http://www.toursjacobeach.com/news/archive/ en gordon@adventuretourscostarica.com Copyright 2010 2010-08-24T22:59:00-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/costa_rica_wants_us_anti_drug_program_for_central_america/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/costa_rica_wants_us_anti_drug_program_for_central_america/#When:22:59:00Z By MARIANELA JIMENEZ The Associated Press Tuesday, August 17, 2010; 11:40 PM SAN JOSE, Costa Rica—Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said Tuesday she wants the United States to offer an anti-drug aid program just for Central America. The region currently gets some aid to fight organized crime through the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion aid program pledged by President George W. Bush in 2007, but the bulk of the help goes to Mexico. Chinchilla said in an interview with The Associated Press that she wants Washington to review Costa Rica’s cooperation in anti-drug efforts and heed its concerns. She said she has a proposal that asks for more funds and for the U.S. to view Costa Rica as a “more mature partner” in the fight against drugs. “We don’t want to be seen as an appendix of the Merida Initiative. We want a plan for Central America,” she said. Last year, the U.S. Congress approved $300 million for Mexico under the Merida program, and $110 million for all of Central America as well as the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the Caribbean. Costa Rican officials say powerful Mexican drug cartels are increasingly using the Central American country as a transshipment point for cocaine heading north from Colombia. Last February, Costa Rican police seized more than a ton of cocaine at a house in a rural area outside the capital and detained two Mexican men allegedly working for the Juarez cartel. Chinchilla acknowledged Costa Rica doesn’t have the capacity to patrol its waters. “The only alternative we have right now is cooperation with friendly countries,” she said, but she added that the United States should work in tandem with Costa Rica, “not replace us.” Costa Rica recently renewed a bilateral agreement with the U.S. to jointly patrol the country’s coastline for drug shipments. The accord, which has been in place for a decade, was sharply criticized this year by the opposition because for the first time it would allow U.S. troops to enter Costa Rica, which doesn’t have an army. Chinchilla said she will always insist the anti-drug cooperation be “civil but not military.” “I’m the first one to guarantee that the fight against drug trafficking in Costa Rica will not be militarized,” she said. She said she is pushing for Costa Rica’s Congress to approve new taxes on businesses and casinos that would generate about $200 million a year for anti-drug efforts. The money would be used to hire more police officers, build jails and upgrade police equipment, she said. 2010-08-24T22:59:00-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/another_religious_procession_is_today_in_cartago/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/another_religious_procession_is_today_in_cartago/#When:02:58:00Z Another religious procession is today in Cartago By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The religious activities in Cartago are not over. Today the statue of the Virgen de Los Ángeles leaves the basilica and heads to the Catedral Santiago Apóstol, also in Cartago, for a month-long stay. This trip is coupled with much fanfare, too. Oxcart drivers and their bueyes will be in the procession along with local farmers bringing carts full of products that will be sold to the crowd to cover the expenses of the event. Many businesses near the cathedral and the basilica will be closed today, including the downtown office of the Banco Crédito Agrícola de Cartago. The procession is called La Pasada. The small black statute that represents the Virgin of the Angels is remarkably well-traveled. The statute and elaborate case makes frequent trips to points all over Costa Rica. Some communities have replicas of the statue and the precious metal container that residents parade. The biggest event still is Aug. 2. That is where the bishops of the country, accompanied by José Francisco Robles Ortega, a cardinal who is archbishop of Monterrey, México, celebrated a Mass Monday marking the highlight of the annual pilgrimage. Speaking at the event was President Laura Chinchilla. In the audience were her ministers. The air service of the security ministry sent its refurbished twin-engine Otter to spread flowers over the assembly crowd. Worshippers still were there as night fell Monday singing and participating in a candlelit rosary. More than 2 million persons participated in the pilgrimage over the last few days of July through Monday night. The Cruz Roja said it treated 6,485 persons through 4 p.m. Monday. Most suffered muscle cramps. The Virgin or Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles is the patroness of Costa Rica and the nation’s most enduring legend. The president announced no new initiatives in her speech. But she did call for an end to violence in the schools and in the homes. If violence is not prevented in the homes, it comes into the schools, she said. As part of her pilgrimage Sunday, the president walked with Luis Diego Lucar, son of slain school director Nancy Chaverría. The teacher was gunned down by a student at the private Montebello school in Heredia. The killing had an Laura Chinchilla Casa Presdiencial photo Ms. Chinchilla addresses the pilgrims impact because the woman came from a politically connected family. There also was a situation in another school last week where a gang of students threatened the teachers. “As president, but also as a mother, as a believer and as a Costa Rican, I direct today a special supplication to Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles to illuminate us and give us strength in the job of moving the violence from our schools and our homes, for in the heart of the family and in the classrooms is where we ought to create the peace and security,” said the president. She also addressed domestic violence. She noted that the education ministry is putting some measures into place to confront the challenge of school violence, but she said everyone should play their part.  