Air Traffic Controllers Strike
Continues, Though Solution May
Come Soon!
Today, Monday,
following more than a month of
being on strike, representatives
of the striking 125 air traffic
controllers will meet with
members of the "Poder Ejecutivo"
- the Executive Branch of the
government - in a meeting with
Minister for the Presidency,
Ricardo Toledo.
The meeting is schedules for 2:30 in the afternoon at Presidential
House in Zapote.
It's been 43 days since the air traffic controllers walked off the
job and the government replaced them with foreign air traffic
controllers and Costa Rican pilots, who have managed the airwaves at
all the Juan Santamaria (San José), Daniel Oduber (Liberia) and
Pavas airports and the radar control centre in Alajuela.
In the last two weeks, the government has declared the strike
illegal, though no action has been taken against the striking
controllers.
Both sides have been disputing air safety during the strike.
Controllers have been making claims of near misses and passenger
safety is in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Aviación Civil, says the foreign
controllers are doing an excellent job, and will continue to do so
until the strike is over.
The meeting today will hopefully resolve the deadlock and get to the
bottom of the reasons why the controllers went on strike, with the
hope of resolving the dispute.
At the heart of the dispute is the claim by striking air traffic
controllers that they were promised pay equity with other Civil
Aviation employees, in an agreement dating back to 1994, which will
give them a 35% increase in salary.
Costa
Rica Dispute Could Block U.S. Antidrug Flights
A political dispute over the air traffic controllers’ strike
threatens to interrupt U.S. antinarcotics flights over Costa Rica.
Twenty-four congressmen said Friday that until there is progress in
settling the strike, they would vote against renewing permission for
as many as 35 U.S. aircraft to fly over and land in the country.
“The irresponsible side is that of the government because it is not
solving the problem with the controllers ,” said Luis Ramirez, the
National Liberation Party’s legislative leader.
The quarterly renewal of permission for the U.S. flights is usually
uncontroversial . But on Thursday, 24 lawmakers opposed the measure,
which covers the Aug. 15-Nov . 15 period. Only 21 congressmen voted
for it.
Costa Rica is part of the drug corridor that runs from
cocaine-producing nations in South America to the U.S. border.
The Costa Rica government said it would offer the measure again
today.
But Ramirez and the leaders of the Citizens Action and Patriotic
Bloc parties said they would vote against the approval until the
government talks seriously with the striking controllers and stops
trying to fire them.
The U.S. Embassy issued a statement expressing “regret” at the
action, while expressing appreciation for the separation of powers
in Costa Rica.
“We have every expectation that the vote will be reversed, as it
would be in both countries’ interests,” the embassy said. “Were it
to stand, it could seriously limit our cooperation with the Costa
Rican government in impeding narcotics trafficking .”
Security Minister Rogelio Ramos said elimination of the flights
would cut the effectiveness of antismuggling efforts by 80 percent.
The agreement, signed in 1999, covers flights for antismuggling
efforts, refueling, personnel movement and rescue missions.
The labor dispute involves about 115 controllers who went on strike
on June 26 seeking a 35 percent salary increase that they say the
government agreed to a decade ago.
Negotiations have stalled and the government has brought in dozens
of workers from Central America and Peru to staff control towers.
Dad Drowns Saving
Sons
A Pittsburgh, PA, man helped save his sons from a riptide
off the coast of Costa Rica but then drowned in the Pacific Ocean,
friends and officials said.
Tony Leech, 44, a managing partner of a Pittsburgh law firm, was
vacationing with his family in the resort community of Jacó when the
accident occurred.
A powerful current just 30 yards from shore Wednesday had ensnared
his sons Jack, 11, and Patrick, 10. Leech swam out to save them
while his wife, Susan, and his 13-year-old daughter, Beth, called
for help.
A 23-year-old Costa Rican man, Alberto Gonzales, dived into the
ocean and helped Leech save the boys. Gonzales collapsed on the
beach after dragging the last boy to shore but said Leech
disappeared under the water.
"He was caught inside the current, and so he pushed the boy out
toward me," Gonzales said.
Red Cross workers tried to save Leech, but he later died at a
hospital.
