A.M.
Costa Rica
Your daily English-language news source , Monday through Friday ..... San José, Costa Rica Published: Friday, February 2, 2018 Vol. 18, No.202 |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Second News Page |
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Accounting services should have implemented digital invoicing | |
By AM Costa Rica staff
While independent professionals in the health sector report difficulties in entering the digital invoice process, accountants and customs advisors must have begun to implement the methodology as of Thursday, February 1. In total, there are about 3,900 public accountants who are affected by the change as part of the second sector that must adjust to the use of the digital invoice system as stipulated by the Ministry of Finance. "The important thing about this process at the national level is that the Tax Administration can compare how many taxpayers it has registered, and how many of them report the use of the new invoice. In this way cross-checks can be made to reduce tax evasion," explained the president of the Public Accountants Association of Costa Rica, Dunia Zamora. Those companies or persons engaged in offering accounting activities, advice on tax matters, audits, economics, consultancies in business administration and customs advisors, should now be using the new system. Reports from the health sector say that clinics in large organizations did not suffer any major complications when entering the electronic invoice system. Independent professionals in this sector, however, reported that they encountered major problems, either because they had no knowledge of the system and how to use it or were unaware of the process. |
A.M. Costa Rica
wire services photo
By May 1, all professional services
should be working with a digital invoicing system.
"Some small clinics have had some problems but that is normal when a new system is started. The independent professionals have come in later than others," Zamora explained. The Acting Director of Taxation, Juan Carlos Gómez, had confirmed two weeks ago that at least 3,000 taxpayers had been dis-enrolled from the platform, after the implementation of the digital invoice in the health area on January 15. The next to enter the use of the digital invoice are those of the legal sector on March 1, followed by the areas of engineering, architecture, and information technologies on April 2 and the remaining on May 1. |
International Court of
Justice will issue a resolution in Costa Rica-Nicaragua border dispute |
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By AM Costa Rica staff
The
International Court of Justice (ICJ), based in
The Hague, Netherlands, will issue judgements on
the three lawsuits filed by Costa Rica against
Nicaragua today.
This was announced by Foreign Minister Manuel González, who said that these are three complex issues. The ICJ will have to define the amount of compensation that Nicaragua must pay to Costa Rica for environmental damage in Isla Portillos as a consequence of illicit activities, including that nation’s military occupation in 2010. The obligation to pay monetary damages arises from the ICJ’s ruling of December 16, 2015 that confirmed that Isla Portillos is Costa Rican territory. The second lawsuit relates to the legal actions that the country undertook on February 25, 2014, which asked the Court to establish maritime borders between the countries in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The lawsuit was filed after Nicaragua publicized maps in 2013 offering to open areas in the Pacific and Caribbean for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons. Ownership of these areas was claimed by Costa Rica. The final suit refers to the installation of a Nicaraguan military camp on a strip of Costa Rican beach that is part of Portillos. Nicaraguan occupation of the area was documented by a flight made at the end of 2016. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that "Costa Rica has had a magnificent legal representation, made up of national and international experts" and that it has had the support of numerous institutions. |
AM Costa Rica wire
services photo
The conflict
arose in 2010 due to a land dispute. At the time,
Costa Ricans denounced the military occupation of
the territory.
"A very serious and professional work has been done, which has resulted in the best possible defense of national interests," said González. However, he clarified that, due to the legal nature of the cases, the Court has a wide margin to find equitable solutions for both parties. The Foreign Minister said that the Government of Costa Rica will respect the decisions of the ICJ, regardless of the results. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Third News Page |
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Food |
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... Country improves its ranking as "ruled by law" state |
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By A.M Costa Rica staff Costa Rica rose one position in the global
measurement of the Rule of Law, going from place 25
(in the 2016 edition) to 24, out of a total of 113
countries included in the 2017-2018 report which was
presented by the World Justice Project (WJP) in
Washington DC, United States, last Wednesday.
The index also places our country in the position 2 of 30 nations in Latin America and the Caribbean region, second only to Uruguay, and in the first place in 36 countries with high average income. At the regional level, Chile ranks third behind Costa Rica, while globally the top three are occupied by Denmark (1), Norway (2) and Finland (3); the last three are Afghanistan (111), Cambodia (112) and Venezuela (113). The improvement in Costa Rica is mainly related to advances in open government, one of the eight factors evaluated by the Rule of Law Index, published for the seventh time. Performance is also measured in limits on governmental power, the absence of corruption, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory compliance, civil justice, and criminal justice. The scores can be compared globally, regionally, and by income level. The 2017-2018 report is based on more than 110,000 household surveys and 3,000 expert surveys designed to measure the perception and experience of the general population with the rule of law in practical, everyday situations. In Costa Rica, for example, at least 28 consultants were utilized, most of them from law firms, among them Fernán Vargas from Lex Counsel, José Antonio Muñoz from Denton's Muñoz, Vivian Liberman from BLP Abogados, Luis Ángel Sánchez Montero of Facio & Cañas, as well as Rodrigo Campos Esquivel, judge of the Judicial Power and Arturo Herrera Barquero, adviser to the medical management of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. |
A.M. Costa Rica wire
services photo
The rule of law
is the principle that law should govern a nation,
as opposed to being governed by decisions of
individual government officials.
