mean jellyfish move like fighter jets. Exploding worms strafe you as you fly over. Hunting sharks dart through your dive-light beam. Corals feast on any little thing they can get their tentacles on. Wee shrimp-like crustaceans, known as sea mosquitoes, although they carry no known diseases and do not suck blood, may swim away with a chunck of your flesh.

Beach dives are one of the best ways to begin night diving. Just going down a few meters at night is enough to thrill everybody the first time, because the experience is so different from day diving. If you like wildlife, once you have gone night diving, you will be hooked. And you won’t forget long sleeves on subsequent dives.

Manzanillo, in the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge on the south Caribbean coast, offers perhaps the easiest and most diverse night diving in Costa Rica because of the coral reefs right off the beach. Many of Guanacaste’s northern-Pacific beaches have rock reefs and islets just offshore that are perfect for night beach dives.

Offshore sights at these locations provide big-time night thrills when you are ready for more. Night dives at the remote Cocos Island are so thick with large marine life that some experienced divers might refuse to get in the water. But most cannot resist the call of the night. Strangely, night diving is illegal at the Southern Zone’s Pacific dive sites at Caño Island. I do not know why.

One of the best parts of a night dive can be when we turn the lights off. Just as you need to be far from city lights to see the stars, there must be darkness to see the stars of the sea. Countless marine organisms produce their own light. Some glow blue, some red, yellow, green or anything in between. To top it all off, tiny plankton make the ocean glow everywhere there is movement. A current on a rock, a boat’s wake, a crashing wave, a kayak’s paddle stroke, or a dolphin’s path all create light.

Once your eyes adjust to the darkness, you will see there is just as much natural light under water as in the starry sky, except under water, the experience is much more three-dimensional. The fact that everybody moving has an aura and throws bright sparks makes it even more fun.

A cloudless full moon hides most of the stars of the sky and sea, but the advantage is you often do not need a light to move around. The moonlit seascape under water is just as beautiful as that of the beach or the mountains bathed in silver light.

Conditions always change, so some days are better than others. Check ahead and go with a pro to ensure a safe and satisfying experience.

Careful though – you just might become a creature of the night yourself.

Baalbek Celebrates Birthday

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Baalbek Bar and Grill celebrated its third anniversary with a three-day fiesta recently.

The restaurant began as the Habibi Bar (“I love you” in Arabic). The breathtaking view and the environment gained lots of fans, which inspired the staff to open the area onto a balcony.

Now the restaurant is opening “La Kava del Profeta,” and soon five small huts will be ready for those who after a night of celebrating would like to stay.

For more info, call 222-2126 or fax: 258-3075. Baalbek is in Los Angeles de San Rafael de Heredia, north of San José.

 

To The Limit

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SWEAT pours down their faces. The blisters on their feet worsen with every step. They haven’t slept more than a few hours in three days. They’ve hiked, biked and kayaked hundreds of kilometers, but still have more than 100 to go. All they have is a map and three other people who won’t let them out of their sight and who are really starting to wear on their nerves. They’re enjoying every second of it.

Welcome to the Coast to Coast Challenge, put on annually by Coast to Coast Adventures. Now in its fourth year, the challenge pits teams of four competitors against each other in an all-out test of mind and body as they race from Limón on the Caribbean coast to Dominical on the Pacific.

Organizers wouldn’t give the exact details of the race, but the 400-km course includes sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, trekking, rappelling and orienteering.

“It’s much more mental than physical,” says race director Mike Lapcevic. “For the competitors, it’s about seeing how far they can go.”

For those unfamiliar  with adventure racing, the sport emerged from New Zealand in the early 1980s. After a slow start, it began to gain popularity during the following decade. In 1991, Costa Rica hosted its first race, 10 days from the east to west coast, not related to Coast to Coast Adventures.

FOR several years, Coast to Coast Adventures had been putting together adventure tours, including a two-week trip where participants journeyed cross country without any motorized vehicles. In 2001, they decided to hold a formal competition.

Every year since, the tour has evolved, growing in distance as well as in the number of days for competition. Each time, race organizers learn new ways to improve safety, preparation, the course route and volunteer coordination.

“We’re learning every year, which is good,” says Lapcevic. “That way, when it’s an international event with 30 or 40 teams, we’ll be prepared to deal with it.”

