Global Voices Online » Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Science Fiction Anthology called Possible Futures

Eduardo Avila — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:57:57 +0000

Costa Rican writer Antonio Chamu writes that he is included in the upcoming book anthology called “Possible Futures,” [es] which collects science fiction from national authors who explore the topic, “what would happen if…?”

Costa Rica: Photo Exhibit by Indigenous Children

Eduardo Avila — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:57:55 +0000

In Costa Rica, Roy Rojas recommends a photo exhibit taken by children from the indigenous communities of Rey Curre and Las Vegas [es] called “The Community Through the Eyes of its Children.”

Costa Rica: Streaming Video Discussions on Citizen Journalism

Juliana Rincón Parra — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:10:01 +0000

Last night 300 users tuned in to the video streaming from the Spanish Cultural center, where three journalists with extensive experience with citizen media from Spain, Costa Rica and Cuba: Rosa Jiménez Cano, Cristian Cambronero and Lazaro Rodriguez spoke about the transformation of journalism as it adapts to the new forms of media.

Costa Rica: Ex President sentenced to 5 years of prison for corruption charges

Juliana Rincón Parra — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:37:52 +0000

More than 14000 Costa Ricans who were away from TV sets today at 3pm were able to view online the judgment of ex President Rafael Ángel Calderón when at least 3 different websites decided to present the ruling via online streaming services, a record for the Costa Rican online community. Not only was streaming used, media also uploaded images through twitpic to be used on twitter. All these are recent developments as media starts to adapt to social networking tools for journalism.

Through microblogging tool Twitter, using the tag #sentencia, #cajafischel or #Calderon, viewers followed and commented the ruling, where the ex President was convicted and will have to serve to a 5 year prison sentence for corruption charges.

Presidential candidate Ottón Solis has already uploaded a video commentary on YouTube regarding the sentence.

Journalist Amelia Rueda also tweeted the happenings inside the tribunals. She posted a short audio clip where the accused ex president spoke about his hopes regarding the veredict, which you can hear by clicking on the player at the bottom of the post.

Journalist Cristian Cambronero posted an entry on his blog where he refers to the ex president's now crushed intentions of running once again for president, confident he would be declared innocent. Lucía comments in that post:

El jalón de orejas no es solo para para Calderón y compañía (pobrecito nada¡¡¡¡ si no quiere ir a la cárcel no sea corrupto, así de simple), es para la clase política en general, que aquí como en otros países creen que uno está para serviles y no ellos para servir …
Más valioso que el dinero que tienen devolver (no se cuanto es) es el haber recuperado cierta confianza en el sistema político, y como dice un conocido anuncio de tarjetas de crédito, eso no tiene precio…

This slap on the hand is not only for Calderon and company (poor guy nothing!! If he doesn't want to go to jail, then don't be corrupt, it's that simple), is for the political class in general, who believe here as in other countries that everyone should serve them and not that they have to serve…

More valuable than the money that they now have to return (I don't know how much it is) is that we have recovered a certain confidence in the political system, and as a known credit card company advertisement says, it is priceless…

You can also view the sentence videos on UStream, uploaded by the newspaper AlDía, which shows how traditional media in Costa Rica is evolving to take advantage of online media and social networks: the first part includes the moments prior to the sentence, which starts at about the 45 minute mark.The second video continues with the judges reading of all the charges and reasoning behind the sentences for all those who had been accused, of which ex president Calderon was the main figure.

And twitter user Mauricio sums up the experience of watching the veredict through online tools like this:

la sentencia de #calderon ha hecho que twitter + la tv se muevan juntos, como en los mejores tiempos de #qqsm

the sentencing of #calderon has made twitter and TV to move in synch, like during the best times of #Whowantstobeamillionaire

And well, it wasn't even minutes before someone, in this case marenoztro, took the viral joke featuring Kanye West and did their own mashup with the president. The “Chema” referred to in the image is ex president Jose Maria Figueres Olsen who when accused of receiving 900,000 USD and not declaring the income or paying taxes. When it was discovere, the taxes were hurriedly paid up and he presented documents legalizing the income as consulting fees.

image mashup by @marenoztro

Costa Rica: Solar Halo in the Sky

Juliana Rincón Parra — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:11:07 +0000

A solar halo has Costa Rica's citizens looking up at the sky and taking pictures to share with their members of their social networks. You can see some of the uploaded pictures of this natural phenomenon on Twitpic, like this one taken by @lucianaguz and this other one taken by @porillo in this twitter aggregator created for the occasion or by searching twitter with the #sol tag.