In the context of a worldwide increase
in authoritarian regimes, as well as a decline in
the fulfillment of international legal
obligations, the WJP index reports a decrease in
the protection of fundamental human rights in
almost two-thirds of the 113 countries surveyed.
Costa Rica is not among them. Non-discrimination, freedom of expression and religion, the right to privacy and the rights of workers were taken into account when calculating the observance of the fundamental rights of people throughout the world. |
... Libertarian candidate promises more funding to careers with high market demand |
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By A.M Costa Rica staff Otto Guevara, of the Libertarian Movement,
has pointed out that there is a problem in the state
universities because they do not adjust their
educational offerings to what the labor market
demands.
He proposes that the Executive Power, "hit the table" to provide some leadership before the National Council of Rectors (Conare). It even proposes to rearrange the Special Fund for Higher Education (FEES), to inject resources into science and technology careers. According to the most recent State of Education Report, only 50.4% of young people between 18 and 22 years old had finished secondary school in 2016. When they do reach the university, the decision of what to study will influence their future job options. Data from the National Council of Rectors (Conare) showed that of the 51,000 university graduates in 2016, only 16% had degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. At the end of 2017, the Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives (Cinde) warned that students should complete secondary school and begin to study for careers in those fields since they have a greater demand in the global market. "We, as a country, have to define a clear path that allows us to prepare our human resources with that vision of the future and technological change so that we can take advantage of the new context and not the other way around, be affected by it,” said Cinde. |
Otto Guevera Guth
Facebook photo
Otto Guevara Guth, presidential
candidate of the Libertarian Movement Party.
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... Desanti candidate offers 30,000 jobs with support of co-operatives |
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By
A.M. Costa Rica staff
The presidential candidate of the National Liberation Party (PLN), Antonio Álvarez Desanti, signed an agreement to support the Cooperative sector and jointly create 30,000 new jobs. The presidential candidate explained that most of the funding will come through the Banking System for Development, but also point out that the exemption from income tax should be maintained in the cooperatives. The candidate sees cooperatives as a great opportunity to transform informal jobs into formal jobs, through training and support to develop associative enterprises. He said that mechanisms for the incubation of new cooperative enterprises and the establishment of cooperative clusters will be developed which will allow companies to strengthen their initial stage. "It is a form of business organization that achieves, simultaneously, efficiency in production and justice in the distribution of income. The cooperative model will be our ally in the central goal of my government, the creation of 150,000 decent jobs and income," said Alvarez. The politician added that the design and implementation of a national strategy to promote cooperativism will be promoted and will be specifically aimed at the young population, as well as small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. "We will name a Ministry of the Cooperative sector, to further specify its contribution to the process of creating national employment. We are committed to simplifying procedures related to the establishment of cooperatives, to promote greater financing options through their access to the System of Development Banking and the leverage of their institutions, so they can have a greater volume of resources," he said |
Alvarezdesanti.cr
photo
Antonio Alvaréz
Desanti, presidential candidate of the National
Liberation Party.
According to Desanti, an eventual government of his would promote the modernization of productive processes in existing cooperatives and would also encourage the formation of new groups, mainly focused on the care and administration of Child Care Centers and of older adults, for which INFOCOOP will establish the respective agreements with the Government's social sector. "It is also important to allocate funding for cooperatives made up of people with some type of disability," he said. Álvarez Desanti emphasized the importance of inserting the Cooperative Movement into the National Neutral Carbon Certification Plan 2021, as well as the need to promote the cooperation of COMEX, PROCOMER and other institutions, in the search for new markets for cooperatives. |
... First female director of the National Symphonic Orchestra awarded |
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By
A.M. Costa Rica staff
In May 2016, Gabriela Mora Fallas became the first woman to direct an official concert of the National Symphony Orchestra, fulfilling her great dream. On Wednesday she received the Carlos Enrique Vargas national music award in the Musical Direction category, presented by the Ministry of Culture and Youth. "It is an event that marks a historical milestone and opens up the present and future possibilities for Costa Rican women orchestra directors," said Sylvie Durán, Minister of Culture and Youth. In the 76 year history of the Symphony Orchestra, this was the first time that a woman conducted the orchestra. Mora, who began her music studies at the age of seven, specialized in violin and direction at the National Institute of Music. The Ministry had already announced the prizes of Cultura Magón to the writer José León Sánchez, author of the novels Isla de los hombres solos and the novel Tenochtitlán, as well as another 25 books; and the Immaterial Cultural Heritage Emilia Prieto, which ended up in the hands of Walter Ferguson, considered the king of the calypso and maximum national exponent of this musical genre. On Wednesday, culture authorities took the opportunity to complete the list of winners which includes Carlos Castro Mora for the opera "The Route of his Evasion". The award for the novel was "Mercurio en primavera" by Byron Salas, the award-winning short story was "Compared Anatomy" by writer Guillermo Barquero; in essay, "La lucidez del miope" by Carlos Fonseca; in poetry it ended up shared between Alfredo Trejos' "Prussia" and "The Book of the Bamboo Dynasty" by José María Zonta. In addition, the Casa de la Cultura de Mora received the Cultural Management and Promotion award. |
Ministry
of Culture and Youth photo
Gabriela Mora
Fallas, awarded symphonic director.
