Costa Rica Digest, Oct. 25

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>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
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A publication of Destiny Worldwide Net
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net

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TODAY'S CONTENTS
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*Feature Article: First Hand Account of Costa Rican
Medical Care
Part 2


*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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*First Hand Account of Costa Rican Medical Care

PART 2 [Part 1 Was released on Friday. Review list
archives if you missed
it.]

As soon as we landed, another ambulance was waiting to
transport me to Hospital San Juan De Dios in San Jose.
When I arrived there another team of doctors swarmed
me.
I was again poked and prodded in every possible place.
One doctor came in and prepared to do an endoscopy via
my esophagus so she could see what was going on in my
abdominal cavity. She sprayed a local anesthetic in
my
throat and asked me to swallow. She did this 3 or 4
times and then put the endoscope device in my mouth.
She told me to breathe as she inserted the tube down
my
throat. My gag reflexes kicked in and the pain was
excruciating because every muscle in my chest and
abdominal cavity reacted. But she kept saying,
"swallow"
and I did my best. There were several other nurses
and
doctors around and I could see their faces as they
watched the camera view as the device was inserted and
finally reached my abdominal cavity.
By my count there were a minimum of 4 doctors at
Hospital San Juan De Dios who examined me before and
just after the endoscope exam that night. After these
exams had been completed, another doctor came in to
talk
to me. This doctor is a surgeon and she told me they
were going to try to stabilize me without surgery. I
told her to do what she thought best. She seemed
extremely competent and luckily she speaks English
fluently as well.
Just after I spoke to the surgeon, another of the
doctors came by to talk to me. He said my lungs were
filling with blood and other fluid and that (and I
found
out later that my left lung was collapsed) it would be
necessary to place a tube in the side of my chest to
drain my lungs. The unfortunate thing is that this
would be done without anesthetic, which I didn't find
out about until it was happening.
He inserted some type of device through my left side
that would allow the connection of a large drainage
tube. The device did not go in easy and was probably
one of the most painful things I have experienced.
The
doctor kept pushing it in with all his might and I
could
have sworn that he was inserting it between the two
fractured ribs. After what seemed like an eternity,
the
device was finally in place and it was connected to a
large tube that ran to a box into which the fluids
from
my lungs would drain.
The next morning, Saturday, the 18th of September, the
surgeon came in to talk to me again. She informed me
that the medical crew was unsuccessful in stemming the
flow of blood with just medication and other
non-surgical means so she had made the decision to
operate. I thanked her and told her to go ahead. I
was
prepared for surgery immediately and I didn't even get
to the "count backwards from 100" before I was out
like
a light.
When I woke I thought I was still being prepared for
surgery but actually I was in the recovery room and
the
surgery completed. Yeeehaaaw! The only problem I had
was when I first woke. The staff in the recovery room
was sitting in a corner of the room and I saw them
when
I opened my eyes. I was basically secured to the
table
at all four corners and at my head. My legs and arms
were strapped down, and my head was taped to the
table.
I was having a little trouble breathing, or at least I
thought I was, and I needed to be able to touch my
throat to help clear it and breathe properly. Since I
was fixed to the table this was impossible. At this
time I wasn't aware that the surgery had been
completed
and thought I was still being readied for surgery.
Combine that with the fact that I tend to be quite
claustrophobic and it created a bit of trouble.
I looked over at the staff and kept telling them to
"cut
the line" meaning the line that was holding my left
hand
to the table. They didn't really understand what I
was
saying and kept saying "tranquilo" which loosely
translates to "relax".
Finally one of them understood and came over and freed
my hand and all was fine.
Later that day I was moved to my room and bed where I
would remain until released. It was a large, open bay
type room with 12 beds in it. The beds are extremely
old and the pillows are not anything I would have
recognized as a pillow. I was placed into one of the
beds and the nurse checked my chart and then took my
temperature and blood pressure. The gentleman in the
bed to my left spoke some English and we struck up a
conversation as I got settled. The anesthetic and
other
pain medication I was given was wearing off and the
pain
I was feeling was tremendous.
I had a bruise on my left side that is nearly a foot
wide and runs from just below my hip to about half way
between my hip and armpit. This bruise, combined with
the fractured ribs and the painful drain tube in my
side, made any movement without pain impossible. It
hurt no matter what I did or how I moved. The drain
tube proved to be my biggest nemesis for the remainder
of my hospital stay.
The conditions were stark but the care very good.
Each
morning I was given a cup of chamomile tea (I hate
tea!)
and a hard, tasteless roll with a piece of cheese
placed
between the halves of the roll. All I really wanted
to
drink was water and I rarely ate the roll. Lunch and
dinner were usually very simple fare, without much
taste. The hospital structure is approximately 150
years old and it is just a dark and depressing place.

