San José, Costa Rica - Saturday 04 September 2004

1.234 Daily Average. Visits in August! Up 10%

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

You can buy anything on the sidewalks of downtown San José, including the kitchen sink. All types of assorted items - new and used - can be purchased on the sidewalk of Avenida 1, as Vendors wait out the final round of court decisions before the Municipality removes all Vendors, expecting a decision in their favour. Click for larger image!

MOPT Announces Changes to Vehicular Inspection Requirements
The Ministro de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) yesterday announced changes to the Riteve vehicle inspection requirements. MOPT Minister, Javier Chaves, sad the list of changes include some 100 items.

Gas Hike Approved
The cost of gasoline is going up again in the coming days. The new increase will mean an additional ¢1.000 colones to fill a 45 litre gas tank.

No Miniskirts in This Year's Independence Day Parades
The Ministry of Educatio (MEP) has announced that this September 15 there will NO miniskirts in the parades.

Dole Shifts jobs to Costa Rica
About a dozen administrative positions at Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. will be moved to a Costa Rica facility as part of corporate restructuring, the company announced to employees this week.

Costa Rica Won't Refuge Cuban Exile
Costa Rican authorities announced they would not provide refuge to Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles.

Terry Fox Run tomorrow!
The annual Terry Fox run will be held tomorrow in La Sabana park, starting at 8:00am. All proceeds from the run will go to the Terry Fox Foundation

Did you Know?
Canada and Costa Rica have enjoyed solid commercial relations since 1950. In April 2002, the two countries signed the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (CCRFTA) which entered into force on November 1 of that year.

U.S. hunts for evidence of supercoca plant
Authorities suspect a new threat is lurking in the mountains and jungles of Colombia. Not a new rebel cadre, but altered coca plants that are bigger, faster-growing and produce more of the compound that gives cocaine its kick.

Venezuelan president swears in new ministers
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a cabinet shuffle Friday by swearing in new ministers of the interior, information, food and housing.

International News from the New York Times
 

MEXICO: Wal-Mart, the Pyramids' New Neighbour Less than two km from the heart of the Mexican archaeological zone of Teotihuacan and its awe-inspiring pyramids, the U.S.-based retail giant Wal-Mart is overcoming the resistance of a group of local residents and, to the amazement of UNESCO, is building one of its hypermarkets. Wal-Mart's 652 stores in Mexico serve a total of 600 million customers a year and sell more than 12 billion dollars in retail goods. The new store going in near the Teotihuacan citadel, 50 km north of Mexico City, is 80 percent complete, and is being built on land where a vibrant culture whose history is still full of enigmas flourished hundreds of years ago. "We'll put a stop to this with demolition, because a transnational corporation can't just come and trample on our historical patrimony," Lorenzo Trujillo, head of the Civic Front for the Defence of the Valley of Teotihuacan, a group that represents some 100 local residents from the area around the world-renowned archaeological zone, told IPS.

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