Big horse parade Sunday
for St. Joseph's celebration


The municipality will celebrate the Día de San José Sunday with a horse parade, folk dancers, bands and mascaradas. The day is that of the patron saint of the city, St. Joseph.

One stipulation from the municipality is that the 300 riders must leave their beer at home.

The municipality is trying to differentiate itself from the mounted drinking party that takes place each year on Dec. 26. The riders for Sunday have been invited, and they have promised not to drink, said the municipality.

The horse parade, which is designed to feature many different breeds of the animals, begins at 11 a.m. in Parque la Sabana. The main route will be around the park and along Paseo Colón. Many of the horses are champions, the municipality said.

In addition to showing off the horses and celebrating the feast day of the saint, organizers will collect funds for victims of the Jan. 8 earthquake near Volcán Poás.

He could not go himself,
but they can kick him out


Just because a foreigner is forbidden to leave the country is no reason that immigration officials cannot throw the individual out.

That was decided in a recent Sala IV appeal. A Nicaraguan man found himself about to be deported after being detained by the Policía de Migración Feb. 4. The man argued that he was the subject of an impedimento de salida, a legal restriction on leaving the country.

The legal case appears to involve a failure to pay child support or  pensión alimentaria.

Nevertheless, the constitutional court said that he could be deported anyway.

Frequently mothers will file for child support and the courts will issue an impedimento de salida against the presumed father. Sometimes the man is unaware of this action until he tries to leave the country.


High court declines to stop
community croc festival


For the fourth time the Sala IV constitutional court has declined to put a stop to the annual crocodile hunt that takes place in Ortega de Bolsón, Santa Cruz de Guanacaste.

Every year residents of the community delegate some of their number to jump into the local waterway and scare up a crocodile. The animal is tied up and displayed for a day as the guest of honor at a community fiesta. Then it is released.

Each year environmentalists and others bring the case to the Sala IV, noting Costa Rican law that forbids hunting endangered species. Each year the court declines to stop the community event.

The event, known as the  la lagarteada, ends up on television. It also attracts many tourists.

Three held in bribe scheme


Two policemen and a former policeman are in custody today after being detained in Barrio Cristo Rey and in Heredia Wednesday to face allegations they used their jobs to seek a bribe from a businesman who they found had an illegal sidearm.

Environmental damage is now
and not 20 years in the past

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Unfortunately the demolition order that came from the Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo of the environmental ministry, is very short sighted.  The damage from construction has already been done in the maritime zone.  To bad the environmental industry can't see the forest from the trees. 

A much bigger problem is the owners of Punta Leona and the previous owners are doing much more damage cutting down rainforest in the Punta Leona area. This forest cutting is being done to build more projects on the property.  It is having much more of an impact on the environment than the structures that are already down by the beach and have been there for many years.

There is another project that is also destroying the old growth forest of Punta Leona and also the beach at Playa Manta.  The project is called Villa Leona.  They, too, have cut down many trees and dumped tons of soil into an old growth forest in Punta Leona. 

Unfortunately the river that runs through the project has been producing so much sediment that it is destroying Playa Manta also.  Playa Manta now has a constant layer of mud on the ocean floor of several inches.   The sea life has vanished also.  It is all because the river has dumped so much mud from the Villa Leona project. 

Villa Leona actually looks like a huge open pit mine.  Of course MINAET has done nothing regarding that project and several others at Punta Leona, but they will make a big stink about something that occurred 20 years ago.

The wildlife in Punta Leona has been affected tremendously in the past few years from all of the deforestation.  Several years ago there were nine spider monkeys on the property, and now there are two.  This is the most endangered monkey in Costa Rica.  It requires old growth forests more than the other monkeys and that is why it has declined so much. What really needs to be addressed at Punta Leona and Villa Leona is the damage being caused at the present time and not what happened years ago.


Cutting firemen's work hours
would be a bit ridiculous

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Regarding the article on 18 April "If your pants are on fire, please push 2."

I think to call the 24-hour shift exploitation of firemen is a bit ridiculous. They have been working 24 hour shifts in the U.S.A. for years. If there are no fires for a week, that is just the way it is. They sleep, play cards, ping pong and ect. Some even wash and wax cars on the side for extra money. I am reasonably sure that they take the job voluntarily and no one forces them to.