Authorities estimate that over 300,000 passengers will pass through Juan Santamaria Airport every day in December.  As many as 45 flights will arrive and depart on any given day.  Adita Blanco, Immigration chief at the airport stated that 15 new officers begin work monday and that they will be distributed over the 6 work shifts.  The idea is that all 11 immigration kiosks are always open.

Customs Director, José Alberto Martínez, stated that a study has been made of the luggage revision process.  Shortly, they should have a diagnosis and be able to implement changes that will increase efficiency of the inspections. Most functionaries consulted concurred that the lack of space in the airport is the reason that they cannot increase the amount of equipment and personnel.

The Labor Court resolved on Thursday that the water workers strike was illegal and that they must return to work. The majority planned to return on Friday. 

The Water Institute may not pay salaries to the workers for the days they were on strike, but instead of deducting those days from upcoming checks, the Labor Ministry and management are looking for other ways to take back the salary.  One possibility is to increase the office hours and have the workers work overtime without pay.

Petty criminals are having a field day ripping off people for between 1000 and 20000 colones through tickets for false raffles or lotteries, and easy financing schemes on PCs or work opportunities.  While each victim is taken for a small amount, the criminals are getting away with large amounts of cash because of the number victims. 

Authorities believe only 2 percent of crimes are reported, since victims either don’t want to go through the procedure for reporting such a small amount, or they feel foolish that they were taken. The delinquents are normally well dressed, well spoken, and have great sales skills. They generally contact their victims by phone, and even set up offices in San José.  One agents said "what they do is look for what people need right now, like trips, computers, food or work. People believe them, even though sometimes they have doubts, and they go ahead. "

Types of Rip Offs

Vacations
The victim receives an invitation to dinner. At dinner, they are offered a share in a beach club.  They will get a few free days in the club as a gift.  The membership can be paid in payments, but they ask for the first installment to be paid by credit card.  The con artists charge the entire amount of the membership to the card.

Christmas Baskets
Door to door, or by phone, they offer a Christmas basket, there are different kinds but normally it is with wine, grapes, pears, and fruit cake. They charge in payments of 2000 colones.   When people call to pick up the basket, there is no reply or they say the company went broke and no baskets are left.

Travel with la "Sele"
When the National Team is about to play, offices promise packages with everything included.  They charge a 20,000 colon downpayment and promise to find tickets, visas and other documents.  Then they disappear with the money.

Computer Clubs
The scamster calls offering a club to buy a computer.  The  victim pays weekly quotas to a messenger that comes to their work or home.  They get receipts, but when they go to buy the computer the company does not exist.

Classified Scam
The criminals look for people who are selling their car in the newspaper.  They ask for a test drive, and along the way they ask to stop at a supermarket or pharmacy.  They ask to borrow money to buy something, then get out and never come back.

"Employment" Agencies
Offer work in Panamá with salaries of $1.500 (¢750k) per month.  In order to get the passport, they ask the victim to meet them at Immigration.  There they ask for up to 25,000 colones, and disappear inside the building, they never return.

MOPT (Ministry of Transport and Public Works) has authorized several companies to begin work on road repairs for 270 kilometers of roadways in Guanacaste (Santa Cruz, Nicoya, Hojancha, Nandayure y Tilarán).  The repairs will cost 545 million colones.

In a strange turn of events, gas prices fell Wednesday.  Although in some quarters it didn’t help much, as gas stations were out of fuel?  Some observers note that it is interesting that in multiple price hikes there was always fuel available, yet when prices dropped at midnight Tuesday, many stations had no inventory to sell at the new price.  Hmmm.

At the Shell station in Moravia only Super was available and at the Total station there only diesel.  Even the Servicentro Cristo Rey, in Ochomogo just a few meters from the RECOPE plant, was "out" of gas Wednesday.  Gas transporters verified that on Tuesday gas stations bought only the minimum amount of gas, so that they wouldn’t lose money when the price fell.  Al Dia visited another ten gas stations in Sabanilla, Tres Ríos, Curridabat, Cartago, Heredia and Desamparados, where all all customers were attended to normally.

The situation will be investigated by ARESEP, since by law the gas stations may not interrupt service.  Berny Ramírez, president of the Costa Rica Fuel Provider’s Association stated that companies involved in this ruse should be sanctioned.  "I believe that it is irresponsible that the service stations didn’t have supplies on hand to meet the demand.",  he stated.

Act early and you can beat the lines! As of Monday in over 700 authorized points of sale you can pay your mandatory car insurance for 2006. Besides the INS itself and its authorized agencies, these banks will have the stickers for sale: Banco Nacional, Banco de Costa Rica, Banco Crédito Agrícola (BanCredito), Banex, BAC San José, Promérica and Cuscatlán.  You can also pay over the Internet with INS or the banks.

