Showing posts with label Costa Rica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Costa Rica. Show all posts

Sunday, 31 October 2010

In Vain: Wayakin

I do apologise to my small legion of readers. I went on a trip to Denver, CO for the ATA (American Translator's Association) conference, and only returned last week. Return to not-so-very-nice times, that is. Lots of emotional and work-related problems, so I haven't felt like writing (even though I've got topics for ca. six entries haha). Hence, I apologise. And now, as I slowly step away from the clutches of limbo, I write, for thee my readers, the post!
PS: I'm now entering the final month of the Uni –here we end in November–, so forgive me if I don't post anything at the end of said month).


In Vain: Wayakin

One time the wind blew free and there
was nothing to break the light of the sun
In a past that is now lost forever
There was a time when land was sacred
and the ancient ones were as one with it
A time when only the children of the Great Spirit
were here. To light their fires in these places with no boundaries
When the forests were as thick as the fur of
the winter bearland and a warrior could walk
from horizon to horizon on the backs of the buffalo
And during that time when there were only simple ways,
I saw with my heart the conflicts to come,
and whether it was to be for good or bad,
what was certain was that there would be chance

Wayakin, summon strength and ward us from evil
Wayakin, a spirit with transformative powers
Wayakin, talisman of superhuman forces
Wayakin, the guardian spirit of the Nez Perce

We look to the bear, the owl and the eagle as our brothers
To teach us how to live
They talk to us, we listen
The bear tells us of our strength
The owl of our wisdom
And the eagle of our freedom
It is time for us to remember


I think it's kind of strange that a Norge (Norwegian) band would deal with topics related to Native Americans. Still, it's brilliant. I love this song because it speaks nothing but the truth. Us, pesky capitalist humans have lost contact with nature. There where times in which we would see the sun, but now it's covered by smog clouds and mile-high buildings. As I am writing this, at night, I hear the sounds of trucks passing by (and some crickets). Before there would be silence, nothing but the sound of those around you and nature. Now, one cannot sleep because of the noise.

Recently there was a massive downpour here in Costa Rica, in which (apparently) 25% of the roads were destroyed (not very good ones, of course. Why do they keep using asphalt instead of concrete? Oh yeah, money and corruption.) and more than 30 people died in Escazú because of a landslide.

But this wasn't the first time it happened. My professor of Spanish, Sr. D. Carlos Monge, told me that he read a document, dated back to 1891, in which a similar landslide occurred. But no one died because there were no houses on the mountain. Our grandparents, and their grandparents, were always in direct contact with nature. They knew were to build houses, where to reside. But as population grew out of control (7 billion now!!!), people started building houses anywhere, and forgot that there are places in which one can't (or at least shouldn't) live. And so, I say,

it is time, for us to remember.





Monday, 27 September 2010

Thinking Allowed, Japan, Crucitas

The other day I was listening to the "Thinking Allowed" podcast from the BBC, and they mentioned some of the consequences of climate change.

New fact: If the ice caps continue melting, Canada will gain a lot of new territory.

On another note, The Land of the Rising Sun (i.e. Japan) has, obviously, allowed for the dolphin slaughter to continue. This can only be expected, as the Japanese government is one of the most corrupt and does not really care about nature. Do note that Japan changes its leader almost every two years, hence making the country very unstable. (There have been more than 53 PMs since WWII.) Here's an extract from the Save Japan Dolphins Blog:
--
It’s with a heavy heart that I write today’s post. Despite all our efforts and despite the worldwide condemnation of the cruel dolphin slaughter, the Japanese government remains defiant and has allowed the first dolphin kill of this season at Taiji.

This defies all logic, both because of the brutal inhumane abuse of dolphins and because it is now proved that the dolphin meat is poison -- containing dangerous levels of mercury.
--

Here in Costa Rica, a land known for its corrupt governments, the fight for Crucitas continues.
Keep it up, everyone!

Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Costa Rica Really Does Hate Nature

Piva, vice-presiden of Costa Rica, said it: "We'll have to pay $1700 mil to the company, but it's obviously very harmful to the environment".

If it damages the environment, why even start the mine? These things should not even be considered!

Even more, nobody knows where the guy got that amount of money.

As a Metalhead who loves nature, I vehemently oppose to this mining project!

Stop Crucitas!!!

The rest of the post is in Español.