Among the measures is a rule for school officials to search backpacks. Ms. Chinchilla listed the family, the church and the major branches of the government as institutions that must do their part. The legend of the small, dark carving that represents the Virgin Mary and child was celebrated as being 375 years old. But that date may be off by a few years, according to church scholars. Ms. Chinchilla referred to Juana Pereira, to whom is attributed finding the carved stone. The president noted that the name may be a symbolic one but that it has generated a symbol of what is today Costa Rica: a democratic amalgam of cultures.  Juana Pereira was supposed to be a young mestizo woman, but later church researchers have been unable to identify exactly who she was via baptismal records. One researcher, Victor Sanabria Martínez, who rose to be archbishop, reported that many of the women in the Cartago area at that time were named Juana and that the last name of Pereira also was very common. Ms. Chinchilla cited the archbishop in her recounting of the meaning of the miraculous find. 2010-08-04T02:58:00-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/frontier_airlines_announces_new_costa_rica_destination/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/frontier_airlines_announces_new_costa_rica_destination/#When:21:51:01Z DENVER, August 30, 2010 - Frontier Airlines today announced plans to expand its international service with the addition of a second Costa Rica destination. Frontier Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET), will launch seasonal service to Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR) beginning Feb. 13, 2011, with weekly nonstop flights to/from its hub at Denver International Airport (DEN). Introductory fares for this new service can be found at FrontierAirlines.com/introfares. Follow this link to full article: http://media.frontierairlines.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5219 2010-07-01T21:51:01-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/dreams_come_true_for_local_kids/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/dreams_come_true_for_local_kids/#When:17:24:00Z Dreams Come True for Local Kids Jul 27th, 2010 | Category: Daily News, Nicoya Regional News By Lindsay Lavelle La Asociación CREAR just finished up another two weeks of camp with the children from two elementary schools in the Sámara area.  As always, the camp was free to the local kids and provided a chance for supplemental learning during their time away from school.  Thanks to a grant awarded by ProArtes, the National Program for the Development of the Arts, (Programa Nacional para el Desarrollo de las Artes), CREAR was able to invite the local children, ages 5 to 12, to partake in some activities never before offered to them. The students went to the Children’s Museum in San Jose and to La Casona in the National Park in Santa Rosa.  They participated in various workshops lead by professionals from San Jose and abroad including a theater class, a self-esteem workshop led by psychologist Marla Hernandez Gaubil, a movement workshop from professional dancer, Paula Rivera Villareal, and a workshop about the history of books by Diego Lasso. We also did the successful surf lessons provided by the always collaborative C & C Surf School, as well as numerous other art-based projects. This was by far the most enriching camp CREAR has offered to date and the children were very enthusiastic.  Another summer camp will be offered during the vacations in January.  More fun trips and workshops are scheduled including a trip to Africa Mia, a canopy and turtle tour, a visit to La Selva zoo, and much more!  For more information or to make a donation, please call 2656-2338 or visit http://www.asociacioncrear.org Photo courtesy of Jerry “Bubba” Hallstrom Ralph Solano of Costa Rica Wild Fishing in Potrero Bay reports that sardines recently moved into the bay, followed by some big roosterfish, jack, barracuda, mackerel and snapper. Capt. Skeet Warren on the Bushwacker has been seeing some marlin in the Flamingo area. On a recent day offshore, he caught a striped marlin, a blue marlin and a couple of sails. The next day, while fly-fishing, he raised a blue marlin and hooked a striped marlin that broke the rod; however, he was able to get the fish to the boat for a release. Capt. Peter Heidenreich and Capt. Chris Watkins with Go Fish Costa Rica in Tamarindo report good weather and fishing. They have been doing well with sailfish, tuna and some marlin on offshore trips. Capt. Gene Watson reports that U.S. anglers Bruce White and Sam White had a good time fishing three days out of Carrillo aboard the Flamingo II. Bruce caught his first blue marlin, estimated at 200 pounds, while Sam released an identical marlin as well as a pair of sailfish. Sam broke off an estimated 350-pound marlin on the last day, and they rounded out the action with some g rouper and mahimahi for the dinner table. Central Pacific Capt. James Smith and the crew of the Dragin Fly have been keeping busy offshore, releasing 15 sailfish with a family group on a recent full-day trip. They have also done well with blue marlin and had several days with two or three marlin releases. Ocean Adventures and Capt. Dana Thomas report some good days of fishing. They released 29 sailfish with a lucky couple from the U.S. state of Texas; the captain said the anglers were troopers and just kept reeling in fish. The weekend before, a group released 17 sailfish one day and 20 the next; the anglers were tired and sore from catching fish and actually came home early both days. The 60 Megabyte out of Los Sueños has been catching some sailfish and marlin offshore, recently going three days in a row with blue marlin releases. They also caught some sailfish and mahimahi, but nobody talks about those if you catch a marlin. The folks from Quepos Blue Water Sportfishing report some recent good days. The No Limit released a 350-pound blue marlin and a sailfish and kept a couple of nice mahimahi for the grill, while the Blue Water III released four sailfish and kept two nice mahimahi the same day. Jerry Glover of Luna Tours Sport Fishing says inshore fishing has been solid in the Quepos area. Offshore, they are still catching sailfish, mahimahi and some marlin. The sailfish bite has been producing four or five fish daily and a marlin if you are lucky. Capt. Dave Dobbins on the Barbarossa in Quepos fished several days recently and released a marlin and three or four sailfish each day. Dobbins also heard of some yellowfin tuna moving in recently. Northern Region Ace Anglers: Canadians Jeff Zeisner, pictured here, and