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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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today for La Negrita By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Today is the big day for pilgrims on their way to Cartago. An estimated 2 million persons will either be on the route involved in worship at the basilica there. The major religious celebration is Saturday, the Roman Catholic feast day of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles,m the nation's patroness. In order to be present at the morning ceremonies and the veneration of the dark statute of the Virgin and Child known as La Negrita, pilgrims will try to arrange their trip so that they arrive tonight. The crush of pilgrims, or romeros as they are called in Spanish, is so great that a major chore would be walking west, away from Cartago, this evening on the pedestrian mall in San José, weather permitting. The route is heavily guarded. The Policía de Tránsito alone says it will have 180 officers between the Fuente de Hispanidad at Mall San Pedro and the basilica. Some 16 more officials, inspectors, will be checking on buses. The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes has authorized 180 more buses on the various routes to Cartago. Pilgrims may walk to the basilica, but most want to ride home. The toll for the Autopista Florencio del Castillo will be suspended at 6 p.m. today through 6 a.m. Saturday. Pilgrims have been facing unsettled weather, although there have been no serious incidents reported. Officials are warning about the possibility of lightning strikes. The pilgrimage is more than a religious experience. It is a social one, too. And even politicians will be in the audience for the ceremony Saturday. President Óscar Arias Sánchez will not be. He will be heading by by air from Brazil where he made an official visit. Our reader's opinion
More jobs are the answerto making country better Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I read your paper everyday here from the States. My wife is a Tica and we own a small property with a few apartments that we rent out near Heredia. Our biggest problem is not being able to be in Costa Rica more, maybe someday. You said today that you wanted some input into what expats can do to help and solve some of the problems in Costa Rica. The first thing I feel is to provide jobs. Right now there is a big gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” and it is getting bigger, and that gap leads to drugs and crime, and that is a big problem not only in Costa Rica but in most of the world right now. If the expats in Costa Rica would start small businesses, at least they would be helping put food on someone’s table, which will go a long way. The second thing is to support the education system in some way. The kids are the future, and when they are educated and then able to make a good living, they will not turn to drugs and crime. People have to have hope for their future and if we can do the things, even the small things to give people some hope then I think we have done a lot. Another problem, and this is one of my pet peeves, is that wherever North Americans go they want to change that country and make it like home. Why not just enjoy a country for its own uniqueness? Why do the stores, the restaurants, the homes, the streets all have to look like they do up north? Why do they have to buy up large tracts of land and build million dollar homes? To me this is making the gap bigger than ever between the “haves” and the “have nots.” It’s no wonder that there are so many problems. We are creating them. Bruce Gibson
Sarasota, U.S.A.
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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 A.M. Costa Rica/Saray Ramírez Vindas
A pedestrian waits at a bench before the global warming mural |
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| Hey, Lawmakers! Take a look at this critical problem! |
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By Saray Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff How can private citizens who feel strongly about a political issue get the attention of politicians? A group of university students answered that question by installing a vivid mural opposite the legislative chambers. The mural has the theme of global warming and was created by some 30 students from the Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología, otherwise known as ULACIT. The mural features fire invading clouds and green |
mountains, presumably those of Costa Rica. Hidden within the mountains are the letters S O S, the international distress signal.
There also is a painting of the globe surrounded by fire. Andrea Blanco, one of the students, said that the mural was done on the wall of the Edificio Sión along the pedestrian walkway east of the main legislative building to get the attention of powerful persons who frequently the area. Five professionals helped with the design and application. The project started last week, and there still is some work to do. The students are doing the work as part of a university project, and they have created a Web site to go along with the mural. |
| These folks could have been talking about Costa Rica |
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| The
world is made up of two kinds of people — lots of two kinds. In one of
those two groups are the kind who keep books in their bathrooms and the
kind who don’t. For the first, I have a suggestion. Put "Bartlett’s
Familiar Quotations" there with your other books. It is fascinating
reading, and there is a lot of be learned in a short time. And there
are some gems from surprising sources. Since I have been feeling under the weather since I returned, I have been spending more time reading Bartlett’s than getting out and about. So I have decided to share some of the quotes from my favorite writers, others just quotes I find pertinent to life today. Ben Franklin had lots of interesting things to say, like: "If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing. Obviously, many of the people in Bartlett’s said or wrote things worth reading. Add to that, Ben went on to say: "The next thing most like living one’s life over again seems to be a recollection of that life, and to make that recollection as durable as possible by putting it down in writing." Maybe that is why so many people are writing their memoirs even though it doesn’t explain why people are reading them. Or maybe the readers are heeding the catch phrase of today to: "Get a life." And can’t find one of their own. And some quotes pertinent to politics and war and peace: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, who also said: "There never was a good war nor a bad peace." Oh, dear, we keep forgetting this. "There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it could confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rain, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing." Surprisingly, it was President Andrew Jackson who said that. From one of my favorite writers: W. Somerset Maugham. "Like all weak men, he laid exaggerated stress on not |
An American soldier in the ruins of a French village in 1945 — quoted
by Max Miller "We sure liberated the hell out of this place." "Peace is not an absence of war. It is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice." Benedict de Spinoza.