Competitors are given a map and a direction and set out into the Costa Rica wilderness, where they will encounter sleep deprivation, blisters, sun and occasional disputes amongst themselves. Team members must remain within 100 meters of each other at all times and can receive no outside assistance.

First prize is cash and qualification, along with paid entrance fee, to an adventure race in Brazil, altogether worth ¢1 million ($2,370.)

“I think adventure racing is for people who have done hiking, rafting and mountain biking, but want something more,” says race coordinator Carol Ann Riley.

THIS week, eight teams of competitors from the Americas and Europe will take part in the five-day race.

The field is smaller than in past years, something Lapcevic attributes to the fact that several other adventure races are taking place at the same time; some Costa Rican teams from past years are competing in those races instead.

Each team has four members, at least one of whom must be of the opposite sex. Competitors have ranged in age from 18 to 55, with the majority of racers in their 30s and 40s. Racers train for months to be in top physical condition for the challenge.

In the past, Costa Rican teams have dominated the competition, winning every year. Last year, out of 13 teams, seven (all from Costa Rica) finished, with the winners finishing the course in three and a half days. This year four teams that completed the race last year are returning.

Eric Cano is on one of those teams – Team Dole. An adventure guide in Costa Rica, Cano trains everyday through his job. Being employed in the adventure tourism sector is common among racers, Lapcevic says, as they are already participating in outdoor activities.

“The truth is, I’ve always liked adventure,” Cano says, when asked why he competes. “I enjoy mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking, hiking – this gives me a chance to do it all instead of just one sport.”

ACCORDING to Lapcevic, racers tend to fall into two categories: serious competitors, such as Antonio De La Rosa, a member of the elite international team sponsored by Red Bull energy drink, and participants who are there to push themselves, such as those on Team Fred, who are credited for introducing more than 60 people to the sport. In each race Team Fred has one member who has never raced before, promoting the idea that “anyone can do this.”

“It’s really important to see everyone finish,” says Riley. “That’s what we want to see – not people getting disqualified or dropping out.”

This year’s race runs March 8–11. For more info on Coast to Coast Adventures, see www.ctocadventures.com or call 280-8054. For info on the Coast to Coast Challenge, see adventureracingcostarica.com.

 

Indigenous and Black Communities Shine in Unique Panama Theater Play

Tico Times
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Indigenous and Black Communities Shine in Unique Panama Theater Play

FOR the first time, four marginalized Central American communities performed an intercultural theater play in Panama, in the Caribbean islands of Bocas del Toro and Bastimentos. Since the beginning of February, 40 indigenous actors, musicians and dancers from Central America practiced on the island of Bastimentos to combine their myths, rhythms, dances and cultures. They performed the resulting art fusion Feb. 25-26, thanks to a French theater organization and its intercultural project Corazón de la Tierra (The Heart of the World).

The islands, just a few hours south of Costa Rica, offered a perfect setting, with their turquoise water and white-sand beaches. Two plays were presented to local and international spectators, to raise consciousness about these marginalized cultures.

The project included two Indigenous tribes (the Maya of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala and the Kuna Indians of Ustupu, in the autonomous territory of Panama) and two black minority communities (the Garifuna of Triunfo de la Cruz in Honduras, and the Congo tribe of Panama). Corazón de la Tierra aims to create a Euro-Central American cultural network, focusing on these cultures and identities.

“The main theme of the play is to fall into a dream,” explained Anne Sylvie Mayza-Badré, the French artistic director of the company. “It is a theme that gathers the four communities, their mythologies, the visible and the invisible – the ancestors.

“Typically worldwide, dreams are important; however, in the Western world, we tend not to value them. For the Maya, Kuna, Garifuna and Congo, a dream is symbolic of reality. It is not ‘just a dream.’ The dream allows the actors to jump from one element to another, with different scenes in their histories and religions.”

THE theater project began in 1995, as an initiative of the French theater group Babel Tower. The idea, according to founders, is that everyone is different; however, languages are not a barrier.

The Babel Tower first worked with the Maya K’iches in Guatemala, creating a play on the Pop wuj, the only Maya book explaining the creation of the world. The show played in Guatemala and France. The organization then expanded the project to other countries in Central America, creating Corazón de la Tierra.

