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*Police Officers Suspended In Security Ministry Scandal

A situation in the Ministry of Public Security that the daily Diario Extra reported “generated scandal in the ministry” resulted in the suspension of two police officers.

The officers, Felipe Batalla and weapons chief Eric Karolicki, will serve out 15-day suspensions while the ministry’s legal department conducts an investigation, ministry spokesman Nicolás Aguilar told The Tico Times on Friday.

Diario Extra published last week a photo and a report suggesting Batalla was being tortured by his superiors. However, the officer told the ministry’s legal department he was “never mistreated and much less tortured,” according to a ministry statement.

Batalla and two other officers said the incident arose because Batalla voluntarily offered to demonstrate his prowess at setting himself free from various restraints.

The demonstration took place approximately three months ago during a lunch period and was held in the ministry’s main entrance, where people daily conduct administrative procedures.

“It was an exhibition of my abilities, something I should not have been doing during my work hours,” Batalla said in a vehement denial that the photo displays his torture.

Aguilar said the ministry has already eliminated the possibility that the photo displays Batalla’s torture, and the 15-day investigation is being held only to determine what kind of punishments the officers should receive for the demonstration.

“The officer should not have taken this photo during work hours, or sent it by email to several people, including journalists,” Aguilar said, adding, “only Diario Extra took the joke that he was being tortured seriously enough to publish it.”

Aguilar said the Ministry does not plan to take legal action against the daily.

Diario Extra also mentioned the case of Karolicki’s driver Juan Antonio del Valle, who supposedly fractured two ribs as a result of aggression from his superiors.



*Rains Displace 600 in Caribbean, Region on Alert

Strong rains that pounded the Caribbean region yesterday put the region on yellow alert (preventive) and caused at least 600 people to relocate to shelters.

Rebeca Madrigal, spokeswoman for the National Emergency Commission (CNE), told EFE that the majority of people in shelters are from Siquirres, approximately 130 kilometers from San José.

Madrigal said yesterday afternoon they expected more rains, and rivers to continue rising.

According to the National Meteorological Institute (IMN), Saturday night and Sunday morning the Caribbean received 311 millimeters of rain, which is more than average for the month of January.

The Red Cross said they have been unable to communicate with entire communities, all on the Caribbean coast, while other communities remain in alert as the rains continue. Forecasts predicted the rain could last until this afternoon.


*Dutchman and Canadian Woman Big Winners in Copa del Café

Dutchman Robin Hasse and Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak were proclaimed champions of the Costa Rican tennis tournament Copa del Café, which ended Saturday.

Hasse won in the final 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3 against Argentinean Juan Martín, the number one favorite in the tournament, which was held last week in the Costa Rica Country Club, in the western San José suburb of Escazú.

The female champion was Canadian Wozniak, who won in the final 6-3 and 7-6 against French Irena Pavlovic.

The men’s final was repeatedly interrupted by strong rains.


*25% Reduction in Break-ins of Residences

The Ministerio de Seguridad Pública says that breaking into homes has become more difficult, as more people install security alarms, razor wire and large dogs to protect their homes and themselves. Thus, thieves are turning to robbing more commercial centres.

According to data released by the MSP, of te 6.241 break-ins reported in in 2003 and up to November of 2004, only 4.693 were private homes - a decrease of 25%. The MSP pointed out a phenomenon that only two break-ins were reported in the area of Los Chiles during the period.

Effective police work has practically reduced break-ins in the area of Los Chiles, according to Edwin Rosales, chief of the Delegación de los Chiles (police station).

235.000 To Get Their Flu Shots
Beginning today, more than 265.000 - 235.000 seniors and 35.000 children under the age of 5 - will receive vaccination against the "gripe" or flu.

The vaccination campaign is sponsored by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) and the Ministerio de Salud (Health Ministry), which will spend ¢450 million colones (us$98.000 dollars).

The campaign kicks off this morning with the attendance of President Abel Pacheco, along with Ministra de Salud, María del Rocío Sáenz and CCSS board president, Alberto Sáenz Pacheco, who will be making a call to all Costa Ricans to visit a health centre to get their shots.

This year the number of vaccinations is increased significantly over 2004, when only 90.000 persons received their flu shots.

The Health Ministry says that those over the age of 65 should receive their flu shots without exception, as they are at greater risk.


*Kevin Bacon Spent Christmas In The Jungle

Kevin Bacon decided to go back to nature for the Christmas holidays - by holidaying in the jungles of Costa Rica.

