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Triplets
Doing Fine
The first triplets born in 2004 are in good health, according to doctors
at the Hospital de las Mujeures. Maria Eugenia, Gael Andre and Nazareth
were born Monday at 4:30am.
The triplets are still kept in an incubator though they are now
breathing on their own and without the helr of respirators and need of
oxygen.
The babies were born premature at 7 and 1/2 months gestation. The
mother, Mariela Juárez is recuperating fine.
125 Removed From Their Homes
Yesterday, 125 families were
removed from their homes by La Fuerza Publica in Los Guidos de
Desamaparados.
The families were occupying for more than one year lands owned by
Instituto Nacional de Vivienda y Urbanismo (INVU) - a government body
that builds family housing - after failing to have their occupation
legalized.
Though there was some discussion and resistance to the authorities in
the beginning, the removal was peaceful as those affected collected
their belongings and moved away.
San José to San Ramon in
45 Minutes
A consortium of companies from
Spain, Portugal and Costa Rica, has offered to widen the San José - San
Ramon stretch of the Inter American highway that would take only 45
minutes to make 58 kilometer route at peak traffic hours. It now take
takes about 1 hour with normal traffic.
The project calls for six to eight lanes on the portion from La Sabana
to the Airport and 4 lanes from the Airport to San Ramon. In addition to
the lane widening, there would be extentions and widening to some
bridges, new over/under passes and the constructions a radial road from
Rio Segundo to Belén - Santa Ana.
The Consorcio Vial San José - San Ramón presented to the MOPT - Ministry
of Public Work and Transit - the only proposal it received following a
public offering.
The concession is for a 25 year period and the toll charge would be a
total of ¢795 colones with 5 toll booths along the route.
In this section of the Inter American highway there are 65.000 vehicles
daily that use the road. The proposal also calls for the presence of tow
trucks and emergency telephones every 500 meters.
The total estimated cost of constructions would be $170 Million Dollars.
The project would take 25 months to complete.
President Pacheco Asks for
Patience
President Abel Pacheco is asking patience from those who are planning
protests against the Free Trade Agreement his government is negotiation
with the United States.
The president is asking the interested groups to wait out the talks and
see how they turn out. He also said that his government will not trade
away the right to purchase generic medications and neither will his
government harm farm producers.
In addition to the above comments, Pacheco included in his comments that
his government will deduct day(s) from salaries of those who take to the
streets to protest.
U.S. Spins
Pre-Election Global Trade Yarn
U.S. President Bush's spin
doctors have been portraying the American administration's recent
proposal to eliminate export subsidies and slash tariffs as part of a
major US push towards new global talks.
But in reality, the loud noises that US Trade Representative Robert
Zoellick has been making in recent days, including the letter he had
sent to more than 140 countries saying that he hoped to push for global
trade talks this week, are nothing more than a public relations strategy
aimed at demonstrating that the Bushies are 'doing something' on trade.
In fact, the Bush Administration has been scaling down its ambitious
global trade agenda, including the plan to launch a free trade area for
the Americas. And Zoellick had failed to include Costa Rica in a
trade accord reached with Central American countries.
What President Bush and his aides are basically trying to do is to go
through the motions on trade, creating the impression that they are not
losing momentum and are maintaining US leadership on moving forward the
Doha talks, while at the same time, recognising that election-year
political pressures and a lack of international consensus would make it
very difficult to breathe new life into the trade negotiations that have
stalled since the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks fell apart in
Cancun, Mexico last year.
In the letter sent over the weekend to the 148 members of the WTO,
Zoellick suggested that the Geneva-based group take steps to eliminate
all export subsidies and cut tariffs on food imports, while placing on
the backburner proposal talks on investment rules.
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Four
Seasons Resort Costa Rica Now Open
This past Saturday, Four Seasons
Hotels and Resorts opened its first property in Costa Rica.
Located atop a narrow plateau at the Papagayo Peninsula in the Pacific
Northwest region of the country, the Resort is flanked on both sides by
beaches and unspoiled wilderness.
