San José, Costa Rica -   Monday 27 September 2004

1.234 Daily Average Visits in August! Up 10%

Updated every day by 8:00AM Central Standard Time

The Dalai Lama stands with fellow Nobel Peace Prize recipient, former President Oscar Arias during a conference in the Teatro Nacional in San Jose, Sunday. Arias introduced him to the conference entitled 'Individual Peace, Universal Peace.'  Click for larger image!

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

Tax Reform Package Reaches Legislative Assembly
After more than two years of debate by the country’s lawmakers, the fiscal reform package has finally reached the legislative assembly, although there remains much work to be done before the tax reforms are passed.

Philippines, Costa Rica Agree to Boost Bilateral Ties
The Philippines and Costa Rica marked a new milestone in their relations with the signing of a memorandum of understanding that calls for regular consultations between both countries.

Heavy Rains Cause Damage
The heavy rains of the last several days have left five bridges damages in Cartago, Oreamuno, Turrialba and Vázquez de Coronado. Also, the rain has caused damage to various roads.

Miss Costa Rica Mundo 2004
Miss Costa Rica Mundo 2004, Shirley Calvo Jiménez, is set to travel to city of Sanya, Hainan Island, in China to participate in the Miss Mundo 2004 contest, in December.

Colombia army kills 13 paramilitary rebels
The Colombia army on Sunday launched a strike against a right-wing armed group called the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Casanare, or the ACC, killing 13 rebels and capturing 32, said General Carlos Alberto Ospina, commander of Colombia's armed forces.

South Americans Make Offer to EU on Trade
The South American trade bloc Mercosur has made a new offer in a bid to advance stalled trade talks with the European Union and clinch a trans-Atlantic free trade deal by an October deadline.

Combined air exercises in northern Chile
Combat aircrafts from Argentina, Brazil, United States and Chile began this weekend joint strategic air exercises in the area of Iquique, northern Chile, approximately 2,000 kilometres from Santiago.

International News from the New York Times
 

ENVIRONMENT-VENEZUELA: Ecotourism in the Tropical Andes Irene Sánchez's smile is as warm as the hot chocolate she serves her guests at her El Trigal guest house, located 3,380 metres above sea level in Venezuela's tropical Andes mountains. ”I always wanted to have a small business, which is why I accepted as soon as they invited me to get involved in the programme,” she comments to this visiting journalist. The Venezuelan non-governmental environmental Tropical Andes Programme, founded in 1997, runs 11 ”mucuposadas” or guest houses in the chilly, wind-swept highlands of the state of Mérida in northwestern Venezuela. The simple inns are mountain huts belonging to ”campesinos” (peasant farmers) ”who are poor in material terms but who live in a paradise landscape,” says the Belgian biologist who heads the programme, Yves Lesenfants.

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