My most vivid memory is the sounds at night. The
maintenance men who were responsible for moving the
oxygen and other tanks around would usually get 4 or 5
of them and put them on a hand cart and place them at
the end of each wing of the hospital. That way
anytime
a tank was needed, a technician could get it from the
end of the hallway and move it to the bed where it was
needed. When these tanks were moved individually, the
technicians would not use the hand carts but would
tilt
the tanks on their sides at a slight angle and then
roll
them to wherever they were to be installed. Since the
facility is so old and the floors are all tile, it
makes
a very distinctive and rhythmic humming noise when a
tank is being moved. It can be heard and felt
throughout the entire floor. I got used to hearing and
feeling the "haaaauuuuummmm" throughout the night
every
night.
The next morning I woke to find Maureen, a French
Canadian who lives in our village standing next to my
bed along with Leo and another man I did not know. I
had only met Maureen briefly a couple of times and she
happened to be at Leo and Michelle's restaurant when I
drove up on Friday and asked for help. As it turns
out
the man who was with her at the hospital is her
boyfriend, Jose. Jose works in the X-ray department
of
the hospital. They were all a great sight to see.
Leo
still had my passport and wallet as well as my
cellular
telephone (I forgot to mention earlier that some of us
have cell phones but we don't get satellite reception
in
most parts of the village so I could not use this to
call for help either).
He did not want to leave those with me because he knew
it wouldn't be safe in the hospital. Leo was leaving
to
go back to Ojochal that day and he said he would take
my
wallet and passport with him and then we would figure
out later how to get it back to me when it would be
time
to leave the hospital. Maureen and Jose were telling
me
what was going on in the hospital and what to expect.
They had all just jumped in and started taking care of
things for me. That was something I appreciate more
than
they will ever know because it was difficult enough
just
to endure the pain and try to get through each day
without having to worry about other things.
Leo told me that that he went to the rental house on
Friday after he left me with the ambulance crew for
the
ride to Palmar Sur airport. He and Michelle had taken
my valuable things and taken them to their house for
safekeeping. They also did my laundry. I couldn't
believe it. He told me not to worry about anything.
My
rent contract was due to expire on 7 October on the
rental house because I expected to be able to move
into
my new house by then. That was planned knowing that I
would be able to do quite a bit of work to finish the
new house myself. That had all changed, but Leo told
me
not to worry and that they would have something for me
if I needed it beyond 7 October.
Each morning the nursing crew would wake us and then
start the required regimen of medication for the day.
For me that was usually 3 different IV bags. One was
filled with pain and other meds and one was blood and
I
am not sure what the third was. The nurse would also
add some pain medication via a syringe in my IV tap,
wherever it was. That changed daily as they tried to
find new places to insert the IV. My hands began to
look like the Pillsbury Doughboy because IV's had been
inserted, removed, and reinserted so many times.
Normally my veins are easy to find but the loss of
blood
had made my veins nearly impossible to find.
After the medication routine in the morning, which was
approximately 4 a.m., I started to feel better. I
figured out after a couple of days why. I was given a
massive dose of painkillers in the morning so when the
doctors made their rounds at about 7:00 a.m., I was
feeling OK. The problem was that my chart stipulated
that there must be a 5 hour break between my pain
medicine shots at night. So every night the pain
medication would start to wear off at about 9 or 10
p.m.
and I would start to feel extreme pain. I would ask
the
nurse for a shot and she would oblige but the
painkiller
was not nearly as strong as what I was receiving in
the
morning. It would wear off quickly and then I would
not
be allowed anymore for the remainder of the night.
Each
night I wound up laying there without sleep for
several
hours because I could not get situated without extreme
pain. The drain tube in my side still caused a lot of
pain no matter which way I positioned myself. I
decided
it had to go.
On Tuesday, Deb flew in from Florida. I had called
her
after the surgery and asked her to contact my Dad and
my
sister and let them know what had happened and that I
was OK. OK is a broad statement but it meant that I
expected to recover from the accident. After being
there for a couple of days and being subjected to some
of the Costa Rican bureaucracy, Deb prepared to fly
home
to Florida on Friday afternoon. She stopped by to see
me on her way to the airport and then was off to
Tallahassee. On Tuesday when Deb arrived, Maureen was
with her and my neighbor, Marc was there as well.
Marc
was leaving for Colorado the next morning and had come
up early to visit. I apologized to Marc because I was
supposed to stay at his house to take care of things
while he visited the U.S. Obviously I wouldn't be
able
to do that now. A short while later, on Friday
afternoon, Claudio from Coco Lindo Restaurant came by
with his girlfriend Francois. Francois was preparing
to
return to Switzerland the next day so they had come up
to San Jose early and came to see me. As Claudio
