January 15, 2009

It is difficult for me to post when I am busy, and not much to post when I’m not. That, I think, is why I am so erratic. Some of the stuff we did with Howie and the crew was new to me. People are always wanting to try something new. I was very impressed with the deep sea fishing. Howie had been before, but wanted his daughter, and the other family to experience it.
There is a fleet of boats at Los Suenos Marina, at Playa Herradura, near Jaco. The cost for a boat to take six, was over $1500. A pretty good deal, and a normal price. These boats are docked, and you can board normally. The price includes lunch, beer, and soft drinks, as well as all the equipment and bait, and a guy to work the fishing rods.
Other boats anchor off the beach, and you have to get a panga off the beach to take you out. Jamie introduced me to Captain Cliff. He was worried about Howie and his wheelchair, but we weren’t. He had a very nice boat with twin outboards, coolers, shade, and all the latest rigging for fishing. He also provided lunch, beer, and soft drinks, and his partner Mike was an experienced fisherman. Working the rods, baiting the hooks, setting out lines and decoys, he was a very busy boy. When the sailfish started bothering the bait, he played it perfect, giving it lots of line before setting the hook. Then the fun started. Melissa, Stephanie, and Francoise all got tired out, and Serge finished it off. Forty minutes of high class fighting fish. It was a thrill to watch, and what a beautiful specimen once we had it to the boat. Pictures were taken, Howie filmed most of the fight, and it was released. The fish weighed about 150 pounds. We also caught a small (50lb) tuna. It was a shorter fight, and Serge brought that one in alone. The cost for this great day was only $800. One motor overheated, and we came back slow under power of 1. Cliff offered a $100 discount for this inconvenience, but Howie said it was a great day, paid full price, and tipped both Cliff and Mike.

January 9, 2009

Happy New Year. It’s been a busy time since my last post. I eventually got my paper from immigration saying I had renewed my residency. When I took the letters in, they told me they had to be in Spanish, and when I returned with those, the lady assured me that all the delays were my fault. Now I have to go back again to get my identity card.
Linda arrived on the 18th November, and we worked to get the place ready for our first company. Howie came down on 24th December with his daughter, Stephanie, and his friends Serge and Francoise with their daughter Melissa. They were here for two weeks, and to put it mildly, did a lot of stuff. The young girls enjoyed the Huevo most, I think, and we went quite often, although I never managed to stay awake for the big Saturday night dance over there. We went deep sea fishing and caught a sailfish and a tuna. We had less luck fishing from a panga in the Gulf, but enjoyed a scenic tour, including the prison on Isla San Lucas, a secluded beach on the other side of the island, and a beer in Playa Naranjo. The women all went horseback riding in the mountains near Miramar. They also had a day in Puntarenas to explore and shop, and a few visits with Jamie and her animals. Erika made ceviche for us. The fresh fish and shrimp were hard to find, as the fisherman aren’t getting many right now, and the shrimp farms are in the drying, sterilizing and restocking phase.
As they say, a good time was had by all. We have a month now before more visitors arrive, and there is lot’s to do. We are getting caught up though, and as long as there is less to repair than improve, I think we can gain on it.
Beast, my 8 month old puppy died of tetanus on New Year’s day. It’s very rare in dogs. It is a spore, and entered through the cut where I had him neutered.
There was an earthquake centered near San Jose yesterday. We felt the movement here. The little table I was sitting at bounced around, and the cracks in the floor of the old house spread a bit, but there was no damage.

The American-European newsblog is interrupting its service for a reorganization. However, the blog will continue to remain in its customary place to allow readers to browse back through the several years of this feature’s existence.

Readers who are just becoming acquainted with Costa Rica are especially invited to get a “feel” of the country through this news archive. You are invited to visit the main site www.american-european.net to see detailed information about living in Costa Rica and purchasing real estate here. Or visit the properties database directly at
www.american-european.net/properties/

by Rod Hughes

Costa Ricans feel that next year will be hard economically but half of those answering a Demoscopia poll made for the daily newspaper Al Dia do not feel that their own standard of living will change much. A hair over 50% could foresee little change but 32% said they expected the worst.

Few had any illusions about the effect the world´s economic downturn would have on the country as a whole. A trifle over three-quarters said it would be a bad year while only 18% kept their optimism up for 2009. And with the holidays nearly upon us, as Al Dia notes, the poll struck a harsh note for retailers. Some 81% said it was a bad time to buy things as contracted with the 55% who responded to the question the same way last year.

But Costa Ricans generally maintained some optimism. Nearly 68% expect economic conditions to grow better. Even in the area of crime, one of the chief concerns for the past several years, some 65% expected citizens would be safer next year.

by Rod Hughes

A bill to pardon hardship cases of those who contracted public housing but have fallen far behind in their payments has passed its first reading in the the Legislative Assembly. The current law stipulates that those who do not pay back the extremely soft loans of public housing within 20 years will face foreclosure and, indeed, some legal processes are already in court.

