Weekly review

Half way into his new term as President of Costa Rica, Dr. Oscar Arias admits that the administration’s major achievement in the last two years has been lowering poverty, but that he fears that trend is likely to change in the near future. He pointed out that there is deceleration in global economy and that Costa Rica is a highly dependent country, particularly of the United States, which means that foreign investment, exports, and the arrival of tourists might decrease, with a negative impact here. He remarked that he does not want to be pessimistic, but that global trends are not encouraging, therefore his fears that poverty may again pick up.

Inflation target

Even though the Central Bank had targeted on 9 percent as the overall inflation for Costa Rica in 2008, now the increase in the prices of food and recession in the United States has ruined all forecasts. However, bank chairman Francisco Gutierrez pointed out that the country’s economy is performing well under the circumstances and that in this year’s first quarter it had the fifth lowest inflation in Latin America and the lowest in Central America. He admitted that, evidently, attaining the earlier goal is going to be tough, but that all efforts will be made to get as close to it as possible.

U.S. foils mission

The Public Prosecutor of Costa Rica Francisco Dall’Anese decried the deterioration in the relations between the Prosecutor General’s Office of Costa Rica and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office. He said so on reporting that he was held at Miami International Airport upon trying to enter the United States on an official mission. The official said that he was treated as a criminal and that he believes the sole reason was foiling his audience with one person who is involved in a corruption case in Costa Rica. The American Embassy in Costa Rica claimed that Mr. Dall’Anese’s admission to the U.S. was only delayed while a routine security check developed.

Wanted in the U.S.

Simultaneous operations by the DEA in Maine and by the Judiciary Investigation Organization and the Interpol in Costa Rica dismembered a drug-trafficking ring in the United States. Here, the law-enforcement agencies arrested the leader of the criminal organization, Michael L. Mayer, who was wanted in his homeland for money laundering and drug trafficking.

Insurance monopoly

The Legislative Assembly (Congress) of Costa Rica ruled in a first debate the end of the insurance state monopoly, which has been in place for 84 years. The decision is one of the reforms required of Costa Rica by the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Since 1924, all insurance has been provided by the National Insurance Institution (INS in Spanish) which, among other public services, funds and operates the fire department, whose operations are free of charges throughout the country. INS is expected to remain the dominant insurance organization in the country once private companies start operating here.

Deflection of an asteroid

Costa Rica lent her support to the scheme to deflect an asteroid from its orbit by using a “space tractor” in the year 2015. President Oscar Arias announced the commitment after a meeting with former astronauts Franklin Chang, of Ad Astra Rocket Company, and Russel Rusty Schweickart, a member of the B612 Foundation who partook in the Apollo 9 mission in 1969. The Foundation was established to deflect asteroid 9942 Apophis and the device used in the mission would be driven by a plasma engine developed by Ad Astra Rocket.

Ad Astra in local stock exchange

Shares of former astronaut Franklin Chang’s company Ad Astra Rocket Costa Rica, which is developing a plasma engine for space travel, to be operated by NASA, are now traded at the local stock market. Oscar Chaves, manager of the company who sponsors the participation of Ad Astra in the stock exchange, said that the company needs to raise $100 million and that, even though such amount will not be obtained in the local market, the trading here will be a major contribution.

Advanced manufacturing

The decision to set up plants in Costa Rica made by companies such as Deshler (auto devices) and Microcell (mobile phone assembly and repair) promoted the image of this Central American nation as an ideal site for high-technology manufacturing. This also led to the establishment of an organization to attract foreign investment in the advanced manufacture sector, meaning auto, electronic, air and space, and aeronautics industries. So far, the efforts had been focused on the service, medical supply, and electronics industries, sources of the Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives (CINDE in Spanish) and the Foreign Trade Promoter said.