Municipality and Vendors Reach A
Solid Agreement
The Municipality of San José and
the Street Vendors have reached
an agreement, peacefully and to
everyone's satisfaction. For now
that is.
The Municipality of San José
announced that it would convert
the existing building on Avenida
Segunda, diagonal to the Banco
de Costa Rica, into a vendor's
market, a place where the Street
Vendors can call home.
The three storey building is
presently occupied by the
Ministerio de Seguridad Publica
which utilizes it police command
post as well as a gym and
training centre for members of
the Fuerza Publica police force.
The process, according to
Municipal officials, will take
about three months to transfer
owners of the former Registro
Civil and the Tribunal Supremo
de Elecciones building to the
Municipality. Following the
transfer of title, the
Municipality will then convert
the building into a market,
according to José Manuel Echandi,
Defensor de los Habitantes
(Ombudsman) who has played a key
role in bringing both sides
together.
The agreement also allows the
Vendors to temporarily hold
"ferias" or open markets up to
five times a week in various
locations around San José until
the new building is ready for
occupancy. San José Mayor,
Johnny Araya, told the Vendors
that the Municipality would make
known the approved locations
within the next two days.
Mayor Araya said at a news
conference that he foresees no
problems in getting the building
and that the work would be
carried out in the shortest time
possible. No details were made
public at the cost of the
renovations and if the
Municipality would need to
purchase the building.
Critics had predicted a battle
between the Street Vendors and
the Municipality, including a
violent reaction by the Vendors.
However, it appears that that
will not be the case. If the
Municipality keeps it's word,
the Vendors will stay off the
streets, something Municipal
officials have not been
successful in past attempts.
Price of Bread and Cookies Going
Up
With
the start of the new year comes
a series of price increases to
keep pace with inflation.
Bread and cookies will be the
first to see the price jump. The
cost of flour for bread will
increase 7%. The increase will
see a 50kg sac of flour go from
¢9.100 colones (us$19.75) to
¢9.740 colones (us$21.20), while
the cost for flour used for
cookies and pastries will
increase 6% or from ¢8.000
colones (us$17.40) to ¢8.840
colones (us$18.45) for a 50kg
sac.
Taxi fares are also going up.
Though no official announcement
has been made, unofficially it
is being rumoured that the
Autoridad Reguladora de los
Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) -
the public body that governs
prices of public services - will
see a request to increase the
first kilometre to between ¢350
and ¢400 colones, up drastically
from the current ¢265 colones.
The reason given for the
increases is the high cost of
gasoline prices.
In 2005, other prices for public
services are expected to rise -
bus fares, water, light and
possibly telephone services,
though the Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad
(ICE) quotes international
calling rates in US Dollars and
converts the charges to Colones
at the time of billing.
In all cases, the price
increases must be approved by
the ARESEP and a public hearing
held.
Monge Leaves the Party
In
2004 we saw a dramatic change in
the political face of Costa Rica
with the preventive detention of
two former presidents - Rafael
Angel Calderón (1990-1994) and
Miguel Angel Rodríguez
(1998-2002) - and the failure to
show his face of former
president José María Figueres
Olsen (1194-1998) all accused of
corruption.
In 2005 more changes are
underway as politicians get
ready for an election year.
The Partido Liberacion Nacional
(PLN) and the Partido Unidad
Social Cristiana (PUSC) - the
only two parties fielding a
presidential candidate for many
years - will now face more than
40 other parties competing for a
seat in Legislative Assembly and
the presidential chair.
At the PLN, what was to have
been a shoe in for former
president Oscar Arias, there is
dissention in the ranks with
news yesterday that former
president Luis Alberto Monge
(1982-1986) made formal his
departure from the party. His
reason for leaving is that he is
opposed to Arias being nominated
presidential candidate of the
PLN.
At the PUSC, president Pacheco,
who cannot run for a second term
in this election, is facing
allegations of corruption and
may have his immunity removed by
the Legislature to confront
questions by the Fiscalía
(Prosecutor's office) about
finances of his last
presidential campaign.
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Illegal Aliens Rejected
During the year 2004, a
total 42,643 foreigners were
rejected at border crossings
and other ports of arrival
to Costa Rica.
The director
of the Immigration,
Marco Badilla, explained
that this is the case of
foreigners who were caught
on or near the entrance
points and immediately
expelled from Costa Rica.
A
majority of the foreigners
were Nicaraguan, followed by
Panamanians and Colombians.
UN-Funded Pro-Abortion Group
Attacks Costa Rica's In Vitro
Ban
The Center For Reproductive
Rights (CRR), the most active
pro-abortion litigant in the
United States and a major global
pro-abortion force, has filed
supporting documents in a case
against Costa Rica that is now
pending before an international
human rights commission.
The outcome of the case could
have repercussions on pro-life
legislation throughout the
Americas.
Costa Rica's Constitutional
Chamber of the Supreme Court
issued its landmark pro-life
ruling in 2000, finding that
"the human embryo is a person
from the moment of conception
... not an object," so that its
life and must be protected by
the law from conception, and
banning in-vitro fertilization (IVF)
due to the "disproportionate
risk of death" to embryos used
in the procedure.
The Chamber's decision has been
challenged by Costa Rica's only
IVF clinic and ten infertile
Costa Rican couples, who have
filed a complaint with the
Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR). The CRR
filed an amicus brief earlier
this month in support of their
claims.
The challengers allege among
other things that the Court's
ruling violates various
provisions of the American
Convention on Human Rights,
which was ratified by Costa Rica
in 1970. However, the American
Convention itself contains a
"Right to Life" provision
stating that "Every person has
the right to have his life
respected. This right shall be
protected by law and, in
general, from the moment of
conception. No one shall be
arbitrarily deprived of his
life." The challengers want to
limit this clause by arguing
that "the right to life is
relative, and...it is subject to
limitations when it is opposed
to the protection of other
fundamental rights."
The CRR openly admits that it
uses international law to
promote abortion, saying in a
recent report that it has
"pioneered using international
human rights law and legal
mechanisms to secure women's
reproductive rights," and that
it has "filed groundbreaking
legal cases in the
inter-American human rights
system." The CRR considers this
case important because
"Depending on the Inter-American
Commission's final decision,
governments and courts across
North and South America could
cite its ruling...in developing
and interpreting their
countries' laws on reproductive
technologies, contraception and
abortion."
The Commission is due to
consider the case in March,
2005. It will then issue a
report recommending actions to
be taken by Costa Rica, and if
its recommendations are not
adopted within three months, it
may submit the case to the
Inter-American Court of Human
Rights, where any decision would
be binding on Costa Rica.
CRR is one of the most
aggressive promoters of abortion
in the world and is financially
assisted by the UN Population
Fund (UNFPA). UNPFA, however,
denies they support abortion.
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