Oscar Arias: If I Lose, the PLN
is Dead
The daily Spanish
language newspaper La Nación
published an interview with
presidential candidate Oscar
Arias, telling that newspaper
that if he loses the
presidential race next year, the
Partido Liberación National (PLN)
will die. He told reporters
Carlos Villalobos and Berlioth
Herrera, that this is the year
to regain confidence.
Oscar Arias was president of
Costa Rica between 1986 and
1990. Now, at 64 years of age
and with an amendment to the
country's political
constitution, Oscar Arias would
be the first to be re-elected to
the presidential post since the
abolition of re-elections in the
1940's.
Arias made his presidential
aspirations official on January
14 of this year following almost
two years of speculation of
would he, should he and will
lead the PLN or "green" party
into the 2006 election.
The Partido Unidad Social
Cristiana (PUSC), the current
party in power, has not made an
announcement of a presidential
candidate as yet. President Abel
Pacheco cannot run in the next
election, though he can run in
the the 2010 election.
The last several months have
changed the political climate in
Costa Rica. What was once
thought as a shoe in election
for Arias, will now see more
than 40 political parties
fielding candidates at all
levels and more than two or
three for the presidential
chair.
Arias told the La Nación in his
interview, that Costa Ricans are
angry, disappointed and with
good reason about the political
direction of the country. "We've
all paid more or less the same,
have fallen abruptly to the
scandals and we need to
recuperate the confidence of
Costa Ricans and they in me. If
not, this will be bad for Costa
Rica."
Asked how he is going to
convince Costa Ricans to have
faith in him when he practically
abandoned the country and it's
people after leaving the
presidency in 1990 and to
convince them that he has not
changed just for his own
convenience, Arias, responded
that he doesn't share that
opinion. He believes that Costa
Ricans have tremendous faith in
him and his ability to lead
them.
The PLN party has a lot riding
on the 2006 election. It has
lost the two last consecutive
elections - 1998 to Rodríguez
and 2002 to Pacheco. It is a
proven fact that in Latin
America, as in Europe, if a
party loses three elections in a
row, that party is done.
If you don't win, the PLN is
dead?", was the question put to
Arias."Yes, but that is not
going to happen", replied Arias.
Arias is determined to lead by
example, by educating Costa
Ricans. He told his interviewers
that if he is not able to
convince Costa Ricans that his
ideas and plans for the future
are better, he loses and there
is no more. However, he is
confident that that is not going
to happen. "My ideas are
better", Arias emphasized.
One of Oscar Arias' challenge in
this election is to capture the
"young" vote. More than 300.000
will be voting for the first
time in the 2006 presidential
elections. Most were not born or
in diapers when Arias was
president the last time.
These young voters don't have
memories of the past Arias
administration nor of the
presidential campaign that used
"peace for my people..." as the
slogan to take him to Casa
Presidencial, though most are
aware that he did win the Nobel
Prize for Peace that was
instrumental for peace in
Central America.
The Arias campaign will focus on
this young group of voters. He
says his administration would
focus on giving youth more
opportunities, generating more
employment and strengthening
educational programs.
Oscar Arias has been out of the
political arena for some time.
Asked how he makes a living
these days, he told his
interviewers that he is involved
in the family business, a real
estate development in Heredia,
though his brother is the
"businessman". "If you give me a
corner store to run, it will go
broke. I am an intellectual",
the said.
Asked if he receives a
presidential pension, he said
yes. Asked how much, he said he
doesn't know. And asked how he
will be financing his campaign,
"diay, for the major part, the
State."
Alterra and MOPT Come to
Possible Agreement
Representatives
of the the Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)
and Alterra Partners, the
builder and manager of the Juan
Santamaria International
airport, will today meet with
officials of the banks that
financed the project, led by the
Corporación Financiera
Internacional - which forms part
of the Banco Mundial - to
determine to continue disbursing
funds for the project which was
never completely finished.
The dispute between Alterra and
the MOPT has been going on for
most of the two years since
Alterra was given the
concession. The dispute is the
handling of the monies for the
project. The MOPT accuses
Alterra of not completing the
project as scheduled and poor
management practices, while
Alterra, who has a 20 year
contract to operate the airport,
says it needs all the money it
was promised.
Last December, both sides came
to an agreement to end the
financial imbalance. The
agreement called for the Alterra
management contract to be
extended for another 5 years,
Alterra to capitalize the
project with an additional us$4
million and the banks would fund
the project with an additional
us$12 million. The agreement
calls for Alterra to immediately
reinitiate work on the project
and be given a two years grace
period to pay outstanding loans
and interest.
The airport, as any visitor can
see, is not complete. The west
half of the terminal was
completed and has been in use
for the past two years, however,
the eastern portion of the
project is in limbo.
The need to finish the project
is more evident with the passing
of time. In the high season the
airport is operating at full
capacity. In 2004, more than 2.5
million passengers moved through
the current installations and
the Instituto Costarricense de
Turismo (ICT) estimates an 18%
increase over the next couple of
years.
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Taiwan Pledges us$50 Million to
Build Road Linking San Carlos to
San José
As Taiwan and China's diplomatic
tug-of-war in the Caribbean
intensifies, a forum designed to
boost trade between China and 16
small countries in the region
scheduled for Wednesday is seen
as another move by Beijing to
undermine Taipei's ties with its
Caribbean allies.
Bilateral trade between China
and Caribbean nations reached
us$1.4 billion in 2003 -- the
latest year for which figures
are available -- up 30 percent
from 2002.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's government
has recently pledged us$50
million dollar aid for a huge
highway project in Costa Rica,
said Wu Tzu-dan , Taiwan's
ambassador to that country.
The mayor of San Carlos, a city
in northern Costa Rica, invited
Wu to brief officials on
Taiwan's aid plan for the
highway project last Friday.
The ambassador explained the
project to an audience composed
of businesspeople and city
councilors as well as community
groups. Wu took the opportunity
to brief them on recent economic
developments in Taiwan and its
bilateral cooperation programs
with Costa Rica.
The highway project, according
to Wu, will cost around us$62
million. Taiwan's government
will donate us$15 million and
the ministry's International
Cooperation and Development Fund
will lend another us$35 million,
he said.
The Costa Rican government will
raise the rest of the us$12
million needed for the project.
Taiwan's RSEA Engineering Corp
will build the highway, which
will link San Carlos with San
Jose, capital of the country.
"Most of Costa Rica's 4 million
population live around the city
of San José, while San Carlos
produces 68 percent of the
country's dairy products. There
is no highway link between the
two cities, which constantly
causes transportation problems,"
Wu said.
The highway will be 30km long.
"Its completion will not only
facilitate transportation
between the two cities but also
boost tourism in the country,"
Wu said.
Construction will start in a few
months and is scheduled to be
completed in four years.
"The Costa Rican government is
reviewing the project. The
highway will go through
mountainous areas and cross nine
bridges, which are yet to be
built. It is a grand project,"
Wu said.
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