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*News Digest

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NEWS DIGEST
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*Costa Rica Prepares to Meet Mexico for final CONCACAF Qualifying

Tomorrow, Costa Ricans unite to face their common enemy, the Mexico soccer

team in the final round of 2006 World Cup qualifying.

Three teams will advance directly from the six-nation final qualifying -

which also includes the United States, Guatemala, Panama and Trinidad and

Tobago - to the World Cup finals in Germany.

The fourth-place team will play off with Asia's fifth-place team for a berth.

The action starts with three matches on Wednesday, when Panama hosts

Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago hosts the United States and Costa Rica hosts

Mexico.

Mexico manager Ricardo Lavolpe says his side won't be looking for a draw when

they visit Costa Rica, recalling that it was the Costa Ricans who came to

Mexico City in 2001 and handed the hosts their first ever World Cup

qualifying defeat at Azteca stadium.

"If you go for a draw, there's more chance you'll lose," said Lavolpe. "We're

going for the three points."

The Tico performances so far ise reminiscent of 2002. Back then, they needed

a playoff to beat Guatemala in the semifinal round and struggled through the

first three games of the final round. The turnaround in fortune came with a

2-1 win in Mexico City, and becoming the first team to beat Mexico at home in

a World Cup qualifier.

Mexico provides the opposition tomorrow, but this time in San José, and that

is great news for the Ticos. The Mexicans have never beaten Costa Rica in

World Cup qualifying on Costa Rican soil in six attempts.


*Figueres Says 'He Will Come Back'

In a radio interview from Madrid, Spain, former president José María Figueres

Olsen told the audience of Nuesta Voz on Radio Monumental, that he supports

the presidential candidature of Oscar Arias and yes, he will be back in Costa

Rica to face the legislative commission and answer their questions, but won't

be part of the "political game" that is being mounted against him.

Figueres told the audience that he firmly supports Oscar Arias in the 2006

presidential race if and when he is declared leader of the Partido Liberación

Nacional (PLN), though he is inactive in current Costa Rican politics.

"I have great respect for Arias and have spoken to him in the past and is a

man with great experience and will serve Costa Rica well", Figueres said.

Figueres would not comment on the recent resignation of José Miguel Corrales,

Antonio Álvarez Desanti and of his own brother, Mariano Figueres, to the PLN

party.

Asked of his refusal to return to Costa Rica and the possibility that today

(Tuesday) there may be charges filed against him to force him to return, the

former president, said he "will" return to Costa Rica but "will" not be part

of the game that is being played against him.

He said he will not return to be placed in the spotlight as many would like

to do. He said that he sent legislatures a complete file of his involvement

in the Alcatel contract to provide consulting fees and of his compensation of

us$906.000 dollars.

Figueres denied having been notified by the International Police organization

- INTERPOL - of the latest request by the legislative commission of his

presence to give testimony and to refute any evidence against him.

"Of course I will be back and have great interest in clearing things up, but,

I have no interest of doing so as part of a political game...", Figueres told

the radio audience.

He made it clear that his situation is completely different than that of

former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez, who was handcuffed and scurried to

prison when he set foot on Costa Rican soil several months ago, though that

is not the reason why is taking his time to get back to Costa Rica.

Figueres closed the raid program telling the audience that he continues to

work in the international arena related to high technology and environmental

issues and expects to be in Costa Rica some time soon.


*Woman Survives Eight Bullets By Her Boyfriend

Lady luck was on the side of a 21 year old woman in Desamparados (south of

San José) yesterday when her boyfriend fired eight bullets into her when she

decided to break up with him. Miraculously, the woman arrived at the Hospital

San Juan de Díos conscious.

Stephanie Miranda Herrera, a mother of two little girls - four and seven -

was attended to by Red Cross workers when they were called to the scene. She

suffered from three bullet wounds to her right leg, four to the leg leg and

one to her pelvis.

The attack came early yesterday morning when a man identified only by his

last name, Aguilar, visited the woman and tried to convince her to take him

back. When she refused, the man became enraged and shot the woman, witnesses

told police investigating the scene.

Police searched the area and did not come up with their suspect. No one could

give police precise details of the events. Most neighbours who heard the

commotion took cover when they heard gun shots and did not see the man flee.

Police went to the man's home, but did not find him there either. Meanwhile,

the woman is recovering from her wounds.


*Cellular Lines All Used Up

Looking to get a cell phone? Forget it. There are no more lines and ICE has

it's hands tied to get more any time soon.

We confirmed yesterday with workers at the Instituto Costarricense de

Electricidad (ICE) Pavas office that the remaining TDMA lines had all been

taken and that at this time there was no way to obtain new cellular service

in Costa Rica.

The wait time at the Pavas office was under 1/2 hour, where in recent months

was two hours or more, as customer service representatives kept themselves

busy attending to current cellular customers, but could not offer a new

connection.

