Chavez shuts down plant here President Hugo Chavez confirmed that he will shut down the Venezuelan state aluminum plant Alunasa in Costa Rica. The Venezuelan head of state claimed geopolitical, economic, and technical reasons to move the plant from Esparza, in the province of Puntarenas, elsewhere. However, he admitted later that he was not pleased with comments the President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias has made. “The President of Costa Rica enjoys meddling in things he should not. Recently, he said that there is a dictatorship here, in Venezuela. How does he pretend, then, that we have good relations?,” Chavez said. He claimed that Dr. Arias wants to please Washington. The shutting out of Alunasa means 400 direct jobs and over 2,000 indirect ones will be lost in a very poor area of Costa Rica. The plant currently manufactures some 9,000 tons of aluminum, 80 percent of which are exported to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. |
Government’s revenues improve
Regarding finances, the Government of Costa Rica started on the right foot this year. In January, the taxes collected were 43 percent more than the ones in the same month last year. If the increase in the cost of living in that period is deducted, the increase is still 31 percent. On the other hand, expenses increased 16 percent –inflation not included– between January 2006 and the same month this year. According to Minister of Finance Guillermo Zuniga, the increase in spending is explained because the number of people hired and the transfers to higher learning institutions were larger. However, he pointed out that the Government will spend more on education, infrastructure, law enforcement, science, and technology.
Exports 18.82 percent up
Costa Rica exported $8.366 billion from February 2006 to January 2007, 18.82 percent more than the cumulate sales abroad in the same period for 2005-6, when they reached $7.041 billion. The United States, at 42 percent, was the leading buyer, followed by China (21 percent), Holland (4.6 percent), and Guatemala (4.1 percent). The Ministry of Foreign Trade announced that it has launched a survey among exporters, in order to define strategies leading to the goal of exporting $18 billion by the year 2010.
Wal-Mart invests $50 million
Wal-Mart Central America announced that it is investing $50 million in Costa Rica this year. The chief executive for Latin America, Craig Herkert, met with President Oscar Arias and made the announcement. He explained that most of the funds will go into another 14 supermarkets, a couple of large ones and a majority of small outlets throughout the country. Wal-Mart’s corporate matters director here, Aquileo Sanchez, said that this will mean that the firm will open another 1,500 jobs, taking to 9,000 the current payroll here.
300 tourism investors
More than 300 investors from the United States and Europe attended the Second Tourism Investment Exchange in Costa Rica. They scouted business opportunities in housing and leisure developments, both on the Caribbean and the Pacific coasts, mainly. Some of the hotel chains attending were Wyneham Hotels Group, Hyatt, Marriot, Eurostar from Spain, and Club Med from France. President Oscar Arias met with the investors and asked them not to limit themselves to make taller buildings but to include in their plans improving the lot of Costa Ricans.
U.S. Senator visited Chang’s lab
Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator and former NASA astronaut, displayed major interest in the plasma engine that is being built at the Ad Astra Rocket Laboratory, in Guanacaste, and which is led by Costa Rica born and former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang. Chang showed Nelson the progress that has been made in research and how plasma –the fourth state of matter– is generated from argon gas. Senator Nelson pointed out the importance of the plasma engine to achieve such things as a 29-day trip to Mars. He pointed out that the Chang project is an example of U.S.-Costa Rica cooperation. Nelson chairs the Senate’s Committee on Space Matters.
Urban forest
Through a new reforestation project, San Jose aims at becoming an urban forest, a city full of trees, that displays rich biodiversity and whose parks are a fine example of tropical lushness. The ambitious initiative is a project of the Institute of Tropical Architecture, to improve not only that area but also the quality of living in the capital city of Costa Rica. The San Jose Municipality accepted the project and will fund it, an area in which other institutions will chip in.
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