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  Features

  InsideCostaRica

FTA: There will be losers
Just like in any other negotiation, there will be winners and losers if a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is attained between Central America (Costa Rica included) and the United States, expert Andrew O'Keefe said in Washington.

He pointed out that the producers or manufacturers who are not ready for competition will be among the casualties, even if they are given long terms to catch up. Instead of wasting resources on maintaining sectors that are not competitive, he added, it is better to train the workers so that they will be able to move to more competitive areas. In spite of all of these problems, O'Keefe asserted, it will be highly positive for the Central American countries to have access to a larger and more affluent market.

Exemption for US investors
US companies or individuals that receive returns, interest, or commissions from Costa Rican companies will no longer be subject to partial income tax in Costa Rica. This follows a ruling by the US Internal Revenue Service, and Costa Rica will have to give up to that income. 

For the investor, the difference is that he will pay in full only in the US. Analysts explained that a flaw in Costa Rican laws allows for this situation. "It's unfair," one of them said. "It means nothing but giving income from taxes to developed countries." 

The director of the Costa Rican Internal Revenue Service, Adrián Torrealba, explained that there is international income tax regulation in which the country source of the income has precedence over the country of residence.

A dry start
The non-stop clear skies and sunshine that are a blessing for hotels and vacationers, don't look so bright to farmers, who fear a longer-than-usual dry season, after a year when the rain did not fall at the usual rates. 

This means that wells and other sources that supply the water for irrigation will dry long before the start of the next rainy season, usually in May.

National Weather Institute sources said that the rain deficit last year was critical in some areas, where it rained 46 percent less than the average. They explained that the disturbance results mainly from the weather phenomenon known as El Niño, which will last for at least five more months.

4 million plus by year's end
By the end of this year, Ticos will be a little over 4 million - 4,169,730 to be precise. Half of the population will be men and half of it women, and a lot of them young, according to estimates of the National Statistics and Census Bureau and the Central American Center for Population of the University of Costa Rica. 

The projections set the population of Costa Rica at over 5 million by the year 2015 and over 6 million by 2037. The 50 percent women-men ratio will hold through the year 2050, when the overall population is expected to be 6.3 million; however, there will be a change in the structure according to age, with the adult and elderly taking over the young as majority. 

Bureau chairman Víctor Hugo Céspedes asserted that the nation faces the challenge of making adjustments in education, health care, and employment according to the changing age of the majority.

Ecology Blue Flag
The residents of four towns -San Roque de Grecia, La Fortuna de San Carlos, San Gerardo de Rivas, Perez Zeledón, and San Marcos de Tarrazú- can boast of the fact that they became the first inland communities in attaining the Ecology Blue Flag. 

The official awarded is bestowed on places that excel in the quality of the waters and the protection of the environment. Out of 84 beaches evaluated in the 2002-2003 period, 45 -some on the Pacific Coast and others along the Caribbean one- earned the honor to fly the blue flag.

Fraud Money sent to Costa Rica
Tens of millions of dollars, product of the greatn insurance fraud perpetrated in the United States, apparently ended up in or were moved through Costa Rica, according to the searches of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).    Friday 24 Jan 03 · Complete Story

Preventive jail being reviewed
Judges, public prosecutors, magistrates and civil employees will review to assess the preventive prison terms that judges dictate, key in the present saturation that occurs in the jails. Friday 24 Jan 03 · Complete Story

Prosecutor's Case against Villalobos weakening!
Prosecutor's Case against Villalobos is weakening and two other Investment Operations paying interest. Thursday 23 Jan 03 · Complete Story


Pacheco defines priorities with legislators
In order to dissipate the fears and to appease the critics that they generated in the pro-government , the appointment of Rodrigo Arias adviser, the president of the Republic, Abel Pacheco, had breakfast yesterday with the deputies. Thursday 23 Jan 03 · Complete Story

ICE Warns of impact on services
This year the delivery of 400,000 cellular lines could be slow,  as well as 100,000 lines of fixed telephones and 50,000 broadband Internet accesses.  Thursday 23 Jan 03 · Complete Story

44% of used cars do not pass technical revision
A total of 8.817 used vehicles brought into Costa Rica since July 15 to date, for the purpose of being sold here, were rejected by Riteve, not passing the technical revisions tests.  Wednesday  22 Jan 03 · Complete Story

Pacheco and the TLC
"Without knowing what it's all about they are talking about throwing themselves to the streets and they are threatening to me". With that phrase,  President Abel Pacheco, yesterday confronted the critics who announced opposition to the Free Trade Agreement (TLC) with the United States.   Wednesday 22 Jan 03 · Complete Story

Flood Devastation
Coastal Costa Rican farmers are reeling from waters that have left the region in ruins. In Bribri, a narrow plain near the Caribbean Sea, the crops are getting rain. It's about the last thing they need. Wednesday  22 Jan 03 · Complete Story


SEC wins $58-million judgment in Tri-West civil suit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has won a $58-million (U.S.) judgment against former Alberta resident Alyn Richard Waage, the alleged mastermind behind the Tri-West Investment Club.   Wednesday  22 Jan 03 · Complete Story

Nine deaths in a single day
Young and old, no one escaped death. Nine deaths were registered between Sunday night and Monday afternoon.    Tuesday  21 Jan 03 · Complete Story


Immigration arrests continue
According to information released by Immigration officials, another 11 people were detained Saturday night in the fifth operative this year.    Tuesday  21 Jan 03 · Complete Story

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