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>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
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TODAY'S CONTENTS
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*Feature Article:
Sea Kayaking in Sunny Costa Rica Chases Away Winter Chills

*News Digest


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WHAT'S NEW AT THE COSTA RICA PAGE!
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Our real estate section has just been totally updated with lots of
new listings, mostly in the residential real estate section, but also
we have a new rental on the rental page and some new additions to the
land for sale section.

http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/real.htm

We are adding new things every day, and when our merger comes with
COSTARICACENTER.COM, we will have a fully operational Mercado Central
for you to buy Costa Rican products over the internet from local merchants
[if you have a reputable business here, and want to sell through the
Mercado, just let us know. We can help you to accept credit cards and
all the major e-currencies on the net! We break through the Great Barrier
that many Costa Rican merchants face getting their products on the net!].

Hotels and tourist businesses will be able to add their own links, and you
will be able to place your own online classifieds and MUCH MUCH MORE!

Watch this newsletter for our official launch, coming soon!

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FEATURE ARTICLE
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*Sea Kayaking in Sunny Costa Rica Chases Away Winter Chills

Just as the cold of winter sets in throughout North America, the sun
shines warm and bright on the shores of Costa Rica. Crystal Seas
Kayaking runs trips December through April, right in the heart of the
dry season so spectacular weather is a given. Costa Rica boasts a rich

diversity of plant and animal species and over 20% of its land is
protected as national parks or preserves. Small islands that line the
coast provide ample opportunities to explore and encounter monkeys,
lizards, birds, and other members of the rainforest ecosystem as well as

countless species of marine life.

One of the best ways to explore this extraordinary part of the world is
sea kayaking with Crystal Seas. The company emphasizes low impact
adventures that ensure the preservation of Costa Rica’s environment for
years to come. In an effort to further a positive impact on the local
economy and environment Crystal Seas funds, organizes and carries out
regular waste removal from several of Costa Rica’s public beaches.

Crystal Seas Kayaking offers from two to five day expeditions on the

southeastern Nicoya peninsula, famed for its spectacular weather and

beautiful beaches. The calm waters allow for abundant marine and
terrestrial wildlife viewing while kayaking. Snorkeling gear is also
provided so guests can explore the undersea world as well.
Crystal Seas arranges custom and private tours as well. These may be a
large wedding party, corporate event, group of friends, or a couple who
would like to paddle a special route for a romantic evening. The company
has plenty of resources to accommodate any event.

Join Crystal Seas Kayaking to experience Costa Rica. Contact Crystal Seas
at 877-SEAS-877 (877-7327-877) or visit the company's website at

www.crystalseas.com or email mail@crystalseas.com

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NEWS DIGEST
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*Mudslides Threaten West Central Valley Town

Emergency officials in Escazú, west of San José, are warning residents
and hikers in the protected hills above the town that more big mudslides
are possible during the next few weeks.

Approximately 15,000 square meters of mud, rock and debris slid down a

protected mountainous area between Cerro San Miguel and Pico Blanco
earlier this month, and officials are warning it could happen again soon.

Geologist Julio Madrigal, of the National Emergency Commission (CNE),

estimated that before the rainy season is over, likely sometime next
month, another 15,000 square meters of mud will slide off the mountain
and wash down the Agres River, which runs through the communities of San

Antonio and San Rafael de Escazú.

The area surrounding the banks of the Agres River has been under yellow
alert since Oct. 12 and will likely remain so until sometime in November,

when the transition period between the rainy and dry seasons begins in
the Central Valley, according to the National Meteorological Institute.

Emergency commission spokesman Jorge Alvarez said the yellow alert is
issued for possibly dangerous situations that can be predicted, such as

hurricanes or heavy rainfall. It tells local emergency committees to

communicate the danger to the community and prepare accordingly.

Catalina Roldán, assistant to the Escazú Mayor and member of the Escazú

Emergency Committee, said, “landslides like this happen all the time, but
the danger here resides in the Agres River. It flows right underneath the

land that is waiting to fall, and could drag it down to populated areas.”

Fortunately, she said the immediate vicinity of the land expected to
tumble down is a protected area and therefore uninhabited.


*No Money for Roads!

