Marijuana Lab
Dismantled
The Police of
Control of Drugs, PCD, on Friday completely
dismantled a marijuana laboratory, first registered
in Central America. The operative one was carried
out near a commercial center in Curridabat, west of
San José.
A woman of Costa
Rican nationality and a Canadian man of about 40
years of age, were detained in a house, in where the
laboratory was.
According to an
official press release by the Ministerio de
Seguridad Publica, 407 marijuana plants were found
on the premises.
The plants were grown
using a Hydroponics process. This results in a
better quality of the drug.
The Costa Rican
authorities were assisted by the technical
consultant's office of the United State's DEA.
Pavarotti's Costly
Concert Cancelled
An October 25
concert by Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, billed
as the event of the year with sky-high ticket
prices, was cancelled just hours after it was
announced.
"We rushed to
announce it because we thought the agreement with
the tenor was a done deal," said Enrique
Salgado, head of ESP Productions.
"But we just
learned that the concert will not take place. We
offer our apologies to all those who helped us with
this project."
Far from cheering the
prospect of the world class tenor's first appearance
in Costa Rica, media instead heaped scorn on the
price of the tickets, the cheapest of which was
higher than a modest worker's monthly salary.
Prices for the 3,500
seats ranged from $200 to $850.
A cleaning lady in
Costa Rica earns about $175 a month, local radio
stations were quick to point out, and even a senior
executive earning the equivalent of $600 a month
would be hard pressed to cough up the $850 for a
front-row-center seat.
Pavarotti, who will
be 68 on October 12, is billed to play several
countries in Latin America in October before he
retires.
Will WTO Stand Affect
CAFTA?
Two weeks ago Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, warned that he and others in Congress would take a dim view of trade deals with countries that did not play a constructive role in the World Trade Organization talks in Cancun, Mexico.
Tuesday, a US trade official said the Bush administration has gotten the message that foreign countries will have to be more cooperative on a range of trade issues or any trade agreements the administration reaches with them are unlikely to gain congressional approval.
"Congress has sent a very strong message" that "it's not good enough to be a constructive player in bilateral negotiations, said Regina Vargo, the chief US negotiator in trade talks with Central American countries.
Potential partners in free trade agreements must also be helpful in the WTO Doha Round and, if they are "in this hemisphere" in the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, Vargo said. That was in response to a lobbyist's question at a Global Business Dialogue breakfast on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) negotiations.
The lobbyist asked Vargo how the Bush administration interpreted Grassley's remarks in relationship to CAFTA, particularly since Guatemala and Costa Rica had joined the Group of 22 developing countries that played a role in the collapse of the global trade talks in Cancun.
The Central American talks -- which would make trade easier between the United States and Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica -- include substantial controversial agricultural issues. Vargo said importation of agricultural products such as beef, poultry, fruits, vegetables and dairy into Central America has proven to be a particularly difficult part of the negotiations.
The Central American countries, she noted, have their own free trade union, but it excludes many agricultural products. Vargo later told reporters the US is expecting to put offers on the table on sensitive US products, including sugar and peanuts, at a negotiating session coming up in Houston.
US farm leaders have said the Central American countries must give greater access to US agricultural products and also warned CAFTA could hurt US farmers if it lets more Central American sugar and other agricultural products into the United States.
The Group of 22, in which Brazil played a strong leadership role, said the developed countries should reduce their farm subsidies and agricultural Tariffs, but developing countries should not be required to open their markets.
Grassley said he questions whether countries that joined the Group of 22 developing countries are committed to "pursuing the strong market access commitments required to conclude free trade agreements with the United States."
Vargo also referred the audience to an op-ed article US Trade Representative Bob Zoellick had written in the Financial Times Tuesday and said the United States is planning to move forward with the "can do" countries.
Vargo noted the Bush Administration wants to add the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean island country to the CAFTA. When asked whether Colombia might also be added, Vargo said she does not know whether CAFTA might become a "docking" station for other countries to be added, but then pointed out that "Colombia, Peru and Panama have come asking about free trade agreements.
Zoellick plans to travel to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador between Sept. 30 and Oct. 3, Vargo announced. She added that US goals in CAFTA are not just trade and listed institutionalization of democracy and national security ahead of market access.
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