Costa Rica: Media Portrayal of African Immigrants

Eduardo Avila — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:10:34 +0000

Alejandro Vargas Johannson criticizes the Costa Rican media for the manner in which they portrayed African immigrants that recently arrived by boat as criminal delinquents, and not as victims [es].

Costa Rica: Web 2.0 on a Sunday Morning

Jenny Cascante — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:35:38 +0000

Costa Rican bloggers, twitter users and other internet enthusiasts enjoyed their own first DELM on August 30, 2009. DELM stands for Domingo En La Mañana (Sunday Morning) and has been taking place in various Latin American cities such as Santiago, Chile, Barranquilla, Colombia, and Guanajuato, Mexico. These meetings are held, just as its name states, on Sunday mornings, but can take place at a café, park or even at someone's house in order to share knowledge and experience.

Photo by María José Lerena and used with permission.

David Alfaro had the opportunity of attend and participate in the meet up. He shares some of his personal thoughts related to the range of the different types of social networks in his blog Tiquicia Sublime [es]:

Las diferentes tecnologías de medios sociales tienen diferentes grados de inmediatez y de sostenibilidad de conversaciones.

Inmediatez: Me refiero a la facilidad de acceder a medio cuando ocurre el impulso expresivo, la rapidez de publicación y la rapidez de recepción. Una alta inmediatez permite una alta virulencia.

Sostenibilidad: Me refiero a la longitud de una interlocución, cuántas idas y vueltas conversacionales con alguien es realística y cómodamente tener.

The different technologies applied to the social networks have diverse degrees of immediate response and sustainability of the conversation.

Immediate: I refer to the facility of access that a person possesses when the expressive impulse occurs, the promptness of publication, and the velocity of reception. A high-degree of immediacy allows for a quick expansion.

Sustainability: I refer to the length of a dialogue, how many conversational comings and goings with somebody are realistic and yet comfortable to have.

Moreover, Alfaro stresses some important differences [es] between Twitter and Blogs:

Twitter tiene una enorme inmediatez, a pesar de su sistema de replies, Twitter una baja sostenibilidad de conversación, esto es debido a su falta de hilos de conversación y grupos.

Por otra parte los Blogs tienen una inmediatez bajísima, pero una sostenibilidad altísima pues permite al autor construir un tópico, crear su posición e iniciar una discusión, hasta en hilos si quiere.

Twitter possesses a huge promptness, despite its replies system. Twitter experiences a low support of sustainable conversations because of the lack of conversational strings.

On the other hand, a Blog has a low promptness but a higher conversational sustainability because it allows the developing of a topic and discussion if desired.

Reiner Sibaja, author of Hoy en Costa Rica [es] delivers a detailed summary of the activity, as well as some pictures. On the discussion held regarding new media in Costa Rica (blogs, twitter, podcasts, & live streaming), he writes:

Para concluir el tema de los streamings, quedó muy claro que todos podemos tener un streaming siempre y cuando le pongamos cariño pero sobre todo esfuerzo en el contenido que presentaremos a nuestros “viewers”.

To wrap up with the topic of live streaming, it was clear that anybody can produce a live streaming as long as it held carefully and with some effort on the content that is going to be delivered to the viewers.

Also, he writes about the participation of the international guest [es]:

Christian Van Der Henst - @cvander - fundador de proyectos como Maestrosdelweb.com y Forosdelweb.com hizo su participación desde Argentina vía Skype. El compartió una perspectiva a nivel latinoamericano del fenomeno social que esta pasando la web en estos momentos.

Christian Van Der Henst - @cvander - founder of projects like Maestrosdelweb.com and Forosdelweb.com participated via Skype from Argentina to share a Latin American perspective of the social phenomena that the web is going through nowadays.

Feedback and reoccurring meetings are part of the next challenges that the DELM organizers and participants will be facing in order to offer continuity to the project. DELM was widely commented in Twitter under the hashtag #DELM, which is surely helpful to not only gather opinions, but updates on coming gatherings.

Costa Rica: The Passing of Felipe Granados

Eduardo Avila — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:46:50 +0000

Costa Rican writer Felipe Granados recently passed away at the age of 33. Fusil de Chispas [es] is saddened by the loss of the author, who penned such books as Soundtrack.

