Karen Olsen Back in Costa Rica
Karen
Olsen, the mother of former
president, José María Figueres
Olsen, is back in Costa Rica and
officials believe that she can
clear up many doubts at her
hearing before the "comisión de
ingresos y gastos de la Asamblea
Legislativa" on December 2.
Karen Olsen arrived on Costa
Rican soil Friday night, but
refused to talk to the press of
anyone else. Her American
Airlines flight was greeted my
reporters, as she made her way
back to Costa Rica, following
the headlines of the Spanish
daily newspapers that he had
"abandoned" or "fled" Costa
Rica.
Karen Olsen is to who was a
Legislative Deputy is linked to
the "Spanish Credit", a credit
of us$30 million dollars
provided by the government of
Spain to the Caja Costarricense
de Seguro Social (CCSS), for the
purchase of medical equipment
for the public health system in
Costa Rica.
The Spanish credit was voted on
by legislature in 1997, while
Karen Olsen was a deputy and her
son was the president.
Two years earlier, Karen Olsen,
was an "Embajadora en Misión
Especial" who signed as witness
the agreement for the
'Renovation of the Hospital
System', an pivotal issue that
formed part of the Spanish
Credit.
Karen Olsen told television
channel 7 "telenoticias"
that she returned to Costa Rica
to attend to a family matter,
the christening of her
granddaughter and has not spoken
to her son, former president
José María Figueres Olsen, about
the us$900.000 he admitted
receiving from Alcatel.
Tourist Season Has Begun!
Unofficially.
Officially, the tourist season
doesn't kick off until December
1. But, tell that to the scores
of tourists who are already
causing fervor at both the Juan
Santamaria airport in San José
and the Daniel Oduber airport in
Liberia.
A visit to the San José airport
Saturday confirmed the increase
in visitors to Costa Rica, two
weeks ahead of normal. The same
was reported in Liberia, as
charter flights have begun their
operations, shuttling tourists
from the colder climates of the
north to the hot and sunny
beaches of Guanacaste.
The "high season" which will end
officially in March 2005, is
expected to bring in 300.000
more tourists that the year
before.
More than 180.000 tourists are
expected to arrive in Liberia
alone.
Tourism in Costa Rica is
expected to leave more than us$2
billion dollars in the local
economy.
Starbucks Says Goal is 30,000
Stores
Starbucks Corp. plans to
continue to open thousands of
new stores each year and to
boost green coffee purchases to
meet demand, the company's top
coffee buyer said on Wednesday.
Alain Poncelet, Starbucks' chief
green coffee buyer, told a
coffee industry gathering in
Costa Rica that the company's
goal is to open 30,000 stores,
with half of them in the United
States and half of them in other
countries.
Poncelet, speaking at the
International Coffee Week
meeting in San José, did not
specify a time line for the
stores to be opened.
Seattle-based Starbucks is the
world's largest coffee shop
chain, with more than 8,000
stores worldwide.
Poncelet said that by 2007 the
company expects to be buying
some 3 million 60-kg bags of
coffee annually -- close to 3
percent of production in the
recently ended harvest year.
In order to meet supply needs,
Starbucks has launched a new
program to reward growers who
produce high quality coffee that
meets environmental and social
standards.
The company will use the program
to foster supplies in
traditional origin regions, like
Latin America and East Africa,
as well as in new regions like
India.
Starbucks wants 60 percent of
the coffee it buys to come from
farmers who meet these standards
by 2007.
"There is a lot of potentially
high quality coffee out there,
we just have to reach it," said
Poncelet.
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CONCACAF SOCCER:
Costa Rican Prepares for Against
Honduras
The Costa Rican national soccer
team has begun the last
preparations for the World Cup
qualifier against Honduras.
The match will be played on
November 17 in San Pedro Sula,
Honduras, to define which of the
two teams moves on to the final
hexagonal tournament of the
North, Central American and
Caribbean Football Confederation
(CONCACAF).
Twelve countries of the region
are competing in three groups.
Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras
and Canada are in Group B, with
Costa Rica now ranked second on
9 points, followed by Honduras
with six points.
The top two teams from each
group will qualify for the next
stage. The top three teams of
the regional tournament will
directly qualify to the 2006
Finals in Germany.
The fourth place will play a
match against a team of the
Asian Football Confederation.
Costa Rica needs at least a draw
with Honduras so to as to move
on to the next stage.
According to Costa Rica coach,
Jorge Pinto, the team will head
to San Pedro Sula on Tuesday.
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