In order to get the insurance, present the following documents: current technical revision from RiTeVe, license plate number, and your identification.  Check for additional documents needed if the car is not in your name or in a company name.

The obligatory insurance covers injuries and deaths resulting from traffic accidents, no matter which driver is responsible or if no fault exists.  Covers civil responsibilities produced in accidents  derived from the use, possession or maintenance of motorized vehicles, when the sentence is final and emitted by a competent court.

The Chancellor of Nicaragua, Norman Caldera, stated that Nicaragua was willing to go to the International Court in the Hague to ask them to return Guanacaste to its original owner.  In 1825 "Guanacastecos" voted to secede from Nicaragua, then joined Costa Rica as the seventh province.  This action was ratified in the 1858 Cañas-Jeréz treaty that delimited each countries borders. 

Caldera, stated that this was a response to Costa Rica’s petition in the same court and had been suggested to the government by several Nicaraguan legal experts.  "There are some who say, well if Costa Rica is going to put in doubt the Cleveland Letter, then we should too. For example, ask them to give back Guanacaste". 

Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco, wasn’t interested in debating the possibility "I will not analyze this, because it is completely out of line, I have nothing to say".   Costa Rica’s top diplomat, Roberto Tovar, stated that "this matter was settled ages ago.  In 1858, Costa Rica and Nicaragua agreed in treaties to each nation’s borders."   He explained that in the 1858 Cañas-Jeréz treaty clearly states that the San Juan River belongs to Nicaragua (one of very few border rivers in the world that belongs to one country), and that Nicoya "was, is and always shall be a part of Costa Rica".

• In 1812 the Spanish Constitution divided the territory of the Realm of Guatemala in political districts. One of them was the District of Nicoya, part the actual Province of Guanacaste, which depended upon Nicaragua for its political and civil administration.

• The District of Nicoya was made up of the Palenque Diriá (today Santa Cruz), Siete Cueros (today known as Filadelfia) and the town of Guanacaste (today called Liberia).

• The internal conflicts in Nicaragua caused the people of Nicoya to have closer contact with the Costa Ricans in Puntarenas, Esparza, Bagaces and Cañas.

• After a plebiscite on July 25th 1825, defined by Dictionary…. as "A vote in which a population exercises the right of national self-determination" the District of Nicoya annexed itself to Costa Rica. The union was ratified in the Cañas-Jerez Border Treaty of 1858 between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Later it was ratified in the Cleveland Letter of 1888. 

Escazu and Santa Ana will be the first towns to benefit from Wi-Max access in Costa Rica, RACSA has announced its new program for 2006.  This will allow properly equipped PCs, laptops PDAs and cell phones wireless broadband access to the Internet.

The main advantages of the technology are lower cost (no wires), higher speeds( 500kbit/s and 2 Mbit/s) and better range (5 to 8 km from cells as opposed to 3 km for DSL lines).  RACSA plans to install one cell in Santa Ana - Escazu in January to serve 500 accounts. During the remainder of 2006 they plan to install 6 cells in the GAM (Grand Metropolitan Area) to serve 20,000 users. 

 Wi-MAX technology is promoted by the WiMax Forum, the board includes enterprises like:

According to the Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimax)
WiMAX is an acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 standards.  Products that pass the conformity tests for WiMAX are capable of forming wireless connections between them to permit the carrying of internet packet data. It is similar to WiFi in concept, but has certain improvements that are aimed at improving performance and should permit usage over much greater distances.

Visit the Wikipedia for complete information about WiMax.

Today new regulations enter into effect for taxi drivers, even as concern over the upcoming 32% hike in rates is tangible. Taxi drivers must wear blue dress pants and white short sleeve shirts in order to comply with an executive decree that is now in effect. Shorts and jeans are not allowed, although in certain climates exceptions are permitted as long as the same colors are used.

Taxi drivers are divided about the regulations, with some seeing it as a good way to establish a professional standard. Others believe that the government doesn’t have the right to tell them which uniform to use.  There is no traffic ticket for not complying with the new code, but non-compliance could lead to revocation of the taxi permit.

The new US ambassador to Costa Rica, Mark Langdale, will present his credentials today to President Abel Pacheco.  Langdale will take over from John Danilovich, who left the post in June 2004. Langdale was confirmed last Friday by the US Senate.

The founder of Caprock Communications, which develops and operates fiber optic telecommunications lines, stated that his first concern was to watch the progress of the CAFTA agreement in Congress.