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NEWS DIGEST
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*Thousands of Illegals Live in Fear of New Immigration Law
Many foreigners, especially Nicaraguans who come to Costa Rica looking for a
better opportunity, are living the fear that soon, very soon, the Policía de
Migración - immigration police - will visit their place of work in search of
illegals.
The immigration department estimates some 500.000 foreigners in Costa of
which 1/3 are believed to be in the country illegally.
The fear is real as the new Ley de Migración was approved in the first round
of debate on June 7 and is expected to be pass on the second round.
Legislative Deputies are concerned about the constitutionality of the new law
and thus have asked the Constitutional Court to comment before second debate
begins.
The new law would give the immigration department the authority to visit
places of employment and ask for documentation. The new law would also make
it illegal for anyone to traffick in illegals, including giving employment or
harbouring illegals.
Article 63 of the new immigration law states that anyone entering the country
in an illegal manner cannot apply for legal status or be allowed to remain
illegally, meaning they will be deported if detected.
Marco Badilla, immigration director, admits that it is not clear what will
happen to all the illegals now in the country. Their future will be
determined as the law evolves and is put into practice.
Badilla added that there exists the possibility that the government may make
some exceptions, like the amnesty program for Nicaraguans some years back,
however, his department is not in agreement.
Critics say that the government is not taking into account the economic
contribution this group (illegals) make, providing menial labour that Costa
Ricans don't want to do, like domestic work and in construction.
Nicaraguans mainly provide the coffee industry with a temporary labour force,
such that the Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (Icafé) began last year a
hotline for coffee producers to post their labour requirements which is
mainly filled by foreigners coming to Costa Rica illegally.
In addition, during the last crop season, the government passed a regulation
that makes the movement of foreign labour (Nicaraguans) much easier and
without many restrictions. Nicaraguans who depend on the Costa Rican coffee
crop can now move with much more freedom, providing the coffee industry with
a vital source of labour.
Badilla defends his position assuring that the new law is only to form a base
for immigration policies and not a persecution.
By the numbers
According to immigration data for the year 2004
Number of visitors refused entry: 46.552
Number of persons deported: 1.031
Number of refugees living in Costa Rica: 11.000
Number of foreigners in Costa Rican jails: 903
Number of foreign students: 45.900
Number of persons entering Costa Rica: 1.838.188
Number of persons leaving Costa Rica: 1.801.839
*Immigration In Action!
The Fuerza Pública assisting the Policía Especial de Migración (immigration
police) descended on various beach communities in an operation to detect and
detain illegals in Costa Rica.
In Jacó beach, the operation included visits to bars, cantinas and various
nightspots.
The operation began around 11pm and ran until 5am along with the support of
the Policía de Transito who operates several roadblocks in the area,
including Esparsa (east of Puntarenas) and Orotina.
Transit officials checked cars going in and out of the area, while the Fuerza
Publica assisted immigration officers in the various clubs and discos.
In total, officials say they interviewed 400 people of which 84 were
foreigners visiting the popular beach town. Of those 27 were found to have
irregular migratory status.
Of the 27, 19 were Nicaraguans, 5 Colombians, 2 Argentines and one American.
*Improved Economic Outlook
The international risk assessment agency Standard & Poor's improved its
economic outlook for Costa Rica.
The agency upgraded from "negative" to "stable" the ability of the Government
of Costa Rica to honor its external debts.
This is the outcome of what the agency deems an improvement in the fiscal
management during the last year, the likelihood of improved revenues, and a
lower public deficit, mainly.
However, Standard & Poor's does not omit that Costa Rica remains subject to
risks such as an elevated use of dollar in every day transactions and the
regulation of the banking sector.
The Minister of Finance Federico Carrillo and the president of the Central
Bank Francisco Gutierrez stated satisfaction at the news.
Carrillo pointed out that if the fiscal reform that the Government is
promoting is finally approved by the Legislative Assembly, it will be
possible to continue the capitalization of the Central Bank, therefore
lowering inflation, a step to modify the exchange rate, one of the incentives
for the use of the dollar instead of the local currency.
Gutierrez pointed out that the news is excellent, since it will eventually
enable the country to lower the interest rates, acting upon the perception of
lower external risk.
*Heredia Festival This Week
Music, theatre, dance, closes, puppets, acrobats, artist and artisans are all
on hand for the Festival Nacional de Las Artes in Heredia.
All week, different activities are being planned in different places and
times so that everyone can enjoy the festivities.
The Festival is geared to all ages and background and promises to entertain.
Each night at 9:30 there will be a free live concert at the Parque de
Heredia.
*"Godfather of Costa Rican poker players" competes in the World Series of
Poker
Humberto Brenes, the godfather of Costa Rican poker, member of the "Costa
Rica Connection" and one of professional poker's most beloved players is
taking on the world's best in The World Series of Poker (WSOP), the largest
poker tournament in the world.
es.sportsbook.com, the Spanish edition of the largest sportsbook on the
planet is currently offering odds on Brenes and all of the top professional
and celebrity players in the tournament.
Brenes sits currently at 1250-1 odds, with favorites Daniel Negreanu and Phil
Ivey both at 300-1. Hollywood stars such as Ben Affleck (2500-1) and Ed
Norton (7500-1), both very accomplished players on the celebrity tour, are
considered long shots for the title according to es.sportsbook.com fans.
Brenes learned how to play poker from his father at age 7 and began playing
poker tournaments a decade ago after a successful career playing baccarat and
craps tournaments throughout the Bahamas.