“Central America is a mosaic of cultures, peoples and tribes who do not always get along and are especially unfamiliar with each other,” explains Mathieu Goudin-Ebbesen, a volunteer with the organization. “It is very interesting to have them all work together while maintaining the cultural integrity of each group.”

THE four communities are very different from one another and yet complement each other. They are all minorities suffering from exclusion. “What unites them is the presence of magic, the spells, and the cult of the ancestors,” says Mayza-Badré. “The names and the stories change, but they have many similar ways of thinking.”

The Maya from Lake Atitlán are quite introverted in their art. They are very religious, often intellectualizing their acting. This small group suffered terrible trauma during the Guatemalan civil war, since many family members have ‘disappeared’ or have been tortured. The six men of the group give all their energy in the play, where they have the opportunity to present their spiritual leader, the Machimon.

In contrast, the Garifuna are not afraid to use their voices and bodies to express themselves, with their art based on improvisation and spontaneity. They dance with African-influenced rhythm, creating an amazing ambiance with their drums and voices. They are the descendants of African slaves mixed with the Arawak native indigenous to the island of San Vicente.

The Garifuna have spread all over the Caribbean coast of Central America and gained a distinct culture apart from the Latinos. In today’s context of globalization, this Honduran minority fears the loss of their cultural heritage. Theater is a way to remind the world of their existence.

THE Kuna Indians from Ustupu, in the Kuna Yala archipelago of Panama, can be seen as a warrior tribe. They are one of the few indigenous people who fought against the army of Panama to protect their traditions and culture, and who managed to find external help to remain an autonomous territory.

They have maintained their traditional costumes and ways of living. Their art is very organized and structured. Also from Panama, the black community of the Congos is the newest arrival in the project. They brought their Queen for this unique theater performance. Locals often recognize this famous old woman, carrying her huge crown proudly, from TV.

She explained the meaning of the Congos’ traditional dances, usually performed during the annual carnival. The princess and the prince of the Congos also participated in the play.

Speed Kills on East, Blue Water Returns to West

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A Costa Rican Coast Guard crewman was killed reportedly late Sunday when the patrol boat he was in struck the island at the mouth of the Barra Colorado at full speed and soared more than 60 feet through the air before crashing.

Río Colorado Lodge owner Dan Wise and several of his guests at the lodge witnessed the tragedy, and said all three of the 200-h.p. outboards were wide open when the boat struck the island. How many people were aboard and the extent of other injuries was not known.

Dan said the patrol boat had been cruising the rivers at high speeds for the past couple of days, and on Saturday nearly ran down one of his boats with fishermen aboard up the river.

ANOTHER Coast Guard officer was killed in a similar accident about a year ago, striking the same island at high speed, he added.

The rain and winds in that area reported here last week had died down as of Monday, and boats were fishing outside the mouth, with one tarpon release and several more in the air as this is written.

Fingerling snook are moving into the river in immense swarms, extending miles along the shoreline, attracting hundreds of pelicans that feed on the tiny fish.

WATER conditions off the central Pacific coast are improving by the day, with boats finding blue water within an hour’s run from Quepos, and going about three releases a day. A couple of marlin releases were also reported last week.

No reports in more than a week from the Guanamar, Tamarindo or Flamingo boats, and can’t remember when we last heard from Roy’s Zancudo Lodge, Parrot Bay, Crocodile Bay or anyone else in the Zancudo, Puerto Jiménez or Golfito regions in the Southern Zone, so your guess as to what’s going on there is as good as mine.

We have a number of requests for the March-April edition of Costa Rica Outdoors magazine containing a complete list of the 101 world record fish recorded from Costa Rica water in the 2004 edition of the International Game Fish Association’s World Record Game Fish. It should be printed by the end of this week, and we’ll get them out as soon as possible.

 

Pedestrian Bridges Delayed Again

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IF all goes according to the new plan, by December the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) may have finished constructing some of the eight pedestrian bridges it was ordered to build “immediately” last October by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV).

Lorena López, Vice-Minister of Public Works, said MOPT apologizes for the delay; but can’t speed up the construction process because it must adhere to the country’s cumbersome administrative hiring laws.

The Ombudsman’s Office said the delay is “unacceptable,” given the number of pedestrian deaths along the highways where the bridges are planned (TT, Nov. 21, 2003).