The "Footloose" star and his wife Kyra Sedgwick took their teen children on a trip to the Costa Ric to get away from the trappings of everyday life over the Yuletide season.

He says, "I like to go to warm places with my family, just with my wife and two kids. We don't do like a sort of traditional Christmas, so we went to the jungle.

"My wife won't let me say the actual name of the country. I'm not really sure why. She just wants to say 'the jungle'. It's between Nicaragua and Panama, it's in Central America and the initials are C.R.

"I really, really liked it a lot. It was really great. We were way, way out in the middle of nowhere with no telephones and no computers and a lot of wild animals. It's rainforest and there's a lot of monkeys everywhere.

"I was there for two weeks. We walked around and saw a lot of wildlife; crocodiles and monkeys.


*Palmares festival opens Wednesday with horses

Las Fiestas de Palmares will begin this Wednesday with the Noche de Luces at 6 p.m. The annual festival takes place every January and is widely considered to be one of the best festivals in Costa Rica.

The town of Palmares begins planning for the festival in mid-July. The festival is well-organized and, therefore, is a fun event for families and people of all ages. This year’s festival will run for 12 days, finishing on Monday, Jan. 24.

The entire city is transformed during the festival as fireworks and concerts take over the main city squares. In the fair grounds north of the city, roller coasters and other fair rides are set up.

The tope, the procession of purebred horses through the town, kick starts the party Thursday. Afterwards, a series of sporting events, concerts, and bull fights keep the party going for the rest of the festival.

The town of Palmares is located west of San José, just south of San Ramon in the Central Valley.


*New tour will show visitors Tarcoles crocs

A new Crocodile tour that will run tourists down the Rio Grande de Tarcoles will begin Jan. 29. It is a tour with a difference because of an amphibious vehicle that will be used to bring visitors to the places that the crocodiles inhabit along the banks of the river.

The operator is Sheldon Haseltine, who said he brought his 38-seat amphibious vehicle from England. He said it is the only one in Costa Rica. The vehicle has an interesting history. It was built by NATO for operations in the European theater during the height of the Cold War. The vehicle was an integral part of NATO's front line strategy.

When registering the amphibious vehicle in Costa Rica Haseltine had to provide a name. "We decided to call it Madre Crocodilo, which means the mother of all crocodiles," said Haseltine.

Haseltine was inspired by a tour he took along the Rio Tarcoles when he was planning his project. There the tour guide gets out of a vehicle and causes a crocodile to jump. The tour guide comes very close to the large crocodile but is not harmed.

The Rio Tarcoles is known for its crocodiles. It is along this river that tourists see crocodiles basking on the banks from a bridge just north of Jacó.

Crocodile Safari tours will operate on Fridays and Saturdays starting at 9 a.m. through 4 p.m. on the hour, said Haseltine.


*Nicaragua power struggle may invite foreign troops

A constitutional crisis is rapidly building in Nicaragua as opposing political forces are creating pressure on this young democracy.

The situation is so bad that President Enrique Bolaños says he may bring in foreign troops from the Organization of American States to support democracy.

Bolaños is in the political minority. Sunday morning Rene Nuñez of the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional was elected president of the Nicaraguan national assembly. The vote count was 83 votes in favor and only 7 in opposition to the candidacy. The dissenting votes came from the few deputies still loyal to Bolaños.

Live television coverage of the event reflected the curious sight of the former Contra leader and next president of the national defense commission, Fernando Avellan, praising the candidacy of Nuñez.

Nuñez is a militant Sandinista and close confidant of party leader Daniel Ortega. While the vote was going on party members of the right wing Partido Liberal Constitutionalista and left wing Sandinistas exchanged party flags in a demonstration of support outside of the Assembly building located in central Managua. The remainder of the Junta Directiva was elected in similar fashion with members of the two parties dividing the seven member Junta with a 4-3 majority for the Liberals.

The critical position of Assembly first secretary was placed in the hands of a family member of the imprisoned former president, Arnoldo Aleman, to assure duality in the new power sharing arrangement.

During the past week the executive branch of the Nicaraguan government and, in particular, President Bolaños were directly challenged by a coalition of the Sandinista led by Ortega and the Liberals led by Aleman.

Aleman and Ortega are former presidents of Nicaragua and undisputed leaders of their respective parties. The two political parties control 90 percent of the membership of the National Assembly of Nicaragua and jointly received 92 percent of the nation’s votes during the recent municipal elections.