Brenes, who maintains homes in Costa Rica and Miami Lakes, Florida, runs a
number of successful businesses in Costa Rica including a construction
company. Brenes has won two world poker championships.
Poker is now one of North America's largest pastimes - both online and
face-to-face - and continues to grow in popularity as more tournaments are
created. The WSOP Championship Event takes place July 7 to 15 at the Rio All
Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
"We expect that Humberto will be a huge draw for Latin fans, adding to an
already gigantic audience for this event," said Tony Delgado, Marketing
Director es.sportsbook.com.
"Poker lovers who don't have a seat at the table have plenty of opportunity
on es.sportsbook.com to get involved with wagers on their favorite players."
* China, Costa Rica Draw 2-2
China and Costa Rica drew 2-2 in the first of two "friendlies" to be played
in China.
Sunday's game was China's first international match on home turf since the
national team was reorganized this year under new manager Zhu Guanghu.
China scored first through midfielder Zhang Yaokun in the 28th minute.
Costa Rica made it 1-1 12 minutes into the second half with a header from
Mauricio Solis, who had been set up by teammate Brian Ruiz. Costa Rica then
took the lead with a free-kick by Ronald Gomez in the 75th minute.
Chinese defender Sun Xiang made it 2-2 with a shot in the 80th minute.
A second friendly is scheduled to be played in the southern city of Guangzhou
on Wednesday.
China is struggling to recover after its elimination from the World Cup in
qualifying rounds last November.
Zhu was appointed in March and is the first Chinese manager to lead the team
in a decade.
*OAS chief warns of crisis in Nicaragua after failed mission
The newly elected chief of the Organization of American States (OAS) warned
of a crisis in Nicaragua Sunday at the end of his four-day political
mediation mission in the Central American country.
OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, who was last month elected to the
post, said he had "genuine reasons for concern, although society continues to
function."
Warning of "a profound political division" which could develop into a crisis,
he appealed to Nicaraguan politicians to make concessions to avoid it.
"It is necessary to make concessions," Insulza stressed, vowing to continue
the mediation.
The former Chilean interior minister has tried unsuccessfully to bridge
differences between Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños and the opposition
parties over constitutional reforms, which Bolaños sees as steps to cripple
his powers.
The OAS chief, who arrived in Managua Wednesday, reportedly proposed that
Bolaños accept a more powerful legislature in exchange for peace with the two
parties -- the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front and the
right-wing Constitutional Liberal Party.
Bolaños, who has repeatedly sought OAS help to ease a crisis, rejected the
offer which he views as against the "basic democratic principles."
The president instead proposed Saturday that a national referendum be held
during the next general election in 2006 on the forms recently approved by
the opposition-led Congress, according to presidential aide Ernesto Leal.
The referendum option has been sent to the two parties, said Leal.
"What I can say is that it is important to listen to the voice of people," he
told reporters after a meeting between Insulza and Bolaños.
The political discord erupted late last year when the National Assembly
revised the constitution, stipulating that Congress has the final say over
the appointment of Cabinet members and ambassadors accredited to foreign
countries. The powers are traditionally held by the president.
Bolaños and his government have rejected the reforms, citing a ruling by the
Central American Court of Justice which deemed Nicaragua's constitutional
reforms inapplicable, saying they limit the power of the executive branch in
appointing ministers and diplomats.
The tension escalated last week when Congress designated new directors in the
public services sector like telecommunications to replace those named by
Bolaños.
In response, the president ordered police to block the designees from taking
office.
*MERCOSUR Summit Opens in Paraguay
The MERCOSUR Summit opens Monday in Asunción, Paraguay, to debate an array of
regional issues, in particular how to strengthen integration and the
inclusion of Venezuela as a full member.
The 28th plenary meeting of the Southern Common Market, top MERCOSUR
political body, finalized on Sunday the agenda for the Summit of Heads of
States.
On Saturday, MERCOSUR foreign ministers looked into the agenda the presidents
will debate, whose main issue is the signing of the Structural Converge Fund
to fight poverty, which had been approved in the Brazilian city of Ouro Preto
in 2004.
They will also sign a letter of rights for MERCOSUR citizens to develop
education and solve infrastructure problems, as well as create a network of
gas and electric pipelines linking South American nations.
With this summit, Paraguay will hand over the pro tempore presidency to
Uruguay, which during the next six months will boost social integration under
the slogan "We are MERCOSUR."
Besides Paraguay´s President Nicanor Duarte and Uruguay´s Tabare Vazquez, the
high level meeting will be attended by Chile´s Head of State Ricardo Lagos,
Ecuador´s Alfredo Palacio, Colombia´s Alvaro Uribe and Venezuela´s Hugo
Chavez.
Venezuela will complete in Asunción all the requirements to join MERCOSUR as
full member by signing the Protocol of Ushuaia, in effect since 1998, and the
Presidential Statement on Democratic Commitment.
*Venezuelan Military Confirms Plot to Assassinate Hugo Chavez
Venezuelan officers confirmed Sunday the existence of a plot to assassinate
President Hugo Chavez, that´s why the site of the parade for the anniversary
of the Battle of Carabobo on June 24 has been changed.
Defense minister, General in Chief Jorge Luis García Carneiro, and Army
Commander, Division General Raul Baduel, told media that the evidence
recommended not to expose Chavez to unnecessary danger.
This time, the annual parade will not be staged in the traditional site of
the decisive battle for national independence, but at the military compound
of Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas, probably with the presence of the head of State.
