Hu does Costa Rica

Submitted by WW4 Report on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 04:25

After the Nov. 15 Group of 20 (G20) summit in Washington, Chinese president Hu Jintao flew to Costa Rica for the first visit by a Chinese president to Central America. He and Costa Rican president Oscar Arias were to sign 11 accords, including the creation of a joint enterprise of Refineria Costarricense de Petroleo and China National Petroleum Corporation to modernize Costa Rica's plant; a line of credit from a Chinese bank to the state-owned Banco de Costa Rica; funding for Chinese language instruction in the Universidad de Costa Rica; and $73 million for the construction of a new sports stadium in San José. China has been moving aggressively into economic activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the refinery accord opens the possibility that China may invest up to $1.2 billion in a new refinery. (Univision, Nov. 16 from AFP)

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Nov. 16

See our last posts on Costa Rica and China.

Arias sells out Dalai Lama?

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 05:27

Inside Costa Rica, on the announcement of Hu's visit Oct. 31, noted:

A visit by the Dalai Lama was cancelled September, although Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, denied that the request was related to the Hu visit, he did admit that he asked his friend and fellow Nobel Laurate, to postpone his visit prior to the arrival of Hu.

Arias and the Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 and 1989, respectively.

See our last post on the Tibetan struggle.