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* Aid Starts Arriving

The Red Cross and other public organizations started to distribute water and

basic food items among the victims of the floods.

Meanwhile, throughout Costa Rica, many groups are collecting food, clothes,

money, among other things, to at least soothe the pain of their fellow

countrymen who lost everything to the waters.

Thousands have started to return to what is left of their homes and

belongings. From a high of 8.500 people in 80 shelters, the number has

greatly decreased to a few thousand being still housed in 26 temporary

shelters.

Aid is arriving from all over. Costa Ricans have united to help their

brothers and sisters. The Cruz Roja (Red Cross), the Comisión Nacional de

Emergencias (CNE) and doctors from the Caja Costarricenses de Seguro Social

(CCSS) were able to access remote communities that had been without water

and food for day one.

Rescue and emergency work is being frustrated by those refusing to abandon

their homes and continue to live without the basic necessities. The spread of

disease from contaminated water is a major concern.

Many have been left homeless as they begin the task of rebuilding their

lives. Valuables have been lost, lives shattered. Many are preferring to live

in what little remains of their homes, fearing more rain will wash it away

completely, which is a major concern as the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional

(IMN) - the weatherman - is predicting rain this weekend for the Northern

zone.


*Telethons To Collect Donations

Without a home, shelter or nutrition... the rain left thousands of resident

of the provinces of Limón and Heredia adrift. However, they are not alone, as

Costa Ricans come together, regardless of political color and preference and

join force to help those affected. Both, channels 7 and 6 have both planned

telethons to collect donations.

Teletica that operates channel 7 programming and Telenoticias will start off

the aid drive today (Friday) at 11:30am with a call to all Costa Ricans to

bring a ¢1.000 Colones or canned food, milk, clothing and anything else they

can spare.

Channel 7 will hold their event across the street from their offices and

studios in La Sabana

Meanwhile, Repretel, that operates Channel 6, 4 and 11, will hold their event

tomorrow (Saturday) starting at 11am in front of the Mas x Menos, across the

street from the Tryp Corobicí hotel, also in La Sabana.

Both television stations have provided great support to those affected by the

rain and floods, providing Costa Ricans a first look at what the Caribbean

residents have been living through since last Saturday. In some cases, the

television station helicopters were the first on the scene of the areas

affected and to some communities were road access was complete cut off.

Everyone is urged to attend and donate. If they can't attend, they can

contribute by making a cash deposit at the national banks or their neared Red

Cross location.

“Un rojo para un hermano de Limón" is the slogan that will be used to move

people to donate. Un rojo is in reference to a ¢1.000 Colones note.


*Thieves Walk In to Bank and Walk Out With ¢26.000.000 Colones

Three men never thought it could be so easy to become millionaires.

The three men devised a scheme to dress up like employees of the Proval, a

company dedicated to transporting valuables, and entered the Banco de Costa

Rica in barrio González Lama and walked away with ¢26.000.000 colones

(us$56.500 dollars).

The slap in the face is that the bank is located diagonally to the offices of

the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ). Sources say the three men were

heavily armed, dressed in proper uniform, walked in, collected the money as

the real guards would and then made away in a waiting vehicle that was

disguised to look like the real one used by the security company.

Witnesses say the vehicle was the same colour, has the same symbols to

identify it - the company logo, etc. - it looked real. Police say that

thieves knew the routine well, which enabled them to pull off the heist

without any problem, threats or violence.

Authorities believe that one or more of the men had to be former employees of

the company.



*Ticos Love Surfing the Net

In Costa Rica, 1,931 people in every 10,000 habitually surf the Internet,

thus placing it second in Latin America. Chile leads with 2,375 users per

every 10,000.

The use of the Internet is growing fast in Latin America, where an estimated

44 million to 60 million people habitually link to the Internet, according to

a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

In the region, Argentines place third, with 1,120, followed by Peru, 1,039,

Mexico, 985, and Brazil, 822.


*High Hotel Occupation

The rate of occupation in Costa Rican hotels for the first quarter this year

will be 85 percent to 95 percent, an average 15 percent more than in the same

period last year.

Tourism sector representatives expect this high season to be the strongest in

history.

A survey of hotels at major destinations, such as Guanacaste and La Fortuna -

the Arenal Volcano area -, show that reservations through March are already

80 percent of the available rooms.

At this time of year -mostly the dry season, there is a coincidence in the

numbers of Ticos who take a vacation and the largest arrival of foreign

visitors. The latter are expected to be 10 percent more than in 2004.