Div. Gral. Baduel stressed that so far President Chavez has underlined his
desire to preside over the parade.
He told mass media the event on Army´s Day will have the participation of the
Army´s Air Command and a representation of land units.
Venezuelan authorities have ruled the involvement of active military in the
assassination plot, which is attributed to individuals residing abroad,
mainly ex military linked to the failed coup of 2002 and internal opposition
groups.
For his part, Defense Minister García Carneiro said Chavez will attend public
celebration for Independence Day next July 5th, though under strict security
measures.
He added that the president will not ride on a convertible car as it was
scheduled in the parade for the occasion and his presence in the main
platform will be short.
"We´ll step up measures because he risks too much and fears nothing. We have
to hold him up," the high ranking officer pointed out.
García Carneiro explained that "worrying reports" combine with the US
government´s recent failure at the Organization of American States and
augmented accusations against Venezuela to reinforce the likelihood of an
assassination plot.
* South Summit Rejects US Blockade of Cuba
The Group of 77 plus China expressed strong rejection of the US blockade
against Cuba in the meeting´s final declaration approved Thursday, Granma
daily highlights Friday.
The final text also pronounced for respect of the UN Charter´s principles, in
defense of multilateralism and against terrorism.
At the end of the meeting, the leaders of the Group, plus China, agreed
higher efforts must be made to revive and improve collaboration among
developing nations, as those links complement South-North relations.
Meanwhile, meeting participants noted the role of South-South cooperation in
a multilateral context is seen as a continuous, vital process for developing
countries to face emerging challenges.
*Embassy red-lines Centro El Pueblo
The U.S. Embassy has ruled the Centro Comercial El Pueblo to be off -limits
to its employees because of a wild shooting incident that killed a guard.
The embassy passed its decision along to the public via its Web site.
The Centro Comercial El Pueblo is located in Barrio Tournon in the north
central part of San José and is a popular nightspot with a handful of bars
that offer dancing. The center also is where a number of souvenir stores are
located.
The shooting took place about 3:30 a.m. June 10. Two groups of individuals
were ordered out of the center because they had been fighting. One man pulled
a machine pistol from his vehicle and sprayed the buildings. The dead man was
Ricardo Richard Campbell, 44, who worked for a private firm. He was killed as
he hustled customers in the Ebony 56 bar to safety.
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>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
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TODAY'S CONTENTS
=========================================
*News Digest
=========================================
SO, YA WANNA MOVE TO COSTA RICA?
=========================================
Announcing Costa Rica's FIRST online, multimedia,
always up to date, and FREE retirement and tourism
guide! See us at:
---->http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/wanna/forward.htm
OTHER SERVICES WE OFFER:
*Real Estate, mortgages [both lenders and borrowers needed,
Buyer's brokerage, Businesses for sale and opportunities,
all at: http://www.cr-realestate.com
*Insurance, Gold & Silver Exchange, e-commerce solutions,
innovative shipping solutions, and much more:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/business.htm
DESTINY WORLDWIDE -- THE SERVICES YOU NEED, AT PRICES YOU
CAN AFFORD!
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DISCUSSION
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Please send your discussion topics to our Costa
Rica discussion group. You will either get an
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included in this digest!
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NEWS DIGEST
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*Average Rating for Pacheco
Support for President Abel Pacheco fell this month in Costa Rica, according
to a poll by Demoscopia published in Al Día. 49% respondents rate the
president’s performance as average, while 22% consider it good.
Pacheco - of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) - was elected in a
run-off in April 2002 with 58%t of the vote. Costa Rican voters will elect
Pacheco’s successor in February 2006.
In May 2004, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua
agreed to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United
States. The Dominican Republic followed suit in August. The agreement - which
would reduce or eliminate taxes and tariffs on imports - still has to be
approved by each country’s legislative branch. Pacheco has postponed debate
on CAFTA until the National Congress approves a series of bills related to
the country’s fiscal system.
Last week, the Costa Rican president was hospitalized for three days due to
hypertension.
Pacheco has recently been criticized for allegedly accepting corporate gifts,
which may include a membership in a Dominican Republic club and airline
vouchers.
The president has denied any wrongdoing. Vice-president Lineth Saborío said
the government is "totally willing to help with the judiciary’s investigation
on this matter."
Polling Data
How would you rate Abel Pacheco’s performance as president?
Jun. 2005 Dec. 2004
Good / Very Good 22% 28%
Average 49% 54%
Bad / Very Bad 14% 17%
Source: Demoscopia / Al Día
Methodology: Interviews to 1,200 Costa Rican adults, conducted from May 21 to
Jun. 1, 2005. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
*Rodriguez May Head Back to Jail
First he in jail. Then he is out. Then back in jail again. And then back out
again. And, now he may be going back, if the Ministerio Público gets it wish,
as former president Miguel Angel Rodriguez' house arrest order expires today
(June 14).
The former president and former head of the Organization of American States
(OAS) left the La Reforma penitentiary for house arrest after spending five
months in preventive detention, accused of corruption and illegal enrichment.
Rodriguez paid ¢250 million colones (us$520.000) in bail to secure his
freedom from the prison and confined to comfort of his luxury home in Escazú.
The Ministerio Público yesterday made a request that the former president be
held in preventive detention for an additional four months while it continues
it's investigation.