The Ministerio de Hacienda (Revenue Minister) has made cuts for the 2005

spending budget, to which transport officials say they will have enough
money to pave roads only for the first two months of next year. Some 65
road projects will be put on hold, including much needed pedestrian

overpasses to reduce the number of traffic deaths at key intersections
like the Muñoz & Nanne en la vía Montes de Oca-Curridabat and the
highway that runs in front of Multiplaza and the Hospital Cima in Escazú.


*Inmates Intent To Make "Life Impossible" for former president Rodríguez

Sunday morning, more than 1.500 persons visited friends and loved ones
at the La Reforma prison located in San Rafael de Alajuela. Sunday
mornings between 9am and 1pm is the only visiting day available to
inmates of Costa Rican prisons and detention centres, though the hours
may vary slightly at some institutions.

However, no one was there to visit former president Rafael Angel Calderón
or Miguel Angel Rodríguez. They got their visits on Saturday as prison

officials cope to deal with this historic situation.

Calderón has been in the institution since October 22, while Rodríguez
spent his first night in "puesto 7" Friday night, when a Superior Court
judge overturned a lower court decision for house arrest.

This is the first time in Costa Rica's history that two former presidents
are behind bars, at the same time and in the same institution, both on

charges of corruption.

Prison officials say the two former presidents, though not more than 20

metres apart, are not permitted contact with each other, and their yard
times have been staggered to prevent any contact, as well as their
visiting hours to avoid any confrontations between family members
during visiting hours.

Rodríguez, according to officials, is depressed and frightened as other

inmates have been shouting "Shoot to Kill", in reference to a law that he

signed when he was president, that allowed prison officials to 'shoot to

kil'l any prisoner in the process of an escape.

The law, jointly signed by then Justice Minister, Mónica Nágel, is known
as "Reforma articulo # 8 de la Reglamento de la Policía Penitenciaria",
where it gives prison officials the use of all necessary force to stop a

prison break, including the use of a sub-machine gun and tear gas during
an escape attempt.

Prisoners are intent on make "life impossible" for the former president.

There have been no immediate and direct threats on the life of Rodríguez,

though he maintains to be held, like Calderón, in a secluded area of the

prison and with no contact whatsoever with other inmates.

Prison officials have confirmed that Rodríguez is under a 24 hour watch,
not only for his own safety, but to prevent any suicide attempts given
his severe state of depression.

Minister of Justice, Patricia Vega, confirmed over the weekend that
Rodríguez was moved sometime Friday night from his original cell to
another cell due to disturbances caused by other inmates who were close
to the former president.

Rodríguez is being investigated for corruption in accepting payments,
by way of his former minister, José Antonio Lobo, from Alcatel as

compensation for receiving the "prize" from ICE to install GSM cellular

service. Rodríguez is also being investigated for accepting payments from
the government of Taiwan while in office. The charges include conspiracy
and illegal enrichment.

Rodríguez, like Calderón will spend the next six months in preventive

detention, with a review in three months. The former presidents can
be held for up to 18 months in preventive detention while the Fiscalía

investigates.

The preventive detention can also be extended beyond the 18 months if the

Fiscalía deemed the investigation complicated and is approved by a court,

like in the case of Osvaldo Villalobos, who was held for almost two years

before formal charges being filed against him.

Both, Calderón and Rodríguez are denying any wrongdoing and vowing their

innocence.


*Figueres Mom Abandons Costa Rica!

The Diario Extra reports that, Karen Olsen Beck, the mother of former

president José María Figueres Olsen, "abandoned" Costa Rica, headed for
Miami on an American Airlines flight over the weekend, amid accusations
of corruption that have surrounded her son. Figueres Olsen resigned as
chief of the World Economic Fund, based in Geneva, when it was
discovered that he had received $900.000 payment from Alcatel for
consulting work.


*Fake Tico Passport for Only ¢5.000

Costa Rican immigration officials are investigating the possibility that
a group or groups of organized crime are taking advantage of the poor

economic situations of some Costa Ricans by offering them colones for
their passport.

Marco Badilla, director of Migración, says that they suspect the sale of

passports is a daily business.

This year alone some 100 passports have been discovered to have been sold.

Typically, members of organized groups infiltrate an economically
challenged community and with the aid of a trusted resident make offers
to buy a passport, one that is relatively new and without use or will
help the person obtain a new one.

The price received by several who made their declaration before
immigration officials when they were discovered to have sold their
passport, has been as low as ¢5.000 colones, while most got between
¢10.000 and ¢20.000, plus the cost charged by immigration for a new
passport.

