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COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

Putting Garbage in Costa Rica in Its Place

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Last week, the Ministry of Health accepted bids for a comprehensive plan for the proper collection, treatment and disposal of all waste – toxic and otherwise – coming from the country’s public hospitals and clinics.

Until now, the treatment of medical waste has been as mixed up as the red and black bags meant to separate toxic from non-toxic waste. Paper and soda cans are often tossed along with dirty bandages into the same bags at the nation’s health care centers.

That is not the worst of the problem. Reports of food being sold from the red boxes designated for the disposal of used hypodermic needles; limbs buried in the hospital cemetery being dug out by street dogs; hospital waste found along the Colorado and Turrialba rivers; and a former city garbage collector contracting tuberculosis from handling dangerous medical waste he should have never had to deal with – the stories are endless, and they are tragic.

The policies established by President Abel Pacheco and Health Minister Rocío Sáenz last year were a first step, but unfortunately medical waste is still not dealt with properly in too many hospitals.

The Social Security System’s new comprehensive plan will make one private organization responsible for it all, hopefully allowing for better training, easier  monitoring and proper disposal of hazardous garbage.

However, it is only the beginning.

In a country that considers itself environmentally progressive, a waste-management plan that encompasses the entire country’s solid waste should not be wishful thinking.

Handling waste properly is not only the result of good governmental decisions, it is a collaborative frame of mind created by a country’s people, something instilled at an early age through anti-litter programs, good recycling habits and a conscientious approach to generating less waste in the first place.

It’s time the slogan “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” became common knowledge in Costa Rican homes.

Free-Trade Agreement Controversies Continue

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THE Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) this week issued a statement saying the U.S.-Central America Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) requires only a simple majority of 29 of 57 votes in the Legislative Assembly to be ratified.

In recent weeks, legislators and legal analysts have argued about how many votes CAFTA needs to be approved here.

Under Costa Rican law, the approval of laws that don’t affect the country’s Constitution require only 29 votes in favor. Reforms to the constitution require a qualified majority of 39 votes.

In general, CAFTA proponents have argued the treaty requires only a simple majority. Opponents of CAFTA have said the treaty requires a qualified majority since it will dramatically change the country by opening its telecommunications and insurance monopolies (TT, Oct. 31, Dec. 19, 2003) and require the country make significant legislative changes.

Despite these arguments, the Supreme Court has not issued a formal ruling on the number of votes CAFTA needs to be approved.

AmCham and its sister organizations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua represent approximately 80% of U.S. businesses that invest in Central America.

AmCham Costa Rica also announced it was “very pleased” with U.S. President George W. Bush’s decision to formally notify the U.S. Congress about the conclusion of CAFTA negotiations (TT Daily Page, Feb. 25).

In related news, Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, the country’s secondlargest public university, has publicly come out against CAFTA, calling its potential approval and implementation a “coup d’ etat.”

According to Henry Mora, of UNA’s School of Economics, CAFTA is part of a neo-liberal ideology backed by nearly all the country’s business sector and conservative politicians, which attempts to impose a specific world vision in a nondemocratic manner.

Approving CAFTA would violate the country’s Constitution, Mora said this week.

 

Gas Prices Rise to Highest Level This Year

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AS of Wednesday, the Costa Rican Oil Refinery (RECOPE) increased the price of vehicle fuels – super gasoline rose by ¢17.80 (4 cents), regular gasoline by ¢17 (4 cents) and diesel by ¢13.90 (3 cents) per liter.

The price of gasoline in Costa Rica is at its highest level in more than a year, the daily La Nación reported.

The price of filling up the tank of an average commuter vehicle with 45 liters of super gasoline has risen from ¢12,400 ($29.52) to ¢13,200 ($31.42).

The price of a liter of super is now ¢293.70 (70 cents). The price of a liter of regular is now ¢263.70 (63 cents), and the price of a liter of diesel is ¢207.90 (50 cents).

The Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) authorized the increase last week. RECOPE requested it on Feb. 5 in response to the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut back on international oilproduction quotas.

The decision was surprising, analysts said, given that international oil prices continue to be well above $30 per barrel.

Following ARESEP’s announcement, bus companies and taxi driver unions said they would request fare increases.

 

U.S. Embassy Will Provide Tax Assistance to Ex-Pats

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FROM March 2-4, a U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax assistance specialist will be available for brief consultations at the U.S. Embassy in Pavas, west of San José, on a first-come, first-served basis.

People wishing to consult the tax assistance specialist should call 220-3050, ext. 2294, for an appointment.

Tax assistance will be available on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week from 8:15 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

On Thursday, assistance will be available from 8:15 a.m. to noon.

People who have an appointment should arrive at the Embassy ten minutes before the appointment, present photo identification and check-in with the receptionist in the Embassy lobby.

 

Wireless Internet Coming To Juan Santamaría Airport

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WITHIN the next three months, the Costa Rican Electricity and Telecom Institute (ICE) plans to begin offering wireless Internet service (WLAN) at JuanSantamaríaInternationalAirport.

