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NEWS DIGEST
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*Postal Workers Threaten Strike

In what could almost be considered a joke, a prank, mailmen in Costa Rica are

threatening strike action.

Mail carriers, post officer workers at the main post office in downtown San

José and districts stopped work for some time yesterday after what they feel

is a serious labour problem with the administration.

Even though it is almost to impossible to spot a mail carrier and the only

contact anyone has with postal workers is a visit to the post office, there

are thousands employed by Correos de Costa Rica and are threatening strike

action if the government doesn't address their issues.

According to Guido Fallas, of the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y

Privados (ANEP), the problem is a change in the work hours. The

administration wants employees to now work a 48 hour week without a pay

increase, while workers want to keep their 40 hour work week that was

initiated in 1998.

Another complaint by workers is the amount paid to directors to attend

meetings. Each post office director received ¢88.000 colones (us$188.) while

directors at other public institutions, like the Instituto Costarricense de

Electricidad (ICE), receive only ¢18.000 colones (us$38.62).

Union leader, Geovanny López, added that since the post office began to be

administered by private hands, workers lost many of the benefits and

guarantees received by other public institution workers.

The workers want to be paid for the extra hours or will take action.


*Ministerio Público Considering Investigating Madam Clients

Now that the court has ruled against Sinaí Monge for "proxenetismo agravado"

and sentenced the Madam to eight years in jail, the Fiscalía de Delitos

Sexuales is analyzing the possibility of investigating the clients who used

the Madam's services.

According to the press court office the Ministerio Público - the state

accuser - is reviewing the evidence gather during the police investigation,

including some 6.000 hours of taped conversations, that led to the arrest of

Sinaí in October of 2003.

The client list has been kept secret and was never made part of the trial,

leading some to believe that it was a result of a deal made between the Madam

and the prosecution, giving the Madam a lighter sentence for keeping her

mouth shut.

The client list is said to contain names of important people that could

include judges, prosecutors, members of the Organismo de Investigacioni

Judicial (OIJ) - the same police agency that gathered the information -

sports celebrities and prominent businessmen. And though the Sinaí provided

adult prostitutes to her clients, there could be a case or cases where some

"prominent" people could have partook the services of minors.

Investigators will be looking into some accusations that need to be cleared

up, mainly several calls made from telephones from the offices of the

Contraloría General de la República - the Comptroller's office - moments

before the raid on Sinaí's operation. The numbers that the calls were made

from were not related to the investigation.

Other allegations that the Ministerio Público is looking into is the

declaration by some of the minors that someone from the office of the Sección

de Capturas of the OIJ made calls to Sinaí, the reasons of which are not

clear.

The work by investigators is to identify the names on the list to the taped

conversations and other evidence in the hands of the Fiscalía, which include

license plate numbers of cars believed to have been at the Sinaí home to pick

up girls and photos from surveillances.

Rosalí Gil, head of the child welfare agency, Patronato Nacional de la

Infancia (PANI) is pressing the Fiscal General de la Republica, Franciso

Dall'Anese, to take a strong action against the "sexual abusers".

The letter sent to Dall'Anese by Gil points out that "it would be unjust if

only the proxenetas (pimps) were condemned." Gil has vowed to seek those

minors who were affected so that they can make charges against them. "I hope

it is not tool late to charge these people. If they are known they have a

social burden to consider, either way, they must face justice", added Gil.

Article 159 and 160 of the Penal Code clearly sets out a jail term for anyone

who has sexual relations - oral, anal or vaginal - with a minor, that is to

say anyone under the age of 18, and either sex gender. The law also makes it

clear that vaginal or anal penetration by a finger or fingers or one or more

objects is also punishable under the code.

The law is clear on the penalties in a case involving a minor:

1. Four to ten years prison if the minor is under the age of 12

2. Three to eight years prison if the minor is over 12 and under 15 years of

age

3. Two to six years if the minor is over 15 and under 18 years of age.

The penalty is more severe when the abuser is an uncle, aunt, brother,

sister, mother, father, tutor or guardian.