"Each year it is more difficult to choose the winners, because the artistic, creative and intellectual community grows exponentially and that says good things about our society," said Durán. Each of the categories had a special jury that was responsible for analyzing the different options. The only one declared deserted for this opportunity was dramaturgy, which only received two applications which were discarded because they did not have the necessary quality. On April 23 at the National Theater will be deliver the prizes to the different winners. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica Published: Friday, February 2, 2018 Vol. 18, No.202 | ||
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...Food |
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... Health
authorities will increase |
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By A.M. Costa Rica staff International alerts
on cases of measles, especially in Europe,
made the Costa Rican health authorities
implement an extra vaccination campaign, for
4 weeks in August.
Leandra Abarca, the coordinator of the Expanded Immunization Program, explained that this is a highly contagious and serious disease, transmitted as an infection of the lower respiratory tract. "A person can transmit the virus to another vulnerable person very easily. One of its characteristics is that it is very likely to become complicated with blindness or encephalitis," said Abarca. From 2014 to date, alerts have been issued for 13,712 cases worldwide, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Cases are more common in Europe, but in America, there are already 600 confirmed cases of measles. "In Central America, there is an imported case in Guatemala which occurred when a student left to study in Europe and returned with the disease," explained Abarca. The Social Security Fund has been working to train officials who will strengthen the measles prevention initiatives and know how to deal with the disease if it occurs.
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University of Costa Rica
photo
The
vaccination campaign will last for four weeks.
Currently, the vaccine is given to children from 15 months old to seven years of age, but it only has an effectiveness rate of 85-95% and immunity wanes in about 5% of cases, which is why the authorities have considered it necessary to carry out reinforcement campaigns. During the campaign, children from 15 months to 9 years of age will be vaccinated. |
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.... A.M. Costa Rica's Sixth News Page |
San José, Costa Rica
Published:
Friday, February
2, 2018 Vol. 18, No. 202
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.....Food |
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Fuel prices go up |
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By A.M. Costa Rica staff As of Thursday, February 1, there has been an increase in the price of fuel. Super gasoline increased ¢15, the Plus 91 ¢13 and diesel, ¢21 A liter of super gas now costs ¢626 colones, the liter of Plus 91 costs ¢605 colones, and the a liter of diesel is now ¢535 colones, according to the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery's website. |
A.M. Costa Rica
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Diesel showed the highest increase. |
Letter
to the editor: On U.S. boat donations to Costa Rica |
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Dear A.M. Costa Rica
The first thing the United States needs to teach boat drivers is how to properly maintain a boat. We give them millions of dollars’ worth of boats and ships and they do not do one thing to maintain them: diesel running off the decks, flaking of paint and total destruction in less than three to four years. The current fleet of four boats, two being the smaller, with the latest in technology and two of the cutter size will be ready for the trash in less than five years. You cannot have one of their current vessels pull up and tie off your boat, it is filthy. Kind of like the police with all their brand new vehicles, and less than three months later they were all parked at the station due to the fact no one could work on them and no new parts from the Chinese, go figure. Dan Gibson, Esterillos
Este
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A.M.
Costa Rica's Seventh News Page |
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San José, Costa Rica Published: Friday, February 2, 2018 Vol. 18, No.202 |
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....Food |
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No Regrets #3 |
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By Lucinda Gray Ph.D.