EL GOBIERNO SÍ PUEDE DETENER LA MINERÍA EN CRUCITAS

El pasado 27 de julio el Poder Ejecutivo comunicó la supuesta imposibilidad de detener el proyecto
minero de Crucitas argumentando que la Sala IV lo ha dado por válido y aduciendo que el país se
expone a una millonaria demanda por parte de la empresa Industrias Infinito.

Ante esto, organizaciones sociales y ambientales, centros de investigación, especialistas de las
principales universidades, dirigentes de diversos partidos políticos, así como representantes de las
comunidades afectadas por la actividad minera, manifestamos a la opinión pública lo siguiente:

1. La concesión otorgada por el gobierno de Oscar Arias a la empresa Industrias Infinito mediante
resolución No. 217-2008-MINAE del 21 de abril de 2008, es absolutamente nula; por cuanto la moratoria
minera decretada por la Administración Abel Pacheco se mantuvo vigente hasta el 4 de junio del 2008;
es decir casi un mes después de haberse dado la concesión.

2. La empresa minera no puede alegar derechos adquiridos fundamentándose en un acto absolutamente
nulo e ilegal de la Administración anterior. Todas las inversiones realizadas por la empresa han sido
bajo su propio riesgo en tanto hasta la fecha nunca ha existido una resolución en firme que le
autorice a iniciar operaciones.

3. Por lo tanto el Estado costarricense no tendría que indemnizar a la compañía minera con 1.700
millones de dólares como lo afirmara la Casa Presidencial en los medios de comunicación.

4. En el peor de los escenarios, el monto de una eventual indemnización tendría que ser establecido
por las instancias judiciales y arbitrales correspondientes. Pero nunca prefijado de manera
precipitada por el Poder Ejecutivo cuyo deber en primera instancia es proteger los intereses
nacionales.

5. El Vicepresidente Piva ha reconocido que el proyecto minero de Crucitas conllevará serios impactos
ambientales para nuestro país, y doña Laura Chinchilla ha manifestado que su gobierno no promoverá la
minería metálica a cielo abierto [yeah, right.] Por lo tanto no hay razones jurídicas, ni técnicas, ni de
oportunidad política para mantener el decreto que declara este proyecto de “interés público y
conveniencia nacional” emitido por el gobierno anterior y que sustenta la concesión otorgada.

6. La Presidenta Laura Chinchilla debe derogar dicho decreto y dar por nula la concesión otorgada a
la empresa minera; cómo lo ha pedido el gobierno local de San Carlos, máximo ente que representa los
intereses locales del cantón; y junto a este, buscar alternativas reales para las comunidades de la
Zona Norte, en consonancia con el modelo de desarrollo sostenible que pregona nuestro país.

7. El gobierno de doña Laura Chinchilla debe ser consecuente con su política de no promover más
proyectos de minería metálica a cielo abierto, y actuar anteponiendo los intereses nacionales por
encima de los intereses económicos de una empresa de capital canadiense, dedicada a una actividad que
según las últimas encuestas, es repudiada por el 90% de la población nacional.
Nosotros y nosotras abajo firmantes sostenemos que este proyecto no es viable ni ecológica, ni
social, ni económicamente para el país, por la destrucción que conlleva de ecosistemas tropicales
frágiles que requieren restauración y conservación.

El país solo recibirá un 3% del valor del oro de la nación como pago de la empresa por esta
concesión.

500 AÑOS DESPUÉS SEGUIMOS CAMBIANDO EL ORO POR ESPEJITOS Y CUENTAS DE VIDRIO.

COSTA RICA DICE NO A LA MINERÍA METÁLICA A CIELO ABIERTO.


ORGANIZACIONES FIRMANTES:

Asociación Ambiental del Norte de San Rafael de Heredia
Asociación Ambientalista de Protección de Cuencas del Cantón de Siquirres
Asociación Amigos del Pacuare
Asociación Centroamericana para la Economía, la Salud y el Ambiente
Asociación Conservacionista de los Ríos y el Ambiente de Ciruelas de Alajuela
Asociación de Comunidades para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Cantón de Santa Cruz
Asociación de Desarrollo Integral Indígena Bribri
Asociación de Ecología Social
Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados
Asociación Norte por la Vida
Asociación Preservacionista de Flora y Fauna Silvestre
Asociación Regional Centroamericana para el Agua y el Ambiente
Asociación Voces Nuestras
Centro de Capacitación para el Desarrollo
Centro de Derecho Ambiental y de los Recursos Naturales
Comité Patriótico Zarcero
Comunidades Ecológicas La Ceiba
Diario Digital el País
Federación Costarricense para la Conservación del Ambiente
Fundación Neotrópica
Fundación PROMAR
Movimiento Patriótico Juanito Mora
PRESERVE PLANET
Programa Restauración de Tortugas Marinas
Proyectos Alternativos
Red Centroamericana de Acción del Agua
Red de Coordinación en Biodiversidad
Sindicato de Trabajadores Agrícolas y Plantaciones

