Brrr.. It's Cold!
Low temperatures, cloudy skies
and strong winds that lifted
some roofs left Josefinos
wearing jackets and coats,
especially as night fell.
Normally, the Central Valley
area experiences a short cold
spell in the first days of
January, but to run past the
middle of the month? Where are
we in Canada? Eh?
The Instituto Meteorológico
Naciona - the national
weatherman - says the cold front
is mainly centred in San José
and the Caribbean coast.
The temperature this morning in
San José was 16 degrees Celsius
at 5:30 this morning.
The weatherman explains that the
cold front is a result of the
two air currents colliding - a
cold front against a warm front
- causing winds and clouds to
cool the air.
The forecast for the next couple
of days is a high in the day
temperatures of 22 to 23
Celsius, where normally it would
be between 28 and 32.
The cold air, winds and clouds
are the same that are affecting
the thousands in the Atlantic
zone. The rain is light and
intermittent in San José.
But the winds are another thing.
Yesterday afternoon the winds
topped speeds of 70
kilometers per hour where
normally it would be 15kmh. The
strong winds have been causing
many headaches for the Compañía
Nacional de Fuerza y Luz - the
light and power company - where
it had 85 reported trouble spots
at 5pm yesterday.
Most of the areas affected by
the high winds are the higher
areas of Guadalupe, Vázquez de
Coronado, Heredia and Escazú.
Red Alert Continues for the
Atlantic Zone
The red alert and the emergency
conditions continue in the
Atlantic zone as the rain and
floods keep causing problems for
residents of the Limón area.
The greatest risk now is mud
slides. The rain kept falling
all weekend and the mountains
and hills are full of water that
may not all flow down in the
creeks and rivers.
President Abel Pacheco visited
the affected areas yesterday.
His itinerary was kept under
guard yesterday, fearing
protests and other disturbances
like the one by taxi drivers
last week that cut his trip
short.
The President reiterated his
statement from the national
television speech on Sunday that
the government has to work to
help rebuild the area and in a
manner that will see less damage
of this annual occurrence.
Pacheco, who is originally from
the Limón area, also made the
point that the floods of 2005
are the worst since Costa Rica
has been keeping records for the
past 100 years.
The Red Cross and the National
Emergency Commission continue
their relief efforts, providing
food, clothing and other
necessities to those most
affected.
More than 2.000 are still being
housed in temporary shelters and
the real concern now is the
spread of disease and tempers of
those living so close and in
such stressful conditions.
Corrales Quits PLN
The Partido Liberación Nacional
(PLN) continues to lose another
important member. Former
presidential candidate and three
times Legislative Deputy, José
Miguel Corrales, announced his
resignation from the party
yesterday, on the heels of the
resignation by Mariano Figueres,
brother of former president José
Maria Figueres Olsen and son of
founder of the PLN party, Don
Pepe - José Figueres Ferrer.
Corrales, at a press conference,
said "under the influence and
direction of Don Oscar Arias
Sánchez, a majority of the
National Assembly, pleasing and
insensible to the challenges the
party and the country is facing,
eliminated the electoral
mechanism and accepted the
deputies of the PLN according to
the whims and interests of the
presidential candidate."
Corrales was strong in his words
against the Arias. He continued
to say that it is normal for a
presidential candidate to
appoint several people to the
position that will be the
leader's shield in the
Legislative Assembly, but to
eliminate the entire electoral
process is wrong.
Corrales told his audience that
if he stayed with the party he
would be an accomplice to the
travesty and that he has no
plans to join another party or
is in the process of starting a
new one, though he is analyzing
several offers he has received,
especially that of the Unión
Patriótica party.
"With deep regret and sadness, I
have have come to the conclusion
that the Liberación Nacional has
been infiltrated and kidnapped
by interests removed from the
original cause", Corrales added
to his comments.
Corrales says for now he is an
independent candidate and though
he is leaving the house
(reference to the party) he is
not leaving the cause.
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American Airlines Announces
Great Low Fares for Winter
Travel
Nobody has more
service to Latin America than
American Airlines, and now for a
limited time, American is
offering savings to travel there
as big as its route network.
American has great low fares for
travel in January and February
from select U.S. cities to
points throughout Latin America,
including destinations in
Belize, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and
Venezuela.
American's Latin America sale
fares are effective for travel
through Feb. 28, 2005. Tickets
must be purchased no later than
Jan. 28, 2005. Other
restrictions apply. For complete
rules and restrictions, see the
terms and conditions below, or
visit American's
AA.com Web site.
Minnesota Benefactor Dies While
Snorkeling off Costa Rica
A
Minnesota artist, philanthropist
and wife of the former CEO of
Gold'n Plump Poultry died Sunday
while snorkeling off the coast
of Costa Rica.
Arlene Helgeson, of Sartell,
Minn., was celebrating her 75th
birthday Sunday when she was
stricken while swimming with her
husband, Donald.
Family members said the couple
was on a cruise from Florida to
Panama when they went snorkeling
over a reef near the cruise
ship. While underwater, she
signaled to her husband that she
was in distress. He got her to
the dive boat and she was flown
from the cruise ship to a
hospital in San Juan, where she
was pronounced dead.
Helgeson had been in good
health, said a daughter-in-law,
Laura Helgeson.
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