“It’s a matter of public safety and fundamental rights,” Ombudsman José Manuel Echandi told The Tico Times.

“MOPT must find a mechanism to speed up the construction of these bridges, which will save lives. Life is the most sacred value of the Constitution. It is the most important of the country’s laws.

“Sometimes the procedures the government must adhere to are ridiculous,” he added.

DURING the past two years, at least 10 people have died while attempting to cross the

Próspero Fernández Highway

, which connects San José to the western suburb of Santa Ana.

The most recent deaths took place last month. At 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 9, Fermín Joya, 68, was run over by a passing vehicle as he attempted to cross the highway near the exitramp to Escazú.

Minutes later, 24-year-old Diego Trejos – a pharmacist and the son of Fernando Trejos, executive president of the Mixed Institute for Social Aid (IMAS) – stopped and got out of his vehicle to assist Joya. Shortly after, both men were run over and killed by an Escazú- San José bus.

Similar accidents have taken place along other highways. Last year, a girl was killed and another left paralyzed after being hit by a vehicle as they attempted to cross the

Florencio del Castillo Highway

, which connects San José to the colonial capital of Cartago, to the east.

PLANS to build the eight pedestrian bridges – two over the Próspero Fernández highway, three over the Florencio del Castillo highway, two on the General Cañas highway between San José and Alajuela and one in San José – were first unveiled three years ago.

In October 2002, MOPT began a public bidding process to hire a company to build the bridges.

By April 2003, exasperated by delays with the bidding process and outraged by another pedestrian death, a resident of Santa Ana filed an injunction before Sala IV demanding MOPT build the bridges. In October 2003, the Court ordered the bridges be built immediately (TT, Oct. 17, 2003).

By then, the bidding process was under way. Two companies, Productos de Concreto and Estructuras de Concreto had made bid offers. Productos de Concreto was awarded the contract, but Estructuras appealed it. It took the Comptroller General’s Office a month to study the appeal before it rejected it in November.

Just as MOPT and Productos were set to sign the $1.23 million contract, the Comptroller’s Office ruled in December 2003 to annul the entire bidding process, saying it did not meet the technical requirements.

LAST month, MOPT published a new bidding cartel for the same eight bridges. Bid offers are due April 9.

“We have relaunched the public bidding process,” López explained. “We hope the experience we and the companies have earned from the previous bidding process will help us get the project back on track.”

Once bids are received, MOPT will have one month to evaluate which one best meets the technical, economic and legal requirements.

Afterward, MOPT and the winning firm will sign the contract and send it to the Comptroller General’s Office, which will have two months to evaluate it.

“Being optimistic, really optimistic, we could begin construction in July,” López said. “Some of the bridges could be done by December.”

ECHANDI insists MOPT must heed the Sala’s ruling. However, he did not specify exactly how the ministry could circumvent the country’s contracting laws.

“The bridges are urgent and necessary,” he said. “It’s something that has been delayed more than three years by administrative problems and faulty bidding processes. It has grave consequences. It puts in danger the lives of children, adults and the elderly.”

Echandi blames MOPT for not making the requirements for projects clear enough the last time.

“MOPT is required to make good bidding cartels, award them to the right companies and make sure the projects are completed correctly and on time,” he said. “The administration is guilty of putting in danger the lives of pedestrians.”

IN an attempt to address the problem at its root, Public Works and Transport Minister Javier Chaves recently unveiled a bill aimed at making government bidding processes faster and more efficient (TT, Jan. 30, Feb. 13).

The bill aims to simplify the procedures required for bidding process for small projects. It also reduces the amount of time companies are given to submit bids, the time the government has to evaluate the bids and the time the Comptroller General’s Office has to evaluate and approve contracts. It also would allow the government to issue “urgency procedures” for certain projects.

If MOPT declares a state of urgency, it would be allowed to reduce the length of time allotted for each step of the bidding process by half.

However, legislators must still approve the bill, and while it may stop similar projects from being delayed in the future, it is not expected to speed up the construction of the pedestrian highway bridges.

 

Reviving San Jose Costa Rica’s Central Market

Tico Times
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Reviving San Jose Costa Rica’s Central Market

TO foreigners, the heavy smell of ripe fruit in the air and the eye candy in all directions is draw enough to the Mercado Central in San José. But to vendors, the market is more than just a tourist attraction. It is a livelihood, and if improvements are not made soon, government agriculture officials worry the Mercado Central could become just another non-existent geographical reference for giving Tico directions.