asked
me about my injuries and asked to look at the scars, I
lifted my top to reveal my surgery scar which is
approximately 14 inches long and runs vertically from
my
groin up to the middle of my chest. Then I have the
huge bruise on my side and at the time I had the large
drain tube coming out of my side and going into the
box
at the side of the bed. He looked shocked and I could
see him wiping the tears from his eyes. I always
remember that on many nights when I have stopped by
Coco
Lindo that his customers are usually gone by 9:00 p.m.
and Claudio would look at me and say, "eeee- pod?"
"Johneeeee Cash?" We are both music buffs and when I
first started visiting his restaurant we were talking
about music and I showed him my Apple I-Pod and he
wanted to hear some of the music I have recorded on
it.
I connected it to the back of his stereo one night and
played Johnny Cash's last album which was recorded
last
year shortly before his death. It's a terrific album
and Claudio fell in love with it. So, he would
frequently look at me and say, "Eeee-pod? Johneee
Cash?" --- to ask if I had my I-Pod with me so we
could
listen to Johnny Cash.
That night I lay awake again and plotted my escape
from
the hospital. I am extremely grateful to those folks
and the hospital because they saved my life. I had
been
the model patient so far but now it seemed time to be
more assertive. I was watching them do many things
that
just didn't pass the common sense test, i.e., daily
changing my IV tap, continually trying to put it into
the backs of my hands when there were other places
where
the veins were much more accessible for the IV tap.
Meanwhile my hands kept swelling and I had to sit
there
while the nurse stuck a needle in the back of my
hand(s)
3 or 4 times each day as she searched for a vein. I
also knew that the tube in my chest was no longer
necessary. I could see the fluid level on the
drainage
box and could tell that very little fluid had drained
in
the past 24 hours. I also know my body and knew that
if
the tube was removed (and the pain along with it),
that
I would heal much faster. I had told the young
resident
that was assigned to me to please remove the tube that
morning but he was afraid to make the decision and he
said, "Maybe tomorrow."
The next morning, Saturday, I was ready when the
doctors
made the rounds. The resident assigned to me was going
over my chart and asking me questions and another
young
resident who worked with him was there. I said, "I
will
tell you the same thing today that I have for the past
2
days. The major pain I feel is from this chest
drainage
tube and it needs to go." He asked the other resident
and they talked for a moment and then my resident
said,
"We will have to ask the boss." Well, the boss was
another doctor who made rounds after the young
residents
had made the preliminary rounds and treatment. It was
obvious that the two residents were intimidated by
boss.
A couple of hours later, when the boss came by he
asked
me how I felt, I said, "This chest tube is causing
almost all of my pain. I will make you a deal. If
you
take this tube out of my chest I will stop making life
hell for your two residents here." He got a big kick
out of that and the residents did too because it took
the heat off of them. I told him that when the pain
meds wore off at night that the pain from the tube was
unbearable and I had not slept at night since I had
been
at the hospital.
The boss looked at my chart and looked at the drainage
box and said, "OK, we can take it out." He then
proceeded to remove the tube. The problem is that the
device that is inserted into the chest wall to
accommodate the tube has some type of string or
fishing
line material attached to it. I think that is
designed
to make it easy to remove. The boss was pulling the
device out and I think he was trying to impress the
two
residents with his finesse but the device got stuck.
He
tried and tried to pull it out easily but finally he
had
to give it the old college try and jerked the hell out
of it. The device came out for sure, but it hurt like
hell. I imagined it was like having a tire iron
pulled
through my side. I said, "thank you!" He laughed and
said, "thank you for the pain I just caused you?" I
replied, "It really hurts now but I will be able to
sleep tonight and I can go to the bathroom without
lugging that box with me."
After the boss left my resident told me that he would
see if he could get me released that day. This was
totally unexpected because when I was admitted the
doctors told me to expect a minimum 2 to 3 week stay.
Apparently with the chest tube out there was no reason
to keep me since my vital signs were good. He gave me
a
couple of prescriptions, one for pain, and one for
some
type of drug to build up my hemoglobin which is
extremely low now due to the loss of blood. He also
told me he wanted one more x-ray of my chest and if
all
was OK then I could go.
This is when my next dilemma surfaced. Since my
clothes
were removed before I was put on the air ambulance at
Palmar Sur, I had no clothes to put on to leave the
hospital. Second, since my friends had taken my
wallet
and passport, I had no identification. The only thing
I
had with me was an ATM card and about 30,000 colones
($66.00).
I needed to call Geraldo, who is a taxi driver in San
Jose. I had met him on one of my trips to San Jose
several weeks earlier and he turned out to be a great
find. He spent 7 years in the U.S. and speaks English
very well. Plus he knows the city like the back of
his
hand. I needed to call him to see if he could help
but