Rodriguez was president of Costa Rica between 1998 and 2002, preceding Abel
Pacheco and was installed as Secretarty General of the OAS on September 15,
2004. He returned to Costa Rica voluntarily on October 15, 2004, resigning
his post at OAS only one month in office, to face the charges against him in
Costa Rica.
The former president was taken off the airplane in handcuffs by judicial
officials on arrival. In his time, he has been making charges that his rights
have been violated and has spoken openly to the press on how he has been
treated.
For their part, the Fiscalía has not wavered and is proceeding with the
investigation of how Rodriguez gained from the Alcatel contract that
installed 400.000 GSM cellular lines in Costa Rica and his receiving more
than us$1 million dollars from the Government of Taiwan.
A judge's decision is expected today on the fate of the former president.
*Wide Band Internet Now Active
As of yesterday, all Costa Ricans can now access the internet over a wide
band known as Red de Internet Avanzada.
Using ADSL, customers, especially those in areas outside of San José, at
higher speeds than that offered by dial up.
The services offered by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)
will cost $25 monthly for a connection up to 128kbs and $43 for up to 256kbs.
Higher speeds are available at a higher cost, which according to ICE, will be
competitive with the services offered by cable modem, which charges $70 per
month on speeds up to 512kbs.
ADSL means customers can now connect to the internet permanently by using
their telephone without tying up the line for voice communications. A special
"router" is used to connect the computer to the internet on the same
telephone line. The same telephone line transmits both data and voice
communications at the same time.
However, customers who are signing up to also take advantage of the low cost
for international calling using VOiP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) will be
disappointed. Recent tests show that the services like Vonage, a leader in
the US of VOiP services will not work properly using ADSL but does using
cable modem.
ICE announced earlier this year that it intends to stop the use of VOiP, a
system that is slowly cutting into it's international calls revenue. It is
not clear how ICE plans to cut off VOiP users.
ICE says the first phase of the project will see 74.000 customers connected
and another 100.000 by the first quarter of next year. Currently, ICE has
only 10.000 ADSL customers connected.
COMMENT: ICE needs a reality check, and it and its lazy union members need to
come into the modern world. If ICE somehow shuts down VOIP, then look for
global businesses to locate elsewhere. VOIP is a fact of life, and what use
is high speed internet without it? That's one of the main reasons for having
the service. If they think they can buck the worldwide trend of VOIP and
advanced telecommunications, and still allow Costa Rica to be part of the
modern world, they are sadly mistaken.
*Cash Withdrawls Can Cost
Getting your money from an automated teller machine (ATM) or from a bank
teller at your local branch may actually cost you.
A study by the Ministerio de Economía (Ecomony Ministry) of 21 private and
public banks reveals that financial transactions cost the customer as some
banks, but most customers don't know it.
And that was the scope of the study by the Ministerio de Economía, who says
that customers should be told of the cost of each transaction, be it at an
ATM or at a teller.
The study shows the some banks charge from ¢50 colones to ¢350 colones for an
ATM transaction and up to ¢500 colones at a teller is the balance is below
the minimum at the time of the withdrawl.
In addition, some banks charge their customers an annual for issuing them a
"debit card" that can range from ¢1.000 colones to ¢3.500 colones.
Debit cards are plastic that is used in lieu of cash. The Banco Nacional, a
state bank, charges it's customers for the privilege of having one of their
debit cards, while the other state bank, Banco de Costa Rica and many private
banks like Scotiabank and Interfin do not.
ATM's operted by the ATH network are free to use to most customers of private
banks. However, ATM's operated by the BAC San José, anothe private bank using
the Red Total network can charge up o $3 per transaction.
Foreigners have in the past complained about excessive costs added to their
statement for the use of ATM's in Costa Rica to withdraw cash while on their
visit. Some of those charges are from their banks, but many are from the bank
operating the ATM.
If you have an account a bank in Costa Rica it advised that you check with
your bank on the cost of the use of their ATM's and that of competitors, as
well as the cost associated with their debit card.
Customers can also call the Ministerio de Economía hotline at 800 866 7866 to
get more information or lodge a complaint.
*Looking to Get a Cellular Telephone?
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) - the local telephone
company - announced that it has lines available to those customers who have
made an earlier request.
ICE is asking all those who have made a request for TDMA service and their
number is below 25.000, they can visit any ICE telephone office between June
15 and June 22 and get connected.
Customers will have to present a copy of their residency cedula, an invoice
for the telephone unit and pay the ¢12.500 deposit.
*123 Traffic Deaths To Date, Down From Last Year
According to statistics released by the Dirección de Tránsito, 123 persons
have lost their lives in traffic accidents so far this year. The number
represents a decrease of 32 deaths for the same period last year.
Juan Manuel Delgado, a director at Tránsito, indicates that in May there were
2.930 traffic related injuries, bringing the total for the first five months
of the year to 19.761.
As to traffic violations for this year (tickets issued by Tránsitos), Delgado
says the number is 127.804.
Costa Rican roads have become lately become the scene of many violent deaths.
Tránsito officials attribute this to alcohol and excessive speeding.
The provinces with the highest number of deaths and injuries are Alajuela,
followed by San Josß, Limón, Guanacaste, Cartago, Heredia and Puntarenas.
*Nicaraguan defense minister resigns
Nicaragua's Defense Minister Jose Adan Guerra has presented a letter of
resignation, which will become effective on Wednesday, Nicaraguan President
Enrique Bolaños said Monday.
"The agreement with minister Guerra was that he was to leave after the
presentation of the White Book on Nicaragua's defense needs on June 15,"
Bolaños told a press conference.