*ICE Announces High Speed Internet for June

June is the month that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has

promised to provide high speed internet service to more than 100.000

subscribers.

Internet Avanzada (IA) as it is known here, has cost ICE us$48 million

dollars and three years to set up.

ICE has currently 15.000 IA customers mainly in the San José area, which were

part of the work to set up and test the network and in less than four months

it will make available the other 85.000 connections.

Internest Avanzada is the same as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

used in North America that allows the use of the telephone line to connect to

the World Wide Web. ADSL customers can be connected to the internet 24/7 and

do not need to share the telephone line similar to the ISDN and will have a

fixed monthly cost without incurring per minute charges.

ICE plans to offer 128/64 access for us$28 per month. A similar connection by

way of cable modem by Amnet and RACSA costs us$35. Higher speeds of up to

512/128 have been announced but no prices have been set as yet.


*Canadian Opthamologist, Give Free Eye Exams

A group of 34 opthamologists from Canada are in Costa Rica to give eye exams

and perform surgery free of charge to residents of Moravia and San José.

The Canadian company LensCrafters began the service about two weeks ago,

oraganized by the Lions Club of Costa Rica.

More than 41.000 pairs of eye glasses will be donated to those attending the

free clinics that will close next Friday.

Humberto Ortiz, of the Lions Club in Guadalupe, Goicoechea, said that some

3.000 people are attended to daily ar the Universidad Católica, starting each

day at 7:30am.


Earthquake in Turrialba shakes but doesn’t break

An earthquake jolted the residents of Turrialba Wednesday afternoon. The

quake registered at a magnitude of 4 and was felt throughout the immediate

area surrounding Turrialba.

According to a release made by the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico

de Costa Rica, the quake did not result in any fatalities and did not cause

any physical damage.

The statement said that the quake’s epicenter was 30 kilometers (19 miles) to

the southeast of Turrialba.


*Orchestra from U.S. plans series of concerts here

The Symphonic Orchestra from the University of Northern Iowa will be visiting

Costa Rica next month. Several free concerts are planned during the

orchestra’s stay.

The orchestra is made up of 60 musicians, students and professors from the

university which is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The orchestra will be

directed by Rebecca Burkhardt. The concerts will also include national

musicians from the Escuela de Artes Musicales from the University of Costa

Rica.

The visit has been organized by the Centro Cultural Costarricense

Norteamericano as part of the project, "Promising artists of the 21st

Century," which aims to bring talented youngters to Costa Rica from the

prestigious universities of the United States. The concerts will take place

on the following dates.

• Sunday, March 13, 6 p.m - Templo Parroquial La Inmaculada. Heredia

• Monday, March 14, 6 p.m. - San Ramon, Templo Parroquial

•Tuesday, March 15, 7 p.m. - Viola & Piano, Escuela de Artes Musicales Costa

Rica.

• Tuesday, March 15, 3.30 p.m. - Jazz Concert, Instituto Tecnologico de Costa

Rica.

• Wednesday, March 16, 8 p.m. - Gala Concert, Teatro Eugene O'Neill, Centro

Cultural Costarricense- Norteamericano, Barrio Dent.

• Friday, March 18, 7 p.m.- Puntarenas, Casa de la Cultura

• Saturday, March 19, 7 p.m. - Puntarenas, Casa de la Cultura.


Two artists featured at cultural center

An art exhibition featuring two American artists is being held next month. It

will run from next Tuesday to March 16 and has been organized by the Centro

Cultural Costarricense. It will be at the Galeria Sophia Wanamaker in San

Pedro.

The artist David Chiarappa is a resident of Guanacaste and will be exhibiting

his work at the gallery. He creates furniture pieces out of driftwood that he

collects from the sea and rivers of Costa Rica. He will be exhibiting12

pieces that include sculptures from bronze and glass.