The challenge consists of a series of announcements and legislative appointments which outline a broad agreement for governmental and constitutional reform in Nicaragua. The fundamental change is the weakening of the presidency of Bolaños and the institution of a parliamentary democracy.

Bolaños in essence is fighting for his political life as well as his personal freedom as he has been implicated in a campaign finance scandal that is under judicial investigation.

In an extraordinary reaction to the reforms proposed by the new majority, Bolaños responded by the filing of a series of lawsuits seeking injunctions against the legislative branch in the Nicaraguan and Central American court systems. Bolaños has also orchestrated a diplomatic assault on the character and legitimacy of the membership of the national assembly.

The Nicaraguan Supreme Court has unanimously rejected or delayed ruling in all of the actions for injunctive relief filed by the President and his cabinet members. The Nicaraguan court system is controlled by members of the two majority parties but, in particular, is dominated by members of the Frente Sandinista.

The Nicaraguan Supreme Court is divided equally between members of the FSLN and the PLC. Bolaños has also filed a similar lawsuit seeking a restraining order against the Nicaraguan National Assembly in the Central American Court of Justice, a regional judicial body which contains members from four of the six Central American countries. This claim has met a better fate, resulting in the equivalent of a temporary restraining order against the assembly directing the delay of any further reforms pending a full hearing on the merits.

The legitimacy of this order is subject to two serious challenges. The first is the extent of jurisdiction of the regional court to decide a Nicaraguan constitutional matter. The second is the validity of the membership of the judges on the court. All of the members of the court who issued the order had their terms expire last October and are operating the court without current legislative approval.
Notwithstanding the legal problems of the Central American Court of Justice order, Bolaños has seized upon the finding as a tool to intensify diplomatic efforts and initiate negotiations with the head of the Nicaraguan Army asking to use armed force to disband the other two branches of the government. Direct military support by the army is unlikely as they have publicly stated that they would not intervene in "political matters"

Bolaños met with high ranking members of the army and police force seeking support in a declaration of a state of National Emergency. Informed sources from both the liberal and Sandinista party stated that the appeal was rejected by military and police forces due to the lack of a rupture of constitutional order.

Bolaños also made a direct appeal to the Organization of American States for protection against the potential reforms. The OAS has the authority to employ coercive measures up to and including the introduction of armed troops to avoid a breach of constitutional order. Bolaños enjoys a large reserve of political capital in the OAS and with the U.S. government which dominates the body.

The U.S. Embassy in Managua and the State Department has remained publicly quiet but has been working hard behind the scenes seeking to shore up support for Bolaños among other members of the international community and pressuring Liberal party members of the national assembly to accede to the Bolaños line.

Amongst the pressure tactics allegedly employed are threats to revoke visas to visit the United States as well as the threat to initiate criminal money laundering proceedings against Aleman and his family members in the United States federal court system under the auspices of the Patriot Act and other provisions of federal law.

Aleman has allegedly been under investigation in the Southern District of Florida by a special anti-corruption task force of the Justice Department and U.S. Customs. Aleman was convicted of money laundering in early 2004 in Nicaragua and is serving a 20-year sentence in his farmhouse-jailhouse "Hacienda El Chile."

Saturday morning a local Managua newspaper, EL Nuevo Diario, printed a joint communiqué signed by Aleman and Ortega rejecting the validity of any armed intervention and implicitly threatened the removal of Bolaños if he failed to recognize the authority of the national assembly to amend the constitution.

In response to the communiqué, Bolaños in a surprise weekend press conference defiantly challenged the members of the assembly and declared the communiqué a "disgrace to the majesty of the national assembly" He also directly stated that the intervention of the OAS in his judgement would not consist of a derogation of Nicaraguan sovereignty due to the authorizing treaty and the aid supplied by the member states to the Nicaraguan government.

Later in the day after meeting with high ranking members of the Catholic Church, Ortega stated that "If Bolaños continues with a plan of foreign intervention of Nicaraguan sovereignty he will be removed by the National Assembly and be replaced by Vice President Jose Rizo Castellon".

Rizo who has repeatedly threatened resignation from the Bolaños government held a secret meeting on Thursday night with Ortega and later on Friday with Aleman allegedly seeking their joint support in the event Bolaños is impeached and removed from office.

Monday morning the President is required by law to address the Assembly and present his report on the state of the Republic and his legislative plans for the upcoming year. The tension is such that it is widely predicted that he will not appear or that a direct confrontation will occur during or after the speech.