In Costa Rica there are currently 944.000 cellular service subscribers -

400.000 GSM and 544.000 TDMA. Last month ICE announced that the remaining

18.000 TDMA available lines that were used by in less than 6 weeks.

And there is no clear date in sight when new lines might be available.

The Ericsson contract to provide 600.000 new GSM lines is still up in the

air, being batted back and forth - the Contraloría is not giving it's

required approval, though the Constitutional Court (Sala IV) voted in favour

of the Ericsson appeal - Costa Ricans will have to wait. And that could be

anywhere from 12-18 months if a new contract is to be tendered.

Those with faith are holding firm that the Ericsson contract will be approved

and that the new lines could be available as early as this December.

In December of 2002, ICE awarded the us$130 million dollar contract to the

Ericsson company for the installation of 600.000 GSM lines that would have

been available last December. However, impropriaties with the way the

contract was awarded and the discovery that several key ICE employees met

with Ericsson Costa Rica officials in Europe last spring, led to problems

with the required approvals by the Contraloría (Comptroller's office).

The current situation is reminiscent of years past in Costa Rica when Costa

Ricans had to wait for up to a year to get connected to cellular service.

Before the introduction of the GSM network, Costa Ricans anxiously waited for

"their number" to be published in the daily newspaper La Nación to make the

visit to the ICE offices to get their cellular telephone connected.


*Costa Rica's Railway Being Stolen and Shipped to the Orient

A world steel shortage is hitting close to home. The high price of steel has

seen criminal groups dedicate themselves to the stealing of the country's

railway system.

Rails, nails and including entire rail overpasses are being dismantled and

sold to a Oriental organization that the criminals bring them. Police

officials say that the Southern zone of Costa Rica is the area most affected

by this new type of crime.

Police say that local groups steal the metal and then melt it down and

shipped to destinations in the Orient. Several criminals are already facing

trial in Limón, Cartago and recently in Orotina, where police caught the

criminals red handed.

The criminal activity is a real probelm for the Instituto Nacional

Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (INCOFER) - the national railway company -

that is planning on re-introducing train service to Costa Rica and will need

to invest in replacing missing parts of the rail system.

Currently, train service is provided between San José and Puntarenas - mostly

as a tourist operation than actual commuter service - and in the Matina/Limón

area, used to transport banana crops to packing plants.

The steel in Costa Rica's rail system is fetches a high price on world

markets, being an older product which is of better quality than that used in

the construction of today's railways.

Police say that these criminal groups are getting rich at the cost of the

Costa Ricans and are adamant to put a stop to it.


*US Airways to start weekend connection to Liberia

The first US Airways flight to Liberia will arrive at Daniel Oduber

International Airport Saturday.

The flight will be from Charlotte, North Carolina, and marks the beginning of

routine weekend arrivals.

Arrivals will be every Saturday and Sunday at 1:18 pm. Departures will be at

2:20 pm. Rodrigo Castro Fonseca, the minister of Turismo, and Guillermo

Alvarado, the general manager of the Instituto Costarricense de
Turismo, will be present to welcome the first flight.

US Airways beganwith two weekly flights to Costa Rica in November 2003. These

were San José to Charlotte and San José to Philadelphia. At present the

airline operates four weekly flights to each of the U.S. cities.

After Saturday, flights will operate during the week to and from Charlotte

and Fort Lauderdale. During the weekends, routes will be open between San

José to Philadephia and Liberia to Charlotte. In total, there will be 18

weekly flights to Costa Rica.


*Officials issue warning over the use of green potatoes for consumption

Costa Rican agricultural authorities are alarmed by the amount of complaints

recived from potato consumers. In response, the Programa Nacional de Papa of

the Ministerio of Agricultura y Ganaderia has developed a campaign to educate

consumers not to eat green potatoes.

Potatoes that are subjected to direct sunlight experience bio-chemical

changes that turn the potato green and make them poisonous to humans. The

substance known as "solanina," is created by this chemical change and is

resistant to heat, said the ministry. If green potatoes are consumed in large

quantities they can produce headaches, stomach aches, diarrhea in extreme

cases and can even cause problems during pregnancy,
The ministry said consumers should throw away green potatoes, warning

that cutting away the green part does not get rid of the damaging substance.

The ministry said consumers should keep potatoes stored in a dark and

ventilated place and not subject them to direct sunlight.

The Ministry has asked potato producers and sellers to keep the product

protected from sunlight and to not sell contaminated wares.

"It is obligatory that all citizens take care of each other, and it is the

right of the consumer to buy quality products. Complaints relating to this

will be dealt with by the Ministerio de Salud and the Ministerio de Economía,

Industria y Comercio," said Carlos Alfaro Rodríguez manager of the Programa

Nacional de Papa.


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