by Rod Hughes

Tamales are a Christmas tradition here, although difficult to find during other times of the year. But how about one two yards long, about four feet wide and feeds 2,000? Even the most enthusiastic traditional housewife might find that a tall order.

And, indeed, the giant tamal is being made by a factory, Arley Navarro at the southern Desamparados suburb, Aserri, under contract to WalMart of Costa Rica. It will be consumed by some 2,000 shoppers at Hipermas in San Sebastian, transported there in sections It is the work of 20 persons and, since it is the first time it has been done, no one knows how much it will weigh—or how to weight the monster.

WalMart’s manager of corporate affairs, Yolanda Fernandez, says, “I have no idea how they’re going to boil it. Imagine the size of the pot!”

by Rod Hughes

Malls here are unable to control the entry of armed persons, the newspaper Al Dia reported today, in the aftermath of the massacre of eight persons in Omaha, Nebraska, by a demented gunman this week.

But there is a cultural difference that makes this less a problem here than in the United States. The tragedy was the fourth such mass shooting this year in the United States while Costa Rica has never had one. In fact, inside a Costa Rican shopping mall may be one of the safest places to be–the only shooting this year here in a mall was in the Fusion bar at Mall San Pedro. In that incident, 29-year-old Steven Chaves lost his life in an apparently casual altercation with a drinker.

Nor has this country ever suffered a mass shooting in a school, although some weapons in students’ backpacks have been confiscated and an accidental discharge of a student’s firearm killed a schoolgirl several years ago. The tragedy shocked a country unaccustomed to school violence.

But that shooting at Mall San Pedro caused security to be beefed up at the mall. But as Guido Granados, the company’s lawyer, points out, Costa Rican law forbids anyone but police from conducting body searches. Mass searches would be impractical, even were it permitted, during the holiday shopping season. Survellance cameras scan the outside and if someone is seen with a firearm, he is asked for a permit. Metal detectors at the entrance have been deemed too expensive.

Although this country has had no mall massacres, robbery and pickpocketing have been reported outside shopping centers. Police have increased surveillance during the holiday season but shoppers are urged to be aware of suspicious activities near them.

by Rod Hughes

The Costa Rican Electrical Institute (ICE), the telecommunications monopoly, has blocked an ambitious $300 million plan by its subsidiary, RACSA, to be competitive in the open communications market by investing in 360,000 fiber optic broadband connections.

The newspaper La Nacion reported today that ICE executive president Pedro Pablo Quiros has no intention of allowing RACSA to compete with its parent. RACSA needs no fiber optic network of its own, Quiros said. ICE has a much more limited fiber optic network (4 megabips as contrasted with the 20 megabips envisioned by RACSA’s plan) and Quiros said the subsidiary’s idea would “duplicate” its services.

The plans recognise that sooner or later the telecommunications market will be opened in the wake of the referendum passage of the CAFTA free trade treaty with the United States. A bill to do just this is sitting in the Leglislative Assembly, one of the original 13 aimed at bringing Costa Rican practices into coordination with the provisions of the treaty.

But Quiros envisions that RACSA will dedicate itself to such services as a data bank for agriculture, for medicine, for lawyers and digital government services. In fact, ICE is contemplating the transfer of 200,000 RACSA customers to its own services, Quiros added.

RACSA’s employees are not taking the parent company’s decision lying down—200 of RACSA’s 300 employees signed a petition sent to ICE in protest. But Quiros was adamant, telling RACSA employees with most un-Costa Rican directness, “This isn’t a country club, this is a company.”

by Rod Hughes

More bad news from the world of international soccer tourneys–The Under-23-year-old soccer All Stars lost yesterday to Panama in their bid for the third-place berth that would have taken them to the Olympics in Beijing next year.

Earlier they dumped Panama 1-0 in Panama but yesterday in Ricardo Saprissa Stadium they showed themselves clueless, while coach Hernan Medford stalked the sidelines in a fury and all but rent his clothing and poured ashes on his head. Even the expulsion of Roland Algandona that left the Ticos facing only 10 men did not help. After trying to control a deft Gabriel Torres, the apathetic Tico defense let Armando Quintero through for a goal that won the game and forced the penalty kick shootout that Panama won.

As the sportwriter for the newspaper Al Dia wrote in a headline, “We’re in a Nosedive.”

The loss caps a litany of miserable performances of Tico soccer teams this year, right on the heels of Saprissa’s loss to Motagua in the Uncaf battle of clubs in the istmus. Not far behind Alajuela’s loss to Municipalidad of Guatemala and their loss of a third-place finish due to a tiny gang of hooligan fans.

The last really good news was last February when the pro-All Stars won the UNCAF championship again 3-1 over Panama on penalty kicks. All very wonderful, but not long afterward the Under-20-year olds were booted out of the first round of the tourney in Canada for that class. Then it was the under-17-year-old team’s turn, doing well in the Korean World Cup for that age group before getting rudely dumped 2-0 by Argentina. We could go on, but you get the point.

by Rod Hughes

Poor Ticolandia! First, Alajuela loses in the istmus soccer tournament because of a handful of drunken hooligan fans and then its Great White Hope, Saprissa, loses the championship game to Motagua of Honduras 1-0.

Okay, so it’s not the Champions’ League, but it is the best test of football clubs of Central America and the gateway to a hemispheric tourney of clubs. That gate was slammed in Saprissa’s face when Motagua’s Josimar Nascimento blasted a goal past Saprissa goalie Fausto González on Emilio Izaguirre’s pass.

The championship game was marred in the first half by two monstrous referee errors. We know they were errors and not favoritism because they were at the expesne of both sides. First was the blindness of Salvadoran referee Joel Aguilar in missing Saprissa’s Michael Barrantes clear foul in front of Saprissa’s goal. Then, he annulled a goal by Saprissa’s Alejandro Alpizar on a prior foul that appeared to have been committed by a ghost only he could see. Motagua launched attack after attack, especially by Izaguirres and Nascimento.

Meanwhile, one of the leaders of that gang of Alajuela hooligans that cost Alajuela so much (including a $10.000 fine from FIFA for not being able to control its stadium) is now barred from not only the stadium but from entering the entire province of Alajuela! (He lives in San Jose, fortunately for him.) He was cited by a criminal court for use of intimidation and force against a public official, in this case, the police. The fate of others arrested in the melee is uncertain.