Sex Tourism:
Lessons Learned in Costa Rica
Ordinary Costa Ricans, from taxi drivers to hoteliers, are taking
official tourism classes as part of the country's latest attempt to stop
the abuse of children by international sex tourists.
The world tourism industry has been accused of benefiting from the
child sex trade.
The Central American holiday destination is sending thousands of
tourism workers, from hotel receptionists to tour guides, on training
courses to get the message across that it is not a good idea to help
tourists find under-age girls for sex. It is part of the Code of Conduct
drawn up by the industry and children's rights campaigners.
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Baltimore Scientist Lived in Costa Rica
Last month, Alexander Frank Skutch, the noted Baltimore born and raised
ornithologist, died eight days short of his 100th birthday at Finca Los
Cusingos, his 178-acre home in the tropical rain forest of Costa Rica,
where he had happily spent the last 63 years observing and writing about
the avian life that swooped, swirled and nested around him.
An obituary in the Los Angeles Times said his legacy in the field of
ornithology was only "paralleled by that of the legendary John James
Audubon."
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Mailboxes
on Sale
Looking for a post box in Costa
Rica? In an effort to reduce a vacancy of more than 10.000 mailboxes
empty, Correos de Costa Rica is trying to lure customers discount of
more than 55% of the normal cost.
A mailbox in the main downtown building of Correos de Costa Rica
normally costs ¢15.000 colones, which includes a one time fee, a key
deposit and the use of the box for one year. Now, new customers will
only pay ¢6.800 colones.
And Correos de Costa Rica will allow more than one person to use the
mailbox, a bending of it's long standing rule that only main addressed
to the owner of the mailbox would be delivered.
Correos de Costa Rica has 71.000 mailboxes all over Costa Rica. In
shopping centres like Plaza Mayor, Mall International in Alajuela and
small rural towns.
A postal box is great way to receive mail in Costa Rica, since there are
no "traditional" mailing addresses like street names and numbers. A
typical Costa Rican address can look like "de la pulperia La Costada,
100 norte, 25 Oeste, casa esquinera con rejas negra."
Most utility bills like water and electrical services find their way to
each home where the meter is installed. However, cellular telephone
bills are another thing. Customers who want to have their monthly
cellular telephone bill delivered must have a mailbox or pay ICE, the
local telephone company, $1 for a printout, which can only be obtained
at one of their offices>"
And, not receiving a utility or telephone bills is no excuse for
non-payment. Customers of utitity and telephone services have a
responsibility to ensure that their accounts are up-to-date or risk
having their services suspended and pay a reconnection charge. The
telephone company charges about ¢2.500 to reconnect a suspended cellular
service.
More Food to Canada
The exports of food
products to Canada by Costa Rica producers has
increased by 21 percent for the first quarter of
2004, as compared to the same period
in 2003.
According to the Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER
in Spanish), Costa Rica sold goods worth $63 million
to Canada from January through March, and of the total, $28.6 million were for food
related products.
Overall
sales in 2003’s first quarter had been $52 million.
According to the sources, agricultural goods have
the best chances in the Canadian market, where the
long winter limits the availability of fresh
produce.
Caution in
Negotiations
Costa Rica has chosen
to be cautious and first analyze in detail the
eventual launching of trade negotiations with the
European Union, in spite of the Central American
insistence in promoting the start of negotiations.
A
source at the Ministry of Foreign Commerce explained
that, even though the issue is a priority for Costa
Rica, this nation has chosen to wait and dedicate
time to preparation and definition of goals before
negotiating, just as it did before starting the
negotiations of the free trade agreement with the
United States.
On the other hand, the European Union
insists in regional integration, because its style
is dealing with blocs, not with individual
countries.
 News
Briefs
-
Local Police and the Red Cross
in Tilarán began a search for
Palmer Ritz, an American who on
Friday left for a walk in the
Lake Arenal and never returned.
Ritz who is 60 years old and a
resident of San Luis, Tilarán,
didn't show the appointed place
to be picked up. According to
Anais Mejías Molina, who worked
for Ritz, the man was depressed
and was acting strange. Ritz was
to have travelled to the U.S. on
Saturday.
- La Policía de Control de Drogas (PCD) has broken up a gang whose
main activity was sending drugs across the border into Nicaragua. The
gang had it's bases in El Roble de Alajuela, with a Colombian as the
leader and made of up Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans.
- Most Street Vendors began to remove their stalls ahead of the
Municipalities' deadline of Monday, to clear the streets of the
downtown core. Some Street Vendors have vowed to stay and fight city
hall, claiming they have no other place to go and that is their only
means of earning a living. The Vendor's association has vowed to fight
their removal from the streets and have threatened to make camp on the
pedestrian Boulevard on Avenida Central.
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