Re-reading my last article I realize that I didn’t really talk about how bad things too often get before a couple calls it quits. Violence, verbal or physical abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse and unfaithfulness are very common. And there is the more subtle damage done to a relationship by mental health problems. For example, at any one time 20% of the US population is diagnosable as depressed, not to mention all the other emotional problems folks have. Most people have no access to good mental health care at a reasonable price. In fact, all the problems mentioned above have mental health components that mostly go untreated. In my own case I was driven to leave my husband by his alcoholism and general difficulty communicating. We went to couple therapy for months; we did all that we could. Finally I felt so lonely that I was becoming depressed. I felt as though my own sanity was at stake. For me it was a life and death decision. When I left him I had the sensation of an open wound down the center of my chest for weeks. Divorce extracts a very high price. Getting married is such a profound bonding. We hope, no we believe it is for life. The disappointment and loss in a divorce is overwhelming. There are strong parental teachings about the importance of keeping our word. The vow we make before God is very powerful even if we aren’t sure about God. There is always the dream of God, a benevolent force managing the universe. This price is one reason folks tend to agonize for months or even years before leaving a marriage. It turns out that ending a marriage can be felt as a life and death decision. Only to save my own life, my mental and physical health would I break this vow. When survival is at stake we take action no matter what anyone else thinks. You have an inner truth inside. Once you let go of judging you can admit to wanting to take care of yourself. Is taking care of yourself bad or wrong? Is it a sin? If so then we are all guilty. Self-care isn’t selfish. It is survival. How
are we to heal from such a wound?
....In my view healing comes in three big steps—each is a change in consciousness that comes with inner work. Healing demands the courage to be honest with yourself. It needs dedication to face your pain and move through it to Self-Forgiveness. Each of the three stages is worth a book, and many have been written. Here I offer only a short summary. Dropping
Judgment
....At the end of last week’s article I wrote a familiar rant of self-hate and self-condemnation most folks go through in a divorce. It doesn’t matter if you are the leaver or the leavee. There is plenty of self-blame to go around. Actually judging our feelings is a mistake because all feelings are valid in themselves. They are your inner truth, whether you like them or not. In order to ask why I feel this way, I have to let go of the rant at least for now. I always tell folks they can have their self-hate back any time they want it. Funny, once they set it aside even for a moment they feel so relieved they get my joke. All along the way you will find the self-blame keeps sneaking back and you will have to gently set it aside. Then, instead of condemning your feeling you can regard it as interesting and something to find out more about. Getting
to the Truth
....When you are calmed down from self-blame you can be free to think/feel about the whole thing. Why did I marry this person? How did it all go wrong? It is better if you can consider these questions before the divorce, but this time is so loaded with anxiety and confusion it is almost impossible to be clear on why you are leaving. You need a time for self-reflection, mulling over your feelings. How can you give yourself this essential space for getting clear? Many folks do a lot of life review when they are elderly. But waiting that long means you carry this pain for years. You will begin in the first months or year by somehow making a settlement with yourself in order to continue your life. But real healing comes only with time. |
A.
M. Costa Rica wire services
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There are 2 ways I know of to get clear without the long wait. They have the advantage of allowing you to make better decisions now. But they are not quick. There is no quick fix. There is psychotherapy. It gives you a trained observer and witness who can see the situation from outside. But the actual self-discovery is still done by you, because the answers are within you. The therapist can only help by supporting you so that you can more easily look inside. He or she sets aside a special hour for you. Anticipating an appointment you will spend some time thinking and feeling as the week progresses. Noticing how you feel on the way to the session can be very productive. Then there is meditation. I favor a simple Mindfulness practice supplemented by Focusing, the advanced method of self-inquiry I have discussed in previous articles. Traditional meditation is like sitting at the top of the stairs. The monkey mind brings things up for you to consider. It is a constant stream of thoughts at least in the beginning. You let them go one by one. But in Focusing with meditation you notice the things that keep coming back and go downstairs into your deeper self to find out where they come from. Meditation is a long term practice but it has many benefits. It can improve your health and general mental clarity as well as reduce anxiety and depression. I started meditating 30 years ago, but you can start any time. It means setting aside a certain time every day for you, usually in the morning. It is a daily discipline that builds self-esteem, because you are doing it just for yourself. As you work through this period of self-reflection hopefully you can get to some clarity on why you married him/her. But maybe you still won’t like yourself for doing one or the other, the marriage or the divorce or both. Complete healing requires self-forgiveness. Coming
to Self-Forgiveness
....To be at peace you need empathy for yourself as you once were. You can begin to see the situation from your own point of view; what your true needs were when you married. Why it was good for you at the time, and why staying was so wrong for you at the end. Self-forgiveness brings peace and a sense of resolution. It is a great gift only you can give yourself. We don’t have space or time here right now to talk more about self-forgiveness and the topic deserves our full attention. More about this next week. I invite your feedback and any suggestions for future writing. You can contact me through my website at www.drlucindagray.com |