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Economic Goals Unchanged
The chairman of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, Francisco Gutierrez,
asserted that, in spite of recent hikes in the prices of several goods and
services, there are no plans to modify the economic goals for this year.
Gutierrez admitted that the pockets of Ticos have suffered recently because
of the increases in the cost of water, power, and fuels, but added that he
does not foresee a long-term or permanent inflationary process, because the
increases have resulted from weather or political processes that are likely
to be transitory.
The Vice-Minister and Her Baby
Karla Gonzalez, who for the last two years had held the post of
Vice-Minister of Public Works and Transportation, resigned.
Her decision
came after a pensioned teacher entered legal action against her because the
now former Vice-Minister resigned to her maternity leave and brought her
45-day old baby girl to her office, in order to breast feed and take care of
her.
Gonzalez - a lawyer - stated that her resignation was prompted by the
fact that maternity is an issue that must in no way be politicized, and
because in no way is she going to allow her children to be part of public
issues.
A majority of Costa Ricans, according to the opinions in the media,
side with Karla Gonzalez and find the action entered against her as counter
to the will of those who truly want to work for the country.
Trade Deficit Stagnant
The sustained downward rhythm displayed by the trade deficit of Costa
Rica has been stagnant for the last few months, when the level of sales and
buys abroad also decreased.
According to Central Bank sources, this is due
mainly to a drop in the sales and buys by Intel that started in 2003's
second semester.
More Flights
German carrier Condor and Dutch Martinair
will increase their flights connecting Costa Rica and Europe.
Condor now flies once a week from Frankfurt, but will add one frequency,
while Martinair, that connects Costa Rica and Amsterdam via Miami, will add
two flights to its current five.
Exotic Landscape is Part of Student’s Visit to Costa
Rica
By Heidi Stutelberg
Coffee farms, the rainforest and a tropical diet are just a few things being
experienced first-hand in Costa Rica by Lester Prairie exchange student
Crystal Foust.
Foust, the daughter of Ron and Tammi Foust, is attending classes at the
University of Costa Rica in San Ramon, Costa Rica.
Foust enjoys many different kinds of food in Costa Rica. For example, every
Monday she enjoys lunch at her host grandma’s home, who serves Olla de
Carne, a popular soup containing carrots, yucca, squash, and potatoes, which
is served with boiled unripe bananas.
Other typical foods the people of Costa Rica enjoy are rice and beans, which
are eaten at every meal, as well as papaya and mango. Many people drink
natural juices from these and other fruit, she said.
Foust enjoys field trips to the San Ramon area, visiting national parks, an
organic coffee farm, and Poas Volcano, an active volcano.
The students also visit a reserve owned by the University of Costa Rica.
She has learned much about the history of coffee and how the people of Costa
Rica make a living from the cash crops of coffee, bananas, and teak wood.
“Costa Rica is a very beautiful country and is one of the most biologically
diverse countries in the world,” she noted.
The country serves as a natural land bridge between North and South America
for the migration route of plants and animals.
“The diversity of plants and animals in the rainforest is incredible,” she
said.
When she first arrived, it was a bit difficult because Foust did not know
Spanish, and her host family did not know English.
Dictionary in hand, her host family worked with Crystal to help her better
understand them.
Her host family has been very understanding through this process, she said.
“They have made the adjustment 10 times better,” Tammi Foust commented.
Crystal’s host family lives in San Ramon, a city of about 67,000. Her host
father is an industrial engineer and her host mother is an accountant.
Foust has a brother Gustavo, 12, and two sisters, Tatiana and Daniella, ages
10 and eight.
Relatives of her host family are very close, she said. With most of the
extended family living in San Ramon, they often get together for lunch or
dinner on Sundays.
Crystal’s host family likes to go to the beach on the weekends.
The SCSU students are studying sustainability and the environment, tropical
ecology, environmental field work, Latin American studies and Spanish.
Foust’s wish to study abroad has allowed her to fulfill a few classes for
her environmental studies minor. She’s also majoring in community
development as a junior at SCSU.
Foust recommends a study abroad program to anyone considering attending
college.
The experience allows a person to learn about a different culture and
lifestyle, earn college credits as well as traveling on their own and
meeting new people. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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Venezuelans, Cubans Demand Democracy in their Homelands
By Sandra Hernandez
Sun-Sentinel.com
Calling for greater international attention to the political crisis in their
homeland, former Venezuelan opposition leaders Carlos Fernandez and Carlos
Ortega marched together Saturday for the first time since both men fled
their country.
"We are marching here because this is the only option we have since we can't
be in Venezuela, but we want people to know we are with them," said
Fernandez, former head of Venezuela's largest business chamber, surrounded
by flags and placards as he led the protest down Little Havana's Calle Ocho.