The White Book, which will define the country's defense and security policy,
has entered its final stage before release after wrapping up a consultation
process with different social sectors on May 14.
According to Presidency Minister Ernesto Leal, Bolaños has yet to decide who
is going to succeed Guerra.
*Strong earthquake kills 8 in Chile
Eight people were killed in the strong earthquake that jolted Tarapaca of
Chile on Monday morning and no Chinese nor overseas Chinese was reported in
casualty, according to local authorities.
The quake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale occurred at 6:44 a.m. Beijing
time on Tuesday (GMT 22:44 on Monday).
According to China's earthquake monitoring network, the epicenter was located
at 19.9 degree south latitude and 69.2 degree west longitude, about 110
kilometers northeast of Tarapaca's capital Iquique and some 1,800 kilometers
north of Santiago, the Chilean capital.
Although the epicenter is in the sparsely-populated mountain areas of the
Andes, some large cities, like Iquique and Arica, suffered from a cut-off of
power and water supply, local government announced.
*Venezuela accuses US of destabilizing world
The United States is "the most destabilizing force in the world" and its
policy toward Caracas "has been a failure," Venezuelan Communication and
Information Minister Andres Izarra said Monday.
His remarks came after General John Craddock, commander-in-chief of the US
Southern Command, said in a recent interview with the US daily The New Herald
that Venezuela is a "destabilizing" factor in the region.
The influence of Venezuela among its neighbors is creating a destabilizing
situation posing a danger to the hemisphere, Craddock said.
Izarra refuted the US general's accusation, saying, "Our opinion is that the
most destabilizing force, not only in the region, but in the whole world, is
the United States, which invades countries and arrests individuals in
violation of their human rights."
Craddock's accusation is a continuation of the same "story being repeated by
the US State Department, in a policy that has led to many failures recently,"
Izarra said.
Venezuela and the United States have been at loggerheads since Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez took office six years ago.
Caracas criticized Washington for supporting an abortive coup aimed at
overthrowing the Chavez government in April 2002. Chavez also said Washington
had plans to invade Venezuela and assassinate him, but the US government
denied the charges.
*Nicaraguan Debt Cancellation by G8 Does Not Solve all Problems
Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños said cancellation of the foreign debt by
the Group of the Eight (G8) is good news, but does not solve the country´s
serious indebtedness and social problems.
Nicaragua was included in the 18 poor African and Latin American nations that
will benefit from the debt cancellation that totals some $16.7 billion.
Bolaños told the press he does not know how much the amount is, because G8
has not yet said on what basis the cancellation will be.
The president said that will be announced in July, when the heads of State
and Government meet in Scotland, although he expects it is in the order of a
billion US dollars.
According to experts, the economic adjustments carried out have the objective
of complying with the regulations of the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank.
The sources asserted that in a short time or no time at all, they have helped
reduce poverty, hunger, and unemployment rates in the nation that remains the
poorest of the sub region and the second poorest country in Latin America,
after Haiti.
=========================================
COSTA RICA DIGEST DISPLAY AD RATES
=========================================
This publication is designed to have one display add
between each article or section. Thus, the more
articles or sections we have per day, the more room we
have for advertisements. Advertisements are filled
on a first come first served basis, and prices vary
depending on placement and frequency. You must order
a minimum of 5 insertions with your order. If there
are no advertising positions available right away,
you will be placed on a waiting list and notified
when a spot becomes available. Please email us
at destinads@safe-mail.net for more details.
One final note, if you want to do a solo mailing
to the list, that is available on a limited basis
if we decide that your product or service has merit.
Email us at the above address for more details.
=========================================
COSTA RICA CLASSIFIEDS
=========================================
If you have a worthwhile, honest offering, please
email us. New subscribers get a free five line
ad for a month. If you have used up your free
ad, or would like to place another one, the low
price is only $1.00 per line per issue. we have
a min. ad of three lines and you must insert in
at least three issues. to submit your ad, please
email your ad to destinyads@safe-mail.net
We accept Visa, Mastercard, Diners, Discover,
e-checks, e-gold, evocash, netpay, pecunix,
e-bullion, Picpay, Moneybookers, and
Offshorearnings. We make e-commerce EASY!
=========================================
We give you hard hitting, timely, common sense articles and
news that the mainstream, or corporate media, either will
not or cannot give you. Several times a week we bring you
an up to date digest on what is going on in the world around
you.
At The Costa Rica Digest, we don't give you hype or BS or
"common knowledge" solutions, but we aim to give you
the cutting edge information you need. If you wish to
become a writer for us, submit your article[s] for
approval to costarica@destiny-worldwide.net. We cannot
pay for articles, but, instead, you may include a resource
box at the end of your article promoting your website
or product. We welcome submissions of all kinds to
make this a great publication for all to read!
=========================================
Find out about our OTHER Exciting E-mail groups on a broad
range of important topics. Subscription boxes for all of
them may be found here:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/boards.htm
The Restoration Website:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/rcg/
Destiny Central Success Resources
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net
The Costa Rica Page --
The Fun, the Sun.... The business opportunity
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/
Your Safe, Secure, Offshore Payment Processor
http://www.offshorearnings.com
-----------------> Visit our Blogs! <-----------------
----> SuccessQuest http://successquest.blogspot.com/
----> The Real Truth http://destiny-worldwide.blogspot.com/
----> Costa Rica News http://costa-rica-news.blogspot.com/
=========================================
>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
=========================================
A publication of Destiny Worldwide Net
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net
Also Visit the Costa Rica Page:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/
Subscribe: costa-rica-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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TODAY'S CONTENTS
=========================================
*News Digest
=========================================
SO, YA WANNA MOVE TO COSTA RICA?
