Archive for October, 2006

United Nations Lends Support To Disarmament Proposal

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006

By Katherine Stanley, Tico Times Staff
The U.N. General Assembly voted Monday to begin work on an international arms-trade treaty to prevent weapons from reaching conflict zones and developing countries. A resolution condemning “the absence of international, common norms for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms” received the support of 139 countries, with only […]

Sixth Fugitive from La Reforma Turns Himself In

Monday, October 30th, 2006

Victor Urbina Thursday became the sixth of eight fugitives who escaped from La Reforma prison Oct. 9 to be found by police, the daily La Nación reported.
Urbina, who was sentenced to 27 years in jail for rape and aggravated robbery, showed up at the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) office in Tres Ríos, east of San […]

Limón redevelopment plan to be explained today

Monday, October 30th, 2006

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The government is expected to announce a sweeping improvement plan for the Provincia de Limón today, just a few days after the latest dock strike there ended.
The government said Friday that the dock strike in Limón is over. The accord was reached early Friday. The government dropped its demand that […]

Citigroup Buys Banco Uno

Saturday, October 28th, 2006

The largest US bank, Citigroup, purchased Grupo Financiero Uno, which has a presence in Central America and Panama, according to an announcement by the company Friday. The amount of the transaction was not stated, and it is subject to approval by regulatory agencies.
Grupo Uno owns Banco Uno and Aval Card in Costa Rica. It also […]

Government and Dock Workers reach agreement

Saturday, October 28th, 2006

- La Nacion
The government and the dock workers union (JAPDEVA) reached an agreement yesterday that ended the strike on the dockes. The parties signed an agreement after tough negotiations, particularly on sanctions to be applied to striking workers and workers who participated in the work slowdown which was declared illegal by a Limon court.

Point 4 […]

GSM Lines Gone

Friday, October 27th, 2006

www.nacion….
Orlando Cascante, director of Mobile Services at ICE, confirmed yesterday that the Ericsson GSM lines were sold out as of last Wednesday.  The 600.000 Ericsson lines were sold in 11 months, about 2,000 lines per day.  TDMA lines are still available.
Cascante stated that some lines will be recovered in the short term due to non […]

Fiber optic line repairs set

Friday, October 27th, 2006

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad said Thursday that vandals have damaged a fiber optic communications line between Liberia and Cañas in Guanacaste. The communications monopoly said that its crews would be doing work on the line between 10 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Saturday and that service might be interrupted.

Dock dispute continues between union, government

Friday, October 27th, 2006

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The dock situation in Limón still is not resolved.
The government is ready to pay dock workers some $900,000 promised by the prior Abel Pacheco administration. But dock workers want amnesty for those who participated in this week’s strike, something the government is not prepared to offer.
Francisco Morales,the minister of Trabajo, […]

Focus of protest now shifts to the Limón docks

Thursday, October 26th, 2006

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The focus of the government and free trade opponents has shifted to Limón where dock workers have upgraded their slowdown to a full-scale strike.
President Óscar Arias Sánchez has reiterated his desire for dialog but insists that he will not do what trade treaty opponents want: withdraw the document from the […]

Reporters Without Borders Ranks Costa Rica Ahead of US in Press Freedom

Wednesday, October 25th, 2006

www.rsf.org…
Reporters Without Borders issues its fifth annual Worldwide Index of Press Freedom. “Journalists in North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma and China are still risking their life or imprisonment for trying to keep us informed,” the organisation said. “The steady erosion of press freedom in the United States, France and Japan is also alarming.”

The United […]