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TODAY'S CONTENTS
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*Feature Article: *Anti-Corruption Crusade Targets
Nicragua's
President
*Calendar, exchange rates, weather forecast, movie link
*News Digest
*Latin American News
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FEATURE ARTICLE
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*Anti-Corruption Crusade Targets Nicragua's President
GRANADA Nicaragua – After three years of basing his
administration on
an aggressive anti-corruption campaign, President
Enrique Bolaños could
become the next political casualty to get caught in
his own dragnet.
The Nicaraguan Comptroller Gene-ral's Office this
week presented the
National Assembly with a report on campaign-finance
irregularities
committed by the Bolaños team in 2000, and called for
the President's
removal from office.
Bolaños
The report says tens of millions of dollars of
unreported campaign funds
from unknown sources were allegedly used to finance
Bolaños' presidential
bid. At least five checks totaling $326,000 were
moved through an offshore
bank in St. George, according to the report, of which
The Tico Times has
obtained a copy.
UNDER Nicaragua's Electoral Code, foreign campaign
donations are not
illegal, but unreported funds from unknown sources
are. The Comptroller
General's Office claims it requested information from
private banks and
President Bolaños to explain the mystery donations,
but was unable to
shed any light on the suspicious funds.
Bolaños, reportedly on advice from his lawyers, never
answered the
Comptroller General's request for donor information,
and the private
banks – protected by banking secrecy legislation –
provided few
additional clues.
The Comptroller General's Office concluded Bolaños
violated electoral
law and should be docked two months' wages and
stripped of the
presidency by Congress.
Nicaraguan lawyers consulted this week explained that
the Comptroller's
report is not legally binding, but can be
administratively binding.
In other words, the Comptroller General could
exercise the authority
to withhold Bolaños' salary, but does not have the
competency to remove
him from office.
Bolaños, who was in Libya this week on a diplomatic
visit, did not
respond directly to the Comptroller's report by press
time. His
lawyers, however, insisted the President will not
resign. They said
Bolaños would use all legal recourses at his disposal
to remain in
office, including the Supreme Court and the
Democratic Charter of the
Organization of American States (OAS).
IN Nicaragua, leaders of the Liberal Constitutional
Party and the
Sandinista National Liberation Front are calling for
Bolaños' head.
Daniel Ortega, former revolutionary president and
secretary general of
the Sandinista Front, blasted Bo-laños as a “liar”
and a “ridiculous
clown” who had tricked the “innocent people of
Nicaragua” who elected
him “in good faith.”
Ortega accused Bolaños of trying to subjugate
Nicaragua to the yanki
government, and insisted that Nicaragua, not the
United States,
would have the final word about whether Bolaños
remains in office.
Congressional vice-president Wilfredo Navarro,
vice-president of the
Liberal Constitutional Party, also called for
Bolaños' resignation.
“He should follow the example of the Secretary
General of the OAS
(former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel RodrÃguez)
and resign to
spare us further embarrassment,” Navarro said.
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CALENDAR
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October 15
*Theater for Kids
A play about a black boy's adventures, presented at
the National
Auditorium in the Children's Museum, San José, Friday
at 9 and 11 a.m.,
and Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Info:
222-7647.
*The Cemetery Club
A comedy by Ivan Menchell, performed in English by
the Little Theatre
Group at the Blanche Brown Theatre in Escazú, Friday
and Saturday at
7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. through Oct. 24.
Info: 355-1623.
*Groups to Protest Shark Finning
The Sea Turtle Restoration Program (PRETOMA) invited
everyone to march
in protest against shark finning, scheduled to begin
at 9 a.m. Saturday.
More than a dozen non-governmental organizations have
said they will
participate in the march, which starts at the Plaza
de la Cultura in
downtown San José. PRETOMA will also circulate a
petition – which already
has 50,000 signatures – asking government officials
to put an end to shark
finning, the brutal practice of slicing the fins off
a shark and
discarding the carcasses in the ocean.
*Thank-You Concert by the Youth Symphony:
Playing selections from the concert it performed in
the Santa Cecilia
Academy in Rome, Italy, the Youth Symphony will play
the Festive Overture,
by D. Shostakovich; Huapango, by Pablo Moncayo; Costa
Rican Inspirations,
by Carlos Guzman; and pieces by Tchaikovsky and
Ginastera, 8 p.m. Saturday
in the National Theater, 221-5341.
*Team Aventura Mudman 2004
Sports and lots of fun, starting at 8 a.m. Sunday in
Fossil Land,
Patarrá, Desamparados, 276-6060, 276-8103.