The Ministry of Agriculture’s Integral Agricultural and Livestock Marketing Program (PIMA) last month announced the results of a study suggesting the country’s 34 municipal central markets are losing the battle against supermarket chains on a variety of fronts.

“THE markets have lost in all senses,” said PIMA director Jorge Cruz. “They have lost clientele. They have lost in infrastructure. They have lost in quality. And they are becoming less competitive in prices.” The study cites problems with security, cleanliness, waste disposal, street vendors, congestion, parking and lack of loading docks as reasons for the decline in popularity of the mercados.

PIMA, which provides government support to small agribusiness throughout the country, is initiating a plan to improve the markets not only physically, but also in terms of service and security. By making dramatic infrastructure improvements in everything from lighting to parking, as well as training vendors in presentation, PIMA hopes to avoid the displacement of thousands of jobs and the closure of thousands of family-owned businesses.

“We still have sufficient time to stop what has happened in some other countries in Latin America and Europe, where much of the small economy and the small businesses have been totally lost,” Cruz said. ALTHOUGH most vendors at the Mercado Central do not feel business has decreased in recent years, many say they are uncertain about the future.

“The clients are very consistent, but most of them are age 50 and older, and for this reason we are worried,” said Francisco Jiménez, who manages a spice stall owned by his family. “Ask anyone who is 15 to 20 years old and they have never even been to the market.” Jiménez’s spice business pays about ¢30,000 ($71) a month in rent for its space at the Mercado Central. For more than two years, about ¢5,000 ($12) of this rent has been earmarked for improvements to the market – according to the monthly bill.

However, according to tenants at the Mercado, no improvements have materialized. “They’ve been talking about improving things for years, but they have done nothing,” said Hernán Gómez, who pays ¢28,000 ($66) per month for the fruit stand his father owns. A patchwork roof, crumbling walls, a floor more uneven than the sidewalks outside, and electrical and plumbing systems that are antiquated at best – the list of needs at the Mercado Central is long.

Markets around the country are no better, Cruz said. More than one-third of the country’s markets were built before 1959. Serious deficiencies in infrastructure were reported in 90% of the markets during a November poll of administrators.

Part of the problem is administration. Although almost all of the markets fall under the jurisdiction of the area municipalities, 76% of mayors say their municipal governments do not have programs or strategies for the markets. In most cases, an administrator charged with a multitude of tasks runs the market, Cruz said.

Along with the operational tasks of maintenance, security, trash collection and inspections, each market’s administrator is responsible for accounting, rent collection, promotion, complaints and opening and closing the market. Less than half of the administrators have offices with computers to do their jobs.

Rents barely cover the minimum expenses of the markets, Cruz added. DESPITE these challenges, and the opening of myriad new supermarkets in the last decade, municipal markets are still in the competition for customers. Markets are the third most popular place to buy fruits and vegetables, as well as fresh meat, according to a PIMA poll.

Various people shopping at the Mercado Central earlier this week told The Tico Times they shop there for the price and the quality, particularly of meat and seafood. An informal comparison by The Tico Times reveals the price of fruits and vegetables at the Mercado is slightly less than Más x Menos supermarket.

Potatoes were ¢589 ($1.39) per kilogram at Más x Menos and ¢420 ($1) at the Mercado; carrots were ¢190 ($0.45) per kilogram at Más x Menos and ¢150 ($0.36) at the Mercado; tomatoes were ¢769 ($1.82) per kilogram at Más x Menos and ¢540 ($1.28) at the Mercado.

A comparison of meat and fish shows a more dramatic price difference.

Ground beef was ¢1,691 ($4) per kilogram at Más x Menos and ¢1,395 ($3.30) at the Mercado; corvina was ¢3,950 ($9.36) per kilogram at Más x Menos and ¢3,500 ($8.29) at the Mercado; bone-in chicken breast was ¢1,020 ($2.42) per kilogram at Más x Menos and ¢850 ($2) at the Mercado.