The plan is part of a pilot project to bring wireless to several airports, malls and public spaces throughout the country, the daily La República reported.

Installing the network at Juan Santamaría will cost approximately ¢20 million ($47,600). Once it begins operating, customers will be able to connect to the Internet without the use of a phone line or cable connection by accessing a special frequency.

The pilot project will last three months. During that time, ICE will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the project. If the project is successful, ICE will expand service to additional points within the airport.

The trial period will be free. After it expires, customers will be required to purchase pre-paid cards such similar to those used for public phone calls.

After JuanSantamaríaAirport, ICE plans to implement wireless service at Liberia’s DanielOduberInternationalAirport and eventually at TobíasBolañosAirport.

ICE officials said they hope to someday install the service at the country’s major shopping malls.

 

Exports to Canada Continue to Grow

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COSTA Rican exports to Canada grew 23.9% last year, continuing the trend of a growing trade surplus with the North American country.

Costa Rica exported $194.1 million to Canada and opened its borders to $44 million in Canadian imports, according to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER).

The steady increase in trade is in part attributed to the free-trade agreement the two countries signed on April 23, 2001. The agreement allows 86% of Costa Rican products to enter Canada free of tariffs.

Costa Rica’s main agricultural exports to Canada in 2003 were bananas, pineapples, sugarcane, melons, green coffee beans, heart of palm and flowers (in that order).

Top industrial exports were computer integrated circuits, needles, syringes and other medical equipment (in that order).

Canada’s main exports to Costa Rica were press paper, potassium chloride, kraft paper for sacks and nylon-textured threads.

 

Government Raids Pepsi For Suspected Tax Evasion

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THE Prosecutor’s Office for the Judicial Branch on Tuesday morning raided the installations of Embotelladora Centroamerica S.A. (ECSA), the country’s producer and distributor of Pepsi brand soft drinks, for allegedly not paying ¢109 million ($260,000) in taxes, the daily Al Día reported.

The Direct Taxation Office said it issued the order to search ECSA as a result of alleged irregularities found in its payment of foreign remittance taxes over royalties paid between Oct. 1, 1999 and Sept. 30, 2002.

ECSA pays royalties to the firm Cuba Libre International of the British Virgin Islands for the production and sale of Cuba Libre brand rum-and-coke canned beverage.

During the search, police seized several documents but arrested no one.

A spokesperson for ECSA said the company would not comment on the matter.

Initiative to Protect Costa Rican Coffee with Origin Certification

A new plan jointly funded by the Spanish International Cooperation Agency and the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) aims to establish clear denominations of origin and geographic indicators –norms and labels that identify a product’s origin and certify its quality – for Costa Rican coffee.

By doing so, ICAFE hopes to further differentiate the country’s coffee production from that of the rest of the world. Differentiation will result in better international coffee prices, according to the institute.

Last Friday, representatives of the central Spain region of La Rioja’s Regulator Council for the Qualified Denomination of Origin – the organization in charge of administrating and certifying denominations of origin for the region’s wines – visited the country to meet with ICAFE and discuss preliminary plans for the project.

“GIVEN the experience they have with issues such as denomination of origin, geographic indicators and agro-tourism, we were very excited when the Spanish Foreign Cooperation Agency recommended we speak with La Rioja’s Council,” said ICAFE president Juan Bautista Moya.

“Spain has experience in both the technical and legal aspects of denomination of origin.” The three-year project is the result of six months of negotiations between ICAFE and the Cooperation Agency, aimed finding new ways to help Costa Rica’s coffee producers counteract the low international prices coffee has suffered in recent years as a result of a worldwide production surplus (TT, Nov. 21, 2003).

During the project’s first year, the Cooperation Agency will donate 70,000 Euros ($87,500). The budget for the next two years has not been defined.

FOR Rioja and the Council of Qualified Origin, it’s an honor to assist the Coffee Institute in this effort,” said Angel de Jaime Barú, president of the Council.

“A great parallel can be drawn between La Rioja’s wine and Costa Rica’s coffee. Both are world-renowned regions known for what they produce. Both products are known for their quality, originality and promotion. Like La Rioja, Costa Rica can benefit from establishing clear denominations of origin.”

Barú noted that Costa Rican coffee, like la Rioja’s wine, despite representing only a small fraction of the world’s total production, has managed to earn recognition in export markets. In that sense, denominations of origin will help to further differentiate the country’s production its competition.

“The goal is to give the product a value-added that stays with the producer,” Barú explained. “If quality is controlled and guaranteed, the consumer will be willing to pay extra for a product.

“DENOMINATIONS of origin help products stand out against today’s increasingly standardized production,” he said. Moya agreed.

“We know we have excellent coffee –the best in the world,” he said. “Now we have to make sure it’s differentiated and protected.”

The first phase of the project will consist of fieldwork. The ICAFE and the council will study each of Costa Rica’s coffee-producing regions and identify which ones can be subject to a differentiated denomination of origin.