=========================================
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always up to date, and FREE retirement and tourism
guide! See us at:
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Please send your discussion topics to our Costa
Rica discussion group. You will either get an
answer from us, or another helpful member of
the group, and really important issues will be
included in this digest!
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NEWS DIGEST
=========================================
*Average Rating for Pacheco
Support for President Abel Pacheco fell this month in Costa Rica, according
to a poll by Demoscopia published in Al Día. 49% respondents rate the
president’s performance as average, while 22% consider it good.
Pacheco - of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) - was elected in a
run-off in April 2002 with 58%t of the vote. Costa Rican voters will elect
Pacheco’s successor in February 2006.
In May 2004, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua
agreed to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United
States. The Dominican Republic followed suit in August. The agreement - which
would reduce or eliminate taxes and tariffs on imports - still has to be
approved by each country’s legislative branch. Pacheco has postponed debate
on CAFTA until the National Congress approves a series of bills related to
the country’s fiscal system.
Last week, the Costa Rican president was hospitalized for three days due to
hypertension.
Pacheco has recently been criticized for allegedly accepting corporate gifts,
which may include a membership in a Dominican Republic club and airline
vouchers.
The president has denied any wrongdoing. Vice-president Lineth Saborío said
the government is "totally willing to help with the judiciary’s investigation
on this matter."
Polling Data
How would you rate Abel Pacheco’s performance as president?
Jun. 2005 Dec. 2004
Good / Very Good 22% 28%
Average 49% 54%
Bad / Very Bad 14% 17%
Source: Demoscopia / Al Día
Methodology: Interviews to 1,200 Costa Rican adults, conducted from May 21 to
Jun. 1, 2005. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
*Rodriguez May Head Back to Jail
First he in jail. Then he is out. Then back in jail again. And then back out
again. And, now he may be going back, if the Ministerio Público gets it wish,
as former president Miguel Angel Rodriguez' house arrest order expires today
(June 14).
The former president and former head of the Organization of American States
(OAS) left the La Reforma penitentiary for house arrest after spending five
months in preventive detention, accused of corruption and illegal enrichment.
Rodriguez paid ¢250 million colones (us$520.000) in bail to secure his
freedom from the prison and confined to comfort of his luxury home in Escazú.
The Ministerio Público yesterday made a request that the former president be
held in preventive detention for an additional four months while it continues
it's investigation.
Rodriguez was president of Costa Rica between 1998 and 2002, preceding Abel
Pacheco and was installed as Secretarty General of the OAS on September 15,
2004. He returned to Costa Rica voluntarily on October 15, 2004, resigning
his post at OAS only one month in office, to face the charges against him in
Costa Rica.
The former president was taken off the airplane in handcuffs by judicial
officials on arrival. In his time, he has been making charges that his rights
have been violated and has spoken openly to the press on how he has been
treated.
For their part, the Fiscalía has not wavered and is proceeding with the
investigation of how Rodriguez gained from the Alcatel contract that
installed 400.000 GSM cellular lines in Costa Rica and his receiving more
than us$1 million dollars from the Government of Taiwan.
A judge's decision is expected today on the fate of the former president.
*Wide Band Internet Now Active
As of yesterday, all Costa Ricans can now access the internet over a wide
band known as Red de Internet Avanzada.
Using ADSL, customers, especially those in areas outside of San José, at
higher speeds than that offered by dial up.
The services offered by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)
will cost $25 monthly for a connection up to 128kbs and $43 for up to 256kbs.
Higher speeds are available at a higher cost, which according to ICE, will be
competitive with the services offered by cable modem, which charges $70 per
month on speeds up to 512kbs.
ADSL means customers can now connect to the internet permanently by using
their telephone without tying up the line for voice communications. A special
"router" is used to connect the computer to the internet on the same
telephone line. The same telephone line transmits both data and voice
communications at the same time.
However, customers who are signing up to also take advantage of the low cost
for international calling using VOiP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) will be
disappointed. Recent tests show that the services like Vonage, a leader in
the US of VOiP services will not work properly using ADSL but does using
cable modem.
ICE announced earlier this year that it intends to stop the use of VOiP, a
system that is slowly cutting into it's international calls revenue. It is
not clear how ICE plans to cut off VOiP users.
ICE says the first phase of the project will see 74.000 customers connected
and another 100.000 by the first quarter of next year. Currently, ICE has
only 10.000 ADSL customers connected.
COMMENT: ICE needs a reality check, and it and its lazy union members need to
come into the modern world. If ICE somehow shuts down VOIP, then look for
global businesses to locate elsewhere. VOIP is a fact of life, and what use
is high speed internet without it? That's one of the main reasons for having
the service. If they think they can buck the worldwide trend of VOIP and
advanced telecommunications, and still allow Costa Rica to be part of the
modern world, they are sadly mistaken.
*Cash Withdrawls Can Cost
Getting your money from an automated teller machine (ATM) or from a bank
teller at your local branch may actually cost you.
A study by the Ministerio de Economía (Ecomony Ministry) of 21 private and
public banks reveals that financial transactions cost the customer as some
banks, but most customers don't know it.