Another trend found in the hotel sector is that a growing number of Costa

Ricans are choosing to vacation in their own country, as compared to the

preceding years, when they preferred traveling abroad..


*Key Arenal tourism route cut by massive slide

A landslide that will block the main road north of Lake Arenal for four or

five days took place Thursday.

Residents say this is the last straw on what they consider to be one of the

nation’s neglected highways, even if it is a key tourism route.

The highway, Route 142, runs from La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano northwest to

Tilarán. What road officials called a slide of a great magnitude took place

between the Arenal dam near La Fortuna and La Unión. Even before the giant

slide, the highway has been a disaster of crumbling hard surface and potholes

every few feet.

The north shore of the lake contains a number of hotels and the community of

Nuevo Arenal, as well as La Unión.


*Jacó billfish tournament will begin March 16

The first Jacó Billfish Classic will take place off of Playa Herradura. The

tournament, scheduled to take place annually, will be fished out of the Los

Sueños Marina and will begin on March 16.

The catch-and-release tournament targets marlin of all species and all

Pacific sailfish. Entry into the tournament is charged by boat, at $4,000

apiece. The fee includes six social tickets for all tournament events, four

angler bags, and T-shirts and caps for anglers and crew.

The tournament will run until March 20, and all entrants will be eligible for

cash and trophy prizes. Individual prizes will be handed out for first catch

each day and best male and female anglers. Group prizes will be given out to

the top three boats. First place will receive 50 percent of the overall

purse, with 30 percent to second place, and 20 percent to third place. The

number of entrants will determine the overall purse.

San Ramón teacher now has own art show

The Centro Cultural y Histórico José Figueres Ferrer in San Ramón, Alajuela,

will open its newest exhibit Saturday. The exhibit features paintings by a

local artist, Francisca Cross, who was born in San Ramón in 1938.

The opening ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. The exhibit will be open to

the public until Jan. 31. Some 20 pieces will be on display at the center,

reflecting diversity as an artist as the paintings are done in several

different media including oil, watercolor, and acrylic.

Mrs. Cross originally worked as a teacher in San Ramón and did not start

painting until six years ago. She originally began painting as a hobby, but

soon she had a formidable collection of art in her home. Mrs. Cross never

intended to publicize her work, but her granddaughter Priscilla insisted and

took over planning the publication of her grandmothers work.

Mrs. Cross is married to Sergio Vázquez. The couple has four children and six

grandchildren.



*Proposed 4% Salary Increase Irrational, Say Labor Unions

Union officials said yesterday the administration of President Abel Pacheco

is trying to “provoke” them into confrontation by offering what they call an

“irrational” 4% salary increase for state employees.

“We think they can offer more, but they want to confront us. They want to see

if we can take the streets,” said Edgar Morales, adjunct secretary general

for the National Association of Public and Private Employees (ANEP).

Morales said union leaders will not immediately call for public protests or

demonstrations, which they used last year to pressure the government into a

higher salary increase for the country's approximately 160,000 public

employees.

“Because of the emergency situation in Limón right now, it wouldn't be fair,”

he said. Flooding in the approximately 200 communities in the Caribbean

slope, including the port city Limón, caused four deaths and more than 8,500

people to be evacuated earlier this week.

He said union leaders will meet to discuss how they will respond to the

proposed 4% salary increase, which came after three meetings between

government and union officials.

Union leaders were asking for an increase of between 11.62-13.13%. The higher

figure matches inflation last year, which closed out 2004 at 13.13%

Labor Minister Fernando Trejos told the daily La Nación each percentage point

approved amounts to a cost for the government of ¢10.6 billion ($23 million).

Trejos maintains the government cannot afford a larger increase, particularly

considering they will have to negotiate another increase in the second

semester.

When the second-semester salary increase was being negotiated in August of

last year, talks broke down after the government offered a final 4.5%

increase to unions leaders' demand for a 6.26% increase.

Unions took to the streets to protest, and were joined by truckers'

association protesting mandatory vehicle technical inspections, in a week of

demonstrations and roadblocks that paralyzed parts of the country.

To end the protests, the government agreed to a 5% increase, which calmed the

unions but spurred an avalanche of resignations of government leaders,

particularly members of Pacheco's economic team who objected to the

additional increase.


*Ex-President Rodríguez Criticizes Prosecutor's Office

Former President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002), who has been serving a

preventive detention order since Oct. 30, 2004, has denounced alleged

“scandalous violations” of his basic rights by the Prosecutor's Office, which

is investigating him on charges of corruption.

