While you will be more likely to buy "Patí" than a hot dog, every day you get one step closer to being able to enjoy the not-national pastime, baseball, in the venerable "Big Boy" stadium in Limon Province.   The 59 year old stadium is undergoing an 80 million colon makeover that should be completed by May.  The project includes new stands, new locker rooms, offices, improved drainage and a new field.

In association with the effort, JAPDEVA is sponsoring projects to involve today’s youth in this sport, including promoting the history and principles of the sport to kids in the area.

In a national broadcast, Otton Solís lamented that his fellow candidate Oscar Arias would not debate him in the final week of the campaign.  Solis accused " A group of people are trying to hold hostage democracy and they say that debating is fighting.  I proposed a debate to show that there is a group who has governed us during 20 years. During this time this group has favored certain sectors, handicapped farmers, and taken the middle class to the brink of collapse. " 

For Solís, the debate is vital for the Costa Rican voter, so that they may elect between 2 different paths that have been presented. " I proposed making a debate over ideas, proposals and trajectories, but this neoliberal group has said that they won’t debate, even if the Pope asked them. I want to debate because this group is promoting a trade agreement (CAFTA) that puts in danger our institutions, this group wants us to think that the CAFTA that was negotiated is the only way to development, but that is untrue.  Costa Rica’s social model has proven this."

"We are going to put the country in orbit, and we will start with the province of Guanacaste", were the words that Franklin Chang chose to announce his new scientific laboratory in Liberia. The first step of the project is to build 3 vacuum chambers. 2 will be exported to a company in the US to be used in plasma experiments related with the Chang plasma motor.

The research center will have an initial budget of $1 million and is located on the Daniel Oduber - La Flor university campus, which is a part of EARTH University.

Construction will begin February 15th and the center will open by July 1st.  "I have always believed that this is like sowing the seeds of the future and we want to help our youth".

Survivors and family members of victims in the Banco Nacional of Monteverde assault have filed claims for 1,700,000,000 colones ($3.4 million) against the assailant Erly Hurtado, Banco Nacional, the State and the security company Delta S.A.

The highest amount claimed is by the family of Mario Lopez, a bus ticket vendor who died in the assault. They claim 800 million colones in damages.  His parents, Emilce Miranda and Jorge López, ask ¢100 million for suffering damages and another ¢100 million because their son helped maintain them. Each sibling, Maritza, Marta y José Luis López is asking  ¢100 millones for pain and suffering too. Among the proof offered is the testimony of  Steven Villegas, a survivor who saw Mario López in pain.

Lawyers Andrés Pérez and William Guido, gave to the Attorney General’s office a request for indemnization of  25 million colones plus 30 million for pain and suffering on behalf of Alexánder Arguedas, Gerardo Suárez, Ingrid Ulate, Eduardo Rodríguez, Francisco Figuerola, Bertha Weckshell (foreigner), and Carelia Medina.

Ricaurte Jiménez, and his client Gerardo Céspedes, have claimed ¢435 millones. " We think that the bank’s clients entered the branch to make normal transactions, not to be killed, mutilated or held hostage." 

Young Steven Villegas, who was shot and escaped on one foot from the massacre, asked for ¢80 millones: ¢30 million for material damages and the rest for pain and suffering.

Cashier Nancy Ramírez, the last hostage released, confirmed that she did not submit any claim.  "What I had to ask for, I asked for from God and the Virgin of the Angels inside the bank.  He gave it to me, he let me get out alive and gave me a healthy daughter.  What I want is to be at peace, no money will give me back my friend (Rosa) nor my co-worker (Juan Pablo), nor will it erase all the memories of that day.  God will know what to do with this person  (Hurtado)", said Ramírez.

The Tico Times Online
Among the issues that will sway Costa Rican voters in the upcoming presidential election, environmental concerns appear to have a stronger pull than candidates have taken into consideration in their campaigns.

Though a recent survey conducted for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Costa Rica revealed 73% of eligible voters in the country agree a candidate’s position on environmental issues could determine their vote, the topic has been abandoned during this campaign period, according to analysts.

Instead of focusing on the environment, presidential candidates have chosen to target other topics that weigh on the average Tico, such as the high cost of living and security issues, said Sergio Araya, president of the Political Science and International Relations Professional Association.

Although candidates have laid out environmental plans – some more detailed than others – in their platforms, famed political analyst Rodolfo Cerdas told The Tico Times these are not reliable indicators of how their parties would operate in an eventual administration.

“Platforms have become a mere conventionality, they are drafted and then tossed aside,” he told The Tico Times, pointing out that during his campaign in 2002, President Abel Pacheco promised to promote the amendment of a set of “environmental guarantees” to the Constitution (TT, Sept. 20, 2002).