Bill Valberg recently went 15 for 17 on tarpon with Capt. Eddie Brown near Tortuguero on the northern Caribbean coast. Photo courtesy of Bill Valberg I recently returned to the Río San Juan and the Montecristo River Lodge for some tarpon and snook fishing. The weather was perfect, the lodge and food were great, we drank more cold beers than I can count, and the fishing was good enough. I caught my biggest tarpon so far: about 180 pounds. My buddy caught a 140-pound tarpon, and we also caught a 12-pound and a 20-pound snook. This is not the place to go for a bunch of fish. Fishing for big tarpon is like fishing for marlin; you troll all day and hope to get two or three bites, and if you get one fish to the boat, you are lucky. Caribbean Diann Sánchez of Río Colorado Lodge reports good weather and fishing on the northern Caribbean coast. Repeat customers Brian Noreski and Gary Mellwig of the U.S. city of Philadelphia hooked 22 tarpon and boated four. They also caught jack and barracuda. Capt. Eddie Brown on the Bullshark in Tortuguero reports improving weather and tarpon fishing. He took Canadians Jeff Zeisner and Bill Valberg out and went 15 for 17 on tarpon. Brown said it was the best hookup-and-release percentage he has ever had. Jim DiBerardinis of Tarponville says the fly-fishing is “hot” right now, with boats getting up to 15 hookups a day. One captain reported that his angler landed an approximately 200-pound tarpon on the fly. The hot flies are the green Deceiver type on 4/0 hooks. DiBerardinis says the hot bite should last until June. Please send fishing reports, photos and comments to Jerry “Bubba” Hallstrom at fishreportCR@yahoo.com, or call 2778-7217 in Costa Rica or 1-800-9SAILFISH from the United States. To post reports and photos on The Tico Times’ online fishing forum, go to http://www.ticotimes.net/fishingforum. 2010-06-03T17:24:00-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/juan_santamaria_museum_reopens/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/juan_santamaria_museum_reopens/#When:20:21:01Z Juan Santamaría Museum Reopens By Mitzi Stark Special to The Tico Times | editorial@ticotimes.net Alajuela’s centerpiece, the Juan Santamaría Museum, has reopened its doors after taking four years to expand and restore. From Militia House to Museum: Juan Santamaría Museum technician Dhamuza Coudin stands on the parapet of the newly restored museum in Alajuela. Mitzi Stark | Tico Times Facing the Central Park of this northwestern Central Valley city, the structure was built in 1894 to house and train the militia, and needed a lot of changes to meet today’s stricter safety standards. Prior to 2007, the museum was housed in the back part of the building, the part that was once the city’s jail. The heavy bars on the windows and the fortress-style outer walls give proof of this. With the added space, the museum now has room for art and sculpture exhibits and is a quiet place for absorbing the city’s history. A document room and library provide information on the city or the historic “Campaign of 1856” in which Juan Santamaría, the simple soldier from Alajuela, saved the country by burning down the headquarters of William Walker and his filibustero army in Rivas, Nicaragua. Walker’s attempt to gain the Central American countries as slave states for the United States failed as a result, but Santamaría died in the act. Articles, flags, old rifles and ribbons from the campaign are part of the museum’s permanent displays. The auditorium where plays and concerts entertained the public has changed a bit to make entrance easier and accessible. There will also be rooms for meetings and discussions, arts workshops for children and a small café. An exhibit hall inside Alajuela’s newly restored museum. Mitzi Stark | Tico Times Museum technician Dhamuza Coudin, who has worked with the museum since it opened in 1981, said ongoing restoration will bring back to light paintings on the walls that have been covered up for years. One corner of the old jail will become a historical print-shop exhibit with antique presses and bookbinding equipment still in working order. The original paving stones from the front of the building have been saved and are waiting for a new place in the garden, Coudin said. Walking into the museum through the old wooden doors is like entering another era. The parade ground where soldiers used to drill will soon become a garden, but the second-floor interior balcony, the wide stairways with heavy banisters, the elegant double doors with etched glass panels and, above all, the diminutive balcones for observing the activity in the park across the street take us back in time. You can imagine damas in long silk dresses and parasols strolling by while soldiers manning the parapets cast glances their way. The museum is also for exploring. One of the round towers extending over the sidewalk on the building’s southwest side may be accessed through the art gallery and is great for peeping through the gun holes at unsuspecting passersby. Soon to come is access to the parapet that runs around the roof where the militia once stood guard over the city. For today’s watchers, there are rooftops, treetops and the spires of the cathedral across the park. An elevator to the second floor will be added in the next wave of construction. From Militia House to Museum: Juan Santamaría Museum technician Dhamuza Coudin stands on the parapet of the newly restored museum in Alajuela. Mitzi Stark | Tico Times The museum’s history goes back to before it was even built. In 1822, don Rosario Carrillo and wife María Fernández donated the land for a “house of education” and a hermitage in honor of St. Michael the Archangel. A small shrine to the archangel has been part of the museum’s displays. The military quarters were built during the era of strongman Tomás Guardia (1870-1882), whose home was across the street to the west. Rumors still persist that tunnels connected the house, the fort and several other buildings. In 1974, the Legislative Assembly created the museum by law, but it didn’t open until 1981 and then was limited to the jail complex. The military site housed a high school and later an educational research project. The newly restored museum held its opening ceremony April 11, the anniversary of the Battle of Rivas, in which Costa Rica’s one war hero, Santamaría, lost his life saving his country. Juan Santamaría Museum is on the north side of Alajuela’s Central Park. The doors are