And that was the scope of the study by the Ministerio de Economía, who says
that customers should be told of the cost of each transaction, be it at an
ATM or at a teller.
The study shows the some banks charge from ¢50 colones to ¢350 colones for an
ATM transaction and up to ¢500 colones at a teller is the balance is below
the minimum at the time of the withdrawl.
In addition, some banks charge their customers an annual for issuing them a
"debit card" that can range from ¢1.000 colones to ¢3.500 colones.
Debit cards are plastic that is used in lieu of cash. The Banco Nacional, a
state bank, charges it's customers for the privilege of having one of their
debit cards, while the other state bank, Banco de Costa Rica and many private
banks like Scotiabank and Interfin do not.
ATM's operted by the ATH network are free to use to most customers of private
banks. However, ATM's operated by the BAC San José, anothe private bank using
the Red Total network can charge up o $3 per transaction.
Foreigners have in the past complained about excessive costs added to their
statement for the use of ATM's in Costa Rica to withdraw cash while on their
visit. Some of those charges are from their banks, but many are from the bank
operating the ATM.
If you have an account a bank in Costa Rica it advised that you check with
your bank on the cost of the use of their ATM's and that of competitors, as
well as the cost associated with their debit card.
Customers can also call the Ministerio de Economía hotline at 800 866 7866 to
get more information or lodge a complaint.
*Looking to Get a Cellular Telephone?
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) - the local telephone
company - announced that it has lines available to those customers who have
made an earlier request.
ICE is asking all those who have made a request for TDMA service and their
number is below 25.000, they can visit any ICE telephone office between June
15 and June 22 and get connected.
Customers will have to present a copy of their residency cedula, an invoice
for the telephone unit and pay the ¢12.500 deposit.
*123 Traffic Deaths To Date, Down From Last Year
According to statistics released by the Dirección de Tránsito, 123 persons
have lost their lives in traffic accidents so far this year. The number
represents a decrease of 32 deaths for the same period last year.
Juan Manuel Delgado, a director at Tránsito, indicates that in May there were
2.930 traffic related injuries, bringing the total for the first five months
of the year to 19.761.
As to traffic violations for this year (tickets issued by Tránsitos), Delgado
says the number is 127.804.
Costa Rican roads have become lately become the scene of many violent deaths.
Tránsito officials attribute this to alcohol and excessive speeding.
The provinces with the highest number of deaths and injuries are Alajuela,
followed by San Josß, Limón, Guanacaste, Cartago, Heredia and Puntarenas.
*Nicaraguan defense minister resigns
Nicaragua's Defense Minister Jose Adan Guerra has presented a letter of
resignation, which will become effective on Wednesday, Nicaraguan President
Enrique Bolaños said Monday.
"The agreement with minister Guerra was that he was to leave after the
presentation of the White Book on Nicaragua's defense needs on June 15,"
Bolaños told a press conference.
The White Book, which will define the country's defense and security policy,
has entered its final stage before release after wrapping up a consultation
process with different social sectors on May 14.
According to Presidency Minister Ernesto Leal, Bolaños has yet to decide who
is going to succeed Guerra.
*Strong earthquake kills 8 in Chile
Eight people were killed in the strong earthquake that jolted Tarapaca of
Chile on Monday morning and no Chinese nor overseas Chinese was reported in
casualty, according to local authorities.
The quake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale occurred at 6:44 a.m. Beijing
time on Tuesday (GMT 22:44 on Monday).
According to China's earthquake monitoring network, the epicenter was located
at 19.9 degree south latitude and 69.2 degree west longitude, about 110
kilometers northeast of Tarapaca's capital Iquique and some 1,800 kilometers
north of Santiago, the Chilean capital.
Although the epicenter is in the sparsely-populated mountain areas of the
Andes, some large cities, like Iquique and Arica, suffered from a cut-off of
power and water supply, local government announced.
*Venezuela accuses US of destabilizing world
The United States is "the most destabilizing force in the world" and its
policy toward Caracas "has been a failure," Venezuelan Communication and
Information Minister Andres Izarra said Monday.
His remarks came after General John Craddock, commander-in-chief of the US
Southern Command, said in a recent interview with the US daily The New Herald
that Venezuela is a "destabilizing" factor in the region.
The influence of Venezuela among its neighbors is creating a destabilizing
situation posing a danger to the hemisphere, Craddock said.
Izarra refuted the US general's accusation, saying, "Our opinion is that the
most destabilizing force, not only in the region, but in the whole world, is
the United States, which invades countries and arrests individuals in
violation of their human rights."
Craddock's accusation is a continuation of the same "story being repeated by
the US State Department, in a policy that has led to many failures recently,"
Izarra said.
Venezuela and the United States have been at loggerheads since Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez took office six years ago.
Caracas criticized Washington for supporting an abortive coup aimed at
overthrowing the Chavez government in April 2002. Chavez also said Washington
had plans to invade Venezuela and assassinate him, but the US government
denied the charges.
*Nicaraguan Debt Cancellation by G8 Does Not Solve all Problems
Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños said cancellation of the foreign debt by
the Group of the Eight (G8) is good news, but does not solve the country´s
serious indebtedness and social problems.
Nicaragua was included in the 18 poor African and Latin American nations that
will benefit from the debt cancellation that totals some $16.7 billion.
Bolaños told the press he does not know how much the amount is, because G8
has not yet said on what basis the cancellation will be.
The president said that will be announced in July, when the heads of State
and Government meet in Scotland, although he expects it is in the order of a
billion US dollars.