Rodríguez made this statement in a letter to the Costa Rican Lawyers'

Association. The letter, which asks for a response from the association, was

published yesterday in the daily press.

In the letter, the former President – who was also the Secretary General of

the Organization of American States (OAS) for one month before he stepped

down Oct. 15, 2004, to return to Costa Rica and face corruption allegations –

said he hopes to be judged in the courts “in a process aligned with the law”

and that he is not “condemned and lynched” by public opinion.

Rodríguez added that when crucial witnesses provided testimony to the

Prosecutor's Office, “a few minutes later (the testimony) was in the hands of

the media.”

“They have given the media transcriptions of proceedings that should only be

used in court,” Rodríguez said in the letter as published today in the daily

La Prensa Libre.

The ex-President accused Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall'Anese of a

“dangerous” desire for attention, manipulating the media, and creating a

spectacle upon Rodríguez's return to influence both public opinion and

judges.

When Rodríguez arrived in Costa Rica on Oct. 15 of last year, he was

immediately handcuffed and transported to court in a paddy wagon. A judge

ordered him to house arrest, and two weeks later he was ordered to six months

of preventive prison.

“I ask that (the Lawyer's Association) take a position about these facts...

and that the public know that we lawyers are not simply spectators when our

democracy is put in danger,” Rodríguez said.

Rafael Gairaud, Rodríguez's defense attorney, said the letter was presented

last week and no response has been received.

Rodríguez is accused of accepting illegal payments from various sources,

including global telecommunications firm Alcatel, which obtained a lucrative

government contract in 2001.


*U.N. brokers a deal between Ortega and Bolaños

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Factions feuding for power here have signed an agreement

to end the simmering constitutional conflict.

Wednesday Casa Presidencial announced the signing of the agreement.

Signatories are President Enrique Bolaños, former president Daniel Ortega of

the Frente Sandinista, Cardinal Miguel Obando, representing the Catholic

Church, as well as the entire United Nations delegation led by Jorge Chediek,

who is one of the principal architects of the deal.

The seven-point plan includes the passage of the constitutional reforms only

after a period of national discussion, a greater protection for freedom of

expression of media outlets and an agreed delay of any enforcement of the

reforms until after the completion of the Bolaños government.

The parties at the negotiating table will be representatives of the Bolaños

government, the Arnoldo Alemán dominated Partido Liberal Constitutionalista

and the Frente Sandinista del Liberación Nacional. No other parties will be

represented. The Catholic church will monitor the discussions with

representatives of the U.N.

The United Nations will take a large role in the management and enforcement

of the agreement for a national dialogue as opposed to the Organization of

American States. This gives a greater flexibility to the discussions, as the

OAS issued a communiqué Wednesday morning supporting Bolaños, and leaving

open all options including armed intervention in the event the crisis

deepened. Although Bolaños is highly respected in the U.N., there is some

support for Ortega.

The entire accredited diplomatic corps was invited and present for the

conference and signing ceremony. Yet the U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua,

Barbara Moore, was
notable by her absence. This is consistent with U.S. policy with

regard to contacts with the Frente Sandinista. The absence could also be

interpreted as a defeat for the Bush administration as there is considerable

belief that the U.S. was urging an OAS-brokered deal.

The highest ranking staff of the national police and Nicaraguan Army were

also present at the signing ceremony. They were visibly relieved by the

agreement since they had been placed on alert since Saturday. Business

leaders, including Mario Alonso, director of the national financial system

and president of the Central Bank, expressed similar sentiments stating that

the agreement would be a positive step toward the development of the

Nicaraguan economy.

In the days before the agreement there was volatility in the market for

government securities on the Managua exchange.

Immediately after the signing ceremony Ortega left by car to meet with Alemán

for three hours to discuss the deal.

Although Alemán had previously agreed to the terms of the deal he could not

be present for the signing ceremony due to his house arrest and criminal

conviction for money laundering. It is widely believed that either amnesty or

an appellate court resolution favorable to Alemán and overturning his

conviction is the next step in the Alemán-Ortega alliance.

Despite the Nicaraguan criminal conviction and forfeiture investigations

pending in Panamá and the United States, Alemán has forcefully claimed that

his conviction was a political retribution and is known to have ambitions for

a run for a second presidential term.

For Bolaños, the deal lets him serve out his term. The national assembly,

dominated by Alemán and Ortega followers, is working on a plan to install a

parliamentary form of government that would make the presidency a figurehead

or worse.



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