I didn't have any coins for the pay phone. Also, his
phone numbers were in my wallet so I was really in a
trick. I had paper money but no coins and there was
nowhere to get change so I was stuck. I did have a
map
of Costa Rica that Deb had given me and it had an ad
for
AT&T in it. It listed a toll free number to call in
Costa Rica which would connect one to the AT&T
operator
and then you could use a major credit card to charge
the
call. I dialed that number and when the menu asked
for
my credit card number I input that. Luckily I have
had
to use my AMEX so much over the years that I long ago
memorized the account number. I then input Deb's
number
and called her cell phone in Florida. I explained the
situation and asked if she had Geraldo's numbers
because
I had given them to her and she used him for rides
several times while here. She said she had his
numbers
but that they were at home and she didn't have them
with
her. As it turned out, it didn't matter that day.
It was much later that afternoon that one of the
nurses
came to get me for the x-ray. She took me down for
the
x-ray and when I returned to my room I asked about my
release. The nurses looked at me like I was crazy and
said I would not be released until the next day, at
the
earliest. I found out later that what had happened
was
that the nurses made a mistake and did not take me to
x-ray in the morning as they were supposed to.
Consequently when my x-rays were taken in the
afternoon
my doctor was not on duty to read the x-ray and
approve
my release.
I lay awake that night and thought of nothing but
gaining my release the next morning, which was Sunday,
26 September. When my resident came by he looked at
the
x-ray and said I could leave. He said it would take a
couple of hours to do the processing and then I could
leave. I had called Deb again and got Geraldo's phone
numbers. Luckily the guy in the bed next to mine saw
what was going on and motioned for me to follow him.
We
went to the phone and he gave me a couple of coins to
make the call.
Geraldo had my cell phone because I had given it to
him
a few days earlier for safekeeping. Geraldo answered
the phone and I explained my problem. He told me not
to
worry and that he would be at the hospital in about 90
minutes. He showed up as promised and had clothes for
me. I changed and was ready to go but the paperwork
was
not finished yet. I kept asking the nurse what the
hold
up was and she kept telling me, "tranquilo" and that
it
was something to do with my prescription.
When Geraldo arrived I asked him to talk to the nurse
and he told me that she said they were waiting for my
prescription. I told him that was BS because I had
the
prescriptions from the doctor and he told me that if I
had the prescriptions filled at the hospital that it
would take several more hours for me to be released.
He
told me I could be released much more quickly if he
gave
me the prescriptions and I had them filled on my own
at
an outside pharmacy so I agreed. Geraldo went back to
talk to the nurse and she finally realized her
mistake.
I had visions of sitting there and then late in the
afternoon I would be told I couldn't leave again. Not
this time.
Geraldo and I prepared to leave and he asked where I
wanted to go. I told him that I had planned to spend
the night at an inexpensive hotel and then try to
contact one of my friends from Ojochal in the morning
to
see if I could somehow get my passport, or I could get
the paper copy of the passport that the hospital had
made when I was checked in.
The problem is that no hotel would admit me without a
passport or some other type of identification. It was
almost comical because here I was, in a foreign
country,
with no clothes, no passport, ID, or credit cards.
Geraldo thought he knew of a hotel that would let me
register without a passport but it was not to be.
So, he said, "what do you want to do?" He offered to
take me to his house and let me stay the night. That
was extremely generous, but he's a gregarious guy and
I
knew his kids and wife would be curious and I had zero
energy. I was really feeling low. I just needed to
get
somewhere where I could rest. I asked him to call his
dispatcher and ask what the charge would be if he
drove
me to Ojochal. He came back and told me the charge
would be 48,000 colones or about $110.00. That's not
bad at all for a 4.5 hour drive. I asked him to take
me
to an ATM and then we would go.
Several hours later we pulled into Ojochal. I had
Geraldo drive me to Leo and Michelle's. I was soooo
glad to see them. As usual they were great. Geraldo
only stayed a few minutes and then left to go back to
San Jose. Then Leo and Michelle were asking me about
how I got out of the hospital so early and other
things.
Then Leo asked if I wanted to stay at the rental house
or in one of the cabins next to the restaurant. He
suggested that I stay in one of the cabins so that
they
would be close by if something happened or I needed
something. I really wasn't ready to stay by myself
and
am still extremely weak so I was very happy to take
the
offer of the cabin. As it turns out, Leo had prepared
the cabin next to the one that he and Michelle live
in.
Again, they told me not to worry about anything. Leo
brought all my clothes and things from the rental
house
and put them in the cabin. We talked and they told me
how everyone in the village had been asking about me
and
how I was doing. He also told me that several people
in
the village had told him that I could stay with them
as
long as I want when I was released from the hospital
and
they would take care of me. Everyone was ready to
help.