In the 1980s, the Banhvi housing bank was created and Costa Rica, faced with a housing shortage and a population of workers who could not muster the down payments to own their own homes, began an ambitious public housing program that has continued into the present time. The presentation of housing “bonds” became a nearly monthly ceremony.

Many of the original mortgage contractors have disappeared but the debts incurred to BANHVI have lived on. At least 2,100 families were in danger of losing their shelter. Some, who had contracted their homes with such now defunct entities such as Banco Anglo or Mutual Guanacaste, had not idea whom to pay. Others suffered hard luck, such as incapacity of the breadwinner.

In many cases, the legal costs of foreclosure would be larger than anything the bank could recoup. The original debts were incurred in inflation-eroded colones and the tiny houses themselves are in most cases sadly deteriorated. The 35 votes for the bill underscores the general approval the lawmakers felt.

by Rod Hughes

Saprissa regained the lead in its group of First Division soccer Wednesday in a 2-1 defeat of Puntarenas. Ironically, one of its goals was by veteran Ronald Gomez (with an assist by Michael Barrantes) who is scheduled to leave the club when his contract runs out next month. Moreover, he also made the pass to Jairo Arrieta who scored the second, winning marker.

The big purple “S” is weeding out some of its veterans to make way for new blood, not without some misgiving of its fans. Gomez substituted for Alejandro Alpizar at minute 17 after the latter was injured. But Gomez, nicknamed “La Bala,” (the bullet) has been around for a long time and, for the past year, it has been mainly warming the bench. And he isn’t the only veteran being shown the door.

Try Bennett is already gone and goalie Jose Francisco Porras will go early next year at the expiration of his contract. As for Gomez, he will be 34 in January and may not be picked up by any top-level club. But he looked stylish Wednesday as he evaded the expert guard of Kurt Bernard to make his goal against Puntarenas.

Saprissa has a strong Second Division team, which the club uses as a “farm team” to develop talent for the big time–indeed, it was one of the first clubs in Costa Rican soccer to do so.

>by Rod Hughes
(From La Nacion)

Spanish operatic tenor Placido Domingo arrived this morning at 4:28 a.m. in Costa Rica for a concert. After disembarking at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Alajuela from a private jet owned by Banco de Costa Rica, one of his concert’s sponsors, he was whisked away to his hotel, surrounded by National Security agents as if he were a visiting president.

It was Domingo’s first visit to this country and, although his schedule does not include a tour of the country, he asked his escort if there were any beaches nearby. He had taken off from Washington D.C. where he had just finished directing the orchestra for a performance of the opera Lucrecia Borgia.

Senior Citizens Get Own Party for 2010

Senior citizens will get their own political voice in the 2010 national elections and, if the Partido Alianza Mayor (PAM) should win a seat in the Legislative Assembly, a lawmaker to push through legislation to benefit residents over 65 years old. The movement’s president, Jose Miguel Abarca, is only 31, however.

The group’s hope is that it will enjoy the same success as when Oscar Lopez, confined to a wheelchair, won a seat among the lawmakers in 2006, representing the physically handicapped. His party is called in translation the Accessibility without Exclusion party and, with some backing of President Oscar Arias and his National Liberation party, has pushed through some legislation for the handicapped. (Sen. John McCain, do you want to broaden your horizons?)

Long Range Security Cameras to be Installed in Capital

With great fanfare, San Jose Mayor Johnny Araya announced the installation of 15 long range security cameras in the downtown capital to discourage crime. The new generation of video has higher definition and a range of 300 meters as well as 360-degree coverage when controlled by a central monitor. The idea, he said, was to cover 160 blocks of the city so that Municipal Police can respond to evil doers.

Security cameras are already installed in some areas but many doubt their real effectiveness compared with, for example, actual patrolmen pounding a beat. Last year, Tico Times editorial cartoonist Nestor Gonzalez depicted two criminals at work on a street, when one calls attention to the security camera. “Yeah,” responds the other, “we should steal that, too.”

Elections Tribunal Rejects Death Penalty Referendum Bid

The Supreme Elections Tribuna has flatly rejected a nationwide referendum on the death penalty. Costa Rica’s 1949 constitution forbids putting criminals to death, following a tradition begun in 1882 by then-President Tomas Guardia. A Guanacaste resident petitioned the tribunal for a vote on allowing those guilty of murder or sex crimes to be executed.

The election supervisory body ruled that constitutional changes can only be made if the Legislative Assembly first clears the way. Non-constitutional referendums, such as the one that ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement, can be put to a vote by petition signed by 136,751 citizens over age 18.

by Rod Hughes

The Legislative Assembly’s coalition of 38 deputies voted “yay!” yesterday after the second reading of the final of 13 bills needed to bring Costa Rican laws into accord with provisions of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Now the country is officially a member of the trade pact on which President Oscar Arias bet so much of his political capital.

