Costa Rica Digest, Oct. 8

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>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
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TODAY'S CONTENTS
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*It's Carnaval Time Again!

*Exchange Rates

*Calendar & Weekend Weather

*News Digest
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IT'S CARNAVAL TIME AGAIN!
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*Carnaval Celebrations Fill Streets of Limón

The rhythmic sounds of calypso and reggae music
beckon to all ushering
in the Carnaval in Limón, a port city on the
Caribbean coast, which
begins today with the crowning of the Carnaval Queen
in the Eddy
Bermúdez gymnasium, next to the hospital Tony Facio,
at 8 p.m.

The weeklong event, filled with vibrant colors,
jubilant sounds and
mouth watering foods, promises to provide a taste of
the Caribbean
and something for all in attendance.

“Days are filled with singing and dancing in the
streets, and not
even the rain can stop the festivities,” said Myrna
Ortiz, a 66-year-
old Tica who has attended past carnavales. “Days
begin early at 5 a.m.
when the simarrona play music and let people know a
new day has started.
The beaches and the food, everything is happiness.”

A beacon to not only residents from across the
country, Carnaval
attracts tourists from all over the world in search
of a lifetime
experience. With a sea of people flooding the town,
organizers have
taken every measure to ensure happy memories.

“Security will be guaranteed with help from the Coast
Guard providing
a helicopter during the day of the Carnaval parade,”
said Jorge Rebello,

executive director of the Carnaval Commission. “There
will also be an

increase in personnel at the events – a total of 430
(officers), who
will be dressed in clearly marked uniforms.”

Throughout the week, typical Limonese dishes,
including rice and beans

flavored with coconut and Caribbean spices and fried
plantains, will
be on sale and area artists will show their work.

Sunday is the Día de las Culturas, or Culture Day,
highlighted by
singing, dancing and calypso. The festival honors the
Spanish,
Indigenous, African, Italian and Chinese who live in
the area.

Limon's famous carnival dates back to 1949 when
Alfred Henry King
returned home from Panama where he worked on the
canal locks.

“Panama had carnival and so did other countries, but
always close to
Ash Wednesday. We chose to have it Oct. 12 to
celebrate Columbus Day,”
King said.

Carnaval is a tribute to Columbus, an Italian working
for the Spanish
crown who came to Limón in September 1502, and to all
the immigrants
who came later from China, North America, Europe and
especially from
Africa via the West Indies to work on the railroad
and the banana
plantations.

Founded in the late 1800s as a port for exporting
bananas and grains,
Limón has steadily grown and a recent influx of
tourism businesses –

including cruise ship lines – has helped attract
travelers from all
over the world, adding to the diversity off the city.

Limón, a cultural mecca, is home to about 90,000
people most of

Afro-Caribbean descent. Not the most scenic landscape
in Costa Rica,
Limón makes up for natural shortcomings with a
colorful, artistic,
eclectic mix of people and personalities.

To experience this weeklong event, use the main road
to Limón from
San José, Highway 32, or the Guápiles Highway, it is
about a two-hour
trip by bus or car.

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EXCHANGE RATES
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Currency
Exchange

Dollar Exchange:

Central Bank
Reference Rate


Buy
¢447.78

Sell
¢449.28


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CALENDAR & WEEKEND WEATHER
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October 08


*Canadian Thanksgiving Lunch

Feast starts at noon on Sunday at Big Mike's Dining
Club in Escazú.

Reservations required.

Local Canadians will be holding their Thanksgiving
today at an Escazú

location this year. The noon dinner is at Big Mike's
Dining Club, Bello

Horizonte. The cost is 5,500 colons per person, some
$12.25.
Reservations and further information are available
from: Vicky Kieke,

203-3652, andreason@racsa.co.cr or Elsa Miller,
228-1250,
newremiller@racsa.co.cr or Joan Villalobos, 260-5067.


*Laughing Stone Dance Theater
Korean dance performance, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
at the Melico
Salazar Theater in San José. Info: 257-6005, 220-3160.

*Family Fun Day
Games, activities, food and free entrance, 9 a.m.-1
p.m. Sunday at
Talarke School in San Ramón, Tres Ríos. Info: 273-3353

Weather Forecast:

Friday
Chance of a Thunderstorm. High: 77° F / 25° C Wind
WNW 6 mph / 10 km/h
Friday Night
Thunderstorm. Low: 73° F / 23° C Wind SW 6 mph / 10 km/h
Saturday
Thunderstorm. High: 77° F / 25° C Wind WSW 4 mph / 7
km/h
Saturday Night
Chance of Rain. Low: 75° F / 24° C Wind SSE 4 mph / 7
km/h
Sunday
Thunderstorm. High: 77° F / 25° C Wind SSE 2 mph / 3
km/h
Sunday Night
Chance of Rain. Low: 73° F / 23° C Wind SSE 4 mph / 7
km/h
Monday
Thunderstorm. High: 77° F / 25° C Wind SW 2 mph / 3 km/h
Monday Night
Scattered Clouds. Low: 71° F / 22° C Wind SW 4 mph /
7 km/h

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NEWS DIGEST
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*Corruption Allegations Hit Boiling Point

Argentina Thursday urged the resignation of OAS
Secretary General
Miguel Angel Rodríguez, a former president of Costa
Rica caught in a
scandal, as authorities investigated the allegations
against Rodríguez
by his former Minister.