Costa Rica: Manuel Mora Valverde Founder of Communist Party

Eduardo Avila — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:32:22 +0000

Marco of ¡Que Clío nos guarde! [es] commemorates the 100 year anniversary of the birth of Manuel Mora Valverde, who was the founder and leader of the Communist Party in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica: Long awaited for Train in Inaugural Run

Juliana Rincón Parra — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:39:44 +0000

After years of waiting, Costa Ricans finally have a new train in service. The Costa Rican President, Oscar Arias, drove the train on its first time on the railroad tracks, which had been set more than 100 years ago, and had been out of use for decades. The train goes from Downtown San Jose to the neighboring city of Heredia, where many of those who work in the Capital city live.

The following video was uploaded on YouTube by mavirutube and shows President Oscar Arias addressing the audience at the train's maiden voyage and inauguration, about the importance this new service will have for commuters and all citizens in general. The excitement at the new trains is visible through the hundreds of people lining the train tracks waiting for the train, waving flags and hands as it passed.

On the online forum 89decibeles, Yogi posted on the eve of the inauguration:

Pues bueno, como buen ciudadano herediano que soy estoy feliz de que mañana comienze a funcionar el tren. Porque? Porque simple y sencillamente el servicio de autobuses de heredia San Jose es una mierda.

Well, as a good Heredian citizen I am more than happy that tomorrow the train will start running. Why? Because simply put, the bus transportation between Heredia and San Jose is shit.

Yogi also mentions that although the service is set to run only during rush hour, he hopes the service will extend throughout the day, although he seems it is unlikely, since the same companies that run the inefficient bus services are complaining that the train would take away their income, specially because the train ticket fixed price was set out to be lower than the bus fare.

Inclusive el pasaje del Tren inicialmente iba a estar como en 300 colones, pero debido a la queja que interpusieron las compañias autobuseras lo subieron a 350(precio fijo). Lo sacaron con base al promedio de las 4 tarifas de los buses que dan este servicio Heredia- San José.
Aducieron que “era competencia desleal” ya que el pasaje del tren estaba muy barato y por lo tanto les afectaría demasiado en cuanto a los pasajeros.

I might add that the train fare was originally set at 300 colones, but due to the complaint filed by the bus companies, they raised it to 350 (fixed rate). They got that number by averaging the fares on the 4 bus lines that give the service between Heredia and San Jose.
They claimed it was “disloyal competition” since the train fare was too cheap and it would affect them too much regarding passenger numbers.

Image from crtrenes.blogspot.com

Marcos… on his blog Some Opinions and Some Songs, had something to say about the position these bus companies have taken:

Lo primero, una de las primeras reacciones que escuche sobre el tren fue a algunos autobuseros decir que el costo del pasaje debía ser más caro porque si no demasiada gente dejaría de usar buses. Déjenme decirles a todos esos autobuseros, que según entiendo, esa es una de las intenciones, no vas a hacer una inversión millonaria en un tren para que la gente siga usando buses, no para nada, ni que fuéramos idiotas. El chiste es de hecho, que se usen menos buses y vehículos particulares para ver si se logra sacar algo del tránsito que hay en la ruta San José - Heredia y si podemos empezar a avanzar con una rapidez mayor que 6km/h, porque ni por nada en el mundo se va a hacer un tren que no lleve gente sólo porque se ve bonito o porque que dicha tenemos tren.

First of all, one of the first reactions I heard about the train was that some bus companies were saying that the cost of the ticket should be more expensive because if not, a lot of people would stop using buses. Let me tell these bus companies, that as I see it, that is exactly the point, you wouldn't make this millionary investment in a train for people to continue using buses, not for anything, we aren't idiots. The joke is that in fact, the goal is to have people use less buses and cars to see if we can take out a bit of the traffic congestion that is in the route between San Jose- Heredia, so that we can then manage to travel through that area ta more than 3 miles an hour, because who would think that a train is established not to take people, but because it is pretty or because we want bragging rights about how good it is to have one.

This next video by lucifer488 shows one of the cultural acts presented to welcome the train upon its arrival into Heredia. The combination of band music with the giant dolls (giganta) is called a cimarrona, and is quite popular during popular festivities. Can you spot the giganta made to look like President Arias?