Supporters of Bolaños have obtained a demonstration permit for a rally outside of the assembly during his scheduled annual report to the deputies. This report, mandated by law is the functional equivalent of the State of the Nation address given annually by the sitting U.S. president.

There is no confirmation to this moment of the attendance of the Nicaraguan president at the legislative session and counter marches have been discussed by members of the two majority parties. High security is planned for the event as the entire diplomatic corps is invited as well as the members of the Supreme Court and judges.


*Nicaragua Property Reforms Worry U.S.

GRANADA Nicaragua – A controversial new property law designed to resolve title disputes over properties confiscated by the revolutionary Sandinista government in the 1980s could jeopardize the continuance of U.S. aid to Nicaragua , according to a U.S. government official.

The 42-article “Law to Create a Superintendency of Reformed Urban and Rural Property” calls for the creation of a Superintendent's position to resolve all pending title and compensation disputes over properties seized by the Sandinistas. The bill is being studied by the Congressional Economic Affairs Commission, and is expected to become law in the coming months.

The measure is being excoriated by the Casa Presidencial and independent lawyers, who claim it is an attempt by the Sandinistas to further legalize property seizures from their infamous land-grab in the late 1980s, known as the “piñata.”

If such is the case, the new property law could spell the end to U.S. financial assistance to Nicaragua by as early as July, when the U.S. votes to renew its aid programs, an embassy source told The Tico Times.

REAL estate agents, however, are looking at the bill through rose-tinted glasses.

The new position of Property Superintendent, they argue, would expedite the pending property cases, thereby offering definitive titles to previously risky real estate and making it safer for a buyers' market.

“This (law) could help a lot because right now there are some interesting lands without clear title,” said Billy Hondoy, legal analyst for Coldwell Banker's office in Granada . “There are people who want to buy some of these lands, but can't.”

Hondoy estimates around 25% of rural properties, especially in the north of the country – where foreign buyers aren't generally looking – have disputed title claims. That is down from around 80% in the early 1990s, he said.

In urban areas, an estimated 10% of properties still have tricky title histories.

DISPUTED properties are the lepers of the real-estate world. Even seasoned agents who know how to navigate the legal system usually stay away from seized lands, homes and buildings.

Veteran U.S. real-estate agent Charley Southwell, of Remax Granada, claims many of the pending land quarrels from the 1980s are still unresolved because the disputed property was stolen by one owner before being seized by the next, resulting in a sticky situation where no one can prove a convincing title history.

In instances where disputed lands are too attractive to pass on, some buyers have actually paid both alleged owners for their various title claims to the same plot, Southwell said.

But most of the time, real-estate agents and knowledgeable buyers avoid controversial properties.

FORMER Sandinista President Daniel Ortega (1979-1990) and his politically faithful are alleged to have rewarded themselves with as much as $2 billion in seized properties (land, buildings, homes, equipment) during the so-called piñata grab on their way out of office in 1990.

While much of seized property was previously owned – or stolen, as the case may be – by the Somoza family dynasty that ruled Nicaragua from 1937-1979, many of the other properties were held by families, individuals or businesses with lawful claim.

Since opening its Property Claims Office in 1995, the U.S. Embassy in Managua has helped resolve more than 1,000 U.S. citizen claimants recover seized properties or receive compensation from the Nicaraguan government, which has dolled out more than $277 million in compensation bonds during the past nine years.

An additional 762-embassy registered claims are still pending, according to the U.S. government.

DURING an interview last October, U.S. Ambassador Barbara Moore told The Tico Times: “We have made excellent progress under the Bolaños administration, and had a couple of record years in the number of cases re-solved” (TT, Nov. 12).

With the Sandinistas allegedly posed to assume influence over the new Property Superintendendency, the U.S. ' heyday for resolving cases may be coming to an end.

“We are indeed concerned about this,” said the embassy source, who asked not to be named, adding that the U.S. government is continuing to meet with different sectors to find out exactly how the new legislative initiative could affect future property claims.

THE Casa Presidencial is less reserved in its contempt for the bill.

“The same people who destroyed the country in the past are now the ones who are saying they are going to fix it,” said presidential spokesman Lindolfo Monjared.

President Enrique Bolaños is expected to veto the law after it passes its second vote in the National Assembly sometime this year.

The National Assembly, however, appears – at the moment – to have the votes to override the President's veto and make the bill a law.


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