The allegations against Rodríguez ''are strong,''
said Argentina's
ambassador to the Organization of American States,
Rodolfo Gil. ''We
believe he should resign,'' the Associated Press
reported from Buenos
Aires.

Argentina was the first member of the 34-nation
hemispheric body to call

outright for Rodríguez's resignation from the post he
assumed last month.

Other nations have remained silent or uncommitted
about the scandal.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim on Thursday
said Rodríguez
should be given time to defend himself. ''No one is
guilty until it is

proven,'' he told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.

Rodríguez allegedly accepted part of a ''prize'' paid
to an official
in his 1998-2002 administration by Alcatel after it
won a $150 million

government contract in 2001 to install 400,000
cellular lines in Costa
Rica.

Rodríguez has denied knowingly accepting any Alcatel
money and vowed to

defend himself before the judicial system.

The Fiscal General, Francisco Dall'Anese, confirmed
yesterday that the
first "denuncias" against Rodríguez are in the hands
of the Ministerio
Pubico and that Rodríguez will be called in next week.

Dall'Anese said "I hope he comes. An ex-president
must keep his word."

The Fiscal said that if Rodríguez does not come, it
will be complicated
to get him here, though he will use all the necessary
force to get him
here.



*Finnish Company Admits Commission

For the first time since the scandal of the sale of
medical equipment
to the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS)
broke out, the Finnish
firm Instrumentarium confirmed a 22 percent payment
as commission to the

Corporación Fischel.

The company also announced that it had hired a law
firm to investigate
claims of bribery made public in Costa Rica in
relation to the CCSS deal.

Meanwhile, the Fiscalía (public prosecutor's office)
continues
questioning former public officials who allegedly
received part of
some $8 million, the alleged bribery paid to obtain
the $39-million bid
for medical supplies for the CCSS.

The scandal has reached even ex-President Rafael
Angel Calderón, who
with companies to his name, received some $520,500 of
the "commissions"

allegedly granted by Instrumentarium.



*Parish Priest Accused of Abusing Young Children

A 14 year old girl and the mother of 7 year old, are
accusing the
priest at the San Francisco de Dos Ríos church and
ex-sub-director o
the Eco Católico, for "abusos dishonestos" - abuse of
the two minors.

The priest identified only by his last name, Muños,
is alleged to have

abused, according to the mother's statement, the
seven year old boy
while in the care of the church while she was at
work. The mother said
in her statement, she had no other place to leave the
boy and that the
abuse may have been going on since the boy was 4 or 5
years old.

In a separate accusation, the 14 year old girl told
authorities a
similar story, of being abused by the priest since
she was 7 years old.

The priest was at the church for about 10 years and
with a degree in

journalism was director of the Eco Católico, a church
publication.

The priest has been temporarily relieved of his
duties at the church
and will face the charges brought against him.



*Police Rescue Four Young Girls

In a quick and decisive action, police rescued four
young girls in
the ciudadela La Carpio (west of San José), two of
which were
completely naked.

The young girls whose ages were 3, 5, 6 and 7 were
found in an
abandoned construction site with a 20 year old
Nicaraguan man, who
police say appears to be mentally challenged.

A passing neighbour spotted the young girls and
immediately called
police, who surprised the man with a quick response.

Alexander Godínez, a member of the Fuerza Publica,
said that the man
was known to the mother of the children and there was
apparent trust.
The police action was able to rescue the young girls,
though scared,
didn't appear were abused.

The man was detained by police and will be appearing
in court later
today.


*Ticos Stagger Under Inflation

According to the National Statistics and Census
Institute, the Consumer
Price Index corresponding to September increased 0.78
percent, taking

inflation to 9.52 percent for this year, and to 13.78
percent in the
last 12 months, the highest in the last seven years.

Housing, electricity, water, bus fares, fuels, and
basic food products
are among the items that have delivered the worst
impact to Tico pockets.

Besides delivering a heavy blow on family budgets,
inflation also
affects those who have savings at fixed rates, since
their returns will
have less buying power.

However, the president of the Central Bank, Francisco
Gutierrez,
believes that the current trend of inflation does not
call for changes
in the interest or devaluation rates, since a peak in
inflation was
expected for September, followed by lower figures
that will take the
overall inflation for 2004 to 11 percent, as had been
expected, by the
end of the year



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