How much will US unemployment hurt in Central America?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:45:09 +0000

Around the world, the early bells of a so-called end of the recession have been intoxicating. Mexico and Brazil are among the recent nations to proclaim themselves to have emerged from the depths of crisis.

Honduran accord falls apart

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:55:51 +0000

After speaking too soon, perhaps, the U.S. State Department appeared at a loss for words today as the much touted Honduran accord — which high ranking U.S. officials helped broker — broke apart once again.

Excerpts from the evening Honduras finally put an end to political stalemate

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:10:17 +0000

Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti announced Thursday night that negotiators finally reached an agreement that could allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to the presidency, ending the political stalemate that this week marked four months since the Honduran military toppled their chief-in-command.

Nicaragua bound for a world of political pain?

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:48:25 +0000

Following a surprise ruling Monday by high court magistrates, Nicaragua might have gained license to enter a world of political pain akin to that being experienced in nearby Honduras.

The decision by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court to strike down a constitutional ban on re-election plays into the hand of President Daniel Ortega, seeking to run for a second term in 2011, but is driving a wedge into an already divided nation.

Court sentences former president to five years in prison over kickbacks

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:12:53 +0000

Costa Rica’s right wing is reeling after a San Jose court sentenced the former president, Rafael Angel Calderon, to five years in prison for accepting kickbacks and arranging other unlawful payments from a Finnish medical firm, in the country’s first corruption trial against a previous head of state.

Calderon, who led the country from 1990 to 1994, was found guilty Monday of receiving some $520,000 from a loan intended for medical equipment for the Costa Rica’s public hospitals. Calderon says he’s innocent and that the money was a consulting fee.

Carter to help on Honduras

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:53:34 +0000

When the going gets tough, the tough get the world's most decorated peacemakers. At least, that seems to be the case with Honduras, whose de facto leaders have agreed to welcome a delegation composed of the likes of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Costa Rica's current President Oscar Arias.

Both men are proud bearers of a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace deals between bitter violent foes; Carter at Camp David in 1978 for the Middle East, and Arias in the following decade in Central America.

What's not happening in Honduras?

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:05:55 +0000

It's a lot easier to tell what is not happening in the Honduras crisis than what is. Since deposed President Manuel Zelaya's surprise return Monday, he has remained holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

Brazil handing Zelaya over to the de facto Honduran authorities? Not happening.

De facto President Roberto Micheletti ordering armed forces to barge into the embassy and arrest Zelaya? Not happening.

Central America marks independence

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:51:25 +0000

This week Central America marks 188 years of independence from Spain, in a celebration that in some ways got bogged down in politics.

For one, the passing of the “Antorcha de la Libertad” (Liberty Torch) became yet another event to salt the wounds of the two-and-a-half-month-old Honduran coup. Every year the torch is carried from country to country as a symbol of the region’s break-away from the grip of Spanish King Ferdinand VII, and of its renewed civismo or civic sentiment.

On gorillas and guerrillas

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:51:22 +0000

Sunday's revolutionary fun in the sun in Managua was nothing short of bacchanalian.

Sandinista supporters celebrating the anniversary of the 1979 revolution danced deliriously, sweating through red and black party bandanas and downing light beer and cheap rum like water.

There was a euphoria that was contagious, which made me wonder how close to the feeling this came to the actual moment, 30 years ago to the day, when the Sandinistas swept to power, having toppled one of Latin America's wealthiest and longest ruling dynastic dictatorships, the Somoza family.

Arias keeps talks going to find Honduras solution

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01:53 +0000

Talks to end the Honduran standoff are continuing into the early morning hours here in San José behind closed-doors at President Oscar Arias’ home, after two Hondurans came agreeing only on one thing: They refuse to negotiate.

Honduras’ de facto president, Roberto Micheletti, departed this evening after a three-hour meeting with Arias, who is serving as mediator through the process, leaving behind a commission that possibly could hammer out an agreement with Manuel Zelaya, whom the military kicked out of the country on June 28.

Costa Rica's Oscar Arias to mediate in Honduras crisis

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:29:54 +0000

Costa Rica’s President Oscar Arias will serve as mediator this week in negotiations to broker an agreement between Honduras’s two presidents: deposed leader Manuel Zelaya and the man named to succeed him, Roberto Micheletti.

The talks are slated to begin Thursday in Arias’ San José home, the Costa Rican leader said in a press conference this afternoon also held inside his elegant residence.

Costa Rica's Oscar Arias to mediate in Honduras crisis

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:04:57 +0000

The talks are slated to begin Thursday morning in Arias’ San Jose home, the Costa Rican leader said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon also held inside his elegant residence.

Don't worry, be Costa Rican

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:46:22 +0000

Costa Ricans sure are a happy bunch

The "ticos" (colloquial for Costa Ricans), just topped a new list of the happiest people on the planet compiled by an independent research group in Britain.

The country scores 76.1 out of 100 on the New Economics Foundation’s Happy Planet Index (HPI), which measures life expectancy, satisfaction and a country's environmental footprint. The index was released Saturday.

Cuba says no, gracias to OAS

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:31:46 +0000

Following the historic about-face by the Organization of American States (OAS) to allow Cuba to rejoin, Cuba’s government has officially rejected the offer. Cuba claims to “repudiate” the hemispheric club of nations and what Cuba considers the group’s supporting role in United States hostility toward the revolutionary island.

Gringos tremble in Monster’s Cave

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:30:16 +0000

The U.S. Men’s National Team lived up to a long-held legend Wednesday night, which says the “gringo” soccer team quakes in the presence of “La Cueva del Monstruo” (the Monster’s Cave) — the delightful name given to the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium north of San Jose.

The lone goal made via Landon Donovan’s late penalty kick did little to appease the Monstruo, which chomped up and spit out the Americans 3-1 with seemingly little effort.

Cuba voted back into the OAS ... if it wants

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:24:38 +0000

The region's leaders and government officials meeting in Honduras made history today, voting to lift the 47-year suspension of Cuba’s membership in the Organization of American States (OAS). The move came despite a push by the U.S. to only admit Cuba on condition it introduces democratic reforms and improves respect for human rights.

Costa Rica could rebound by 2010

Tue, 19 May 2009 23:10:01 +0000

Although the economic indicators are grim, the International Monetary Fund has offered a ray of hope for Costa Rica. The country will likely rebound by 2010, with output growth of 1.5 percent, an IMF representative said Monday morning, reports business newspaper El Financiero's website .

100 days of gratitude

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:18:49 +0000

For a country considered one of Washington’s best buds in Central America, Costa Rica offers fleeting media interest marking the first 100 days of the new guy in charge up north, with only a few opinion pieces running in Tico papers and a side-note on leading TV networks.

Swine flu in Costa Rica

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:23:22 +0000

Costa Rica has identified a second case of a virus believed to be linked to the global swine flu outbreak, which has prompted officials to declare a national health emergency.

Other countries in the region were expected to follow suit — both in terms of possible outbreaks and national emergency decrees.

Costa Rica reports first swine flu case

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:58:50 +0000

Costa Rican health officials said this morning they had identified the first case of swine flu in the country: a 21-year-old woman who was traveling back from Mexico Saturday with flu-like symptoms.

The woman — the authorities would not disclose her name — was said to be recovering from the virus.

Test results from a the Costa Rican Nutrition and Health Research Institute came up positive for swine flu.