"Being together again today is huge for us, but beyond being able to march
again with Carlos, I think this will send a message that our fight is not
over."
Fernandez and Ortega left Venezuela in 2003 after helping lead a two-month
national strike that paralyzed the country's economy, including the oil
sector, but brought few concessions from President Hugo Chávez's government.
Ortega, former head of the country's largest labor group, sought political
asylum in Costa Rica a year ago; Fernandez now lives in Weston, Florida.
Organized by Cuban and Venezuelan leaders, the march called for an end to
human rights abuses and advocated greater democracy in both countries,
according to organizers like Luis Prieto of Todos Por Venezuela, or All for
Venezuela, an opposition group with members in Miami-Dade and Broward
counties.
"We are here to denounce two governments that pose a serious threat to Latin
America," Prieto said.
About 1,500 people walked down Calle Ocho, according to Miami Police Officer
Jane Walker.
The march was a stark contrast to last year's protest that drew thousands of
Venezuelans including political leaders, beauty queens and entertainers,
many of whom left the South American nation because of the national strike.
But this year's demonstration was a sad reminder that Venezuela is one of
the most polarized nations in the region.
"I'm here because things are worse than ever. I think this is the least I
can do as a Venezuelan, to protest," said Yasmina Sanaderia, who moved from
Central Venezuela to Miami three years ago. "I don't think Chávez will allow
a referendum and believe the only legacy he will leave are many new
tombstones."
Venezuela's opposition led a signature drive for a referendum to recall
Chávez. The country's constitution allows for a referendum midway through
the president's term in office, which was August 2003. But the national
election council is still reviewing the more than 3 million signatures
delivered to them by anti-Chávez groups. Chávez was elected in 1998 in a
landslide victory.
Cuban groups and local leaders also called for solidarity with dissidents
jailed last year in Cuba.
"I'm here to show my solidarity with the people of Cuba and Venezuela,"
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said.
But much of the focus remained on Venezuela, where street clashes and random
violence have increased in the past month.
Among those calling for international help was Patricia Poleo, a Venezuelan
journalist under investigation by military prosecutors for rebellion. Poleo
has repeatedly called for Chávez's removal and recently aired a videotape of
Cubans in Venezuelan military barracks, according to an Associated Press
report.
"I will go back tomorrow and face the courts, though I know I can't get a
fair trial," Poleo said.
Traffickers Hiring Child Guides
A Mexican law prohibiting minors from being tried as adults
is motivating immigrant smugglers to increasingly recruit minors to act as
guides for groups illegally crossing the Rio Grande into the United States,
Mexican and U.S. officials say.
"We believe this is a new trend to avoid long prison sentences," said Carlos
Barba, deputy director for the Mexican National Migration Agency. "Usually
the teens are from Matamoros or other border cities." Adults could spend six
to 12 years in prison for smuggling immigrants abroad, Barba said. Minors
could spend only a few hours in jail before being sent to a juvenile
detention center, where they're often released in a few months.
"Because many smugglers are adults and know that immigration law is more
severe (for adults), they're using teenagers to cross undocumented migrants
into the United States," said Arturo Moreno, a U.S. Homeland Security
Department spokesman.
"The coyotes, or smugglers, are using the minors to do the dirty work that
they cannot do themselves, because they can face approximately 20 years in
prison, depending on the case," he told The Brownsville Herald newspaper in
Friday's editions.
Last month, officers with Grupo Beta, a law enforcement agency that patrols
the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, arrested four minors who were leading
immigrants north, Barba said.
The group was arrested near the river outside Matamoros on suspicion of
illegal smuggling. Among those arrested was a 14year-old Mexican national
who Barba said often crosses illegally to earn money on Brownsville streets,
cleaning windshields along Boca Chica and International boulevards.
The boy told Mexican officials that an immigrant smuggler spoke with him
last month while they were detained at the U.S. Border Patrol facility in
Harlingen. "He told us he was from Houston and that he would give us US20
for every person we were able to cross," the boy said in a statement to
officials.
That same month, Grupo Beta caught him trying to lead five Mexican nationals
across the river into Brownsville, Barba said. It was the fifth time the boy
has been caught illegally crossing the river.
Although minors can escape heavy jail time, those who are caught smuggling
can face long term consequences, Moreno said.
Once the minors are apprehended, all their information including charges,
photos and fingerprints will be put in a database for future reference.
The database, called Enforcement Case Tracking System (ENFORCE), is used to
track smuggling violators and prevent them from obtaining certain U.S.
benefits.
"They will never be allowed to apply for any kind of border crossing card or
laser visa or immigration permit or to obtain any immigration benefit,"
Moreno said.
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