Costa Rican president-elect makes a one day visit

The soon-to-be inaugurated president of Costa Rica arrived in Belize today for a brief visit. Dr. Miguel Angel Rodriguez made the half day stopover as part of a get acquainted tour of Central America, having already made the rounds of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. President-elect Rodriguez met with Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel and Deputy P.M. Dean Barrow and also fielded questions from the press. Among the topics discussed were the enhancement of benefits for the region under the U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative, the integration of tourism promotion between Belize and Costa Rica – particularly in efforts to attract visitors from Europe — and the possible exchange of teachers — with Costa Ricans coming here to teach Spanish and Belizeans going to Costa Rica to offer instruction in English. Rodriguez left Belize this afternoon on his way to a meeting with President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico.