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San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 48
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Ministerio de Seguridad Pública
photo
Police
officers rescued this fawn at San Cristóbal in Pocosol de
SanCarlos. A farm worker found the animal and delivered him to officers and a worker at the Ministerio del Ambiente y Energía. Police frequently rescue animals. Our readers' opinions
Would-be expats need to do homeworkDear A.M. Costa Rica: I am a bit puzzled about the letter to the editor about the Canadian couple. We have lived here for over 22 years, both are Canadian, have also reached that "golden age of retirement" since moving here. What I read in this letter, is people who unfortunately did not do their homework before moving to Costa Rica. The Canadian government makes it very clear of what to expect when leaving home for other climes. We both knew that my husbands' pension would be based on the length of time we lived outside Canada. Yes, it isn't very much money, so this should have been considered before moving here. As the cost of living in Costa Rica has skyrocketed over the last few years, trying to live on an income in the low digits, is called existing. Having to join the Caja, waiting to see a good doctor, not being able to get the medication you may need because the Caja doesn't have them, etc, is all a fact of life down here and probably will get worse as the country gets much more expensive. Electrical, water, food (even local fare) will soon be unattainable on $1,200.00 a month for two people. I believe once they are back home for awhile, they will begin to realize that was the better decision for the future. The most important lesson from the original article is: Do your homework in both countries and do realize the making huge changes that will affect your future should be well thought out and planned. Cathy Knorr
Santa Ana Reader does not have any sympathy Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I am sorry but, I can have no sympathy for retirees who don't investigate the What ifs in a major move like the one they made going to Costa Rica or any other country. Especially with regards to health insurance and transfer of pensions. In Canada, even if you move from one province to another, your health coverage is suspended for at least three months. All health plans are provincial not federal. The old age supplement is a top-up for seniors who are below the average monthly income needed to live relatively comfortable in Canada. The government shouldn't be expected to pay this amount to seniors to live in another country, and they don't. If this couple had asked the question, they would have received the answer. During the 100 or so combined years they paid taxes in Canada they were totally covered for their health care and everything else the government does with their tax dollars. Based on the fact that they were at minimum jobs most of there working lives, they would have paid a very minimum in taxes. Certainly got more than they paid. If citizens then leave the country and decide to no longer contribute to the program, what makes them think they have the right to any benefits.. Actually a Canadian living abroad for up to six months does receive their health care and their supplement, which is very generous. I don't believe this couple would even qualify for pensionado status in Costa Rica as the Canadian dollar is 20 to 25 percent less than the US dollar. That, is another topic. Like everything in life, buyer beware!!! I would far sooner live a little poor in Canada than anywhere else in this world. Brian Elmslie
If you leave, you are not eligiblePort Saint Lucie, Florida Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Regarding John Edwards comments on this couple having to return to Canada. The supplementary pension is for Canadians living in Canada only. They applied for it while living in Canada, and it was revoked when they left the country. We live in Costa Rica and are not eligible for it. Janice Campbell
Playa Chiquita Ministerio de Seguridad Pública
photo
Anti-drug
officer destroys another marijauna plant.
New tenant
retained church cover
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
What better cover for a marijuana operation than to rent a storefront after an evangelical church had moved out. This is what happened in Escazú, police officers found Monday. The storefront even had the sign of the former occupant. Fuerza Pública officers said they were checking out a report of a store burglary when one officer caught a whiff of that distinctive marijuana odor. The plants were being grown hydroponically. There were at least 50 young plants, said the Policía de Control de Drogas. San José
resident Corrina Garlow dies
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff San José resident Corrina Garlow, 81, died Thursday in Santa Teresa where she was visiting. Ms. Garlow maintained a home here and also lived in Canada. She was a retired bookkeeper. The family said that a private gathering would be held Wednesday at the family home to celebrate her life. She is survived by four children, Marvin Garlow of Canada and Gerry Garlow, Maria Fuendes and Eva Mendez, all of Costa Rica.
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 48 |
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Decision to be made this week on temporary fix for Naranjo
ferry ramp |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Strong winds and heavy seas are being blamed for the damage to the ferry ramp at Playa Naranjo. Port officials said they expect the ferry ramp to be out of commission for at least two months. A new ramp is estimated to cost 300 million colons or nearly $600,000. The ferry usually travels from Puntarenas to Playa Naranjo, which is on the Nicoya Peninsula. This is one of two ferry routes servicing the peninsula. |
Luis Fernando
Coronado, director of the División Marítima
Portuaria, said that a decision will be made this week on the
construction of a temporary ramp. That would mean service could resume
in two to three weeks, he said. A ferry ramp is a complicated system. It has to be able to raise and lower itself to accommodate changes in sea level. The ferries carry heavy trucks, so the ramp has to be sturdy. The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes supervises the ports through the División Marítima Portuaria. |
Police managed to detain pair shortly after a murder in
Desamparados |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Gunmen cut down a man on the public right-of-way in Dos Cercas de Desamparados, and Fuerza Pública officers were able to detain two suspects a short time later. Desamparados has been plagued for months by shootings and murders that have been attributed to rival drug gangs. The man who died has the last name of Zamora, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. He was known to police because family members have been well-known criminals. Fuerza Pública officers on patrol said they spotted two men acting suspiciously when they entered a white vehicle. Seconds later they heard about the shooting and followed the men who tried to elude police by pulling the car into a garage. They were identified as a 19 year old and a 24 year old who have police records. Officers said that they saw a weapon being thrown from the car during a brief chase. A 9-mm pistol was recovered by judicial agents. The victim died from bullets fired by a 9-mm. weapon. |
Ministerio de Seguridad Pública photo
Two suspects hide their
faces in a police van.The shooting took place around 11 a.m. Zamora, 44, was dead at the scene. Police said there may have been a third individual involved in the shooting, but just two were detained after brief foot chases. Judicial agents said the firearm would be checked for possible use in other murder cases. |
Marine League is looking for a few good donors for wounded
warriors |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Marine Corps League plans to bring 10 wounded warriors to Costa Rica in April are moving along. The organization said Monday that round trip air tickets have been obtained and that Marines at the U.S. Embassy have arranged transportation. In addition, the Quepos Marina has arranged three sports fishing boats for half day excursions and Oceans Unlimited Diving there will provide diving instructions and a dive. There also is a jungle trip planned and horseback riding, the organization said. |
The Wounded
Warrior program is an official U.S. Marine activity to
benefit those who have suffered war-related injuries. The League said
that all the visitors are ambulatory, although a few use canes. Now the league is seeking donations for housing and food. "We can’t expect the warriors to sleep on the beach and eat MREs," said the organization, referring to meals ready to eat, the modern version of military fast food. Those wishing to donate can contact Steve Silva, Wounded Warrior Program fundraising coordinator at 8357-7985 or email woundedwarriorscr@gmail.com. |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 48 |
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World Bank estimated chronic Latin American poverty at 130
million |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
One out of every five Latin Americans or around 130 million people have never known anything but poverty, subsisting on less than $4 a day throughout their lives. These are the region´s chronically poor, who have remained so despite unprecedented inroads against poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean since the turn of the century, according to the World Bank. Their situation is becoming more precarious as the economic boom that significantly contributed to reduce poverty dwindles. Regional GDP growth has slowed, from about 6 percent in 2010 to an estimated 0.8 percent in 2014. This contraction will likely take away one of the biggest drivers behind the strong reduction in poverty: an improved job market, the bank said. A new World Bank report, "Left Behind, Chronic Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean," takes a closer look at the region’s entrenched poor, who and where they are, and how policies and thinking will need to change in order to more effectively assist them. “Poverty exists and persists due to constraints within and without the households, everything from lack of appropriate skills and motivation to the lack of basic services such as clean water,” said Jorge Familiar, World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean. “In other words, supporting individuals is necessary but not sufficient. An enabling context that provides appropriate services is also crucial. Therefore, social policies and regional development need to go hand in hand.” But who are the chronic poor? The answer to that question traditionally has been hard to come by due to the lack of data tracking the poor over time. The World Bank report, however, applies a new methodology to shed light on those who have remained poor in Latin America. Among the report’s key findings: • There are significant variations among countries. Uruguay, Argentina and Chile have the lowest rates of chronic poverty, with rates around 10 percent. On the other extreme, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala have rates of chronic poverty significantly higher than the regional average of 21 percent, ranging from 37 percent in Nicaragua to 50 percent in Guatemala. |