open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. Theater events are listed in the glass case in front. For information, visit http://www.museojuansantamaria.go.cr. Check out a sampling of The Tico Times’ ever-popular travel guide, Exploring Costa Rica, at 2010-05-09T20:21:01-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/crucitas_mine_gets_green_light/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/crucitas_mine_gets_green_light/#When:00:25:00Z By Mike McDonald Tico Times Staff | mmcdonald@ticotimes.net The battle over the viability of the Crucitas gold mine in northern Costa Rica took a new course this week. Digging In : This week’s two large protests were the most public response to last Friday’s Constitutional Court ruling in favor of the controversial open-pit gold mine in Crucitas. Ronald Reyes | Tico Times On Friday, April 16, the judges of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV), in a 5-2 vote, ruled that Industrias Infinito S.A., the Costa Rican subsidiary of the Canadian-based mining company Infinito Gold Ltd., can continue with all phases of the open-pit gold mine. Last week’s ruling came nearly 18 months after the court received the first petition against the project on Oct. 20, 2008. The court ruled that based on the information that it had received, the mine does not violate the constitution’s guarantee of a healthy and ecologically balanced environment. Now gold mine opponents are taking their case to the Administrative Contention Tribunal in hopes of defeating the project based on legal inconsistencies relating to the mine’s environmental impact studies. Immediately after the high court ruling – a decision that nullified 18 complaints against the mine – members of the Association for the Preservation of Wild Flora and Fauna (APREFLOFAS) requested that the administrative tribunal place a stop order on the mine. A judge with the court accepted the petition, which effectively halted movement on the project for three business days while challengers to the project prepared their case. The following Wednesday at 4 p.m., members of APREFLOFAS presented the document detailing their arguments against the Crucitas gold mine to the judges of the administrative tribunal. Judges have until the beginning of next week to decide whether to extend the order and continue to block work at Crucitas, or to remove the motion and allow the project to advance. APREFLOFAS claims that the Crucitas mine will cause irreparable damage to the area’s natural environment and that the approved environmental impact studies are not valid; this was also a central argument of mine opponents during the Sala IV’s public hearings in November 2009. According to APREFLOFAS, the nearly 200 hectares of trees that Industrias Infinito must clear in order to build and operate the gold mine will destroy endangered yellow almond trees, which are also the principal food source of the critically endangered great green macaw. APREFLOFAS’ motion before the administrative tribunal also claims that mining chemicals will affect the area’s water and air. During gold mining, cyanide is used to extract gold from ore, and APREFLOFAS claims the toxin will be spread through airborne dust particles as well as rain runoff, causing severe negative impacts on air and drinking water quality in northern Costa Rica. Mine opponents also assert that chemicals could enter and negatively impact the Río San Juan, which forms the border between the two countries and is an important source of transportation and food for northern zone residents. The mine is located 4 miles from the river. During the November 2009 public hearings before the Sala IV, researchers with the National Groundwater, Irrigation and Drainage Service (SENARA) denied that harmful chemicals would reach the Río San Juan. At Crucitas, SENARA officials said, groundwater does not flow towards the Río San Juan, also adding that the mine would not affect groundwater sources in the area. Industrias Infinito documents claim that cyanide pollution should not be a part of the equation because the company plans to install a system called Cyplus CombinOx. According to the mining company, this system captures the cyanide from the mine and drains the chemical into steel tanks through an enclosed piping system, thus preventing it from entering the air and water. But APREFLOFAS Executive Director Gino Biamonte doesn’t buy that installing this technology will solve the pollution problem. “That’s their argument, but they neglect the fact that there is a tectonic fault beneath this zone,” Biamonte said. “What happens when that fault trembles and cracks the tanks and pipes in the system?” Several environmental groups have backed APREFLOFAS’ argument, including Preserve Planet and UNOVIDA. All three organizations told The Tico Times this week that their strategy is to hold a public hearing at which expert witnesses can testify against the mine and demonstrate its environmental and health risks. Members of the groups are contacting scientists from Costa Rica’s public universities to aid their case. For the moment, Industrias Infinito and Infinito Gold are not required to present anything to the administrative tribunal. When The Tico Times requested a comment from a mining representative, a secretary informed the newspaper that the company’s spokesman in Costa Rica, José Andrés Soto, was busy with meetings this week. More Legal Hurdles Await In October 2008, Oscar Arias signed an executive decree declaring that the open-pit gold mine in Crucitas was in the “public interest,” a move that gave Industrias Infinito the legal legs it needed to begin construction and operation of the mine. Alvaro Sagot, an environmental lawyer, plans to challenge the legality of this decree. Costa Rica’s forestry law states that in order for a project to be classified as in the public interest, thus allowing for the cutting of trees that would otherwise be protected, a cost benefit study must be completed. According to the law, the study must establish that “the proposed activities bring social benefits greater than the socio-environmental costs that they provoke.” Industrias Infinito’s documents claim that the Crucitas gold mine will directly employ 260 people and create 1,000 indirect jobs in Costa Rica. The same document asserts that the mine will generate $329.6 million for Costa Rica over the 10-year duration of the project. But during the Supreme Court hearings in November 2009, Industrias Infinito’s