by Rod Hughes
As we reported last week (see blog 1615) the Costa Rican foreign ministry continues to push for calm in the dispute between Colombia and Ecuador over the Colombian air strike in Ecuadoran territory against the Marxist FARC guerrillas that killed 24 of the insurgents, including their number two […]
by Rod Hughes
“I submit only to Costa Rican judges and not to some Mexican politician,” Costa Rica’s head prosecutor Francisco Dall’Anese saltily responded to recent criticism by the ex-head of Mexico’s National Action Party (PAN) Manuel Espino. The Mexican politico leveled a harsh attack against Dall’Anese’s prosecution of former […]
by Rod Hughes
A sweeping crime bill has entered the traffic jam behind the still-to-be-approved laws relating to CAFTA. The bill includes government confiscation of large fortunes that appear suddenly in bank accounts here and cannot be explained by their owners.
The bill also would impose more […]
February 19, 2008.
All the books said that the Ticos had no sense of time. Well, I figured that meant fashionably late, or perhaps the part about saying they will go tomorrow or next week, then deciding they can’t but seeing no need […]
by Rod Hughes
All high school graduates will be bilingual in 2017, if a new plan launched by the Arias Administration is implemented. The demand for English-speaking workers for multinational companies in the country has far outstripped the supply–only one in 10 adult Costa Ricans are comfortable in a foreign language.
[…]
by Rod Hughes
Costa Rican colon bank deposits soared more than 15% during a year compared with 2007, despite a low inflation rate and double digit inflation, even adjusted for inflation, a Central Bank reports shows. Interest rates had dropped from 8% to 4% while last year’s inflation was 11.4%.
[…]
by Rod Hughes
A reminder to the absentminded for March 20 and afterward: Costa Rican cell phones will add an “8″ to the beginning of their numbers while fixed phones will add a “2″ there.
With a huge demand for new lines, Costa Rica has been […]
by Rod Hughes
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias will meet with his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daniel Ortega, twice this week at largely ceremonial events. Although the schedules do not formally include discussions about the diplomatic crisis surrounding Colombia, it is a safe bet that off-the-record conversation will touch on the theme, since […]
by Rod Hughes
Costa Rican sprinter Nery Brenes finished just out of the money at the World Indoor competition in Valencia, Spain, last weekend, an impressive fourth in the 400-meter. His time was 46.65 seconds, two laps around the 200-meter oval.
This was the best performance of […]
by Rod Hughes
Heredia, ambitiously nicknamed “the Team” in Spanish (where the word is a foreign one), seemed somewhat schitzoid in its 2-1 soccer win over a scrappy Liberia. In the first half, “the Team” played like champs, scoring their goals with aplomb against a porous defense.
When […]