The fieldwork phase, according to Barú, will not be that difficult given the great deal of work Costa Rica has already done in outlining many of its specialty coffee regions. Several regions, such as the Santa María de Dota-Tarrazú, already possess international recognition.

Differentiated regions are those that produce a specific product under certain quality standards. The product must play an important part in the history and culture of the community that produces it, Barú explained.

ONCE the areas have been defined, a general denomination of origin for the country’s coffee and specific denominations for different regions will be created under the country’s Trademark and Copyright Law.

In addition to helping with the development of denominations of origin, the project also aims to locate and develop agro-tourism possibilities for coffee producers.

Barú said agro-tourism, such as Café Britt’s renowned Coffee Tour, are a valuable source of additional revenues for producers, which also work to strengthen the ties between a product and its consumers.

“Today, consumers are very interested in how the products they consume are produced,” he explained. “Once they get to know a product first hand, more than consumers, they become friends. They go home and continue to buy the product.

They also tell their friends.”

In La Rioja, winery tours attract thousands of tourists each year. This creates additional jobs beyond agriculture, which help sustain rural development and provide an alternative to moving to the cities, he said.

IN related news, the international price of Costa Rican coffee continued to bounce back. According to ICAFE, the average price of a 46-kilogram bushel of Costa Rican coffee in New York in January was $74.19, up from $61.93 in November 2003.

The current price is significantly higher than the low of $47.37 in October 2001, but far from the all-time high of $220.90 per bushel in September 1994.

According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the price increase is part of a worldwide trend caused by decreased production by Brazil, the world’s largest producer, and other important producers.

ICO estimated this year’s supply of coffee will fall below demand for the first time in six years.

Governments Discuss Marine Life Corridor

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GOVERNMENT officials from Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Colombia are working with the organization Conservation International and the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization to create a protected corridor for marine life migrating between islands owned by each country, La Prensa Libre reported earlier this month.

The corridor would include the islands of Malpelo (Colombia), Cohiba (Panama), Galapagos (Ecuador) and Isla del Coco (Costa Rica).

The project aims to provide a haven for creatures such as sharks, turtles, tortoises, manta rays, tuna, and other fish.

Such corridors exist in Latin America, but this would be the first to cross international waters in the area.

“The government of Costa Rica supports the initiative of the ecological groups to consider what is a great step forward in the protection of the island (del Coco),” said Costa Rica’s Environment and Energy Minister Carlos Rodríguez.

 

Jungle Culture Club Roughs it with Class

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MATAPALO – STIJN DE WITTE is the man responsible for exposing whole villages of deep jungle hunters and farmers to a Martian invasion on the big screen. He toted a projector, a generator and a screen to the remote villages around his home near Matapalo in the Southern Pacific zone and showed Mars Attacks to people who had never before seen a movie.

They followed the viewing with a discussion that wriggled toward themes of cultural differences and left de Witte with a story that typifies his lifestyle. He is the last word in cultural fusion. He is a baldheaded Belgian owner of clubs throughout Europe and Asia and a welder of Tico and foreign societies in his funky conglomeration of disco and hammocks in the jungle boonies three kilometers from the tiny town of Matapalo.

I went there for a dinner and concert over Valentine’s Day weekend. De Witte hosted guests that represented three generations and a smattering of countries from Europe and the Americas in a fundraiser for his Fundación Matapalo.

THE Fundación, de Witte said, is a culture club without ambitions – just real people in the deep jungle. “All around the world you find people looking for likeminded people and for cultural exchange,” he said. “I try to promote cultural synergy – an exchange between locals and foreigners.”

Among the activities he organizes are children’s camps – up to five kids from abroad camping or living with up to seven kids from around Matapalo in their homes; a BackPack2Basics forest immersion, survival training and guided adventures, and a litany of unexpected and novel social jamborees.

The house is in the middle of the pure jungle where I saw a pair of toucans not 10 yards away from the woody-vine domed circular porch and forest lookout beside his auditorium/dance floor and in sight of the wading pool. Rumors mention that Capuchin monkeys and parrots that drop by as well.

The house looks like it is part dance club, part Gilligan’s older brother’s bachelor pad on the chill side of the Island with palm leaf roofs and part aluminum space ship with a touch of Victorian-era class.

The sound system and scant light bulbs are solar powered. Candles in wroughtiron and glass lanterns and atop empty wine bottles light the place during nighttime gatherings.

ON Valentine’s weekend guests paid an entrance fee for a roll of Java money – fake bills that bought drinks, garlic, tomato and fishy appetizers and yummy fish soup.

We applauded the father and son Perez marimba duo then, when they had stowed their keys, we nodded our heads to Canadian-native Daniel Hébert’s tranceinducing acoustic guitar and vocals.

Singer for the band God’s End, he calls his music “melodic-garage-swoon-f*** rock” and stored five songs for downloads, free of charge, at www.atgodsend.com. Perry Gladstone recorded the concert for a Canadian Broacasting Corporation radio feature on Hébert and has thrown his support behind the Fundación. His report is available at www.perrygladstone.com.

For more information on the Fundación see www.matapalo.com.