San José, Costa Rica -   Sunday 19 September 2004

1.234 Daily Average. Visits in August! Up 10%

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

Teresita Serrano Arce is a blind teacher who has fund the perfect assistant. Teresita dressed up her dog in full Costa Rica colours and attire during the recent Independence day celebrations. [Foto: Jorge Calderón] Click for larger image!

insidenicaragua A new weekly feature published on Sundays, featuring a summary  of current news and events in Nicaragua.

Harris Admits to '15-Minute Mistake'
Bruce Harris, former head Caza Alianza - the Latin American street kids' charity -  fired after being accused of paying a Honduran teen-ager for sex, acknowledged on Saturday that he had made a "15-minute mistake."

"Illegal" Lotteries Popular
A recent report shows that "illegal" lotteries in Costa Rica monopolized 37% of the ¢110.000 Million colones spent on lotteries last year.

Standing Ovation
The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica was accorded a standing ovation at one of the world's top music venues, the St. Cecile Academy in Rome, Italy.

A Deal with Goodall
Jane Goodall visited Costa Rica, not only to share her ideas but also to plant a root of her environmental awareness in Tico soil.

Americas Free-Trade-Zone Efforts Stalled
Efforts to create a hemisphere wide free-trade zone are stalled, and trade officials have all but abandoned an end-of-month deadline for an agreement to open markets.

Cup by Cup, Coffee Fuels World Market
As morning breaks in Tres Rios, scores of pickers dash into lush rows of 7-foot trees and begin tugging at branches laden with ripe, crimson berries.

Did you Know?
Costa Rica, considered a developing nation, is the political and economic star of Central America.

insidenicaragua
In Nicaragua, a Language Is Born
Since 1977, deaf children in Nicaragua have been creating an increasingly sophisticated system of hand signals to communicate.

Taiwan in talks on Nicaragua, Paraguay trade pacts
"Paraguay's President Nicanor Duarte is consulting with the other Mercosur members -- Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay -- about signing an FTA with Taiwan."

Nicaragua Vows Firm Support for Taiwan U.N. Bid
Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United Nations Eduardo J. Sevilla Somoza said Monday that his country and many Taiwan allies will continue to push Taiwan's U.N. bid so that the voice of the 23 million people of the island can be heard internationally.

Guatemala asks for greater anti-drugs aid from US
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger Saturday urged the United States to provide more material and financial assistance for an efficient combat against drug trafficking.

Colombian president gives demobilization ultimatum to paramilitaries
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe gave an ultimatum Saturday to paramilitary groups operating in Colombia's central province of Meta, ordering them to demobilize at once, said the State News Service (SNS).

FARC's explosives expert arrested in Colombia
Francisco Rivera, who has been accused of producing explosives for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and being involved in several terrorist attacks in Bogota, was captured here Saturday.

Bolivia seeks support from Brazil, Spain for new law on hydrocarbons
Bolivia will seek support from Brazil and Spain in enacting a new law on hydrocarbons that is currently debated in the country's Congress, Bolivian Foreign Minister Juan Siles said Saturday.

International News from the New York Times
 

TRADE-LATAM: Technology Provides a Boost for Small Businesses The Costa Rican web portal Lacarretica.com was recently presented to Venezuelan exporters as an example of the way that new information and communications technology (ICT) can help to expand the range of goods offered for export by the countries of the region. The presentation took place during a seminar held at the Caracas headquarters of the Latin American Economic System (SELA). Leopoldo Rojas, from the Costa Rican IT firm Galileo, told IPS that the portal was ”an initiative of a group of young entrepreneurs in Costa Rica, who use the Internet to sell typically Costa Rican products to the 100,000 Costa Ricans living in the United States.” The products sold by Lacarretica.com range from food and drinks -- like ”lizana” sauce, used in a wide variety of Costa Rican dishes -- to national soccer team jerseys, traditional Costa Rican music CDs, toys, books, newspapers, posters and even religious paraphernalia.

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