The list of those selling their passport varies from alcoholics, to

psychiatric patients, but mainly to those so poor that the selling of
their passport and that of their children will mean food on the dinner
table.

Once the passport is handed over to the buyer, the passport is reported

stolen or lost. This means that the person can now, with a police report
in hand, solicit another passport. The sold passport is then altered and

re-sold to an end user. "I lost my passport" is the most common reason,

according to immigration officials.

Fake Costa Rican passports have shown up in places like Mexico, Germany
and several other countries where Ticos don't need an entry visa. In
Germany, two phoney passports where discovered when two Orientals landed
at the Frankfurt airport. In Belize, two Cubans were detained last June,

again with fake Tico passports. Their final destination was assumed to
be the United States.

Many countries, like Mexico, Germany, France, Italy and Spain for example,
do not require Costa Ricans to have a visa as a condition of entry, wich

makes a fake Tico passport useful for those trying to enter those
countries, escaping a life from elsewhere.

Badilla admitted that the current passport is very vulnerable to
organized criminals to falsify. Immigration authorities are making a
¢500 million colones fund to combat the situation, with the hope to put
a stop to this activity.


*Evangelicals Oppose Free Trade Agreement with United States

In a joint declaration, Evangelical churches from Costa Rica expressed
their opposition to Free Trade Agreements between the Central American
region and the United States arguing that they exclude the most
vulnerable sectors of the population.

The ecumenical declaration also expressed the rejection of the
"corruption that is embargoing and shadowing the national reality,"
as well as all the power abuses.

It repudiated the "new forms of extortion and manipulation of people's
faith under the flag of the theology of prosperity." We are opposed to
the new markets of faith negotiating and perverting the name of Jesus
Christ, they affirmed.

This declaration is the result of a series of meetings throughout
September and October on the part of leaders, bishops and presidents of
Costa Rican Churches that are members of the Latin American Council of

Churches (CLAI).

The First Central American Evangelical Church, the Costa Rican
Lutheran Church (ILCO), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Costa Rica,
the Lutheran Central American Church and the Episcopal Church signed the

declaration.

At the same time, the Presbyterian Church, the Moravian Church, the
Baptist Federation, the Baptist Seminary, the Mennonite Church, the
Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Community of Love Federation (FEDEICA),
the Latin American Biblical University (UBL) and the Central American

Secretariat of the Latin American Council of Churches.

The joint declaration also expresses the commitment of Evangelicals to

support all the efforts that are being carried out in the Public
Ministry aimed at putting an end to the state of corruption "that an

irresponsible leadership class has maintained us in for decades."

It called on the responsible Costa Rican institutions to continue their

strict monitoring and review of all individuals and institutions that
show signs of corruption or distorting public goods, said the Rev.
Eduardo Chinchilla Guevara, CLAI regional secretary for Mesoamerica.


*Pacheco off to Río for political summit

President Abel Pacheco will leave Costa Rica Tuesday for Río de Janeiro,

Brazil, and the summit of the heads of state of the Río Group.

Pacheco will return to Costa Rica Sunday.

While in Río, Pacheco will meet with Vincente Fox, president of México,
and with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, among
others.

Friday Pacheco will be a guest at a dinner in honor of John Danilovich,
the former U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica who is now in the same post in

Brazil.


*Costa Rican Legislator Linked to Alcatel Payments

Costa Rican congressman Rolando Laclé may have received $71,493 in

certificates from Alfonso Guardia, who is being investigated in
connection with the corruption scandal involving alleged payoffs by the

French telecommunications firm Alacatel to government officials.

Alcatel was awarded a $149 million cellular phone contract with the
Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) in 2001. Former President Miguel

Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002) has been accused of accepting 60% of a $2.4

million “prize” from the company, and remains in preventive detention as
he is investigated.

“If those funds were given to (Guardia) from some person related to
Alcatel, I am emphatic in saying that I have no relationship with the
Alcatel issue,” Laclé said.

Laclé, 63, is a prominent figure in the ruling – but suffering – Social

Christian Unity Party (PUSC).

He served as Presidency Minister under Rafael Ángel Calderón, who is
serving a nine-month preventive detention order in a prison northwest of
San José , and was a member of Rodríguez's advisory team.



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