• There are significant variations within countries. Within a single country, some regions show incidence rates up to eight times higher than the lowest. In Brazil, for instance, Santa Catarina has a chronic poverty rate of about 5 percent, while Ceará is nearly 40 percent. • The issue is rural and urban. Despite the much higher percentage rates of chronic poverty in rural areas, such poverty is as much an urban as a rural issue. In fact, considering absolute numbers, urban areas in many countries, including Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, had more chronic poor between 2004 and 2012 than rural areas. “In addition to focusing on access to basic services and good jobs, policies must also take into account the very real social and aspirational barriers facing the chronically poor in Latin America,” said Ana Revenga, senior director for poverty at the World Bank Group. “If this remains unaddressed, it will be far too easy for the most vulnerable to fall through the cracks of social safety nets, no matter how well-targeted these programs are.” In Peru, for instance, patients with tuberculosis, who live largely in Lima’s slums, were 43 percent more likely to abandon treatment before being cured if they were depressed at the time of diagnosis. To better assist these patients, a program that provides free treatment also offered clinical psychologists to help treat depression and special support to help identify income-generating opportunities for patients. Other social intermediation programs, such as Chile Solidario, or Red Unidos in Colombia, employ social workers to actively match beneficiaries with social programs that address family-specific needs. Moving forward, policy makers in Latin America would be justified to rethink the approach of poverty reduction programs, using this new analysis to better understand who the chronically poor are and where they reside, said the World Bank. It will be crucial to improve coordination between different social and economic programs, and to tackle the mental and emotional toll that poverty takes on the poor and their ability to improve their lives, the bank said. Only then will it be possible to forge a clearer path out of poverty for the 130 million chronically poor in Latin America, it added. |
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Three French sports heroes and countrymen die in crash By the
A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Ten persons have died, including three French sports heroes, in a helicopter accident during the filming of a reality show in Argentina. Authorities say two helicopters collided Monday during the filming of a European survivalist reality show called "Dropped." The helicopters went down in the western province of La Rioja, near the Andes Mountains. All 10 people aboard the aircraft died in the crash. Among the victims were Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, and world champion sailor Florence Arthaud, all French nationals. Muffat, 25, won gold, silver and bronze medals in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Vastine, 28, won a bronze medal in the 2008 games in Beijing. Arthaud is considered one of the world's best sailors. Eight of the victims of the accident were French; the two helicopter pilots were Argentineans. Jews continue to leave Europe for their safety By the
A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Among those attending the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington last week was Roger Cukierman, president of an umbrella group of Jewish organizations in France. Anti-Semitic violence there has gotten global attention since the January attacks on a Jewish deli and the headquarters of a satirical magazine in Paris, but the trend began more than a decade ago, Cukierman says. In 1991, there were 70 to 80 violent incidents directed against Jews for the whole year, Cukierman told reporters at a press conference at the Washington residence of the French ambassador. Last year there were 851 incidents against Jews in France, he said. According to Cukierman, the numbers started rising exponentially after the year 2000. Asked whether the U.S. attacks on Muslim countries following 9/11 played some role, Cukierman said, “I never thought of any connection with U.S. responsibility.” Perhaps the collapse of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in 2001 and the onset of the second intifada was a factor? “I believe anti-Zionism is only a pretext,” Cukierman said. Jews have lived in France for 2,000 years, he said, and endured far worse periods, including a World War II government that collaborated with the Nazis and let 25,000 French Jews be gassed at Auschwitz. But more and more French Jews are choosing to leave now because of hostility from the extreme right, the extreme left and elements in France’s growing Muslim population, he said. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced criticism in January for suggesting that France’s half million Jews should move to Israel for their own safety, Cukierman said it was a reality that emigration is on the rise. Some 3,000 Jews left the country for good in 2013, 7,000 in 2014 and “I expect between 10,000-15,000” in 2015, he said. They are going not because of Netanyahu’s appeal, he added, which he said he has heard before from previous Israeli leaders. “A man who is considering leaving France does not do it because the prime minister of Israel has requested his presence,” Cukierman said. Instead, he blamed an atmosphere in which Jewish children must be protected by both police and the army and young men wearing skullcaps are accosted in the subway. Only a third of Jewish families now send their children to public school in France to avoid harassment, he said. Stuart Eizenstat, a former undersecretary of state, ambassador to the European Union and special adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry on Holocaust issues, told