However, the guarantees are collecting dust in the Legislative Assembly.

According to the recent survey, carried out by the U.S.-based firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates for the Nature Conservancy, an international non-governmental conservationist group, Nov. 20-29, 2005, the environmental concerns of Costa Rican voters are such that a majority would support the government if it dedicated more funds to protect it.

A total of 90% of 993 adults interviewed said they would support the use of funds to improve water and air quality, and half of these voters would take on the responsibility through the payment of fees or increased taxes.

In a statement from the Nature Conservancy, Costa Rica director Zdenka Piskulich, said judging by the concern voters have expressed about environmental topics, a large chance exists that the next administration could promote an environmental agenda with the support of the public.

“Environmental groups can also assist with specific initiatives with some certainty that their points of view will not be regarded as an expression of isolated interests,” she said.

With the exception of the United Left Coalition, which associates the exploitation of natural resources with the capitalist model from which it seeks to distance itself, most presidential candidates’ platforms coincide in highlighting the most crucial threats to the environment, analyst Araya said.

He listed water pollution, deforestation and waste management as top priorities.

However, the platforms lack clarity in explaining what exactly will be done to resolve these problems, Araya said.

Arias Prioritizes Water Issues

To avoid this problem, the National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate, Oscar Arias, ranked first among the country’s three leading candidates, worked backwards on his platform, according to René Castro, the party’s environmental coordinator.

Instead of developing plans to resolve environmental problems listed in the platform if elected, the party decided to make a detailed cost analysis before elaborating the platform, said Castro, who was Environment Minister during Arias’ presidency (1994-98).

Castro said the party decided to prioritize the topic of water conservation and pollution, and dedicated a significant portion of the platform to discussion of this issue.

National Liberation seeks to create a sewage system and water treatment plants for the metropolitan area as a first step, he said.

However, the party might not preserve the moratorium on open-pit mining signed by President Pacheco at the beginning of his administration (TT, June 7, 2002).

According to Castro, although Arias would not promote open-pit mining in the country, this is not a priority for the party, which would rather uphold a policy of sustainable development.

As for the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), National Liberation “is very clear that it must go forth,” but it will improve everything it can about the treaty, Castro said in response to whether the party would attempt to renegotiate the much-criticized environmental portion of the treaty.

Solís Focus on Education

Second runner up in the polls is candidate Ottón Solís’ Citizen Action Party (PAC), which is committed to fulfilling the environmental mission laid out in its platform, according to Carlos Quesada, coordinator of PAC’s environmental commission.

Quesada, a specialist in hydraulic resources, said the party will target waste management and pollution problems and focus on sustainable development and environmental education.

“Financial resources are required (to carry out the plan); much of it depends on how the economy will work,” Quesada said.

He said to curb the country’s waste-management issues, the party would try integrated politics, from new legislation to educational campaigns to improve the way Costa Ricans manage their waste.

As a solution to air-pollution problems, the party proposes “establishing a more efficient public transportation” system, which might include long-term studies and possibly electric trolleys in San José, Quesada said.

The party also proposes to renegotiate the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) to protect Costa Rican resources, especially water, from privatization, he said.

He explained that because PAC considers open-pit mining a great risk to the environment that brings few benefits to the country, the party aims to maintain President Pacheco’s moratorium.

Solís also supports passing of the environmental guarantees bill Pacheco submitted to the Assembly, but would like to review its contents, Quesada explained.

Guevara Would Eliminate SETENA

In his platform, third runner-up Libertarian Movement Party candidate Otto Guevara does not address the issue of environmental threats, and dedicates a mere four paragraphs of his 41-page document to the environment.

According to Franz Tattenbach, president of the Foundation for the Development of the Central Mountainous System (FUNDECOR) and environmental coordinator for the Libertarian Movement, their proposal is short because of its conciseness and simplicity.

In the platform, Guevara pledges to modernize national parks and promote the creation of private protected areas.

He also proposes to eliminate the “obstacle-generating functions” of the Technical Secretariat of the Environment Ministry (SETENA), an institution whose functions include the approval of developers’ environmental impact studies.

Instead of SETENA, known for its lengthy paperwork and the large amounts of time it spends in evaluating these studies (TT, July 2, 2004), Guevara’s platform suggests establishing clear parameters for developers and applying firm sanctions against those who transgress the law.

Guevara vows to ensure “environmental sustainability be present in different public policies.”

“We will give adequate treatment to waste water, solid waste and the conservation of our flora and fauna on land as well as in the ocean,” his platform says.

The party fully supports CAFTA and considers renegotiation of any of the treaty’s points, including the environment, unnecessary, Tattenbach explained.