lawyer could not produce an officially approved cost benefit study. “This is one of the most important aspects of the discussion,” Sagot said. “Without that study, this project cannot be declared of public interest. And if the public interest decree falls, everything falls.” University of Costa Rica geologist, Allan Astorga, has found what he believes to be another legal shortcoming. The most recent environmental viability study for the Crucitas mine was issued in December 2005. The study described a project in which 126.4 hectares of land would be cleared in order to dig a 20-meter deep pit. In 2007, the company requested modifications to the mine. The area where mine would be built shrank to 50 hectares, but the depth of the pit grew to 60 meters. The change, Astorga argues, should have necessitated a new environmental impact study, which was never done. Still, the National Technical Secretariat (SETENA) of the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry, the agency charged with reviewing the environment impacts of proposed projects, approved the modifications. “The project is different now and it will generate new impacts that were never considered in the first environmental impact study,” Astorga said. Sagot and Astorga are preparing their cases for the administrative tribunal and said they will present the documents to the judges within the next few days. All of the arguments will be joined under APREFLOFAS’ initial motion. Judges will analyze each complaint to decide if the notion that Crucitas was given a legally faulty thumbs-up is, in fact, true. “If my calculations are correct, the magistrates of the Sala IV are going to say that many of the issues in the case are matters of legality,” Sagot said. “The Sala IV doesn’t look for legality. They look for constitutionality, and most of them found it. That’s why we are in the administrative courts, challenging the project’s legality.” http://www.ticotimes.net/topstoryarchive/2010_04/042310.htm 2010-04-24T00:25:00-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/long_live_costa_rica/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/long_live_costa_rica/#When:21:38:00Z Ticos are among the world’s leaders in life expectancy By Adam Williams Tico Times Staff | awilliams@ticotimes.net You are only given one life and, though efforts might be made to prolong it, life ends in death. In the annals of history, there is one thing no man or woman has ever done, and that is to live forever.  The good news is that life is lasting longer in almost every country in the world. In Costa Rica, for example, according to a recently released study by the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC), the average life span in 2009 was 79.3 years, the highest level of life expectancy ever recorded in Costa Rica. And this increase in life expectancy was accompanied by the country’s lowest-ever infant mortality rate. In 2009, 8.84 out of every 1,000 children born perished within their first year of life. Thus, according to INEC, Costa Rica has the lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America and is among the region’s leaders in life expectancy. Not long ago, the situation was much different. In 1950, the infant mortality rate in Costa Rica was 93.8 children for every 1,000 births, while the average life lasted only 57.3 years. Over the past 60 years, scientific and medical advances have helped prevent death and, thus, prolong life. “The biggest success of the 20th century has been a huge decline in mortality everywhere,” said Hania Zlotnik, director of the population division at the United Nations. “From 1950 to today, every country has had a reduction in mortality. In the 1940s and 1950s, good antibiotics were discovered and people began to use them massively, including in very poor countries. As those interventions were scaled up, experts began to think that mortality was going to be totally controlled in the upcoming decades because people would no longer die from common communicable diseases.” The ability to control such diseases – including polio, tuberculosis and hepatitis – with vaccinations has, in fact, been the primary driver in extending the average life span worldwide. According to the U.N. World Population Prospects report, the world life expectancy in 1950 was 46.6 years, while the infant mortality rate was at 151.9 for every 1,000 births. Today, the average life expectancy worldwide is 67.7 years, with an infant mortality rate at 47.3 per 1,000 births. But while immunizations and cures for the most common diseases have propelled life expectancy to new heights throughout the world, social factors also can contribute to the extension of one’s vitality. Teaching Oneself How to Live Costa Rica is often lauded for its high literacy rate (around 96 percent) and commitment to education. In a country with a population of 4.5 million, 56 universities and technical schools offer an education beyond the high school level. Though education does not directly contribute to longevity, it is generally understood that higher education translates to better health decisions. “If the level of education in a country is at a high level, it creates a culture of health that educates people to make better health decisions,” Dr. Ana Morice, vice minister of health, told The Tico Times. “In Costa Rica, health education begins at an early age and is taught through the high school level. The commitment to health is something that characterizes this country and we know that if we want to continue to have long life expectancy and a healthy nation, we have to defend it with education.” Morice also alluded to the health care reform legislation passed this week in the United States. Morice said she believes the strength of the health of the Costa Rican population is rooted in the health care that is available to all citizens. Access to health care via the Social Security System (CAJA) was made available to all Costa Rican citizens in 1943. Sex education also plays an important role in longevity. African countries, particularly the sub-Saharan nations, have the world’s lowest life expectancies and highest infant mortalities. According to Zlotnik, this is a direct result of the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. “We got a shock when HIV, a communicable disease, appeared,” Zlotnik said. “Some of the countries that are highly affected by the HIV epidemic – instead of having a continuous decline in mortality (as in the rest of