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No Vacancy
Only a few of the 25,000 hotel rooms outside of
San José - there are an estimated 34,000 in Costa Rica - remain vacant, as
Ticos flock to the beaches and the mountains for the Easter Week - here
called Semana Santa - vacation.
Not even the high rates - because the tourist season is at its peak and this
has been one of the highest ones- prevented Costa Ricans from making
reservations.
Rather than the usual opposite, sources at the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels
report that for these holidays the guests are 78 percent Tico and 22 percent
from abroad.
Authorities recommend being extra careful on the roads and when swimming at
beaches and in rivers, since accidents in those areas are the most common
cause of casualties during Holy Week in Costa Rica.
The official prevention campaign has been highly effective in recent years,
and the number of fatal victims was brought down to an all-times low of 19
last year.
Tico
Mother Lost Son in Iraq
Zaida Alvarado, a Costa Rican who lives in
Texas, joined the ranks of mothers of US servicemen who have lost their
children in Iraq. Born in Houston, and only 21, Leroy Sandoval Jr. had been
in Iraq just two weeks when, on March 26, he was killed in the alleys of the
city of Faluja, in an operation that involved some 600 US Marines.
Rome - San
José Link
On his visit to Italy, President Abel Pacheco
enlisted the support of the Italian Government to promote a direct flight
linking Rome and Costa Rica by the Italian airline Alitalia, in which the
Italian state is a shareholder.
According to the Costa Rican ambassador to Rome, Manuel Hernandez, it would
be suggested that the flight stops in the Dominican Republic, in order to
offer Italian tourists two linked destinations.
Alitalia had regular service between Rome and San José until a few years ago
when it opted to partner with American Airlines, offering customers a seat
on American to Miami and then on Alitalia to Rome.
Asia
Attracts Tico Exports
The exports of Costa Rica are now
destined to a wider range of markets than just a few years back. As a
result, nations such as the United States have registered a drop in the
percentage of Tico goods and services they buy.
The United States is by far Costa Rica's leading market, but its purchases
of Costa Rican products dropped from 55 percent in the year 2000 to 49
percent in 2003.
Conversely, Asia -Malaysia, Hong Kong, and China mainly- went from 5 percent
to 10 percent in the same period.
The vice-chairman of the Costa Rican Chamber of Exporters, Sergio Navas,
pointed out that this behavior is not yet a trend. He asserted that Costa
Rica has to strive to keep on increasing its exports to the United States,
but that they should not be more than 50 percent of the total figure.
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Venezuela demands
"more forceful" answer from US
Venezuela hopes the United States will give a "more
forceful" answer to Venezuela's allegation that Washington was conspiring
against its democracy and interfering with its internal affairs, Venezuelan
Foreign Minister Jesus Perez said Thursday.
"The US government has disrespected and underestimated our accusations. It
has to take into account the seriousness of the issues presented. A
responsible government must answer with proof," Perez told reporters.
Venezuela's permanent representative to the Organization of American States
(OAS), Jorge Valero, alleged in a speech authorized by President Hugo Chavez
at the OAS Permanent Council that Washington "backed" the thwarted coup
d'etat in April 2002 against Chavez and urged "an end of foreign
intervention."
Valero said US military helicopters landed at the Caracas airport and
warships illegally entered Venezuelan waters during the coup while the
militaries of the North American countries "met before and during the coup
with the Venezuelan military putschists."
"On April 12, a US plane was in Venezuela's La Orchila island in the
Caribbean, where President Chavez was taken during the coup," he added.
The US permanent representative to the OAS, John Maisto, responded to the
allegation by saying Valero's speech was a series of "irresponsible and
false accusations" made to "divert attention" and block the recall process
sought by the Venezuelan opposition.
OAS Inter-Parliamentary Forum opens in Chile
The Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas opened its third assembly in
the central Chilean city of Valparaiso on Thursday.
At the opening ceremony of the session, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos said
that lawmakers from 23 American countries will discuss matters in connection
with democracy and terrorism in the region, the integration of tax systems
and the free trade accords in the Americas.
The presence of delegates from 23 countries and the speakers of the
Argentine Senate, Andean Parliament and other parliaments, "shows the huge
opportunity we have to hold dialogues and construct a hemispherical agenda
of our own according to our real interests," said Lagos.
He added that "the integration of the Americas is, in the long run, a
consequence of the joint vision shared around the values of democracy,
respect for human rights, spaces of more liberties and higher levels of
equality for our countries."
The forum groups the national legislatures of all the member countries of
the Organization of American States (OAS) with the aim to boost
parliamentary participation in the inter-American mechanism.
Argentines demonstrate against crime surge
Angry Argentines took to the streets in the capital city Thursday to protest
against the surge of violent crimes in the country and call on President
Nestor Kirchner's government to battle it.
People chanting "justice," some of them holding candles, marched to the
building of the Congress and the government palace in the largest
demonstration here since the end of 2001, when massive protests brought down
a government amid Argentina's worst ever economic and political crisis.
Many of the marchers were middle class housewives with children, some
sucking lollipops, and well-dressed office workers. Dozens of people carried
placards with photos of murdered relatives.
The demonstration reflected growing anger among Argentines about a rise in
kidnappings and street violence in a country that for years took pride in
its relative safety compared with other crime-ridden Latin American
countries.
One of the organizers was seen handing over a petition to Congress for
legislators to toughen up laws over crime, including increasing jail time
for kidnappers.
Unlike most demonstrations, there were almost no sign of organized political
groups involved in the protest.
Police said at least 135,000 people participated in the protest.
Reports here estimated that there is at least one kidnapping a day in
Argentina.
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