Central Bank Exchange Rates
Reference Rate
Buy
¢448.54
Sell
¢450.14
CR Colon:
CAD
349.471
GBP
788.259
EURO
542.469
JPY
4.001
NIO
27.261
RUB
15.039
US Dollar:
BZD
0.5063
GTQ
0.1234
HNL
0.0527
SVC
0.1142
NIO
0.0621
PAB
0.9950
15 Oct 2004
5-Day Forecast for San Jose
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue
78° | 75°
78° | 75°
78° | 73°
78° | 73°
75° | 71°
T-storms T-storms T-storms Chance of T-storms Rain
Movie Guide:
http://entretenimiento.co.cr/entretenimiento/cine/cine.asp
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NEWS DIGEST
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*Ex-President Declined to Answer Legislative
Commission's Questions
Former President Rafael Ãngel Calderón (1990-94)
appeared yesterday
before the Legislative Assembly's Commission on
Public Expenditures, but
declined to answer the legislators' questions.
Members of the commission, headed by Luis Gerardo
Villanueva of the
National Liberation Party (PLN), asked Calderón
numerous questions
about payments of more than $500,000 he allegedly
received from a $9.2
million “commission” that was paid to government
officials in connection
with a $39.5 government contract with a Finnish
medical supply company,
whose products are distributed in Costa Rica by
Corporación Fischel. The
plan, called the Finland Project, aimed to modernize
the hospitals of the
country's Social Security System (Caja), which
provides cradle-to-grave
health care to most Costa Ricans.
Calderón, who has been prohibited from leaving the
country during the
Caja investigation, was also asked whether he had any
involvement in the
alleged payment of a “prize” to former President
Miguel Ãngel RodrÃguez
(1998-2002) and members of the Costa Rican
Electricity Institute (ICE)
in connection with a government contract for 400,000
cellular phone
lines awarded to the French telecommunications firm
Alcatel.
Legislators asked several questions implying a direct
link between
Calderón and RodrÃguez, who today will step down from
his post as
Secretary General of the Organization of American
States (OAS) amid
allegations of accepting the payments.
Several lawmakers made reference to a “ring of
corruption” allegedly
involving Calderón, RodrÃguez and other members of
the ruling Social
Christian Unity Party (PUSC).
Calderón's lawyer, Gonzalo Castellón, called the
inquiry the beginning
of a “long, arduous” process that could take two to
three years to
complete, and after each legislator's questions said
that Calderón, in
keeping with his professional advice, would abstain
from answering.
The legislators vocally expressed their
disappointment with Calderón's
decision not to testify, using remarks that at some
points became almost
scolding.
Heredia legislator José Francisco Salas asked
Calderón, who played a
leading role in founding PUSC, whether he also
founded the “ring.”
Humberto Arce, of the Patriotic Bloc, said that if
Calderón were to end
up in jail because of the alleged payments, he would
have “time to
reflect.”
Other deputies urged Calderón to testify because he
owed it to the
citizens of Costa Rica.
Mario Redondo of the PUSC party, said Calderón owed
an explanation to
the women “who stay up late at night making
sandwiches” for family
members, while Peter Guevara, a Libertarian Movement
Party legislator,
said the ex-President owed an explanation to the
children of the country.
*Political Party Founder Takes His Own Life
Mario Quintana, one of the founding members of the
Social Christian
Unity Party (PUSC), which is now in the spotlight for
corruption
investigations into some of its most prominent
members, took his own
life Wednesday around 5 p.m. with a .357 Magnum,
according to the
Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ).
OIJ spokeswoman Margarita Morales said Quintana, 58,
wrote a note
before firing a round into his right temple, but the
note was “ambiguous”
and did not outline the exact reasons for his suicide.
She said Quintana's family members described him as
“sad” and “depressed”
in recent days, but never thought him to be suicidal.
Morales said Quintana was not being investigated in
connection with the
corruption scandals linked to former Presidents
Miguel Ãngel RodrÃguez
(1998-2002) and Rafael Ãngel Calderón (1990-94), both
members of the
ruling PUSC party.
Quintana, though he never served in public office,
was the political
party's president from 1990-92.
Neither PUSC president Lorena Vásquez nor party
secretary Jorge
Eduardo Sánchez could be reached for comment by press
time.
*Fallen Angel
Costa Rican authorities say that they will arrest and
transport former
Costa Rican president and former Secretary General of
the OAS in
handcuffs when he arrives today in Costa Rica.
RodrÃguez will be immediately arrested as he sets
foot on Costa Rican
soil when he arrives at the Juan Santamaria airport,
leaving his post
at the Organization of American States.