1632-1677. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
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Stricken expat falls through the cracks and faces grim future
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By Elise Sonray
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff A U.S. man who had a stroke last week is now lying comatose in the hospital with no way to get home, said his friend and business partner. The man, know as John Richards or John Ruggeri, was living illegally in Costa Rica and is in Hospital Calderón Guardia unable to speak. Ruggeri can only make efforts to squeeze with his hand, said the friend, Shelly Kostner. The ailing man represents an extreme case of what can happen to an expat who does not obtain residency or enroll in the country's social programs. Kostner said the worst part is that Ruggeri's family has no money to get the man back to Las Vegas, Nevada, where his children are. A U.S. Embassy employee said that his government could only put him in a shelter and that he needs to leave the hospital today, said Kostner. An e-mail from the embassy sent to the family said: “We have until Friday to answer. Unless the family comes up with a solution by then, we have no choice but to tell the hospital to dispose of the patient the same way they would a Costa Rican patient.” The message carried the name of Isabel Picado of the U.S. Embassy. The embassy confirmed that Ms. Picado was an employee but said a press spokesperson could not comment on specific cases due to the privacy act, behind which State Department officials cloak many of their actions. “John was the kind of guy who was always cracking jokes. He would walk into a pulpería and have the person laughing before he left,” said Kostner. Ruggeri worked in various businesses in Costa Rica, said Kostner. The latest was an online pharmacy. Ruggeri apparently lost his passport some time ago and was unable to obtain another one, according to Kosner. It was unclear to her as to why he did not get another passport, said |
Nancy Ruggeri, his ex-wife
in a telephone call from Las Vegas. Although Ruggeri and his former wife Nancy Ruggeri are separated, she said he has always been a good father and she wants to get him back home. “This could happen to anyone who is disenfranchised,” said Ms. Ruggeri, who said to get her ex-husband home would take an air ambulance and cost about $4,000. “The U.S. Embassy won't help you or get you home,” said Ms. Ruggeri, who added that she was frustrated with the initial contact she had with the embassy. If the family can bring Ruggeri home, they will have to pay $6,000 a month until they can get him on insurance or Medicaid, since he is no longer a resident of Clark County, Nevada, said Ms. Ruggeri. Ruggeri came to Costa Rica about eight years ago. He used to live in Flamingo and owned part of a hotel there, said Kostner. He was well known and liked in the area as Richards, and later moved to San José, said the friend. Ms. Ruggeri said the family had not heard news from him since he left. The director of social work for the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social at Calderón Guardia said that since Ruggeri has no pension from the United States or from Costa Rica, he has almost no options. The director, Lucylena Quirós, said that workers had previously thought the family, U.S. Embassy, or a U.S. social association would be able to pay for Ruggeri and care for him when he left the hospital, but that now did not seem to be the case. Since Ruggeri is still in his 50's he can't get any extra help from Costa Rica, she said. Ms. Quirós said that social workers were researching the situation and would hopefully have an answer by next week. Ms. Quirós said that Ruggeri should leave as soon as possible but that didn't necessarily mean today. “We won't put him out on the street,” said Ms. Quirós. The family would appreciate any suggestions or help in this difficult situation, said Ms. Ruggeri. |
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Central government issues decree to promote telecommuting
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The executive branch has issued a decree to encourage telecommuting by public employees. The idea is to save on fuel and improve productivity. The decree was outlined and signed Thursday by Laura Chinchilla, the vice president and also the person in charge of encouraging digital government. She was filling in for President Óscar Arias Sánchez, who was in Brazil. Casa Presidencial said that some 1,000 employees of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad already are involved in telecommuting as is the Universidad Estatal a Distancia |
with 30
employees and Banco Nacional, also with 30 employees. Several other
public agencies are involved in the experiment. The proposal is to have those involved in telecommuting work about 80 percent of the time at home but visit their workplaces for discussions and contact with colleagues and supervisors. Several major computer-related businesses in Costa Rica also allow their employees to work from home. For now, the central government is setting up some pilot programs. The purpose of the decree is to create an evaluation and coordination framework for those agencies planning to allow working at home. |
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U.S. says visa scheme brought in $5 million Special to A.M. Costa Rica
A Riverside, California, man have been arrested on charges of filing nearly a thousand fraudulent petitions with U.S. immigration and labor authorities, which allowed him to obtain work visas and other immigration and labor benefits for more than 550 aliens. Investigators said the man made nearly $5 million over 10 years with his scheme. He was identified as Alexander Sales Vista, 61. The arrest was by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over the course of more than 10 years, Vista allegedly filed nearly 1,000 fraudulent petitions that sought work visas for more than 550 aliens, who Vista claimed were going to work at companies he owned. Many of the aliens were granted work visas. However, according to the complaint, the jobs often did not exist and the companies were simply shell companies that did not conduct any real business. In some cases, the aliens worked for Vista, but they were paid substantially less than what Vista told Labor Department and immigration officials, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said. Charging the aliens between $7,000 and $12,000 to file a petition, Vista made nearly $5 million over the course of his visa fraud scheme, said the U.S. attorney's office. Farmers in Peru's highlands battling severe cold spell Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Farmers in the Peruvian highlands are suffering as a result of a severe unseasonable cold spell, known locally as El friaje. The principal victims are livestock. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said it has provided urgently needed medical supplies. The antiparasitic medicines, antibiotics and vitamins are being used to treat some 18,000 alpacas in the country’s Pilpichaca en Huanvavelica district that have been weakened or fallen ill as a result of the unexpected cold snap. The El friaje phenomenon involves a combination of unseasonable low temperatures, frosts, snow and hail that damages crops and the high-altitude pastures on which alpacas graze. This year, the cold arrived well ahead of the usual season — in March and April, instead of June — and many small-scale farmers have not been able to harvest their crops. The early arrival of the cold weather has greatly affected alpaqueros — farmers in high-altitude areas whose livelihoods depend completely on raising alpacas. Pastures have been covered in snow which has frozen over, making grazing impossible. The gravity of the situation has led the Peruvian Government to declare a state of emergency in 11 of the country’s 25 provinces. |
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