Hilda Green from New York will be exhibiting her compositions of waterfalls.

She closely studies the movement of water in her pieces, Green has a masters

degree in education in arts from Hunter College, New York City. She has

received several prizes including a Fullbright fellowship award,
.
The Galeria Sophia Wanamaker of the Centro Cultural Costarricense

Norteamericano is located 150 meters north of the gas station Los Yoses in

Barrio Dent.


*Telephone question hours

Costa Rica's national telephone company, the Insitituto Costarricense de

Electricidad, has announced new customer service hours for public telephone

users. Beginning Tuesday, customers will be able to call between 7.30 a.m to

5 p.m. Operators will be able to answer problems related to international

calls and where customers can purchase phone cards. The free telephone

number is 800-220-9-220.


*Alterra faces a Monday deadline for new financial plan

A new financial plan must be submitted by the current airport operators,

Alterra Partners Ltd., by Monday, if the firm is to continue the

administration of Juan Santamaría International Airport, said Randall

Quiros, minister of Obras Publicas y Transportes.

Alterra took control of the airport in 2001 with a concession contract that

was expected to last 20 years. The deal is a public-private one with the

government receiving 50 percent of the income. Alterra Partners was to invest

$240 million during the 20 years. About $160 million of this was to be

invested during the first three years of the agreement.

The government and Alterra Partners are involved in a long-running dispute

over who should pay what. The government stopped renovations and

modernization at the airport when officials realized that the project costs

were much higher than expected. There also were technical problems with some

questions raised whether the original agreement provided for spending the

amount of money Alterra had planned. In March 2003 foreign creditors decided

that there was not enough guarantees that Alterra would pay back money loaned

and froze their lines of credit.
Some officials say that the government no longer has tonegotiate with

Alterra Partners because of the firm’s failure to comply with the terms of

the contract. Officials said that if a balanced financial plan has not been

submitted by the end of this week then the government will take control of

the airport within six months.

The financial plan, if submitted, will then be reviewed by the Consejo

Tecnico de Aviacion Civil, said Quiros.

Alterra partners are also being sued by Bechtel-Edica, a member of the

Alterra Partners consortium. The firm is suing Alterra for $38 million. This

is because of losses that were incurred when work was stopped by creditors

who froze $30 million that was to be allocated to the airport modernization

project.

In a statement Tuesday Bechtel-Edica said that the firm was forced to fire

140 employees and return heavy machinery which was imported from the United

States. Quiros confirmed this during his appearance before the a legislative

commission that is investigsting public works and administrative contracts

authorized by the government.

"The cases that are being filed by the construction firms are not the fault

of the state," Quiros said.



*Priest Accused of Child Abuse Claims Persecution

Catholic priest Enrique Delgado, on trial since Tuesday for nine counts of

sexual abuse against three minors, said yesterday that the allegations

against him are a form of persecution against him and the Catholic Church.

“I feel there is a manipulation on the part of the press,” Delgado said to

Channel 6 TV News outside the courtroom. “They are trying to destroy

everything good so the church will not have any moral authority.”

The alleged abuses occurred during 2002 in Delgado's home, where he met with

the youths, then 15-16 years old, supposedly to work on social aid programs.

The mother of one of the minors testified yesterday at the trial, conducted

in a court in Alajuela, 20 kilometers northwest of San José. She called the

priest a “cynic” and explained the facts of the case according to her child.

Delgado said he knows the youths who brought the charges against him only

slightly, and that “I never dealt directly with them.”

Nevertheless, he said, “I pardon them. May they continue on their path. May

they be good kids, who work, who study.”

Delgado was formally accused Nov. 14, 2003, and was relieved of his duties as

a priest in Alajuela March 3, 2004.

The priest directed a televised prayer session called “ La Hora Santa ” (The

Holy Hour), during which, according to his believers, Delgado performed

miracles such as curing the sick and resolving personal problems.

--EFE
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