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Chaos ensues Laura Chinchilla’s Jaun Santamaria Day speech in Alajuela

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April 11th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) Disturbances have broke out today as President Laura Chinchilla gave her annual Juan Santamaria Day speech in Alajuela.

 

Shouts, insults, and even stones were hurled by protestors, as police attempted to maintain a security barrier around Juan Santamaria Park.

 

Meanwhile, a group of protestors blocked the passage of the vehicle of the President of the National Liberation Party, Bernal Jimenez, breaking the windows of the vehicle with rocks.  Jimenez was forced to flee from the vehicle.  Jimenez was accompanied by another unknown individual.  It is not known if either suffered any injuries.

 

At the same time, a bus filled with students from the University of Costa Rica was detained by traffic officers.  The students had planned to march down the main street of Alajuela, but transit officers said the vehicle was over its passenger limit and would not allow the bus through.

 

A group of journalists from local media are also alleging that they were punched and assaulted by police officers as they attempted to approach President Chinchilla for interviews, moments after she finished her speech.

 

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, taxi drivers protesting on the General Canas highway are bringing traffic there to a standstill.

 

The disturbances come the same day that a Gallup poll revealed growing discontent amongst Costa Ricans with President Chinchilla. 

 

Inside Costa Rica will continue to cover these situations throughout the day.

 

Update 1: (12:31pm) Three police officers were injured during clashes with protestors.  ”Officers were attacked with stones, and one of them had to be taken to the Alajuela Hospital with a head injury,” Director of the Fuerza Publica, Juan Jose Andrade said.

Laura Chinchilla left the event early, following her speech, instead of staying for the parade as in years past.

 

 

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  • georgechapogas

    save our energy for the world king of fools odumbo.

    • Benthecat

      Screw You George…. You are truly worthless. You post on a Socialist countries activities, as if you are superior to them and insult our very competent President, as if you are also superior to him… You are fortunate to have not been born in China, It was your lucky day…

      • georgechapogas

        i have never insulted laura or ticos, unless you call rioting students representative intelligent life forms. clue, most ticos think they are idiots too. you are simply a dummy dude. you are fortunate you can get your shorts on. bother someone else.

        • Benthecat

          Odumbo? Really Jorge??

          • georgechapogas

            obozo better for you fool? how about owebama? oblamer? village idiot? hey, you may be related!

          • Benthecat

            You clearly missed out on an education.

      • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

        Everyone please see the comment above, before we remove comments from this site altogether. Thank you.

      • http://www.facebook.com/lthorn919 Lawrence Horn

        Benthecat..if you think Obama is competent you are truly a brainwashed cat..Competent of destroying a country I will agree…

        • Benthecat

          Yes, Lawrence, it was in such great shape on election day 2008… I mean it was really going so well at the time. I cannot think of a more prosporous time in American history. You are correct… My apologies for saying such a thing.

    • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

      George, you and I have spoken by email on a few occasions, and we/I appreciate your readership. That said, you are free to actually express your opinions in any way you see fit, but we are really getting tired of one-on-one, vitral, and personal attacks. If you have something to say, say it, but let us all get out of the name calling, personal attacks, etc — Or ICR will seriously close the commenting system down, permanently.

      I’m sure you are aware, that as editor I don’t lean one way or the other and you certainly can’t accuse me of such. I just want a comment forum where all people are able to express their opinions without fear that someone will personally attack them or call them bad names. This is not specific to you and “Benthecat’s” discussion.

      If you have a point to make, then argue it. But if the comments on this site continue to deteriorate to personal attacks between readers, we may have to revisit even having a comment system at all.

      Be passionate, share your views, but avoid childish *shit* for the lack of a better word.

      BTW – this is not directly only at George, but all those who make a lot of ruckus without contributing to the conversation.

      If you want comments on this site, grow up, please.

      Tim Williams,

      Editor

      Inside Costa Rica

      • mhogan

        Have mixed feelings even though personal attacks have been directed at me. I think people should have the right to say as they want–those offended need to grow up a little and stop being crybabies. If you cut out the “comments” section, you’ll get rid of the best part of ICR (hope you’re man enough to take that, editor). People can read the news at a lot of locations, ICR provides a forum to show readers’ ignorance, lack of proper breeding, or elicit serious discussions. Those reading the “personal attack” comments have the choice of ignoring them, joining in, or letting them slug it out on their own. An editor playing the role of Papa Protector is a step too far. Maybe advertise your site as an adult-only, mature responders only. Better yet, add a second site: ICR Light, where sensitivities are protected. Didn’t you hear the phrase growing up: “sticks and stones can break your bones, but names will never hurt you.” The other side of me admits some of the comments get a little overboard. But we all know who those posters are and for me, I choose to avoid reading them. Problem solved.

        • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

          I agree Mary for the most part, and as you can certainly tell, we generally stay out of it. It was just recently that things seem to have gone a bit over the top, and the point is not to play Papa Protector but to make sure we don’t end up with only 5 or 6 commenters on this site because everyone else is apprehensive to even comment for fear of personal attacks.

          As I said just now, attack the view, not the commenter. We’re all for lively, spirited debate here, just don’t want the entire comments system to be dominated by a handful of individuals arguing amongst themselves and having personal spats.

          Our comments system will remain 99% unmoderated as it has always been.

        • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

          FYI, we may consider creating a “rubber room” forum on the forums section – or ‘rants and raves’ such as on craigslist – where people can take their personal beefs to if they would like to continue them in a free-for-all manner :)

    • georgechapogas

      this post by tim williams was deleted because he did what he accused others of. insulted individuals unreasonably after saying he would not interfere with posting unless they “were really over the line”. unlike tim, i did not flame him in public like he flamed me and others with his stupid insults. i wrote him twice privately saying he needed to restate his views and apologize. he did not even respond.he removed the post because it was obviously insulting confirming my criticism as correct, but no apology public or otherwise. lets be clear as insults go there are much worse insults on these pages daily than mine. for example on the day in question i was told “i hope someone shoots me” it was personal. tim singled out me. he knows it. he is not honest enough to say so publicly. frankly, why support someone like that with page views he earns money by. so give him fewer views. he earns that,

      • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

        George, the intention was not to single you out, but as we have communicated in the past, I reached out to you in an effort to bring the tone of the comments here down a notch – not to blame you for them. There are many others here guilty of name calling and insults and general disrespect between commenters. We’re all for lively debate, just the tone lately has come to such a level that I feel it may prevent others who may have joined in the conversation from even commenting.

        Regarding the deletion of my post, it was a mistake – there was a spam comment posted in reply to my original comment that we intended to delete, but accidentally removed my post along with the reply to it. We’re still getting used to Disqus, it is a bit confusing on the admin side.

        That said, my post was not insulting toward you – nor did I mean to single you out, as I said in the post – something to the effect of “and this isn’t to single out George, there are many far worse,” – I directed the comment to you not to single you out, but because we have communicated on a (friendly) level before, and I figured you’d might help me bring the tone down a notch here, rather than replying to someone I have never communicated with before.

        I am actually looking for an “un-delete” option on Disqus but can’t seem to find one, in order to bring back my original post, but it appears disqus doesnt not have this option.

        The point is, and this goes for EVERYONE, we want our comments to be a place that anyone can express their views – right, left, inbetween – without fear that they will be personally attacked or called names for their views. Attack the view, not the person. Otherwise it makes ICR seem like quite an uninviting place, especially for new visitors, to comment.

        So to be clear – the post was not directed at George specifically for any other reason than we have spoken over email previously. In fact, it was George that suggested the move to the new Disqus commenting system, another reason I directed this at you – as from a moderation standpoint (filtering the f*ck word, etc) Disqus has proved more difficult than our previous system.

        George, I also did not receive any emails from you regarding this. Not sure where you sent them.

        At any rate, I want you to continue to be part of the discussion here. What I was looking for – as frequent commenter – was simply your assistance – even if that included letting us know about others abusing the comment system – as we don’t have the resources to necessarily monitor what is happening in the comments all the time. I apologize if it was taken the wrong way or if you felt I was singling you out for some reason, wasn’t the intention.

        Have a great weekend.

        • georgechapogas

          tim i am an expert in greco roman education theory. an ex intercollegiate debate coach, collegiate judge and ad agency owner for over 20 years. the exact way to blame someone directly and pretend you did not is to address it to me, after my post, then say “oh, but we don’t mean just you.” it was insulting and undeserved and it was intentional. next would you like to know what Cicero said about your type of apology in de inventione. it is a jurist trick. “i apologize if you heard me incorrectly”. i heard just fine. i also heard your non-replies to my private emails where this should have been litigated from the beginning. you flamed me personally, publicly and can’t even say it can you? the mails were sent to where we have communicated again. edamcostricablah blah blah. just resent one

          • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

            George, just received your forwarded email for the first time a minute ago. I apologize if I missed it the first time you sent it. I’ll respond shortly.

          • Benthecat

            Tim, best to block this guy… He will be nothing but trouble for you. He clearly needs special attention and is about 6 years old mentally.

      • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

        Side note, you will also see that I directed a comment at “bobthecat,” as well – which is still present below.

        • georgechapogas

          see my explanation

      • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

        Hi George, as I mentioned in my email yesterday as I was on my mobile, it was inappropriate to have singled you out, and I’d like to apologize.

        • georgechapogas

          accepted

  • michaelwink

    Not sure if I got this correct, but as I understand it, Alajuela to San Ramon highway costs $525 million USD. Building a highway that is 40 km for $525 million USD… $13 million a km, sounds legit…

    • disgusted

      The engineers come up with kinds of ways to inflate the cost. Terrain, bridges.. You want concrete or asphalt?/ I sure Costa Rica going to spend twice this before it completed. The Arias Brothers and others who sell the road material are licking their collective chops on this project. Any bets on the quality of work?? USA est. in 2005 5 million per mile, bridges extra. Asphalt with rock bedding.

  • michaelwink

    sorry sorry, the highway will be 58 km long. so $9 million USD per km, now it all makes sense…

  • Albert Wallace

    Pura Vida LOL

  • http://www.facebook.com/mauricio.ramirez.7906 Mauricio Ramirez

    primero informense y luego dan la noticia, el pueblo marcho pacífico y los esbirros de la presidenta no dejaron el libre paso del cual todos tenemos derechos, y las protestas son contra en el robo descarado que quieren hacer con la conceciona la empresa OAS.

    • georgechapogas

      protesting is legal marching with a permit, petitions, legislation, posting here, a letter to other papers, holding up signs letting people pass freely. those are protests. stopping other people’s legal rights to speak or transit, hurting the police. hurling items at police. that is illegal rioting. i think most people are informed of the distinction except for those that think revolution is a glorious exercise, in which case inform yourself as to the results of history’s revolutions.

  • http://www.facebook.com/fel.chava Felipe Chavarría Morales

    Ok. These things that are happening in my country are caused by years and years of corruption that have led to the indignation of our people! The ruling class is always making decisions to favor their interests and not thinking of what is best for our country. There have been many cases in which even though corruption has been proved, our authorities do not do anything to punish the white-collar thieves who are ruining this country. Therefore, people feel fooled, deceived, outrageous. Nothing happens just because!!! This is the awakening of my country.

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