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1.2 tons of cocaine seized
Costa Rican and U.S. authorities
seized 1.2 tons of cocaine and arrested five Colombians who
were smuggling the drug, apparently destined to the United
States. After a plane detected them, some 140 miles off the
Corcovado National Park on the Pacific Ocean, U.S. Coast Guard
cutter John L. Hall and Costa Rican patrol boat Juan
Rafael Mora chased the smugglers. The latter made a run
for the coast on their cigarette-type speedboat -so fast that
it easily outruns the patrol boats. With a helicopter from the
Hall in sight, the men dumped the drug overboard. They
then ran to the coast, grounded their boat, and hid in the
national park, where wardens arrested them. The patrol boats
picked up the drug, which was floating on the ocean. The
operation was part of the joint patrol agreement between the
U.S. and Costa Rica, and it was the fifth largest drug
confiscation since it has been effective, all of them on the
Pacific Ocean. |
Most of Costa Rican sales abroad remain concentrated in a few
products and companies, in spite of efforts to export new products
and that more businesses sell in foreign markets. The data for last
year show that seven products with sales of over $100 million each
accounted for 53.6 percent of the overall exports. The remaining
46.4 was shared by 3,335 other products that were also sold abroad.
Regarding companies, six of them sold over $90 million each, and
accounted for 30.6 percent of the income, while 1,674 firms shared
the other 69.4 percent. The Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter
disclosed the data, and pointed out that there is a diversification
trend in exports that is highly positive, particularly on lowering
the dependence on certain products -such as coffee and bananas- for
foreign currency.
Costa Rican economists discarded any effects here as a result of
the Argentine decision not to pay $805 million to the World Bank.
They pointed out several reasons, including that the crisis in
Argentina is focused, and that trade between Costa Rica and the
South American nation is very limited. Last year, Tico companies
exported $2.5 million worth of goods to Argentina, while they
imported $29 million from the economically troubled nation.
Several Costa Rican law-enforcement agencies entered a joint
program to fight the sexual exploitation of children. The goal is
establishing harsher penalties for the people or businesses involved
in child prostitution, according to official sources. The program
also involves constitutional amendments, which congressmen have made
a pledge to support in order to stem the crime. Immediate joint
law-enforcement operations will be one of the first outcomes of the
program.
Thanks to the Costa Rica-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the local
firm Sardimar is to export several varieties of canned tuna -meaning
smoked, garlic, spicy, and others-, firm sources disclosed. They
explained that they aim at eventually selling half a million
dollars, which means 5 percent of the $100 million Canadian canned
tuna market.
The ministers of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua and Costa Rica are
to travel together to Europe -an unusual event for their two
nations, who have staged no few diplomatic clashes- in order to seek
funds to promote a development program for the communities in the
common border area. Minister Roberto Tovar explained that the goal
of the mission with his Nicaraguan colleague, Norman Caldera, is
obtaining financial and technical support for a fund that would
generate employment on both sides of the border, which are now
ridden by poverty. Relations between Costa Rica and Nicaragua soured
since July 1998, when Nicaragua decided that Tico policemen could
not sail on the San Juan River -on the common border- carrying their
weapons. Tovar pointed out that a dialogue atmosphere prevails now
and that it must be taken advantage of for the best of the two
nations.
Because pork is one of the major ingredients in the Christmas and
New Year traditional fare of the 4.5 million Costa Ricans, 58,000
pigs -the average is 40,000 a month- are to be butchered in the
coming weeks, according to the growers association. Also, customers
will have to pay more for the meat, a usual Seasons trend, too, that
applies for the ingredients of tamales -stuffed corn cakes- and
other traditional food.
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