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updated by 7:00 a.m. CST each day
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March Against
Violence of Children
People
of all the ages and all parts of the country were
united in a unique and historical march.
Government representatives, including President Abel
Pacheco, parents and children, came out to declare
war on the excessive violence against children in
the country.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched 7 blocks, from the
metropolitan cathedral to the Museo de los Niños.
Dressed in white, handkerchiefs and posters of
children who died at the hands of aggressors could
be seen all around.
6 Fishermen
Missing at Sea
Authorities fear
that the found body on the high seas this Friday, is
one of them
Three
survivors of the shipwreck have already been
transferred to the rescue boat, the Costa Rican
patrol boat Pancha Carrasco, who is still at high
seas.
The captain of the boat, Saúl Quirós, confirmed
with authorities on land of the recovery. The men
are being treated for sunburns and dehydration as a
result for being afloat for several days.
There still remain 6 others adrift.
But while the drama develops on the high seas, some
questions are being asked on land: was the missing
boat equipped with an emergency device that would
have allowed to be located almost immediately? Why
does not the legislation require all boats be
equipped with such?
Representatives of
the department of Marine of the Ministry of Public
Work and Transport, MOPT, assured that in the works
is draft of a law that will demand all boats the use
instruments that will allow it to be located in an
emergency.
Green turtle needs
protection
Tortuguero
National Park, in the Costa Rican Caribbean, has a
yearly budget of 2.5 million colones (US $6,250),
which is not enough for the proper control and
surveillance of its natural wealth, that includes
the spawning of some 40,000 green turtles -the
largest population of turtles on the Atlantic in the
Americas - and a network of canals and forests that
are considered "a small Amazons".
A staff of only 22, makes almost impossible to
properly care and control the 76,316 hectares
(188,577 acres) of the park. Such a scenario
prompted the non-profit private Caribbean
Conservation Corporation and the Ministry of the
Environment of Costa Rica to issue an SOS for
private companies to make donations aimed at the
preservation of this green paradise.
Gaps in domestic
development
While in
Escazu, west of San Jose, only 8 children die before
they are 1 year old, in Talamanca, in the Caribbean
province of Limon, the figure is 18.
And in communities such as Coto Brus (South Pacific)
or Sarapiqui (in the northern part of the country)
the index of social development is up to 4 times
lower than in the Greater San Jose Area.
The index measures the quality of life of people and
establishes the gaps between geographical areas
based on indicators such as health, housing, and
education.
In spite of these facts, Costa Rica is among the 55
nations with the higher human development rates.
According to the United Nations Program for
Development, Costa Rica places 42nd among
175 nations, and is 3rd in Latin America,
surpassed only by Argentina and Uruguay.
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Car bomb blast injures four in eastern Colombia
A car bomb exploded Thursday night in the eastern Colombian state of Arauca bordering Venezuela, leaving at least four people injured, the authorities said on Friday.
The bomb blew off near the Cristo Rey College in the city of Arauca when a police patrol passed by. The victims were three agents aboard and a woman.
The attack occurred after President Alvaro Uribe returned to Bogota from Arauca, where he moved in the seat of government three days ago to show his administration's control over the nation.
The authorities blamed the explosion on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest rebel group in the South American country.
On Wednesday, the guerrillas dynamited two electricity pylons, causing a blackout in
Arauca.
The leftist rebel groups, the FARC and the National Liberation Army of Colombia, together with far-right paramilitaries are operating in Arauca. The 700-km-long Cano Limon Covenas oil pipeline in the area has been frequently attacked by rebels.
Since Uribe was sworn in last August, he has adopted a tough policy against the rebels to put an early end to the decades-old civil war which kills an average of 3,500 people every year.
Argentina, Brazil to strengthen parliamentary cooperation
Brazil's lower house of parliament leader Joao Cunha discussed on Friday with his Argentine counterpart Eduardo Camano the creation of a bilateral parliamentary group to strengthen legislative cooperation between the two countries.
Cunha, president of the Chamber of Deputies, said the goal was to create conditions for the development of the Parliament of the South American Common Market
(Mercosur).
"We want the embryo of the regional parliament to begin to takeshape," he said.
Cunha added that his country looks forwards to an "absolute integration" of the Mercosur countries -- Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Bolivia and Chile are associate members.
He also said the conditions "to return to the path of growth" have appeared in Brazil, and the recovery will be reflected on theArgentine economy.
"Growth of both countries will be very important to speed integration up," Cunha pointed out.
Venezuela forecasts low Iraqi crude production
The Iraqi crude production will not reach one million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this year, lessening the production cut in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuelan Energy and Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez said Friday.
At a press conference in Venezuela's Embassy in Washington, Ramirez said "The Iraqi production stood at 800,000 bpd after the Iraq war, below the 2.5 million barrels it produced every day before the conflict."
Ramirez claimed that Iraq will not overcome the low production level in a short time. The expectations of Iraqi officials to resume production by this mid-July have been thwarted by sabotage and looting on petroleum facilities.
Ramirez said that "at the end of this July there will be an OPEC meeting to assess the recovery in the Iraqi production," indicating that "responsible attitudes should be expected from this organization."
Venezuela is the only Latin American member of the OPEC, which comprises Saudi Arabia, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar and Venezuela,and controls about 36 percent of the world oil market.
Spanish PM calls for integration of Latin America, Iberian Peninsula
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar called on Friday for the integration of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula.
In today's world, "neither the largest country nor the most powerful could go by itself," Aznar said before 60 students from Latin American and Spanish universities who benefited from a scholarship program of the Carolina Foundation.
Aznar handed diplomas to the students, in which the foreign ones came from 19 Latin American countries, including Cuba.
Aznar said the integration of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula "is the most positive, important and urgent task."
The prime minister added that he held intense contacts with leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean this month, met with the presidents of Central American countries during his visit to El Salvador, as well as heads of state of Brazil and Argentina in the last days.
Ibero America is the name of a cultural region that contains 19Latin American and Caribbean nations, Spain and Portugal.
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