Marco Badilla, director of immigration, told a
Repretel news channel
last night that he has received the "order of
capture" for RodrÃguez and
that his agents have been instructed to detain the
man as soon as he is
spotted at any of the entry points to Costa Rica.
The question that has been asked the last day, was
would be RodrÃguez be
handcuffed as a common criminal? The answer would be
left up to the
agent or agents who first come into contact with the
former president.
The origins of the current damage to the prestige of
Costa Rica at the
international level, because of the corruption
charges against former
President date back 10 years, that is the time that
this country
invested to get one of its citizens elected as
Secretary General of the
Organization of American States (OAS).
RodrÃguez was president of Costa Rica for the period
1998-2002, leaving
the seat to the current president Abel Pacheco, who
belong to the same
political party, the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana
(PUSC).
RodrÃguez took office at the OAS last September 15,
but lasted less than
one month at the post, since he was forced to resign
after his alleged
involvement in accepting bribes from the French
telecommunications firm
Alcatel and the government of Taiwan.
"From pride to shame" is the description local
analysts have for the
situation, which has marred the image of Costa Rica
at the international
level.
RodrÃguez is expected to return to Costa Rica, where
he will face
prosecutors who have many unanswered questions about
the former
president's involvement as related to them by former
ICE directors and
employees.
RodrÃguez's arrival in Costa Rica as early as this
morning or as late as
this evening, with the last commercial flight
arriving from the U.S.
Speculation is that he could arrive in a private
plane and could land at
the Liberia airport, to avoid the crowds and press.
No matter, Costa Rican authorities are demanding his
immediate detention
and that be brought before the tribunals as soon as
possible following his
arrival in Costa Rica.
There still exists the possibility that RodrÃguez
will not return to
Costa Rica, be arrested in Washington as his immunity
expires with his
final act as Secretary General of the OAS and be
brought back by force.
Rumours still circulate of possibly Venezuela or the
Dominican Republic
as possible safe havens, where he would be granted
diplomatic asylum.
However, the man has stated repeatedly that he has
done nothing wrong
and will return to Costa Rica to defend himself.
*Alcatel and Taiwan Investigate Corruption in Costa Rica
In an statement published on the Alcatel worldwide
website, Alcatel
tells the world the situation in Costa Rica.
On their website, Alcatel reiterates that its policy
is to conduct its
business with transparency, following laws and
regulations, both locally
and internationally.
Alcatel tells that it established on October 4, 2004,
an internal team
to conduct an inquiry regarding its operations in
Costa Rica.
"The first conclusions of this inquiry have confirmed
that local
consultants may have acted in violation of their
contractual obligations
with Alcatel. These clearly forbid the consultants
from offering
promises or give any undue pecuniary or other
advantage to any public
official for any purpose, which may contravene any
applicable laws. "
The French telecommunications firm says, it has been
recently revealed
that the president of Alcatel Costa Rica violated the
Alcatel Group's
Code of Ethics, which is enforced across the entire
company. This
employee, who had been immediately suspended, is now
being terminated.
The company, who reserves the right to take further
legal action to
seek appropriate remedies, pursues its internal
inquiry, and will fully
cooperate with local authorities.
Despite these difficult circumstances, Alcatel has
asked its employees
to continue to perform their duties to support our
customers in
maintaining quality of service to the Costa Rican
telecom network.
In a separate action, the Taiwanese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MOFA)
is studying Costa Rica scandal about reports that
MOFA had given Miguel
Angel Rodriguez us$200,000 in 2001 and that the
embassy gave him the same
amount in 2002
MOFA spokesman Michael Lu said that Taiwan would not
get involved in
Costa Rica's judicial procedures. He said the
government offers aid to
allies through mutual negotiations and that the
foreign ministry would try
to understand the allegations
A spokeswoman for the embassy in Costa Rica told the
Taiwan Central
News Agency that the embassy "had no information"
about the alleged
donations. "The ministry is trying to understand the
reports. Our
country offers aid to our allies through mutual
negotiations. These aid
projects primarily aim to help our allies' national
development," Lu said.
Opposition officials in Costa Rica have called for
the country to sever
diplomatic ties with Taiwan after news about
Rodriguez's alleged
acceptance of the donations broke. Answering
questions about the demand,
Lu said, "We would not interfere into another
country's domestic politics."
*Former Alcatel Manager and Servicios Notariales
Lawyer Arrested
Edgar Valverde, who was fired last week as manager of
the French telecom
Alcatel in Costa Rica was detained yesterday in
connection with the
ICE-Alcatel scandal.