The two-thirds majority consisting of the National Liberation, Social Christian Unity and Libertarian Movement contingents in the unicameral congress capped a tough battle and the longest political soap opera in recent memory. The Citizen Action Party (PAC) maintained its opposition to the end after fighting a year and a half rear guard campaign that often held up votes on other issues.

Granted, some housekeeping measures are still to be performed, but the titanic struggle is over and the Executive Branch has until Dec. 31 to accomplish them. Three regulations relating to foreign trade have to be signed by the President and various ministries, including Foreign Trade and the Environmental Ministry, have to reform some rules. No difficulties are expected but, where bureaucracy is concerned, one never knows.

The jubilation on the Assembly floor yesterday may have masked how close run the whole affair had been, with only a bare, delicate coalition of 38 votes staving off the nullification of the plebecite last November, Costa Rica’s first, that approved CAFTA by a narrow margin. PAC’s opposition to the trade pact had made itself felt so definitely that Arias had to plead for two extensions on the deadline to join the other nations.

The final bill to clear the way was one that had not been expected to be especially controversial: the copyright and trademark law. But after it had been passed, just before the first extension deadline was about to run out, a constitutional review of the Supreme court found that on one provision the lawmakers had illegally cut corners.

The other CAFTA member nations graciously granted another three months, a generous concession considering that all of them had quickly ratified the treaty, some within days after signing. In the U.S. Congress, the measure had gone through after little debate despite opposition of the Democrats who were then in the minority.

PAC and a couple of socialist allies mainly objected to two of the laws needed to implement the treaty: one freeing the country from the monopoly of the government insurance company INS and the other opening the telecommunications market and breaking the ICE monopoly over the Internet access. Ironically, they were not the last to be passed, due to the procedural error on the copyright law. But PAC’s obstructionism cost them a lawmaker who withdrew from the party since, she said, the people had spoken in the referendum.

Some observers, especially foreigners, were puzzled by PAC’s fierce opposition and the pro-CAFTA determination to pass it at the expense of often urgent legislation. The English-language weekly The Tico Times editorially scratched its head and said, essentially, “What’s all the hoopla about? It’s just a trade treaty…”

But that ignores the ideological struggle going on between PAC and the President. Arias had taken his left-of-center National Liberation party into the center, even, some dissident members complained, right of center. While traditionally the party had not been hostile to business, it had been definitely socialist. That left the doctrinaire PAC under Otton Solis to fill the vacuum on the left, a place on the political spectrum that would have been, in the 1950-80 era, occupied by a handful of communist lawmakers.

Leglislative Assembly rules do not admit filibustering but PAC used something against the 13 CAFTA laws a tactic nearly as effective. The party whips tried to strangle those bills in their cribs by proposing an avalanche of amendments. Whether this tactic will backfire on the party and its almost inevitable presidential candidate, Otton Solis, in the 2010 elections remains to be seen, but it will likely be an issue to be exploited by their adversaries.

by Rod Hughes

The Interamerican Highway south of Cartago will be closed Wednesday and Thursday to repair a cave-in produced by heavy rains. The damage is located at San Isidro de el Tejar in an area known as Cangrejo but alternate routes can be employed to circumnavigate the closure in order to reach the Southern Zone and the panama border.

Light vehicles departing from the Central Valley may use the Desamparados-Tarabaca-La Fila-Rio Conejo-Frailes-San Cristobal del Sur-La Sierra route to rejoin the main highway south. Another possibility for cars and pickups would be Desamparados-Tarbaca-La Fila-Rio Conejo-Frailes to Los Santos in the area known as El Empalme. Heavy cargo vehicles are advised to take the Costanera Highway.

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport that the exceptionally heavy rains that undermined the highway revealed the necessity to install a drainpipe under the highway at the cave-in site.

by Rod Hughes

The Mexican appliance manufacturer Mabe (pronounced Mah-bay) announced yesterday that it was laying off workers at its Heredia plant. Mabe acquired controlling interest in the Costa Rican Atlas company that made and sold appliances throughout the region last February. The firm did not say how many workers would be affected.

The Heredia plant turns out home appliances such as electric stoves, refrigerators, air conditioners and microwave ovens, employing 1,350 workers. Company spokesman Diego Artinano, blamed world economic uncertainty for a drop in sales that made the cutback necessary. Artinano added that the firm had to adjust its production to conform to a “perceptible contraction” in its export sales.

The announcement comes in stark contrast to another large manufacturer here, Intel. That company announced last month the launching of new products and investments in research in which this country plays a role. But, as a business writer for The Tico Times observed recently, Intel has never been a company to swim with the mainstream.