San José, Costa Rica - Tuesday 24 August 2004

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

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

Taxi drivers head the protest in downtown San José yesteday, blocking all traffic on Avenida Segunda. Similar blockades occurred all over the country and the major highways in Central Valley were reduced to a snail's pace. Click here for all our fotos of the protest. Click for larger image!

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General Strike Reduces Traffic to Crawl
Taxi drivers and truckers crippled major arteries in Costa Rica, in a day of protest, which was mainly against the government police of maintaining the vehicle inspection monopoly given to the Spanish firm Riteve SyA.

Foreign Ministry Denies South Korea's Financial Aid in Exchange for Vote
The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry is denying any agreement that Costa Rica has with the government of South Korea for a favourable vote at the united Nations Security Council in return for financial aid.

"Chucky" Behind Bars
Chucky, the 14 year old boy who was arrested on Saturday for being involved in a robbery at a downtown store, accused of stealing more than ¢1.900.000 colones this year from three San José banks and with 29 criminal accusations in his belt, will be behind bars for the next 60 days.

Still No Response About Illegal Shark Fin Landings
On July 29 and August 7 of 2003, PRETOMA filed two official denouncements regarding illegal landings of shark fins at private docks in Costa Rica.

Taximeters Altered
According to figures released by Riteve, the vehicle inspection company, 23% of all taxis that come for inspection are rejected for having their taximeters or "maria" altered.

Did you Know?
San José was the third city in the world having electricity in the 1800's.

Salvadorean embassies demand security in face of terrorist threat
All of the Salvadorean embassies throughout the world have requested countries to which they are accredited to reinforce the security around them due to the existence of terrorist threats, Salvadorian President Elias Antonio Saca confirmed Monday.

Panama withdraws ambassador from Cuba
Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso on Monday withdrew her country's ambassador in Havana, one day after Cuba threatened to cut diplomatic relations over Panama's possible pardon of anti-Castro activists.

El Salvador completes sending 380 troops to Iraq amid attack threats
El Salvador has completed sending its third contingent of 380 troops to Iraq amid fears of being the target of terrorist attacks by radical Muslim groups, according to reports from Salvadorean capital San Salvador on Monday.

One soldier killed, three injured in mine explosion in Colombia
One soldier was killed and three others were injured in a mine explosion in the west central province of Tolima, said the Army News Agency on Monday.

International News from the New York Times
 

SPECIAL REPORTS CUBA: Hurricane Charley Swept Away the Legend - and Village - of Cajío The statue of chief Cajío standing with arms crossed and head held high must face the sea to live up to its mission: protecting this fishing village in southern Cuba. The local community's livelihood has traditionally come from the sea. But so has death. "When the statue has been turned away from the sea, catastrophe has struck. That happened in 1926 and 1944, when the town was destroyed by tropical storms. The 1944 hurricane brought such a huge surge that the sea literally swept away the village," said Orlando Orihuela, a local historian. He also pointed out that in 1966, when a car crashed into the statue, knocking it down, a storm immediately hit the village, followed by a fire that burnt it down, to the very last house. "Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe not," Orihuela remarked to IPS.

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