Costa Rica Advances to Semifinals World Cup Qualifying
Costa Rica advanced to the semifinal round of the CONCACAF
World Cup qualifying tournament on away goals Sunday after holding Cuba
to a 1-1 draw and 3-3 on aggregate.
Ronald Gomez scored for Costa Rica in the 30th minute, heading the
ball past Cuban goalkeeper Odelin Molina. Alain Cervantes equalized in
the 45th after breaking away from a defender.
Costa Rica is ranked 26th, Honduras 55th, Guatemala 87th by FIFA. Canada
- which is ranked 95th in the world and 10th in the region - booked its
ticket to the final 12 in the region with an 8-0 aggregate win over
Belize.
The United States defeated host Grenada 3-2 Sunday in St. George's,
advancing to the Group A semifinal 6-2 on aggregate.
CONCACAF covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.
The semifinal stage is scheduled from Aug. 18 to Nov. 17. As in the
other semifinal groups, Costa Rica other countries in its pool home and
away with the top two in each group advancing to the final round of six
teams.
Three of those will earn berths in the Germany finals. The fourth-place
finisher will face an Asian team in a playoff to join them.
Move or be
Moved; Vendors Abandon the Streets
Most of the Street Vendors who have taken up the sidewalks of
downtown San José have decided to move in anticipation of the
Municipalities deadline of today. Most of Calle 8 in the downtown core
has been blocked by all types of vendor's stands that has impeded both
pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Considerate Vendors decided that it was easier to move than be moved.
The Municipality has been strong on this issue and vowed to remove any
vendor and their stand come Monday, after allowing a 3 day grace period.
The original deadline had been set for Friday, June 18, but given the
big game between Cuba and Costa Rica and the fact that it was also
father's day on Sunday, Municipal officials allowed for the grace
period.
A walk through Calle 8 late yesterday afternoon had many vendors busy
taking down their temporary stands and packing their merchandise. Many
had done so the previous day.
Anger and frustration could be seen in their faces as some foughtback
tears, while others just resigned themselves, expecting that this day
would soon come. The move was peaceful.
Gerardo Chacón, president of the Asociación Costarricense de Vendedores
Ambulantes, told the press that their retreat was to avoid any
confrontation with police - the Municipal Police force and La Fuerza
Publica.
Chacón added that, at any moment they will be back on the streets. His
comments referred to the association's petition to the courts, which are
expected to rule in favour of the vendors.
Some vendors, however, have decided to stay put and wait for the
Municipality to remove them, forcibly if necessary. One Vendor ICR spoke
to, said that "the alternatives the Municipality has put forth will not
give us enough to feed our families".
Fast Cash,
No Questions Asked
Need money fast? Trading that Rolex, or your favourite TV set
is fast and easy in downtown streets of San José.
A DVD player or digital camera can easily be converted into cash and
with the hassles. Most of the transactions don't ask the wheres and the
whys.
The best way to trade a valuable object like a wedding band, a gold
necklace or a sewing machine is at the pawn shops or "compra y ventas";
leaving your goods as a guarantee for repayment of the cash advance.
However, their cash doesn't come cheap. A typical interest charge of
these types of loans range anywhere from 2.5% to 10% per month or 30% to
120% per year. In contrast a typical high risk loan at a local financial
services company can average around 25% per year.
For the most part, these types of transactions are simple to complete,
walking in with the goods and walking out with the cash, requiring no
real proof of ownership.
The loans at the "compra y ventas" start at about 2.000 colones and can
be in the millions, depending on the location and the item being traded.
Most will will allow an extension on the time to repay before the
merchandise is sold, of course at an additional cost, that can run up to
10% or more of the original cost.
Though there are some regulations that control the operations of "compra
y ventas", these are more Municipal code regulations requiring a license
to operate the business and registration with the tax department,
Ministerio de la Hacienda.
And then there are laws that govern conditions of credits and loans and
the control on the original purchase of the items. However, a fault in a
ruling by the Constitutional Court (Sala IV) allows that the possession
of an item is enough to establish that the holder is the legal owner of
the item, therefore "compra y ventas" are not required to see the
original purchase receipt before taking in the merchandise.
At some "compra y ventas" they require some form of identification to be
presented and is recorded, while at others ICR visited, the merchandise
in hand was enough.
One "compra y ventas" asked for a name and cedula, though we were never
asked to show it. We made up some name and a great cedula number. It was
recorded, no questions asked. We walked away with our cash.
At some "compra y ventas" the important question is, will we be back for
the item?
The reason for the question, we learned, had to do with the valuation.
If we were simply looking for quick cash, with no intention of every
returning for the item, we got a lower valuation.
Limón Says No To Dengue
This week, Limón will launch a campaign to rid the province
of the nasty mosquito that carry the Dengue virus, according to
officials of the Ministry of Health and the Caja Costarricense del
Seguro Social (CCSS).
In Limón it is estimated that 19 out of 100 homes are possible refuge to
the mosquito that carries the virus.
Full story
Fugitive Priest Worked in Costa Rica
A fugitive priest accused of molesting an altar boy in Costa
Rica was put to work in two remote parishes in Honduras by a Roman
Catholic cardinal who has been mentioned as a candidate to succeed Pope
John Paul II, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Full story
 News
Briefs
-
Bus rates will be keeping up
with inflation following a
request by the Consejo de
Transporte Público who has made
a request to the Autoridad
Reguladora de los Servicios
Públicos (ARESEP) for an
increase of bus fares on all
rates across the country. The
ARESEP is required to hold a
public hearing before it can
consider to accept any increase
in public prices and services.
The hearing with respect to the
increase in bus fares is set for
Tuesday June 29 and the public
is invited to attend.
- Need a legal document from the National Registry Office? Well,
now, you don't need to run to Zapote each time. ALl seven regional
offices will be able to accept the request for any document in the
Registry system and have it available the following day.
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