BEYOND price, shoppers reported they are attracted to the diversity of the mercados and the intangible concept of tradition. Chessboards, cheese, notebooks, nuts, figs and grapefruits in syrup, loose spices, leather goods, flowers, fresh-roasted coffee, mango honey, caramel topping – there is little that cannot be found at the markets.

“My father used to bring me to the market as a young boy for ice cream,” said Jiménez, who is 29 years old and expecting a child, whom he plans to bring to the market. “We got everything here. He taught me how to pick out meat.” Cruz said tradition was an important aspect of the mercados. “Municipal Markets in the 1970s and 1980s were a place where families could come and shop with complete confidence, a place where they could find their neighbors and converse, but at the same time do their shopping,” Cruz said.

“Furthermore, there was a very familiar relationship between the man who sold the fruits or meat and the woman who came to buy. Supermarkets have taken away that personalization.” TRADITION alone, however, is not going to keep people coming to the markets, Cruz said. PIMA plans to follow a development plan that has met with success in Spain in the last decade.

PIMA will help municipal markets attract new customers by facilitating loans for infrastructure improvements and offering training programs to vendors to improve presentation of products. Some markets may also diversify into selling arts and crafts, a plan that has already attracted tourists to some markets on the Pacific coast.

PIMA plans to hold a National Conference on Municipal Markets in about six months to discuss these and other strategies.

Costa Rica’s Northern Wetlands Vanishing

Tico Times
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Costa Rica’s Northern Wetlands Vanishing

LOS CHILES – A series of possibly illegal drainage canals and fires in the Northern Zone are causing widespread deforestation and the destruction of what had been one of Costa Rica’s most fertile wetlands. Swaths of what were previously huge tropical humid forests are now yellowing pasturelands throughout the Río Frío river basin, surrounding the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, near the Nicaraguan border.

Experts say as much as 60% of the area’s wetlands has been lost in the last 30 years. Seen from the air, dried, felled trees that were once part of a delicate floating ecosystem are now peppered across the landscape, and only patches of the original forest remain.

Migratory birds depending on the wetlands for survival now crowd around remaining lagoons, which are coffee-colored. A lone environmental agency with only eight members, called the Association for the Protection, Conservation and Health of Caño Negro de Los Chiles (ASOPROCOSARENA), led the beginning of a fight to save the area, and has now been joined by a team of scientists from the University of Costa Rica (UCR).

Experts, members of ASOPROCOSARENA and area residents said private landowners with ambitions of raising crops or cattle on their land are digging the canals and building dikes to divert water from the naturally saturated lands to the Río Frío, which runs from south to north and continues across the Nicaraguan border, and other natural drainage points.

Ironically, residents said, the canals have caused the land to get so dry in the summer that in some cases crops fail and cattle have to be led long distances to be watered. ALTHOUGH there has been no official count of the canals, members of ASOPROCOSARENA say there are between 80 and 100, and at least one is located inside the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge.

The river basin formerly retained a substantial amount of water during the dry season, but since the construction of the canals the land has become arid, and forest fires have spread unabated as a consequence in some places. Wildfires in the basin now spread in an unnatural fashion, according to UCR scientists. Fires used to pass from tree to tree above the earth, but were limited by the saturated ground. Now that the earth is dry, however, the fires are subterraneous, passing through the roots of felled trees and creating a sort of natural oven that has to be dug up to be put out, the scientists explained.

THE open canals increase soil erosion, which has caused massive amounts of sediment to accumulate in bodies of water in the area, according to a study led by Francisco Solano, a geologist with UCR. Area residents said there is so much sediment in the Río Frío, for example, that parts of it are no longer navigable even by kayak.

Solano’s study supports their assertion. “The alterations of the hydrological cycle [in the wetlands] have manifested in the loss of navigability of rivers, the alterations more and more accentuated by the inundations during the rainy season and the prolongation and greater levels of water loss during the dry season,” states one of the study’s conclusion statements.

Area residents said the sediment has had a visible impact on aquatic wildlife in the area. “WE’VE been here five years, and we’ve seen unimaginable damage,” said Ingrid Ritchie, a local landowner. “We used to go counting caimans and turtles – you could count turtles,” Ritchie said, pointing repeatedly as though she were counting the animals.

Juan Sánchez, director of Wetland Areas for the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE), said he had seen photos of the canals, and that they most likely are illegal. “We are certainly talking about a loss of wetlands that is extremely important,” Sánchez said.