a panel at the conference that Belgian Jewish friends had told him recently that they were moving to Florida because as one put it, “there is no future for my children in Belgium.” Other friends in Britain recounted that one their daughters, a teacher, was advised by her principal not to let her students know she was Jewish, while another daughter was asked by her professor at Bristol University, “Isn’t it odd that no Jews were killed in the 9/11 attacks?” While anti-Semitism has long plagued Europe, the current animosity suggests an increasing conflation of attitudes toward Jews and Israel. Eizenstat quoted the results of a 2012 survey by the Anti-Defamation League in 10 European countries in which more than half of those polled said Jews were more loyal to Israel than to their native countries and 65 percent said their opinion of Jews had gotten worse because of Israeli actions. Of European Jews polled in 2013 by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, almost 60 percent had been confronted by the claim that the Holocaust was a myth or exaggerated, a third said they had experienced harassment because of their religious or ethnic identity in the previous five years and nearly a third said they had considered emigration because they did not feel safe anymore, Eizenstat said. Over the past three years, besides this year’s attacks in Paris, there have been fatal assaults in Belgium, at a school in Toulouse and a synagogue in Denmark. Both Eizenstat and Cukierman noted that the situation in Europe today could not be compared to the 1930s and 40s, when governments actively colluded in anti-Semitic actions. European governments have vehemently condemned the recent attacks and taken immediate steps to increase protection for Jewish people and property. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls went so far as to say that France without Jews would not be France. But Cukierman said there was much more that could be done to block hate speech from the Internet and to inject accurate depictions of Jews into French public schools. His organization took out a full page ad in The New York Times recently to urge social media giants such as Google and Facebook to remove anti-Semitic content as soon as it is identified. “Help us defuse the hate where it moves most freely – on the Internet,” Cukierman wrote. Much more could be done to deal with the causes of anti-Semitism’s rise, particularly among Europe’s Muslim population. Kenan Malik, an Indian-born English author, wrote recently that both multiculturalism and assimilationism had failed to integrate the children of Muslim immigrants in Europe. This generation is “caught not between two cultures, as it is often claimed, but without one,” Malik wrote. “Moving forward Europe must rediscover a progressive sense of universal values, a renewal of civil society.” As for French Jews, Cukierman said, whether they stay or go “is a very personal decision. It’s respectable if they decide to leave and respectable if they decide to stay.” Irish setter poison victim at major British dog show By the
A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The co-owners of an Irish setter feared poisoned at Britain's leading dog show are devastated by his death but insisted Monday they don't believe that one of the other competitors is responsible. Three-year-old Thendara Satisfaction, known as Jagger, died Friday, shortly after returning to Belgium following an appearance at the world-famous Crufts dog show in the central English city of Birmingham last week. A veterinarian performed a post-mortem examination and found pieces of meat laced with poison in his stomach. The vet "found cubes of meat, some sort of beef, like steak, and they had been sewn up with poison inside,'' one of the owners, Jeremy Bott, told the BBC. "She thinks there were possibly two or three different types of poison,'' one of which was a slug killer. Police in both Belgium and Britain are aware of the incident, but authorities said they haven't been asked to investigate. The Kennel Club, which organizes Crufts, is awaiting a toxicology report on the dog's death, a report that could take days. Bott said he doesn't know what happened, but he believes the poisoner is someone with a grudge against dogs in general or the Crufts show in particular. The owners have ruled out any suggestions that another contestant might have poisoned the dog. "We can't and we won't think that this was the act of another exhibitor. If we thought this, we couldn't go on, and the last 30 years would be a complete waste,'' Dee Milligan Bott said on her Facebook page. "So I ask all of you to unite in finding the perpetrator who did this.'' She told reporters in a brief statement outside her home that Jagger's death shouldn't overshadow the positive sides of Crufts.' "I certainly don't want our dog shows, the places we work so hard to get to, to become a ground of finger-pointing and suspicion,'' she said. She suggested in an article in the publication, Dog World that it was possible that the target of the attacker might have been another dog she owns, Thendara Pot Noodle. The second dog won best of breed at Crufts, while Jagger finished second in a preliminary competition. The Kennel Club, meanwhile, put out a second statement Monday amid reports another dog fell ill after the competition. "The facts surrounding Jagger's sad death are still being established and we must stress that any other unsubstantiated rumors about dogs being poisoned are just that," it said. "There are any number of reasons why a dog may display symptoms such as sickness and should a dog fall sick there are vets at the show who will examine the dog in question and file a report." The club insisted, however, that no vets raised concerns about poisoning and "there have been no official complaints from any owners at Crufts 2015." Canine competitions have long been hit by claims of unscrupulous behavior - including the owners of rivals slipping dogs drugs. In 1996, a breeder was banned for giving valium to a chihuahua at another British show. Crufts is Britain's most famous dog show, attracting more than 21,000 competitors from 43 countries this year. It was founded in 1891, about 14 years after New York's Westminster dog show. State judge takes bench in troubled Ferguson By the