DIPUTADOS:
Carmen Granados Fernández
Carmen Muñoz Quesada
Claudio Monge Pereira
Gustavo Arias Navarro
Jeannette Ruiz Delgado
Jorge Gamboa Corrales
José María Villalta Flores-Estrada
Juan Carlos Mendoza García
Manrique Oviedo Guzmán
María Eugenia Venegas Renauld
Víctor Hernández Cerdas
Yolanda Acuña Castro

EX-DIPUTADOS:
José Merino del Río
Maureen Ballestero Vargas
Regidores Municipalidad de San Carlos
Edgardo Vinicio Araya Sibaja
Eli Roque Salas Herrera

OTRAS PERSONALIDADES:
Abel Pacheco de la Espriella. Expresidente de la República
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez. Ex ministro de ambiente
Ottón Solís Fallas. Ex Ministro de Planificación. Ex Diputado
Rolando Araya Monge. Ex Ministro Obras Públicas y Transportes. Ex Diputado.
Rodrigo Alberto Carazo Zeledón. Exdenfensor de los habitantes. Ex Diputado.
Allan Astorga Gatgens. Ex Secretario Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental. SETENA
Yamileth Astorga Espeleta. Directora PROGAI UCR
Luis Bernardo Villalobos Solano. Programa de Investigación en Políticas de Salud. UCR
Jorge Lobo Segura. Universidad de Costa Rica
Anais Villalobos Kong. Economista ambiental
Diniosio Cabal Antillón. Cantautor
Ana Cristina Rossi. Escritora
Jorge Araya Westover
Mariano Figueres Olsen
German Chacón Araya
Fabio Delgado Hernández
Ligia Umaña Ledezma
Carmen Jiménez Contreras
Andrea Aguilar Umaña
Santos Coronado Valdés

Sunday, 6 June 2010

Costa Rica: The Land that Hates Nature

Tourists (usually North American, i.e. U.S. Americans and Canadians) that come to Costa Rica, come and they see this:




… beautiful rainforests and magnificent beaches. However, they do not see the reality of the country. A reality that is far from being "nature loving". The country, promotes itself to the world as a country that is "one with nature", so to say.





But this is what really happens:




The previous administration, of Oscar Arias, was marked by one thing: Uncontrolled development (and international treaties) and destruction of nature. He may have won a Nobel Peace Prize, but he's incredibly corrupt (re-elections were illegal until he bought the deputies so they could correct that), and did nothing to help preserve CRn nature. (And who can't win a Nobel Peace Prize nowadays? Even Obama won one, whilst the US military is still invading Iraq. So much for "peace".). Not only that, but as you can see in the picture above (the cartoon), he let a Canadian company (Vannessa Ventures) come and try to open up the biggest mine in Central America, the now-famous Crucitas. Ironic, since this type of mining is not legal in Canada. (Tar-sands is another issue.)

Crucitas is something that should never happen, and a country as CR should be ashamed of itself (at least its governors should), for even approving it. Thousands of trees will be cut, rivers will be polluted, and animals will be killed and moved. What's more ironic is that the government only takes 3% of all the money that the company will make out of the gold extraction. But perhaps someone else is taking a bigger share….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-YZqZH_ZvQ&feature=player_embedded#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6YUVOnyNzI&feature=related



The current president (as seen in this link "http://www.nacion.com/2010-06-06/AldeaGlobal/NotaPrincipal/AldeaGlobal2397984.aspx" ), of the same party as Oscar Arias (Liberación Nacional) thinks that everything is solved by planting a few trees. My opinion: Rubbish. Unless the country has a sustainable and controlled development, and rejects ipso facto projects like Crucitas, we will never stop being hypocrites. Remember: There can't be development without nature.