Our Apologies, We goofed!
We ran yesterday's news with the wrong date. We thank many of the readers that took the time to point that out. 

Taxistas to take to the streets March 18th
As an emergin custom, Costaricans are taking more to the streets to show their displeasure with government policies and bills passed by the legislature.

This ploy has worked well in the past, as a means to press the government and/or the legislators to revise or withdraw for their plans..

The last threat was used very effectively by the workers of ICE, who had vowed a mass walkout if the government didn't reverse it's plans to cut costs at that institution.

This time it will the taxi operators, as they will show of strength of unity to ask that the government eliminate the private companies to form a guild and to increase the tariffs. While at it, they also want to negotiate with goverment with respect to the technical revisions, insurance and security for the drivers.

The march is scheduled for the morning of the 18th starting at 9am from the Sabana park towards the Presidential house in Zapote. They are hoping to personally meet with president Abel Pacheco.

'Zonas Francas' impel economy
A source of dynamism of the economy in 2003 will come from the companies that operate in zonas francas (free trade zones), according to a report of the Ecoanálisis company.

In general the local industry that are located zonas francas, is one of the more important sectors of activity of Costa Rica and its contribution in relation to Gross National Production of 24.1% in the 2000 to a 22% year previous.

According to numbers of the Caja de Seguro Social (Social Security), this sector is responsible for 44% of the reported employees,  50% of the paid wages and a 22% of the total of the enrolled employers.

But the source of dynamism of the industrial sector is tied to the production in zonas francas, favored by greater flows of direct foreign investment. Companies like Intel, Abbot Laboratories, Baxter, Trimpot, Remec, Panduit and Conair, among others all operate within the zonas francas.

Zonas francas areas created by the government that have reduced tax implications for business that operate within the restricted area. For example, manufacturers are not required to pay duties on raw materials that used in production and then exported.

Negotiators say they're on track to work out trade deal
As five days of talks on a free-trade deal between the United States and five Central American nations ended, negotiators said Friday that they made progress and reaffirmed their commitment to reaching an agreement by year's end.

Negotiators would not discuss what issues they have resolved, but said more debate is needed on tariff policies, market access and enforcement measures to protect copyrights.

"Far from raising doubts about our ability to conclude, this round increased our confidence in our ability to conclude," the chief U.S. negotiator, Regina Vargo, said at a news conference.

About 250 officials from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador are involved in the talks that started last month in Costa Rica.

The United States and the five countries already export and import about $20 billion a year in goods to and from each other, about double the 1995 figure. In 2001, the United States exported $9 billion in goods to the countries — about the same as the country's exports to Russia, India and Indonesia combined.

The next negotiation session is to open March 31 in San Salvador, El Salvador. The talks return to the United States in July, in a city yet to be determined.

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"Tell the Iraqi people that they should dig trenches in their gardens, and tell every citizen to take his family during the air raid to the trench," Saddam said during a meeting with provincial governors and mayors.

If bombs fell, "the deep roofed trench will protect them," the Iraqi leader said. "We should take the worst choice, and among them is that they (US troops) may attack the citizens."

The United States has repeatedly accused Iraq of secretly pursuing weapons of mass destruction programs and threatened to take military action preemptively if Iraq failed to disarm. Saddam has warned the United States it would pay heavily if it attacked Iraq. "We call on God to spare us their evil, but if they try to achieve any of the simple goals they are talking about, they should pay abundantly in blood," Saddam said.

FRANCE REITERATES OPPOSITION TO WAR
French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday reiterated the country's opposition to any new resolution on Iraq at a joint press conference, after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in Paris

"We think there is no reason that justifies going beyond resolution 1441 and so we are opposed to any new resolution," Chirac told the joint press conference.

France and Spain shared the same objective, to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, but did not share the same opinion on the means to attain this goal, Chirac said.

"France thinks that there is a possibility of achieving this goal through peaceful means, through inspections, and as a result, war is not inevitable," the president said.

"War is the worst of solutions. It is a proof of failure. It is true that on this point we have differences in opinion with our Spanish friends," Chirac said.

Aznar, one of the strongest allies of the United States, said Spain maintained that the Iraqi crisis must be resolved within the framework of the United Nations Security Council.

"In this framework, a new resolution would be timely in two respects: to guarantee the central role of the Security Council and to put maximum pressure on the Iraqi regime," said Aznar.

"We will make all possible efforts at a consensus as large as possible within the council," said the prime minister.

BRITISH LAWMAKERS OK MOTION ON IRAQ
Members of the British House of Commons voted 434-124 Wednesday night in favor of a government-sponsored motion calling on Iraq to recognize its "final opportunity to comply" with its disarmament obligations.

However, Prime Minister Tony Blair suffered the biggest revolt of his premiership when 122 of his 410 Labor backbenchers backed an amendment to the motion in which they said the case for war had not been proven.

A total of 199 MPs from all parties backed the amendment but the government benches defeated the amendment thanks to the support of the Tories and the size of its own majority.

The vote came after hours of intensive debate in the Commons, beginning with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who said the government motion was "not an endorsement of military action by UK forces."

Straw delivered a stern warning: "Saddam must either embark immediately on voluntary and full disarmament, or the Security Council has to face up to its responsibility to see that he is disarmed by force."

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said unless the weapons inspectors said their work had failed "it would be quite wrong to participate in preemptive action."

Labor backbench discontent was voiced by former Labor cabinet minister, Chris Smith. "We must say here today in this chamber that now is not the time, that the case has yet to be fully made, and that war and all its consequences cannot be the present answer," Smith said.

New Israeli government "very extreme": PAN officials
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) officials and representatives of different political groups on Wednesday considered the new Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as "very extreme."

PNA cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said in comment over forming the new Israeli cabinet that this government "consists of the extremists and the far right wing parties who support a destructive war against the Palestinians."

"This government that consists of Likud, Mavdal and National Unity manifests expansion of settlements, and supports the destructive war against our defenseless people," said Erekat.He denied that there are any Palestinian political contacts with the Israeli government headed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adding that the Palestinians don't object any contacts, but Israel stopped the contacts.

"Unity between Sharon and other right-wing parties means that the chances to achieve peace and reach a ceasefire agreement and resume the peace negotiations are absent," said Erekat. Israeli reports said that Sharon managed to signed agreements with three parties in Israel, the National Religious Party, secular Shinoi and the far right-wing National Unity and formed a government with 68 seats in the 120 members Knesset (parliament). Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a top aid to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said that the new Israeli government would be extreme and "would never go through the road of peace and would never accept any peace initiative."

"This government's main goal is to continue with building settlements on the Palestinian properties of lands and continue with the war of killing people and the destruction of houses," said Abu Rudeineh.

He called upon the Quartet Committee including the United States, Russia, the United Nations and Europe to deal with the new Israeli government on the basis that "it is a real extreme government."

Meanwhile, Mohamed el Hindi, a senior Islamic Jihad leader said that the Palestinians are expecting that the new right Israeli government "would escalate its policy of assassinations, settlements and destruction."

Abdel Aziz Ranteesi, spokesman of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza, said that the new Israeli government "would be weaker than the previous government."

Since this government "is extreme, the Palestinian people would be more united against it," he said.