Not everyone is happy with the train, ziesing in Foro of Costa Rica has several complaints:

La cola que hay que hacer para lograr viajar es interminable tanto que despues de estar en la estacion por mas de una hora sin siquiera poder comprar el tikete es mas facil para cualquiera buscar la parada de bus mas cercana.
Es como una empresa de buses con 2 autobuses pero en rieles, si pense en algun momento que podia llegar mas rapido al no toparme con las presas la ilusion cayo al suelo al ver que la presa de gente en las estaciones atrasa el doble que las de la pista y me termine de desilusionar cuando me di cuenta que el bendito tren cuando da paso se queda pegado tanto como cualquier carro o autobus.

Standing in line to wait to get on the train is endless, so much that after being in the station for more than an hour and not even being able to buy a ticket it is easier for anyone to just go find the nearest bus stop.
It is like a bus company with only two buses that run on tracks, if I ever thought for a moment that I would be able to get there faster by not getting stuck in traffic jams, the illusion crashed after seeing the human traffic jam in the stations, which makes taking the train twice as long as getting stuck in the highway, and my dissappointment was complete when I realized that when the train gives right of way to cars, it gets stuck just as any other car or bus.

And he isn't the only one. Other users complain about how the train stations are located in solitary and dark areas, making passangers likely to get mugged, and how drivers don't even have enough visibility to be able to know when the train is coming, and there are no gates or light signals installed.

Because the train tracks had been abandoned for so much time, people have stopped paying attention to the Train Crossing signs, and already there have been colissions between the train and cars, although with no casualties. Other concerns that have been voiced have to do with insurance and wether passengers will be covered when riding: back in 1926, the Heredia-San José train saw one of the worst train accidents in Costa Rica's history when the a packed train plummetted from the bridge over the Virilla River and more than 300 people died.

In the next video by manuels89, you can see the train arriving at the Heredia station, and an example of how people are not used to being around trains: there is a worker with a bullhorn warning passengers waiting to board to stay out of the tracks and he even has to pull back someone who is standing right in the way of the train.

Crtrenes, a blog about trains and railroads is already posting information on the possibility to have trains to other neighboring cities close to San Jose such as Cartago and Alajuela. Crtrenes also took the picture that graces this post, of the inaugural run. You can see more images and read their report here.

Guatemala: International Book Fair Starts July 24

Eduardo Avila — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:13:12 +0000

The 6th International Book Fair will take place in Guatemala City starting on July 24 writes Asato Ma Sat Gamayo [es]. This year's special guests will be authors from Costa Rica.

Costa Rica: Launch of Promises 2010 Site

Eduardo Avila — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:36:24 +0000

Marcial Cambronero announces the launch of the Promesas 2010 (Promises 2010) site [es], which will help hold Costa Rican politicians accountable for their campaign promises.

Costa Rica: Scams with Used Imported Cars

Eduardo Avila — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:39:09 +0000

Roy Rojas of the News Star [es] describes the way that some people in Costa Rica scam others through the import of used cars from abroad.

Costa Rica: Chairs, Posters, and Lamps on Exhibit

Jenny Cascante — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:32:40 +0000

A curious collection of chairs, posters, and lamps are currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design [es] in San José, Costa Rica. The 300 pieces of Spanish artwork are distributed equally in quantity, and contains works from some of the biggest names in European Art History with pieces of some of the most distinguished Spanish artists and designers such as Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí, Tusquets, Mariscal, Moneo and Hayón among others. This traveling exhibit called “300% Spanish Design” has caught the attention of Costa Rican bloggers.

Dario Alvarez delivers a description of the exhibit in his blog Arquitecturas [es]:

España exporta su valor artístico en decoración. Las piezas más selectas y representativas del diseño español de los últimos 100 años se exhiben en Costa Rica cuando la muestra ‘300% Spanish Design’ abra sus puertas en el Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (MADC) de este país.

Spain decoratively exports its artistic value. The most selective and representative pieces of Spanish Design in the last 100 years will be on exhibit in Costa Rica when the 300% Spanish Design exposition starts in the Museum of Art and Contemporary Design (MADC).

On the other hand, Jose Pablo and Manuel of Sorry Zorrito [es] are more inquisitive about the exhibition:

¿Por qué sillas, lámparas y carteles?