Sánchez referred to Article 45 of the Organic Environmental Law, which specifically prohibits the alteration of areas designated wetlands by the construction of dikes and drainage canals, even if those wetlands are on private property. HE said a number of measures are necessary before any kind of construction on a wetland is allowed, the first of which is an environmental impact study.

But that process is lengthy, he said, and many people don’t bother to go through it. He also said MINAE officials have scant resources to enforce regulations.

Even if they did have such resources, their hands would be somewhat tied. In the Organic Environmental Law there are prohibitions against construction in wetlands, but no punishments outlined for those who violate the law, Sánchez said. “At any rate, if there were sanctions, what?” Sánchez said.

He said punishments probably would not prevent people from continuing to dig the canals, and likened the situation to a man killing his wife even though she had a restraining order against him. “He might get 20 years in prison, but she’s still dead, right?” he said.

Sánchez also said that in order for the prohibitions to be valid, the areas must be officially designated wetlands to be protected under the law, and he’s not sure much of the Río Frío river basin still qualifies, since they have been modified for so long. “WE’RE talking about 20, 30 years ago…it’s a bit irreversible,” Sánchez said.

Lighthawk, a non-profit environmental aviation organization whose volunteer pilots provide flights for reporters, filmmakers, scientists and government officials to help them document land-use crimes and environmental conditions, has helped with the case.

During a Lighthawk flight over the river basin last week, Andrea Corte, an area business owner and member of ASOPROCOSARENA, showed The Tico Times a rowboat behind a home in the middle of a field. He said there is still enough water in some areas that residents need it to get around.

“There is no way you can not tell me that’s a wetland,” Corte said. Last October, Corte sent a personal letter to President Abel Pacheco and included aerial footage of the destruction.

The following day, the President sent a letter to Carlos Rodríguez, Minister of the Environment and Energy, saying he would be “very grateful” if Rodríguez could look into the matter and bring a response to Corte. Rodríguez handed the case over to the country’s Environmental Tribunal, where it is under review.

“WE don’t need a plan of conservation,” Corte said. “We need a recuperation program. There’s nothing to conserve.” The study led by Solano reached a similar conclusion. Solano said recuperation of the area is possible, but not in a strictly biological sense. In fact, he said, total biological recuperation of the river basin would probably never happen.

He said social recuperation is just as necessary, to teach the agricultural community there – now a permanent fixture – how to live among the wetlands in a sustainable manner. Solano said basic social necessities in the area, such as streets, are poorly planned and have amplified the damage. He also said designating the area one massive refuge would not accomplish much.

BOTH Sánchez and Solano said the country has an obligation to protect its wetlands, and pointed to an international wetland convention called the Ramsar treaty, which came into effect in Costa Rica in 1992. The Ramsar Bureau, an intergovernmental agency responsible for administering the treaty, maintains a list of wetlands of international importance.

The wetlands around Caño Negro top those that made the list from Costa Rica. Other Costa Rican wetlands on the list include Cuenca Embalse Arenal, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, Humedal Caribe Noreste, Isla del Coco, Laguna Respringue, Potrero Grande, Palo Verde and Tamarindo mangrove areas, Térraba-Sierpe and Turberas de Talamanca.

NASA Reports Signs That Mars Once Had Water

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WASHINGTON – NASA’s Opportunity rover has found evidence that at least one site on Mars once was drenched in water and capable of supporting life.

The finding suggests that Mars, now a cold and dry planet, was once more hospitable to life and is sure to reinvigorate the debate on whether primitive life could have evolved on Mars just as it did on Earth.

The finding vindicates NASA’s decision to send rovers to two locations near the Martian equator in search of evidence of past water activity.

Opportunity landed in late January at a small crater on the flat expanse called Meridiani Planum and has been using its instruments for much of the past three weeks to study a finely layered rock outcrop.

The science team now has concluded that outcrop once was “soaked in liquid water.”

BRUCE Murray, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology, also praised the work of the rover team. While a skeptic about the possibility life ever existed on Mars, Murray said the rocks under study may offer an “important clue to what it was like two or three billion years ago” on Mars.

While spacecraft have found evidence of water ice at the poles of Mars and in subsurface deposits, scientists say the atmosphere is too thin to support liquid water at the planet’s surface today.

 

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