"He made the ultimate sacrifice for his children," said Tishman, who
with Leech founded the law firm Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl LLC.
James Terwilliger, whose family was vacationing with the Leeches,
said the family was grief stricken. The funeral was set for Tuesday.
Bambuzal
Farmers Leave the Cathedral, Head Home
Some 120 families who occupied the hallways of the
Metropolitan Cathedral for more than three months, made their way
home to Bambuzal de Sarapiquí, over the weekend, with the illusion
to recover what is theirs.
The Standard Fruit Company owns the land and has enforced it's right
to remove the occupants, who took up residence at the Cathedral
following their appeals on the deaf ears of the politicians and the
government.
An appeal by the Bambuzal farmers has stopped them from re-entering
their lands as the appeal is being studied by the courts. The
farmers took up home in neighbouring lands.
The conflict is more than four years old, which saw the death of one
farmer back in 2001, during a confrontation to remove them from the
lands.
For now, the farmers, the company and police are waiting out the
decision from the judicial courts that will add another chapter to
the story.
Costa Ricans Enjoy Import Tax Break
A recent change in Costa Rica’s Customs Law enables residents to
import up to $500 worth of personal goods tax free every six months
without leaving the country.
Under the previous customs rules, residents were required to remain
outside of Costa Rica’s borders for a minimum of 72 hours before
they were permitted to bring in their allowance of duty-free goods.
The new system is simpler and more beneficial to Costa Rican
residents. However, only one tax-free package of up to $500 can be
brought in every six months.
The new rules have been in place since March of this year, as part
of a customs reforms underway in Costa Rica.
The rules apply to any person residing in the country, regardless of
residential status.
RACSA to Fight
'Spam'
Radiográfica Costarricense (RACSA) has announced to it's
120.000 customers that will will block their internet connection if
they are found to be sending undesirable emails or 'spam', by way of
it's network.
'Spam' can be defined as follows. "Internet spam is one or more
unsolicited messages, sent or posted as part of a larger collection
of messages, all having substantially identical content."
The term 'spam' refers broadly to unsolicited bulk e-mail (or
''junk' e-mail'), which 'can be either commercial (such as an
advertisement) or noncommercial (such as a joke or chain letter).'
RACSA already uses filters to sift through emails coming into Costa
Rica and rejects them, never getting to their intended mailbox. The
exact list of words that RACSA filters is not made public and is
changing.
ICR found that words like Viagra and any reference to sex or
pornographic material in the subject line is immediately trashed and
never to to be seen again. Unfortunately, many "legitimate" emails
get trashed by RACSA filters as being unacceptable material or
'spam'.
We at ICR have received numerous complaints, angry readers who say
we have not responded to their letters. The fact is we never
received them, since we use a RACSA internet connection.
It is possible to stop 'spam', though filters many not be the way,
as 'spammers' can circumvent the barriers that are set up to stop
it.
To that end, RACSA has said, it will monitor it's users and advise
any user who is suspected of Spamming. If the user continues to
'spam', it will cut service until such a time as the user complains
and a visit to their officers is made, soliciting a promise to stop
their offensive practice.
Many users don't realize they are sending 'spam' messages due to
viruses in their systems. Some viruses attach themselves to a
computer system and scan email programs and send out messages to all
the names in the email list, without the knowledge of the user.
RACSA will advise any user if that is the case and offer advice on
how to clean their computers of any virus.
A sample email generated by a virus found on the user's computer
system can look something like:
To: The Post Office
[MAILER-DAEMON@insidecostarica.com]
Subject: Information you requested
Content:
Please see the attached file for details.
Opening the attachment in the email will install the virus file and
can create havoc in a computer system, from simply cloning itself to
a complete erasure of files and system shutdown.
You can report any abuse at:
[email protected]
Inter-American Court of Human Rights Overturns
Journalist's Libel Conviction
Reporters Without Borders today welcomed
a judgment issued on 4 August by the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights
(IACHR) overturning the heavy fine imposed by a Costa Rican court in
November 1999 on journalist Mauricio Herrera of the daily Spanish newspaper,
La Nacion, for alleged libel.
The IACHR's judgement is binding on the Costa Rican authorities. Full
Story
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