the world) – have seen increases in mortality due to HIV and AIDS.” According to Avert, an international organization for HIV and AIDS Prevention, in 2007 Costa Rica recorded the fewest number of deaths due to HIV and AIDS, with less than 200 people dying due to the virus. Costa Rica and Belize reported the fewest HIV-and AIDS-related deaths in Central America. “There are many efforts made towards sex education in Costa Rica,” Morice said. “As students learn more about the risks of sex, the numbers of sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancies are decreased. This is why the numbers of sexually transmitted diseases are lower here than in many other countries”. Women Outlive Men In their nationwide study, INEC found that women in Costa Rica live an average of five years longer than do men. The life expectancy of women is 81.8 years, while that for men is 76.8 years. And this five-year differential is broadening, as it is everywhere else in the world. The worldwide average life expectancy for men is 65.4 years, and it stands at 69.8 years for women. “Some of the reasons for the longer life expectancy for women are biological and, from her first year of birth, a woman’s health is usually better than that of a man,” Morice said. “Other reasons include mental and physical stress on the body, which tend to be higher for men. At the same time, some factors are environmental. We know that violence, homicides, suicides and car accidents are more frequent among men. Overall, women tend to take better care of themselves.” Though women outlive men, the overall life expectancy of 79-plus years in Costa Rica is impressive, putting the country in the world’s upper echelon regarding longevity. Of the many things the country does well, the continued push for better education, and better access to, and quality of, health care is adding to both the quality and length of life in Costa Rica. http://www.ticotimes.net/topstoryarchive/2010_03/032610.htm 2010-04-06T21:38:00-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/costa_rica_press_challenges_paltry_compared_to_rest_of_latin_america/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/costa_rica_press_challenges_paltry_compared_to_rest_of_latin_america/#When:19:59:06Z By Chrissie Long Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net Though Costa Rica may be faced with antiquated press freedom legislation and a slow-moving congress, barriers to journalists are minor when compared with some of its neighbors. There are no hunger strikes as in Cuba, where journalist Guillermo Fariñas is demanding the release from prison of 27 independent journalists by refusing to eat. In the last half-year, there were no reporter murders as there were in Mexico, Brazil, Honduras and Colombia. While Costa Rica did not move forward in enacting measures that benefit press freedom, it also didn’t go backward, as was the case with countries such as Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador, where dozens of radio stations and on-air and cable television channels were shut down arbitrarily. “Reports of the majority of the countries of the hemisphere show there has been a continual worsening of disagreements, warnings and verbal intimidation leveled against people of the press, editors and reporters attempting to practice their profession,” read a news release from the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), which presented 6-month progress reports for hemispheric countries during a conference in Aruba this week. Contrary to the tone of reports of many sister countries, Costa Rica showed signs of advancement. Perhaps the most significant turning point was when the Supreme Court overturned a 50-day prison sentence for a journalist found guilty of libel. Challenging a 108-year-old law, judges ruled that José Luis Jiménez, a reporter for the local daily Diario Extra, did not deserve jail time for a defamation case involving a public employee suspected of misusing government funds. Instead, judges said there had been an implied repeal of the relevant portion of the criminal code in 1971. Press agencies throughout the hemisphere celebrated the decision, but encouraged government leaders to take it one step further and repeal legislation making defamation a crime. “We consider the Supreme Court’s decision an important step forward toward what we hope will be the total elimination of criminal defamation in Costa Rica,” said Carlos Lauría, the hemispheric coordinator with Committee to Protect Journalists. “We now urge Costa Rica’s legislative assembly to eliminate defamation provisions from its Penal Code.” The IAPA reports are filed biannually and can be found on its Website. 2010-03-30T19:59:06-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/charting_a_new_course/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/charting_a_new_course/#When:21:05:00Z By Chrissie Long Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net The 33 teenagers who walked across a makeshift stage to receive their diplomas at the Experimental Bilingual School of Palmares last week weren’t just any high-school graduates. Focused: Michelle Castro and Melissa Rodríguez take their special educational opportunity seriously at Palmares Bilingual High School. Ronald Reyes | Tico Times Though they had spent the last two years cramming for math tests, studying images of cells in biology class and perusing English texts (like many of their peers across the country), they also had been transforming a school, a community and, perhaps, Costa Rica’s education system. These 33 students overcame financial barriers, faced a somewhat skeptical community and navigated a new course to become the first public school graduates of the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) program, not just in Costa Rica, but in all of Central America. Lilliana Lloyd, who was part of the team that brought the IB program to the country’s public schools, said at the time of graduation ceremonies, “A success as great as was achieved in Palmares shows that if we give the best instruments, with well-trained teachers, improved infrastructure and access to a better international curriculum, young Costa Ricans will take advantage of the opportunity.” For Palmares program coordinator Denis Guti--érrez, the accomplishment wasn’t so much about being “the first” as it was about witnessing the change that took place in his students. The 14-year math teacher said, “We saw students who couldn’t