San José, Costa Rica - Friday 27 August 2004

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

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

School children offer support to the protestors on Avenida Segunda yesterday. Many students from colleges and universities were involved in creating blockades in San Pedro and around the country. Click for larger image! Click here for all the fotos of yesterday's protests.

Costa Rica in Crisis
Protests Continue, ICE Joins In
The week of protest continued yesterday with the addition of several more union groups, who joined the truckers in further paralyzing the country.

Is Riteve a Private Monopoly?
Many of the protestors were asking the question, is Riteve a private monopoly? and calling for the government to divulge the name or names of the Costa Rican businessmen who are partners with the Spanish firm.

Fotos of Yesterday's Protests

Fitch Affirms Costa Rica Rating; Outlook Negative
Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency, today affirmed its long-term foreign and local currency ratings of 'BB' and 'BB+', respectively, for Costa Rica.

Increase in the Cost of Living
Propelled by the rising prices of oil, the costs of groceries, bus fares, utilities, education, and housing - to mention a few - have been steadily increasing in recent months in Costa Rica.

President Refutes Michael Moore
President Abel Pacheco stated that Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 lies if it claims that Costa Rica declared war to Iraq.

Jaguar Resorts, Inc. Targets Costa Rica
Jaguar Resorts, Inc. announced that it is aggressively working on a new strategic alliance to develop a five star luxury resort in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica.

Charges Unlikely for "Tico" Dad of Dead Marine
They are highly trained, field-tested Marines, and like many in their number they have an unenviable task: to tell families that a loved one has been killed. But nothing could have prepared first Sgt. Timothy Shipman and the two Marines in his team for Carlos Arredondo's reaction.

Did you Know?
Approximately 300.000 foreigners from around the world have chosen to live in Costa Rica.

Cuba denies interfering in Panama's internal affairs
Cuban ambassador to Panama Carlos Zamora has rejected Panama's charges that Havana had interfered in its internal affairs.

Venezuelan opposition calls for clearing up referendum doubts
Venezuela's opposition insisted Thursday that the National Electoral Council (CNE) clear up the "reasonable doubts" about the results of the Aug. 15 recall referendum won by President Hugo Chavez.

Bomb explosion in Colombia kills 2 policemen, injures 7
A bomb exploded Thursday night near a Colombian police station in northern Bogota, killing two policemen, injuring seven people including three officers and four civilians, police said.

Mexico denies presence of anti-US terrorism on its land
There was no evidence that anti-US terrorist activities were carried out in Mexico, local media said Thursday, citing official sources.

International News from the New York Times
 

SPECIAL REPORTS VENEZUELA: Black Contribution to Local Culture Has Been Largely Ignored When Berta was a little girl, she met Micaela, ”an old black woman, whose back was full of scars.” When she asked the adults around her why, she was told ”it was the whips and red-hot iron bars, because she was a slave.” This is one of the personal accounts presented in ”Obscurity, Silence and Rupture: 150 Years Since the Abolition of Slavery in Venezuela”, an exhibit currently on display in the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas, which also presents photos, prints, paintings, musical instruments, tools, weapons, masks, carvings and posters reflecting Venezuela's African heritage. Slavery was officially abolished in Venezuela on Mar. 24, 1854. At that time there were 25,000 slaves, accounting for three percent of the population.

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