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Costa Rican exports up 13 percent in 2010

crv.staff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:40:32 +0000

By : Adam Williams

The first five months of 2010 have been good to Costa Rican exports, which have increased 13 percent overall in comparison with the same period last year. Thus far in 2010, Costa Rican exports have raked in over $4 billion, including revenues of more than $854 million in May, according to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer).

The three major export sectors – industry, agriculture and fishing– all have reported significant gains over last year. Industrial exports, which include value-added food products and manufactured goods, have accounted for over 72 percent of total Costa Rican exports so far in 2010.

In the industrial sector, computer parts and microprocessors continue to be Costa Rica’s largest grossing exports, generating more than $627 million in sales through the first five months of the year. Export of computer parts and microprocessors, dominated by multinational technology giant Intel Corporation, accounted for over 15 percent of total national exports.

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Independence Torch To Reach Costa Rica On September 13

crv.staff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:38:17 +0000

Source : Inside Costa Rica

September is the month of Independence in Costa Rica. And part of the celebrations include the receiving of the torch as it passes through Central America symbolizing the passing of the news of independence.

The Antorcha de la Libertad is expected to reach Peñas Blancas from Nicaragua on September 13 at 11am.

The torch will make its way to San José and Cartago passing through various communities.

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Costa Rica, Panama first to take advantage of new Association Agreement with Europe

crv.staff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:37:58 +0000

Source : Tico Times

By : Chrissie Long

A joint project between Panama and Costa Rica marks the first product of the European Union-Central America Association Agreement, an aid and trade accord between the regions signed in May.

Announced at a meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in Guatemala last week, the project with Panama aims to strengthen border security, promote greater connectivity and facilitate integrated management and information sharing in border areas.

The €5.5 million ($7 million) initiative will be funded primarily by the European Union and is the first project between SICA and the EU, according to the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry.

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Bret G. Dudl — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:58:56 +0000

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Food for Thought

dominicaldays — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:23:25 +0000

By Laís Helena Teles

In the year 1045 in Egypt, a peasant found by accident a big clay bowl, buried and hermetically sealed. When he opened it he found some ancient parchments, which would be later referred to as the Gnostic Library of Nag Hammadi. Such texts were much more valuable then that peasant could imagine. They were a set of Christian gospels, dating back to the first centuries A.D., which had remained buried and unknown for almost two thousand years. Because they were so different from the established dogmas and ideas, these texts have never been recognized by the catholic authorities, and were cataloged as Apocryphal (non-authentic). The authorship of these gospels was attributed to an ancient Christian group that appeared in the first centuries of Christianity: the Gnostics. Who were they?

To answer this question we need to study the history of Christianity. In the first centuries after the death of Jesus, there were already many people who called themselves Christians, and according to their affinities they ended up splitting into two main groups: the Orthodox and the Gnostics. The Orthodox (those of righteous faith) were the most numerous and expansionist group. Their idea of salvation was linked to Belief, to obedience and acceptance of the rules and dogmas of the Church. In the Orthodox movement lie the origins of Catholicism. The Gnostics on the other hand, were mystical; they believed that the great human dilemma was not sin, but ignorance. To them the very aim of Jesus’ teachings was to help each person discover, through knowledge, their Inner God, their true spiritual being. The Greek word Gnosis means precisely knowledge. As opposed to the Gnostic view that it was possible for every human being to become a spiritual master, through specific practices and studies (they practiced Meditation, Astrology, Kabala and more), the Orthodox didn’t accept that there could be other Masters except from Jesus. The Gnostics saw Jesus as a man who – with a lot of effort – achieved perfection, thus becoming a God, like Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, etc. That is why they recognized all these masters as authentic messengers of one same universal truth, in different times and places. That’s why it’s so hard to define the Gnostic tradition, because it is practically a secret spiritual line that received its teachings from the oldest and most advanced spiritual schools in India, Egypt, Persia, China, Greece and so on.

In the next issue we’ll see how Gnosticism was persecuted and – apparently – extinct, and also its apparitions throughout Western history.

Codex IV of Nag Hammadi

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ICE Launches Push Email Service

crv.staff — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:18:12 +0000

Source : Inside Costa Rica

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Costa Rica’s state telecom, has launched its mass market push email service based on Synchronica’s award-winning Mobile Gateway middleware.

The ICE service branded Syncronizate will be used to add new push functionality to the existing ICE webmail service Acelera. The Syncronizate service will be provided free of charge to any Acelera or internet GPRS subscriber.

Syncronizate allows Costa Rican consumer and business subscribers to enjoy push email and synchronization services without needing to upgrade or replace their existing cellular phones. Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway provides 100 percent device compatibility by using the built-in email and synchronization clients found in a wide range of handsets in addition to email to MMS and email to SMS for basic handsets.

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Tico Muslims promote diversity, charity and tolerance during Ramadan

crv.staff — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:18:00 +0000

Source : Tico Times

By : Nate Perkins

“Assalamu alaykum,” says Yusef Sánchez in greeting as he walks through the doors of the Muslim Cultural Center in Guadalupe, a suburb just northeast of San José. Sánchez is one of few Costa Rican converts to the Islamic faith. Active in their religion, he, his wife and baby son journey from their home in the central Pacific town of Jacó every Friday, the Islamic holy day, to attend meetings at the only mosque in Costa Rica.

Sánchez estimates that he is one of maybe 20 Ticos who make up a small portion of the country’s total Muslim population, a tiny minority in a country that is 90 percent Christian.

Attending a typical Friday worship service are immigrants from Germany, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan, France and Palestine, among others. Sánchez’s wife is from the U.S. city of Chicago.

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Language, Mindset and Retiring in Costa Rica

crv.staff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:03:32 +0000

Source: Live In Costa Rica

The other I was reading a recent post from a major Costa Rica news group. It really really started me thinking. It was about the relationship between language and culture. Basically, language is responsible for every culture’s mindset. It is why we are all different and it also factors in to how well we understand another culture. That is to say it is easier to get a handle on another culture’s mindset the more of their language that we understand.

If you come to Costa Rica to live or retire it is of paramount importance to learn the language and interact with the people. As I have said before on repeated occasions and probably sound like a “scratched record” as they say in Spanish, “If you don’t know some Spanish you will always be a foreigner.”

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Costa Rica has Sabor

crv.staff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:57:27 +0000

Source : Live In Costa Rica

Spanish dictionaries define the word sabor as flavor or taste. In figurative terms it refers to the ambiance or feeling that pervades something. If you choose to live or retire in Costa Rica you will most certainly be influenced by the sabor or flavor of the country’s culture. What I am really referring to is the country’s delicious lifestyle. I think that is what makes Costa Rica such a great place to live. Once you get the country into your system, you just can’t get rid of it.

Sometimes I walk by Central Park in Heredia or Avenida Central in San José and you can just feel the special energy in the air. No, I am not on drugs! You’d have to experience this to see what I mean. It is almost magical and uplifting.

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Cellular Competition Will Be Countrywide Within Five Years

crv.staff — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:57:08 +0000

Source : Inside Costa Rica

By the first week in November we will have a good idea of who will be competing with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) in cellular telecommunications in Costa Rica as the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel) gets ready to license three operators.

However, although the new operators must be up and running by September 2011, they will have up to five years (60) months when they have to offer a cellular signal across the country.

That is the SUTEL will allow coverage in three phases, the first to be completed within 12 months of licensing operator must provide service only to 132 districts of San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago – the Central Valley.

In the second phase, which is to be completed within 36 months, service coverage area must include another 185 districts that include Puntarenas and Guanacaste and the third and final phase to be completed within 60 months must include the entire country.

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