speak in front of audiences (early on) give engaging and articulate presentations two years later.” The students went to service projects and immediately impressed the community with their problem-solving abilities, motivation and responsibility, Guti--érrez said. In class, their answers were more analytical and thought provoking. “The transformation is not debatable,” he said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.” Even before the results of the IB final exam – which also serves to measure the success of Costa Rica’s students in relation to their peers around the world-were released, Gutiérrez was pleased. “We had accomplished what we set out to accomplish and I knew the work we did was excellent,” he said. “The parents gave 100 percent, the students gave 100 percent and the teachers gave 100 percent. “As far as the exam? I thought, ‘What happens, happens.’” But Gutiérrez was in for a surprise. When he peeled back the fold of the envel ope containing the tests results, he learned that 33 of the 34 students had achieved the International Baccalaureate diploma. The magnitude of this accomplishment became apparent when Gutiérrez attended an international conference. “People were seeking me out to congratulate the school,” he said. “They told me what Palmares had accomplished was unprecedented.” He said that worldwide statistics show that 80 percent of students typically pass the exam but, in the first year, the rate is closer to 67 percent, not even close to Palmares’ 97 percent. The Birth of IB in Public Schools Palmares is the first public school to graduate students from the IB program, but the aim is to introduce the curriculum to 19 more public schools within the next few years. Spearheaded by leaders within the private school system, the initiative was launched in February 2008 by the Association of IB Schools of Costa Rica (ASOBITICO) as a way of offering the same opportunities to those enrolled in public school.  “We started to realize there was a widening gap between the public school education and education in private schools,” said Daniel Samper, executive director at ASOBITICO. “The IB program is the gold standard of international education, and the only ones who could access it in Costa Rica were those able to spend $15,000 a year in tuition.” The fundamental obstacle in extending the program to the country’s public schools is the cost of implementing the curriculum. Along with infrastructure improvement, schools must undergo an extensive certification process, train their teachers and purchase appropriate learning material, requiring a total investment of approximately $60,000. Beyond the initial start-up costs, it currently costs an additional $60,000 a year to sustain the program. By partnering with local businesses and through a pledge by the private, Costa Rica-based CR-USA Foundation for Cooperation to match gifts of other donors, ASOBITICO began programs in two public schools: Liceo de Costa Rica and Palmares Bilingual High School. “(ASOBITICO) helps give economic stability,” Guti--érrez said. “So all we have to do is work to give the students the best education possible.” According to Samper, schools are selected based on the interest and motivation of the community, the school administrators and the students. He said the association is currently looking to partner with schools in Siquirres, a Caribbean slope agricultural town just off the highway to Limón, and in Bagaces, another rural town in the northwestern province of Guanacaste. The goal is to make the curriculum available to 20 schools and reach close to 1,000 students within the country’s seven provinces by the year 2014. How Is the IB Program Different? For Samper, a graduate of the IB program at The European School in Heredia, the curriculum offered by the program “is the cure for educational bulimia.” Too often, students are taught to memorize information only to regurgitate it in the same form on an exam, he said, adding that there are no critical thinking, analysis or problem-solving activities. “Students get an outline of exam topics, spend 24 hours memorizing, only to forget it when they walk away from the test,” he said. “They leave it in the room and they don’t learn anything. Like bulimia, the material doesn’t nourish.” In the IB program, students are taught to think for themselves and to fully understand the information that’s being taught. As an example of the difference, Samper said that an IB geography test would ask students to choose where they would build a ski resort based on their knowledge of regional climates and geography and to defend their responses. Students in the mainstream program, he said, would be given a list of capitals and would be asked to place them on a blank map. “It’s a completely different level of education,” he said. “Students become problem-solvers and are better prepared for today’s job market.” Additionally, the IB program facilitates learning abroad because it is recognized by universities worldwide. Partners The IB program was introduced with the full support of the country’s education leadership, Samper said. “The ministry is our key partner,” he said. “We couldn’t do this without them.” By sharing teachers, infrastructure and other resources, the ministry saw this as a gain for mainstream students, also. “It has a waterfall effect,” said Guti--érrez, who has watched how IB teacher practices have flowed into other classrooms. Yet, when the program was first introduced to the community of Palmares, people were somewhat resistant to the idea. “There were some people who said it was too ambitious,” Guti--érrez said, “and others worried the program would only be available to students with resources. It took a while to convince them of the benefit this would bring to the school and that it would include students from all social backgrounds.” Palmares: A New Community Enthusiasm emanated from Karen Barquero, a parent and a coordinator for the IB program, when she described the transformation she saw in the children. “The education system in Costa Rica has a ceiling,” she said. “But, in the IB program, there is no ceiling. Students can continue to learn, to explore and to dig into the material presented to them.” Her excitement was reflected in IB graduate Jonathan Garc-ía, who was visiting his alma mater on a recent Wednesday morning. “Our education went beyond academics,” said the 18-year-old, who is studying chemistry at the University of Costa Rica. It included service work, real-life problem solving and hands-on experiments. “I was looking for a change in my education, and that’s what I found.” Guti--érrez sees the program’s impact beyond the four walls of the school, as parents and community members undertake fundraising drives and bake sales to improve certain aspects of their school. They are no longer waiting for the state or the school director to take responsibility for needed changes. “We have teachers who are motivated, who want to improve themselves, who never say no. It’s been the same with students,” he said. “And it doesn’t just have an impact on the protagonists of this effort. It has an impact on the community. “When someone reads this, he said, they might respond, ‘Well, this looks great, but how does it function in practice?’ I can say, as a witness, this is a program that works.” 2010-03-16T21:05:00-06:00 http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/us_to_focus_on_women/ http://www.adventuretourscostarica.com/news/archive/us_to_focus_on_women/#When:19:07:00Z By Chrissie Long Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net Latin America has been absent from United States President Barack Obama’s foreign policy priorities since he took office in January 2009. Despite pledging to renew his country’s partnership with Latin America at the outset of his term, Obama’s energy has been focused on the Middle East and Asia. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talks business and regional cooperation Thursday during the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas summit at the Intercontinental Hotel in Escazú. Ronald Reyes | Tico Times With U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to South and Central America this week, there came a new pledge to invest in the region. Through the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas program introduced in 2008, Clinton said the United States would work to close economic gaps by targeting small businesses and women-driven enterprises. “Talent is present everywhere. You can visit any town or school from Alaska to Patagonia and you’ll see it but, unfortunately, opportunity is far from universal,” Clinton said at a meeting of foreign ministers at the Intercontinental Hotel in Escazú. “Too many people in too many places have never had the chance to realize their dreams of starting a business, pursuing an education, or lifting themselves and their families out of poverty. The U.S. will be focusing on several pathway initiatives to support entrepreneurs and create new opportunities across the Americas.” Clinton said the U.S. would focus on the creation of small business development centers to help new enterprises, support and mentoring of women entrepreneurs and the modernization of rules involving loans to new business owners. “We’re not just talking about micro interventions …We’re talking about assisting individuals and businesses by promoting broader change in order to realize the objectives we share,” she said. Foreign ministers from 17 countries in the region also agreed to pump up efforts to support small- and medium-sized businesses by connecting them with global markets and by making credit available to entrepreneurs, with a special focus on women. The ministers signed a five-page agreement in which they committed to the Pathways to Prosperity initiatives. Alfonso Quiñonez, executive secretary for integral development for the Organization of American States (OAS), committed his organization’s support. Clinton, who was welcomed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, right, joined the foreign ministers of 17 countries in the region in efforts to further cement commercial ties and regional harmony. Ronald Reyes | Tico Times “Latin America is not the poorest region in the world, but it is the region with the greatest inequality. The OAS is committed to reversing this,” he said. One of the best ways to accomplish a reduction in inequality is to “foster the economic power of the people …the people who are traditionally left out. Our aim is to empower those who are not on the road to prosperity as we want them to be.” Not only was there a thrust to invest in the economically disadvantaged, but the foreign ministers in attendance at the summit preached greater economic integration. “We need to realize our economies can complement each other and so can our markets,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez Merizalde. “It is important to increase trade and develop relations. (Through better integration), we know we have the capacity (as a group) to be examples in the world.” To this point, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said, “It is almost picturesque to hear our region discuss whether or not to favor an open market. As if it’s an option! Economic integration into the world can’t be chosen. It has to be accepted. It’s a force, not a decision.” And echoing the forceful speech he made to his colleagues at the Latin American and Caribbean Conference (CALC) in Mexico, Arias offered equally strong words at the summit, saying, “This is a region that has postponed its leap to development for centuries. It’s a region that always leaves everything for the next government, the next generation, the next Ice Age.” He added, “If we aspire to prosperity, we must not get off the train of free trade.” Clinton also committed the U.S. to two other causes in the region – continued support to stem drug trafficking and a restoration of aid to Honduras. “With respect to drug trafficking …We are well aware that Central American countries are bearing a greater burden in combating these criminal cartels today than they were in the past,” Clinton said. “We understand that the U.S. bears part of the responsibility for the challenges that governments are confronting… We will continue to do what we can in partnership with the governments throughout the region.” Regarding Honduras, Clinton said that support needs to be renewed to a country divided by the ouster of former President Manuel Zelaya. She said the recent Honduran elections were found to be free, fair and legitimate and that the country deserves international recognition and normalization of relations. “We share the condemnation of the coup that occurred, but we think it’s time to move forward and ensure that such disruptions of democracy do not and cannot happen in the future,” she said. http://www.ticotimes.net/topstoryarchive/2010_03/030510.htm 2010-03-07T19:07:00-06:00