A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A state judge will take over municipal court cases in the troubled midwestern U.S. city of Ferguson, Missouri. The announcement by the Missouri Supreme Court late Monday comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice sharply criticized courts in the St. Louis suburb for acting largely as a municipal fund-raising operation that disproportionately fined and jailed black citizens. Ronald Brockmeyer, the current municipal judge, resigned his post immediately. State Appeals Court Judge Roy Richter will hear the Ferguson cases. “Judge Richter will bring a fresh, disinterested perspective to this court’s practices, and he is able and willing to implement needed reforms,” Chief Justice Mary Russell of the State Supreme Court said. The federal report released last week was the result of a six-month investigation launched after last year's shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer during a street confrontation. Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference Wednesday that Ferguson used law enforcement as a way to generate revenue for the city government, with arrests and fines for minor offenses, and not as a means to provide public safety. He said the city's strategy disproportionately harmed its black residents and played a key role in triggering last year's violent protests after Brown's death. "Of course, violence is never justified," Holder said. "But seen in this context - amid a highly toxic environment, defined by mistrust and resentment, stoked by years of bad feelings, and spurred by illegal and misguided practices - it's not difficult to imagine how a single tragic incident set off the city of Ferguson like a powder keg." After conducting hundreds of interviews and reviewing more than 35,000 pages of police records and other documents, the Justice Department found that while blacks comprised 67 percent of Ferguson's population, 93 percent of the arrests were of African Americans. The report says that 85 percent of all routine traffic stops were of black drivers and 90 percent of all traffic citations issued. Brown's case, coupled with other high-profile incidents, including the police chokehold death of a black man in New York, led to a widespread outcry over aggressive police tactics against African Americans and other minorities. The Justice Department has launched 20 civil rights investigations of local police departments during outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder's time in office, including the probe of the Ferguson department. University fraternity closed after racist video emerges By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A social fraternity at a major U.S. university is being sharply rebuked after a video emerged showing some of its members singing a raucous, racist chant. The video showed members of the group at the University of Oklahoma, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, chanting a black racial slur and saying blacks could be hanged from trees, and never would be allowed as members of the fraternity at the school in the central part of the United States. David Boren, the university's president, joined protesters against the fraternity at a pre-dawn rally Monday. "These people have acted in a way that's absolutely reprehensible and disgraceful." He said adding that the video "has broken my heart" and was not representative of the school's 30,000 students. Boren vowed quick discipline against students determined to have participated in the video. National Sigma Alpha Epsilon officials said they were embarrassed by the unacceptable and racist chant. They closed the school's chapter of the fraternity, while university officials ordered students living in the fraternity house to find other housing off campus by midnight Tuesday. Boren said the fraternity chapter would not be allowed back on campus while he serves as the university president. The video emerged Sunday just as Americans were commemorating the 50th anniversary of 1965 civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama in which police clubbed demonstrators as they called for enactment of a national voting rights law. U.S. President Barack Obama, the country's first black president and former president George W. Bush, joined numerous U.S. lawmakers and other officials in Selma to mark the milestone. Former Somali official ordered to pay victims By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a former Somali prime minister who was ordered to pay more than $20 million to victims of human rights abuses in his country. The court Monday declined to review a lower court ruling that allows a lawsuit to proceed against Mohamed Ali Samantar. He served as prime minister and defense minister in the regime of Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in the 1980s and early 1990s. U.S. federal courts have found that Samantar, who lives in the U.S. state of Virginia, cannot claim immunity on account of being an official of a foreign government. His lawyers had asked the Supreme Court to reconsider that ruling. In 2012, a U.S. district court ordered Samantar to pay $21 million in damages to victims of torture and other abuses carried out by officials who were operating under his command. The suit was filed by a group of Somali immigrants now living in the United States. The Obama administration had urged the Supreme Court not to take up the case and to allow the lower court ruling to stand. White House blaming GOP for disrupting talks By the