Beyond its 153 guest rooms, Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Papagayo
Peninsula includes private residences and the opportunity to join in shared
ownership of its Residence Club Units - an intimate and comfortable retreat
for an unparalleled Costa Rican adventure.
"For the first time, travellers will be able to relax and enjoy the amazing
beauty of Costa Rica Four Seasons-style," said Wolf Hengst, president
worldwide hotel operations, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
"Our goal is to provide guests with our warm and friendly service, and the
best opportunities to explore this fascinating country and its countless
activities, from forest hikes to world-class golf and water sports."
With no building taller than the trees, the Resort's nature-inspired
architecture blends seamlessly into the 30 hectare (45 acres) of tropical
dry forest. Guest rooms and suites feature views of the natural wooded
surroundings to panoramic vistas of the Pacific Ocean from treetop verandas.
Interiors incorporate the outdoors with materials such as coconut wood and
bamboo, and colours and textures that echo the flora and fauna.
Four Seasons also brings aspects of Costa Rican culture to guests through
lectures, demonstrations and cultural performances by local and
international experts. Kids for All Seasons, a supervised activity program,
enhances stays for children and young adults with educational and
entertaining activities.
Construction of US $26 Million Bellavista Gold Mine in Costa Rica Now
Underway
Canarc Resource Corp. announced that
the construction of the US $26 million Bellavista gold mine in Costa Rica is
now underway.
The Bellavista gold mine, located near Montezuma in the Nicoya Peninsual,
is scheduled to produce 60,000 oz per year for at least 7 1/2 years at
projected operating cash costs of US $163 per oz. Total ore reserves
currently stand at 555,000 mineable oz contained in 11.2 million tonnes ore
grading 1.54 gpt gold.
Glencairn has also launched a 3000m exploration drilling program to test
several other gold targets on this 9000 hectare property. One key prospect
area is the strike extension of the old Montezuma vein mine (100,000 oz past
production) where a previous operator intersected 12 gpt gold over an 8 m
core length in one drill hole.
Canarc also announces that a high grade gold mineralized zone was sampled on
the GNC property of Canarc (33% carried interest) and Barrick's (67%)
adjoining Barrick's high grade Eskay Creek gold-silver mine in B.C. Barrick,
as operator of the GNC project, found several altered and mineralized zones
in Betty Creek Formation volcanic rocks. Five rock samples returned better
than 1 gpt gold and one 1 m chip sample assayed 11.6 gpt gold.
Barrick also carried out IP geophysical surveying on the GNC property in the
22 zone area along strike to the south of the Eskay Creek mine. Several
chargeability highs were detected which represent untested anomalies within
favourable rocks. Barrick is currently considering a follow-up exploration
program in these prospect areas for 2004.
Canarc has received several inquiries from shareholders about its investment
in its affiliated company, Endeavour Gold Corp., as disclosed in the January
7, 2004 news release. This shareholding is strategic for Canarc because
Endeavour is seeking to make one or more major silver-gold mine acquisitions
in Mexico in 2004.
Dominican Republic
presidential election begins
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) of
Dominican Republic announced on Tuesday the opening of the presidential
elections campaign.
A report from Santo Domingo, capital of Dominican Republic, said the JCE
called, through the press, on every political party and citizen to
participate in the elections on May 16.
The present Dominican president, Hipolito Mejia, is the virtual winner of
the presidential candidacy of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, after
having obtained 95.02 percent of the votes in the internal elections.
The opinion polls in the past six months place the candidate of Democratic
Liberation Party, ex-president Leonel Fernandez as favorite to win the
coming elections.
Mejia's popularity has waned during the past year as the Dominican peso lost
more than half its value against the US dollar, and rolling blackouts
plagued the country.
The Coordination of Popular Organizations of the Dominican Republic called a
general strike on Jan. 28-29, in protest against increases in the prices of
fuel, electricity and basic products.
The JCE said in the case that no candidacy obtained an absolute majority on
May 16, there would be a runoff on June 27, in which the two candidates with
the largest number of votes would contend.
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