So now I am on the mend. Pain is my constant
companion
but that will subside over time. This place is
amazing
and so many people have done so many things for me. I
owe so much to Leo and Michelle and Maureen for all
their help. They are feeding me, caring for me, and
making sure I don't have to worry about anything.
They
even took care of buying supplies and supervising some
of the construction on my house while I was gone.
Today (Tuesday), Leo took me to the local clinic to
have
my stitches removed. He is taking me back in the
morning
to have a cut on the back of my head checked.
Michelle
refuses to let me drive yet so they take me anywhere
and
everywhere I need to go. These are wonderful people.
Each day people stop by when they hear that I am back
in
town and say hello and tell me how glad they are to
see
that I am OK. This place and its people are
incredible.
When my friends ask me about this place I tell them it
is entirely unique and there is no way to explain it
to
someone. They just have to see it and experience it
for
themselves.
I can now answer questions about the Costa Rican
medical
system, first hand. Many people had asked me about
that
when I moved here. The system works, is extremely
affordable, and it saved my life. At every location I
was examined by many doctors and other medical
experts.
There was never a question of whether or not I had
insurance or money. The only feeling I got from the
whole ordeal was that "this man needs help and we need
to get it for him." There was a tremendous sense of
urgency to get me stabilized. I am very grateful to
all
of them.
The tally of my injuries was: two fractured ribs, one
collapsed lung, a ruptured spleen and some minor
damage
to the second lung. The doctors told me I had
approximately 2 liters of blood sitting in my
abdominal
cavity when they operated. Plus my lungs were
bleeding
as well. I do have a gash on the back of my head that
was not discovered during my hospital stay and I will
have that examined tomorrow. They did a marvelous job
of patching me up.
In closing I can say it is sure great to be alive.
There was obviously more than luck looking over me
that
night. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. I have always
realized that I have much to be thankful for and I
realize that even more today. It also reinforces my
belief that you can't wait for tomorrow because you
don't know what will happen today. I've been given a
second chance and I intend to enjoy it. Pura vida!
ADDENDUM: Wednesday, 10/20/2004 1:00 PM --- Yesterday
I
was in San Jose and stopped by the hospital to settle
up. This is especially for those that think I am
crazy
for moving to Costa Rica. The hospital folks said if
I
wanted to make monthly payments for a year then the
total bill would be $1124.00. That was so cheap as to
be amazing. However, if I wished to pay cash, I could
get a significant discount. I asked for the discount
and paid on the spot.