A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The White House accused a group of 47 U.S. Republican senators Monday of undermining nuclear talks with Iran after the lawmakers warned Tehran that any deal it negotiates with President Barack Obama could last only until he leaves office in early 2017. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters that a letter the senators sent to Iran was an attempt to throw sand in the gears of sensitive negotiations as the U.S. and five other world powers try to reach a basic agreement with Tehran by March 31. "I would describe this letter as the continuation of a partisan strategy to undermine the president's ability to conduct foreign policy and advance our national security's interests around the globe," Earnest said. A freshman Republican senator, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, organized the letter, which was signed by the party’s entire Senate leadership but no Democrats. The letter said the leaders of Iran may not fully understand the U.S. Constitutional system, and that anything not approved by Congress is a mere executive agreement. The senators wrote that “the next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen.” Obama reacted quickly to the letter, saying he thinks it is somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with hardliners in Iran, calling it an unusual coalition. The president said what his administration is focused on right now is seeing whether it can get a deal as part of the international P5+1 talks with Tehran in Switzerland. Obama said if a deal is reached, he will be able to make a case to the American people and is confident he will be able to implement it. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also was quick to respond to the letter, saying it has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy. Zarif expressed astonishment that some members of the U.S. Congress find it appropriate to write to the leaders of another country against their own president and his administration. Responding in a tone similar to the tone used in the senators’ letter, Zarif said “the authors may not fully understand that in international law, governments represent the entirety of their respective states, are responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs, and are required to fulfill the obligations they undertake with other states.” Several Democratic lawmakers said they were appalled by the Republicans’ letter. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said the letter was sent to embarrass the president, and he accused Republicans of trying to undermine their commander-in-chief as he seeks to conduct foreign policy. Republican lawmakers say Congress needs to have a say in a final deal over Iran’s nuclear program with a deadline for a political framework set for the end of March. Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican, and Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat, have a bill pending that would mandate congressional review of an Iran nuclear deal, but Democrats have insisted that they want to wait and let the international talks play out before the bill is brought to the floor for a vote. House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, sparked a firestorm of controversy when he invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress last week on the dangers of an Iran nuclear deal without consulting the White House. Democrats were divided over the speech, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying it was condescending and that she was near tears during the speech. After the speech was over, Obama reminded Congress that foreign policy is conducted by the executive branch, and not the legislative branch. Over the weekend, Obama said the U.S. will walk away from the nuclear talks with Tehran if it decides that an internationally verifiable deal cannot be reached to keep Iran from building a nuclear weapon. But he has threatened to veto proposed legislation that would mandate congressional review of any deal that is reached. Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes and has been negotiating with the U.S., Germany, Britain, France, China and Russia on the scope of nuclear activities it can carry out in exchange for lifting the crippling economic sanctions the U.S. and Europe have imposed on it. Negotiators are facing a self-imposed deadline to complete the basic structure of a deal by March 31, with final agreement by the end of June. |
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What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
The
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2015 and may
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A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 48 | |||||||||
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Comité de Bandera Azul
Ecológica en San Rafael de Heredia photo
These logs were cut legally
A tale of two
timber operations
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Even trees of the most protective species grow old, fall to the ground and rot. Costa Rica has decided not to lumber and manage its forest resources. But private landowners can. Still, lumbering can generate a public outcry. The Comité de Bandera Azul Ecológica en San Rafael de Heredia issued a press release Monday about the legal cutting of unprotected cypress trees in San Rafael de Heredia. Neighbors and the committee were concerned that the water table would be affected. Meanwhile in Pueblo Nuevo de Los Chiles police found three illegal charcoal operations. Landowners are suspected of illegally cutting trees and then burning them in pits to create the charcoal. Police said the landowners had no permission. Ministerio de
Seguridad Pública photo
Lumber
is stacked ready to be turned into charcoal.
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From Page 7: Designers to display their works this week By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The V Festival Internacional de Diseño opens Wednesday in the Casa del Cuño in the Antigua Aduana on Calle 23 in east San José. Wednesday also is the night for the second art city tour of the year. The tour is where visitors can enter major museums and cultural locations free, and transportation is provided. An estimated 70 designers and graphic artists will show their stuff at the festival, which runs until Saturday. |