FTA Not a Panacea to Central America: Costa Rica Expert
A Costa Rican social-policy expert has concluded that Free Trade Agreements (FTA) are not a panacea for solving social inequalities in Central America.

Social inequality gaps in the region show no sign of shrinking and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) will not minimize them, Jorge Vargas, a consultant to the Costa Rican State of the Nation Project, was quoted as saying by local daily La Prensa Libre in a report on Thursday.

To prevent a deepening of inequalities in some parts of the region, Vargas proposes an increase in social expenditure or in private sector investment to create jobs.

If governments fail to invest in the social sector, concentrating instead on resource exploitation to generate income, they will only produce short term solutions and not eradicate basic problems, he said.

Vargas acknowledged that the problem cannot be wholly laid at the door of the FTA. Part of the problem rests with the proportion of investment targeted at the most vulnerable or less protected sectors.

According to a survey in 2001, poverty affects 22.9 percent of the population in Costa Rica; 56.2 percent in Guatemala; 45.8 percent in Nicaragua, 71.6 percent in Honduras and 45.5 percent in El Salvador.

Extreme poverty persists in 6.8 percent of the population in Costa Rica; 15.7 percent in Guatemala; 15.1 percent in Nicaragua; 53 percent in Honduras, and 19.8 percent in El Salvador, the survey said.

 

Verdict Brings Measure of Relief
Family, friends pleased justice served but say no conviction could ease loss. No verdict or sentencing would be harsh enough for the people who killed Kansas University student Shannon Martin, her mother said Tuesday in Costa Rica.

Martin's mother deserves much of the credit for seeing that the investigation was carried through and that the case went to trial, said Larry Welch, director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

"It was her pushing, and it took a lot of pushing in different directions for Jeanette to accomplish what she accomplished," Welch said.

Welch sent a Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) agent to Cost Rica with Stauffer after the initial investigation went nowhere. The agent, Larry Thomas, assisted Costa Rican authorities when the probe was revived.

Welch said he was not surprised at the outcome of the trial based on his knowledge of the evidence and Costa Rican law.

The case was difficult, especially because the initial investigation wasn't handled as aggressively or as thoroughly as it would have been in Kansas, Welch said.

"Given the late start, given the way the investigation went at the outset, this, perhaps, is better than nothing," Welch said.

Pedro Irigonegary, a Topeka attorney who also traveled to Costa Rica with Stauffer to provide assistance, declined to judge the trial's outcome without talking with Stauffer first.

"Suffice it to say this has been a very, very difficult process for Jeanette and her entire family," Irigonegary said. "This senseless and brutal killing is one that has created immense anguish, not only for her family but also for the good people of Golfito."

Kansas University officials also kept track of events in Costa Rica. Jeff Weinberg, assistant to Chancellor Robert Hemenway, traveled to the country with Stauffer. Weinberg also said it was too early to judge the trial's outcome without knowing more details about what took place. He said he had not talked with Stauffer.

"I think one issue is very clear," Weinberg said. "No one -- no one -- could have done more than Jeanette Stauffer in order to amass as much evidence as possible."

Hemenway, in a statement, commended Stauffer's "tireless efforts" in pursuing justice for her daughter's killers.

"No verdict can atone for her death, but she will never be forgotten by the university, her friends or her family," Hemenway's statement said.
 

Half of Costa Ricans Worry About Losing Work
One out of every two persons are concerned of losing their job due to an unstable economy both in the private and public sectors, an is being felt in other Latin countries as well, according to a recent study by Latinobarómetro.

In Costa Rica 50% of the population works in a "formal" environment, while 32% are "informal", 14% own their own business and 4% are domestic workers.

In neighbouring countries "formal" workers make up only 35.7% in El Salvador, 27% in Guatemala and 19.9% in Honduras
 

NASA Mission
Late next January, 50 NASA scientists will arrive in Costa Rica to explore the atmosphere at some 90,000 feet.

This will be the preliminary visit of a larger mission of the Aura Validation Experiment (AVE), that in the year 2005 will bring 300 scientists and five airplanes.

AVE is designed to measure the movements in the atmosphere by monitoring gases such as carbon dioxide, ozone, and aerosols. The research will be a tool to study the formation of tropical storms in this area and their movement northwards.

 

More Travelers
During the first 10 months this year, 1,728,000 passengers traveling through Juan Santamaria International Airport, 117,000 or 7.28 percent more than in the same period last year, according to Alterra Partners, the firm that manages the terminal.

According to Alterra representative Carlos Aguilar, Costa Rica is an exception in Latin America, because the number of passengers has increased, while it markedly dropped after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

Also, the number of airlines flying to and from Juan Santamaria International Airport has increased. New additions include US Airways, America West, Thomas Cook, Lauda, BWIA, and Air Canada.