I had to pay only $637.00! Incredible! That's for my
surgery, 9 nights in the hospital, all the blood, and
medications, etc., that I was given. The only thing
that
does not include is the ground and air ambulance rides
which I will be billed for separately.

So, if you are still wondering about medical care
here,
it's great and EXTREMELY affordable. I almost fell
off
my chair when I was told I only had to pay $637.00 if
I
paid in cash. Ya gotta love this place!

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DISCUSSION
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NEWS DIGEST
=========================================
*Boats Sink Outside Pacific Coast Marina

Former marina operator Jim McKee says he doesn't want
to say “I told
you so,” but his worst fears about what would result
when government

officials closed the Flamingo Marina, located on the
northern Pacific
coast of Costa Rica in the province of Guanacaste,
approximately six
hours northwest of San José, have become reality.

On Friday morning, a wild storm sent McKee's 52-foot
cutter-rigged
sloop, “The Shannon,” to the bottom of the sea.

The boat, valued at $280,000, is one of three that
sank in the storm
Friday and one of more than 40 that were moored in the
bay outside
Flamingo Marina, forced into the precarious situation
when the Coast
Guard and a tribunal of the Environment Ministry
closed the marina in
June in the midst of legal disputes.

The boats, primarily sailing and fishing vessels, left
the marina and –
until Saturday – were moored in the bay outside, with
their owners using

launches and pangas to bring clients from beaches to
their boats so that
some tourism-related business such as sportfishing and
sunset cruises
could continue.

The tribunal originally ordered the marina closed in
October 2003, in

response to allegations of contamination. However,
activity continued,
as many claim dependence on the marina for their
livelihood through

tourism-related activities.

When tribunal officials closed the marina June 11,
they said it was
because nobody ever obtained proper permission for its
operation –
required by a 1998 marina law.

When boats were evicted, owners and operators argued
closing the marina
would be devastating for the tourism-dependent
community. They vowed
to make do by harboring in the bay while looking for a
solution.
However, they expressed concern that the
less-protected waters of the
bay left the boats susceptible to damage in storms.

The Municipality of Santa Cruz had operated the marina
since August 2003,

when McKee, the private operator for approximately 20
years, was evicted

after years of lawsuits regarding the marina's
legality and contamination

allegations (TT, Aug. 22, 2003). In June, the
municipality assured the
marina would reopen soon, after a new concession is
granted. However,
McKee and many other boat owners say the municipality
has been slow to
act.

For now, the boats have been allowed to reenter the
safe waters of the

marina. McKee said he has worked throughout the
weekend to assess the
damage and attach flotation devices in order to pull
his boat up from
the ocean floor, 25-feet under water, a process he
hopes to complete
today. He said at least $80,000 worth of damage was
likely done to the
boat's electrical equipment and the engine.


*Rodriguez Appeals to be Heard Tomorrow

Tomorrow may be a big day for former president Miguel
Angel Rodríguez,
who is under house arrest for the next six months,
following his
detention as he returned to Costa Rica after stepping
down as Secretart

General of the Organization of American States (OAS).


On Tuesday, the appeals for his house arrest and the
order to pay

¢250.000.000 colones bond, will be heard.

The Ministerio Público is expected to argue that the
former president
should be in a jail cell and not in his apartment. The
Fiscalía
(prosecutor's office) is expected to argue that
Rodríguez could influence

their investigation, taking advantage his position as
a former president
and former Secretary General of the OAS, to influence
those who have
agreed to or may in the future testify against him.

The Fiscalía is well aware that Rodríguez is still a
powerful and
influential figure in Costa Rica and that may
intimidate witnesses or
impede the flow of information to the prosecutors if
the former president

remains "free" - under house arrest.

Jorge Matamoros, defence lawyer for Rodríguez, said he
believes that the

house arrest will continue and that the bond amount
will be reduced.

Rodríguez has appealed the court's order to pay the
bond.

Rodríguez is living in an apartment in Vargas Araya,
Montes de Oca (San

Pedro), when judge Carlos Jovel Sánchez order house
arrest instead of
jail. Rodríguez is under 24 hour watch by police, for
his own safety,
and is visited by high ranking police officials on a
regular basis so
that he can sign the book, indicating his compliance
with the house
arrest order.