Valverde was on his way to testify before a
Legislative Assembly
committee investigating the payment of millions of
dollars in kickbacks,
allegedly to allow Alcatel rights to 400,000 cellular
telephone lines
in a contract worth us$149.000.000 dollars with the
Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)
Valverde is accused of having paid out kickbacks. His
accuser, Guido
Silbaja, said he had received us$196,000 dollars in
hush money from
Alcatel.
The French firm iss suspected of having made millions
of dollars in
payments to intermediaries to gain access to the
market for some us$230
million dollars in sales of mobile telephones and
equipment.
Also, yesterday, in a separate action, police
arrested Luis Adrián
Quirós Carmona, lawyer at Servicios Notariales Q.C.
located in San Ramón
de Alajuela, the law firm that received us$14.000.000
from Alcatel for
distribution to former ICE directors and employees.
Servicios Notariales also donated money to the
presidential campaigns
of president Abel Pacheco and Rolanda Araya.
Last night Quirós was in the custody FiscalÃa de
Delitos Económicos in
San José, awaiting a judge's decision on his fate.
*Agriculture and Industry Slow Down
The amount of agricultural and industrial goods -not
including the
high-technology sector- is growing this year, but at
a slower rhythm than
in 2003, according to the Monthly Economic Activity
Indicator, which
shows the variations in the amounts of goods and
services produced in
Costa Rica.
The agricultural sector grew 2.7 percent last August,
as compared to the
same month in 2003, confirming a de-acceleration that
started last year
and that also involves the industrial sector, which
grew 2 percent.
*Citrus Sector Likely to Benefit
As a result of the hurricanes that devastated the
crops in Florida, the
Costa Rican citrus sector expects increased exports
and higher prices for
its production.
Carlos Odio, of the local Ticofrut -the largest Costa
Rican exporter
of orange juice concentrate- forecast a rise from
$0.56 to $0.95 per
pound by the end of this year.
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OTHER LATIN AMERICAN NEWS
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*Bolivia Calls for Extradition of Ex President
A year ago, on October 17, the then-president of
Bolivia, Gonzalo Sánchez de
Lozada (a.k.a. "Goni") resigned and fled his
country for Miami, after a
storm of public protests against his deals to
sell Bolivian gas to foreign
companies and an even greater torment after
Goni's troops massacred Bolivian
civilians who had protested against the gas deals.
Last night, at 12:30 a.m., 126 members of the
Bolivian Congress (out of 140,
making the vote against Goni a crushing 90
percent on the second roll call)
voted that Goni and members of his cabinet can
now be subjected to trial as
civilians for their alleged roles in the deaths
of more than 80 civilian
protestors during what is known throughout
Bolivia as the "Black October" of
2003.
The gauntlet was thus thrown down to the Bush
administration in Washington,
which, according to U.S. Ambassador David
Greenlee responding to Bolivian
journalists last night, has allowed the former
president, Goni, to remain
legally in the United States for the past year...
Read more, with instant translations from the
Bolivian press, on The
Narcosphere...
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2004/10/14/93626/924
So far the only news agencies in English to
report the news are the BBC,
reporting, "The Bolivian Congress has voted to
put former President Gonzalo
Sanchez de Lozada on trial over the deaths of up
to 80 people in October
last year," and the faded UPI.
As of 9:20 a.m. on Thursday morning, the major
North American news
organizations - AP, CNN, the New York Times, and
Goni's new hometown
newspaper, the Miami Herald (a.k.a. Oligarch's
Daily), etcetera - despite
their large budgets and well-paid correspondents
in South America and in the
Andes, have so far remained silentÂ… a silence
that may have the intended
result of allowing Goni just enough lead time to
slip through the fingers of
justice...
*Central American leaders seek new OAS candidate
The Central American foreign ministers met Thursday
in El Salvador to
try to agree on presenting a single Central American
candidate for the
secretariat of the Organization of American States
(OAS).
The Central American ministers met at 9:30 am local
time (1530 GMT)
at El Salvador's International Airport in Comalapa,
according to reports
from San Salvador, capital of El Salvador.
The meeting was attended by foreign ministers of
Nicaragua, the
Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador.
The ministers tried to agree on a single candidate
for the vacancy left
by former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel
Rodriguez who resigned as
secretary general of the OAS on Oct. 8 due to a
corruption scandal
in his country.
El Salvadorean foreign minister said his country was
committed to seek
a single candidate for the post of OAS secretary general
*Venezuela sentences 7 coup participants
A Venezuelan judge on Thursday sentenced seven people
for their
involvement in a 2002 coup against President Hugo
Chavez.
Three were sentenced to six years in prison and four
others to three
years. An eighth person was acquitted.
The lawyer of these people appealed against the
sentences.
The coup on April 12, 2002 ousted President Chavez
for 48 hours.
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