Debe de ser muy difícil exponer el arte y el diseño de un país tan rico en ambos campos utilizando solo 3 objetos, es por eso que esta exposición decide tratar con elementos cotidianos y humildes que ayudan a las personas día a día con sus quehaceres. Según Juli Capella son objetos que logran reivindicarse con un uso humanista y social del diseño al servicio de la persona.

Why chairs, lamps and posters?

It must be really difficult to present the art and design of such a rich country in both fields by only using those 3 objects, the exposition decided to deal with the common items that help people to cope with their daily routine. According to Juli Capella (the curator), these objects manage to achieve reinvindication with its humanistic and social use of design in service to the individual.

The exhibition had previously visited Saitama, Lisbon, Athens, Shanghai, Beijing, Fortaleza, Sao Paulo and Bogotá. Its next destination will be Mexico in August.

In Costa Rica, the exhibits will be presented in all of the rooms of the museum and will last until July 12. One of the sponsors, The State Society for Action in External Culture (SEACEX for its initials in Spanish) offers a virtual tour with pictures and description of all items. In addition, the Museum can be followed on Twitter.

Americas: Looking Forward to Central America Free Software Festival

Renata Avila — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:31:41 +0000

The Central American Free Software Festival [es] (ECSL09 for its initials in Spanish) will take place on June 17-21 in Estelí, Nicaragua. This will be the first opportunity for many enthusiasts of open-source and free software from across Central America to come together to share experiences, promote their projects, establish common objectives, and to find ways to work together. The schedule of events [es] includes workshops and panels where different members from communities will lead and participate in these activities. There will also be a “rapid-development” tournament, where participants will need to design and program an application in a short period of time, with the only stipulations are that it must be developed using free tools and available under a free license.

The event's logo

Many participants are looking forward to the event and to visit the city of Estelí. Leandro Gómez describes the location of the festival in his home country:

Estelí is a city in northern Nicaragua, near to the border of Honduras, 150 kms. from capital city Managua, and the official venue of the First Central American Free Software Summit.

The city of Estelí, known as the Diamond of the Segovias, will also host the first international meeting of Ubuntu community leaders in Central America, with the participation of members from the Ubuntu Local Community Teams in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panamá, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and special guests from other communities in Latin America.

From neighboring Honduras, Diego Turcios writes about the different communities that will be attending the event [es]:

De nuestro bello pais Honduras, asistiran 9 o 10 personas. De las cuales son representates de las comunindades linuxeras del pais.Las cuales son: GULTGU, Linux Maya, Comunidad GNU/Linux del Progreso y Ubuntu Honduras LocalTeam.

From our beautiful country of Honduras, 9 or 10 people will be attending the event, representing the Linux communities from the country: GULTGU, Linux Maya, Comunidad GNU/Linux del Progreso and Ubuntu Honduras Local Team.

Events like these are usually heavily attended by males, but there will be a strong presence from female members of open-source software communities. Victoria Zeledón, one of the few members of “Centroamericanas” a network of female Central Americans working in the field of free software welcomes everyone to Estelí adding:

A pocos días de conocer a mucha gente ya estoy emocionada por la experiencia a vivir. Además las Mujeres Centroamercianas que trabajamos por el software libre haremos presencia al igual que muchas personalidades que harán que este encuentro sea de mucho provecho.

In few days I will meet a lot of people, I am already excited for the experience. Besides the Central American Women that are working for open-source software, there will also be many personalities who will make the encounter something worthwhile.

In addition, she recommends this link to learn more about Estelí and its nightlife.

ECSL09 has its own blog, and provides updates and logistical information for participating groups. Among the groups from across the region include Asociacion de Usuarios GNU/Linux El Salvador , Debian Costa Rica , Debian Nicaragua , Debian Panamá , DebianSV , and El Salvador Ubuntu Team, just to a name a few. A complete list can be found on the blog's sidebar.

Even though many of these communities have been part of the planning of or have known about the event for quite some time, there are some who believe that it is important to share information using social networking tools. Rodrigo Peñalba of Nicaragua writes that this promotion can help attract attention and media support for the event, despite some resistance because Twitter and other sites are not free software [es].

The excitement for this event is showing. MMGC84 of the GNU/Linux community of Nicaragua thanks the organizers for this opportunity and posts the image of the receipt for the registration payment saying, “I'm almost in Estelímar!”