*Alajuela Gets New Hospital
Residents of Alajuela have been joyous the last week
with the opening of
the new hospital that has been 22 years in the
waiting.

The new hospital will keep the same name of the old
hospital, San Rafael,
and was officially opened by president Abel Pacheco
yesterday following a

ribbon cutting ceremony.

The hospital took 22 years to become a reality,
following a decision by
the president of board of directors of the Caja
Costarricense del Seguro

Social (CCSS), Guido Miranda, in 1982.

The new hospital is three times the size of the old,
with 34.586 square

meters of construction on four floors. The hospital
will have 310 beds
and 8 operating rooms, that cost us$36 million dollars
and is expected
to serve 700.000 residents.

Medical director, Francisco Pérez Gutiérrez, says the
hospital is
currently at 70% operational capacity, with surgeries
beginning on
Tuesday.

During his inaugural speech, President Pacheco moved
away from the
original text to adlib that the "sinvergüenzas y los
canallas"
(scoundrels and swines) are few within the CCSS and
other public

institutions.

The president's comments were referring to the recent
scandals that have

overtaken the country that has seen many public
functionaries and
businessmen arrested for corruption and graft, that
has included two
former presidents of Costa Rica.

The hospital is located in front of the Mall
Internacional Alajuela and
less than a kilmetre from the Juan Santamaria
International airport.


*PUSC Party Needs to Re-Organize

Legislators and members of the Partido Unidad Social
Cristiana (PUSC)
were surprised at the decision to incarcerate for nine
months former

president Rafael Angel Calderón as the Fiscalía
continues it's
investigation into corruption and payoffs over the
loan from Finland to
the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) that
has seen various
public functionaries, along with the former president
in preventive

detention.

Pain, consternation and above all respect for the
court decision is what

members of the PUSC party feel, the same party that
has former president

Rodríguez and current president, Abel Pacheco, as it's
members.

Lorena Vásquez, president of the PUSC told the media,
"I believe in the

division of powers. I believe we can have a quick,
just and impartial

justice".

Everyone at the PUSC as many Costa Ricans were takin
by surprise and
shock following judge Carmen Peraza who felt that
Calderón would impeded
the prosecutor's investigation and many flee the
country.

In the last few days, it was revealed that the former
president has

substantial holdings in the United States.

Ricardo Toledo, former Minister for the Presidency, a
member of the PUSC
and the legislature, said "we have to beleive in the
courts, justice is

justice. If a judge makes a decision, it must be
respected".

The PUSC party is now in the process of analyzing
changes necessary for
the party to continue as the arrest of two former
leaders, has greatly

affected it. The party will be holding a national
assembly in the coming

weeks, to discuss strategy and course for the future
of the party.


*Pedophile Gets 16 Years

Retired American dentist accused of drugging girls for
sex at a beach
house in Quepos was sentenced last Wednesday to 16
years prison.

Dr. Arthur Carl Kanev, 57, fled Costa Rica while free
on bail.

He was arrested last July in Flordia as he returned to
his mother's

condominium in Pompano Beach after a month long
stakeout by Broward
County sheriff's deputies.

Kanev was the first American to be extradited to Costa
Rica after
formally dropping his challenge to the extradition.

Costa Rican authorities arrested Kanev after hundreds
of pictures of
child pornography were found at his beach house in
1999. Authorities said

Kanev and a cohort drugged and raped local girls, some
as young as 13,
and took pornographic pictures of them.

Kanev, denied any wrongdoing in an interview in 2000
on ABC's 20/20 about
the Costa Rican sex trade, and he was profiled on
America's Most Wanted
in 2001.

In extradition papers, Costa Rica named eight victims
and offered
statements from several teenagers who said five men
were staying at the

house. Authorities said poor girls were offered
marijuana, liquor, food
and the use of a swimming pool and nearby beach.

At the trial thirteen witnesses testified against
Kanev, most of who had

testified against Joe Curtis, who was also found
guilty and is serving
twenty four years in a Costa Rican prison.

Girls said they also were sedated and woke up
realizing someone had
sexually assaulted them. Police found sedatives and
pictures of
sleeping, partially nude girls when they searched the
house.

