San José, Costa Rica - Sunday 15 August 2004

1.116 Unique Visitors Daily Average in July!  What's This? 

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

The new Municipal sign laws has merchants having to change their signs or face a fine or closure of their businesses. On Avenida Central, McDonalds got to keep it arches, but had to reduce the sign with it's name, while Pollo Campero decided to cover it's logo of a big chicken. Click for larger image!

Sale of Banco Elca Stalled
A report in the El Financiero tells the tale of how Banco Promérica and Banco Lafise, two local banks and an American group, Waterford Management Inc., failed to complete a purchase of Banco Elca.

Buys and Cells
Accused killer Dean Faiello is livin' large in a Costa Rican prison — ordering in fast food and doling out cash to other inmates — and he's fired his lawyer in what some say is "a stalling tactic" to delay his likely extradition to the United States, The Post has learned.

No Smoking Here, Please!
A report in Sunday's edition of the Spanish newspaper La Nación says that legislators are violating anti smoking laws in the Legislative Assembly.

Santa Cruz Ordered To Clear Public Areas
The Municipality of Santa Cruz (Guanacaste) approved this week an order to start demolishing houses and other buildings in public space in the maritime zones of  Brasilito, Tamarindo and Potrero.

The Most Refugees
Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and of the International Organization for Migrations shared information and discussed the situation of refugees in Costa Rica.

Ruses of Illegal Immigrants
Only the well-trained eyes of civil guardsmen at a control post not far from the Panamanian border on the Inter-American Highway prevent an Ecuadorian from fooling authorities and continue on their way north, in pursue of the American Dream, as they confessed after their true nationality was discovered and they were detained.

Shuttles Back to Space in 2005
NASA shuttles will go back to space next March or April, according to Costa Rican-born astronaut Franklin Chang. 

Carter urges Venezuelans to vote with calm, confidence
Former US President Jimmy Carter on Saturday called on Venezuelans to vote with calm and confidence in Sunday's recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez.

Chile refuses to discuss maritime-demarcation dispute with Peru
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos ruled out the possibility Saturday to discuss the sea-territorial demarcation dispute with Peru, saying the matter was already solved.

Terror threats may be from political rivals: Salvadorian president
Salvadorian President Antonio Saca said Saturday the so-called threats by Islamic groups agains this country may be from the hands of political rivals, according to reports from San Salvador, capital of the Central American country.

Hurricane Charley kills four in Cuba
Four people were killed and five others injured as Hurricane Charley tore across Cuba, leaving 200,000 homeless, local authorities said Saturday.

International News from the New York Times
 

SPECIAL REPORTS DEVELOPMENT- ARGENTINA: Utter Poverty in Former Reserve The cows in this arid former nature reserve in northwestern Argentina are so bony that they do not even look like they belong to the same species as their robust cousins to the south, in the rich pampas (grasslands) of the central part of the country. They barely give milk, and provide little meat, just enough to keep their owners -- poor campesinos or peasant farmers who live in improvised corrugated iron and wooden shacks with plastic bags as insulation and wear heavily patched and re-patched clothes -- from dying of hunger. No one imagined the utter abandonment in which the local campesinos and indigenous people were living in the General Pizarro nature reserve -- until the provincial authorities decided to sell off the public land to agribusiness interests for planting soy, and their plight began to draw limited media attention.

With GSM and the Lowest Cost to Rent a Cellular Telephone in Costa Rica!

Retirement/Relocation Tours for the Non-rich! I am the ONLY Retirement, Relocation Guide in Costa Rica without a hidden agenda. I will show you many of the best areas for value of climate, land, amenities, and building costs. I will introduce you to honest, value, people who will share with you the actual costs of real estate & homes built for people like you. You can then compare these to any of the other "DEALS" promoted by the many other "Tours" Please visit: www.costaricaretireonss.com and contact my References. George Lundquist, Retirement, Relocation Columnist for: www.insidecostarica.com and www.welovecostarica.com