Some of the girls said they consented to sex. A
16-year-old said she was
paid every time she brought a new friend to the house.
She received money
for visits with no sex but more for sex. A girl said
she had sex with

"Arturo" on her second visit and he used condoms.

Another girl said she visited the house three times a
week and pictures
were taken on some visits. A 19-year-old said she once
woke up topless
and feeling drugged.


*Taiwan To Organize Trade Mission To Visit Latin
America

The government of Taiwan is planning to organize a
large-scale trade
mission to visit Latin America early next year, Vice
President Annette Lu

said Sunday.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Latin
Plaza-Expo 2004, an
exhibition of handicrafts and products from Taiwan's
diplomatic allies
in Latin America, Lu said that the executive branch is
making
preparations for the mission.

During the ceremony, Lu played the marimba together
with Costa Rican

Ambassador in Taipei Oscar Alvarez, symbolizing the
close cooperation
and friendship between Taiwan and Latin American
nations.

Lu is scheduled to visit Central America again next
spring and to attend
the Democratic Pacific Union's East Pacific regional
forum to be held in

Costa Rica.

The exhibition, being held at the Taipei World Trade
Center, will run
through Oct. 27.

During the exhibition, no mention was made of Taiwan's
role in making

payments to former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez,
who is now under
house arrest in on corruption charges, or payments to
Nicaraguan
president Enrique Bolaños, who may face impeachment on
corruption
charges linked to his 2001 campaign finances,
allegedly received
US$4.9 million in illegal campaign funds from Taiwan.


*Guard registration lags

The time period expired Friday for security firms to
register under

provisions of a new law, and officials are surprised
that only about
half the estimated 800 companies and 23,000 employees
have registered.

Officials said that employers have an obligation to
make sure the firms
they hire are fully in compliance with the new law.
The Ministerio de

Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública will respond
to inquiries,
officials said.

Among other things, those guards who carry guns must
submit to a

psychological examination of their fitness for the
job.


*Slide buries three

Three persons died Friday when a landslide fell atop
the dwelling in
which they were sleeping. The disaster happened in
Caletas de Violines
on the Isla Violines.

Dead were Isabel de los Angeles Gutiérrez Alvarez, 42,
Maura Espinoza

Alvarado, 29, and the coupleÂ’s daughter, Dannaly
Gutiérrez Espinosa, 9,
said the Judicial Investigating Organization.


*Florida tourist, 32, dies in surf at Playa Zancudo

A 32-year-old U.S. citizen from Florida drowned
Tuesday morning at Playa

Zancudo, near Golfito.

The victim, Jimmy Kennedy, went in the surf shortly
after eating a big

breakfast. He was a bartender in Fort Myers Beach,
Fla. His girlfriend of
ten months, Ms. Ellie Sullivan, said Kennedy was a
loving and happy
person. Ms. Sullivan, also from Fort Meyers, Fla., was
with Kennedy at
the beach when he drowned. She said, "I remember that
he took a boogie
board and went out to play in the surf."

"The problem was that he had just eaten. This is a
warning to everyone.
The currents are dangerous here. Jimmy was worried
about coming to
Costa Rica. But after he got here, he fell in love
with the place and
was eager to move here," said Ms. Sullivan.

Ryan Korone, Ms. SullivanÂ’s son, attempted
resuscitation on Kennedy, but it was too late. "I am
very proud of my
son. He did everything he could to save him," said Ms.
Sullivan. Kennedy

originally was from the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Ms. Sullivan said that she was concerned that there
was no one on the
beach that knew resuscitation apart from her son. She
said she
remembers calling 911 but she never saw any emergency
services arrive.

"I donÂ’t think that anything could have saved him,"
Ms. Sullivan said.
"The only thing I wish is that Playa Zancudo had a
better emergency
medical system. It is needed. His death will not be in
vain."

Playa Zancudo is one of the more remote locations in
Costa Rica,
and sometimes does not have the facilities available
elsehwere in the
country.

KennedyÂ’s death was one of several last week along the
Pacific coast,
in part due to the strong rip tides. Other victims
were Costa Rican.

The deaths continued over the weekend with heavy seas
provoked by bad

weather. In Tibás a 15-year-old died in a stream
there.



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