According to experts, the economic adjustments carried out have the objective
of complying with the regulations of the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank.
The sources asserted that in a short time or no time at all, they have helped
reduce poverty, hunger, and unemployment rates in the nation that remains the
poorest of the sub region and the second poorest country in Latin America,
after Haiti.
=========================================
COSTA RICA DIGEST DISPLAY AD RATES
=========================================
This publication is designed to have one display add
between each article or section. Thus, the more
articles or sections we have per day, the more room we
have for advertisements. Advertisements are filled
on a first come first served basis, and prices vary
depending on placement and frequency. You must order
a minimum of 5 insertions with your order. If there
are no advertising positions available right away,
you will be placed on a waiting list and notified
when a spot becomes available. Please email us
at destinads@safe-mail.net for more details.
One final note, if you want to do a solo mailing
to the list, that is available on a limited basis
if we decide that your product or service has merit.
Email us at the above address for more details.
=========================================
COSTA RICA CLASSIFIEDS
=========================================
If you have a worthwhile, honest offering, please
email us. New subscribers get a free five line
ad for a month. If you have used up your free
ad, or would like to place another one, the low
price is only $1.00 per line per issue. we have
a min. ad of three lines and you must insert in
at least three issues. to submit your ad, please
email your ad to destinyads@safe-mail.net
We accept Visa, Mastercard, Diners, Discover,
e-checks, e-gold, evocash, netpay, pecunix,
e-bullion, Picpay, Moneybookers, and
Offshorearnings. We make e-commerce EASY!
=========================================
We give you hard hitting, timely, common sense articles and
news that the mainstream, or corporate media, either will
not or cannot give you. Several times a week we bring you
an up to date digest on what is going on in the world around
you.
At The Costa Rica Digest, we don't give you hype or BS or
"common knowledge" solutions, but we aim to give you
the cutting edge information you need. If you wish to
become a writer for us, submit your article[s] for
approval to costarica@destiny-worldwide.net. We cannot
pay for articles, but, instead, you may include a resource
box at the end of your article promoting your website
or product. We welcome submissions of all kinds to
make this a great publication for all to read!
=========================================
Find out about our OTHER Exciting E-mail groups on a broad
range of important topics. Subscription boxes for all of
them may be found here:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/boards.htm
The Restoration Website:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/rcg/
Destiny Central Success Resources
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net
The Costa Rica Page --
The Fun, the Sun.... The business opportunity
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/
Your Safe, Secure, Offshore Payment Processor
http://www.offshorearnings.com
-----------------> Visit our Blogs! <-----------------
----> SuccessQuest http://successquest.blogspot.com/
----> The Real Truth http://destiny-worldwide.blogspot.com/
----> Costa Rica News http://costa-rica-news.blogspot.com/
=========================================
Friday, June 10, 2005
In between News Digests, we are now proud to present our new NEWS BITES service, which will be mini bites of news as they happen!
After today, this service will ONLY be broadcast to our main costa-rica@yahoogroup.com list, but the regular News Digest will continue to come out twice or three times weekly as needed.
Enjoy!
John
========================================
NEWS BITES
=========================================
Deputy Asks for Hacienda Minister Resignation Over "Cover Up"
Gloria Valerín, a legislative deputy for the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) has asked president Abel Pacheco to fire Hacienda Minister, Federico Carrillo, and is asking the Fiscalía (prosecutor's office) to begin an investigation in the apparent "cover up" by Carrillo of a young man who is accused of rape and happens to also be member of his family.
In addition, Valerín will be asking the Comisión de la Mujer to investigate the case as well.
Valerín is accusing Carrillo of intervening in the case where a young lady was raped outside of a bar in Santa Ana (west of San José) last December 12 by a group of youths well known in the area and accustomed to getting bailed out of trouble by their influent families.
The young lady that was raped was 20 years old and told police that four young men held her pinned to the back seat of their car. The young men did not realize that there were two witnesses outside at the time that promptly called police.
A letter to Valerín by the father of the young girl asked for help in the case, where many strange things have happened. The letter accuses Carrillo of trying to use his influence to help one of the young men, who is his cousin and works at Hacienda.
"These are young men who are used to commit all types of crimes and never see jail because of their families influence on the system", adds the girl's father in his letter.
Forensic evidence points the finger tothe young men accused of the crime, but the young girl's father adds that the men who raped are still free. And that the Minister of Hacienda has talked bad about the girl in the press in defending his cousin, without even knowing her.
Deputy Valerín read the letter to the Legislative Assembly as part of her charges against the Minister and adds that the prosecutor handling the case had requested that the accusers not bother the victim, however, when the young girl was ready to give her testimony to the prosecutor, a former judge who is acting as defense attorney insults the girl's mother. And adds that even though the assailants are not permitted to be in the presence of the girl when she is giving her testimony, one of them is present to frighten the girl and with the approval of the prosecutor.
For his part, Minister Carrillo has refused to speak on the matter and is not making himself available to the press.
* Bolivian Congress accepts president's resignation
Bolivia's Congress Thursday unanimously accepted the resignation of President Carlos Mesa and appointed President of the Supreme Court Eduardo Rodriguez as interim leader of the South American country.
The appointment of Rodriguez came after both Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez and House leader Mario Cossio refused to accept the post in succession, said reports from Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia.
According to the constitution, the interim president is entitled to call new elections.
The decisions were made by Congress in a quick late-night emergency session without debate.
Late on Monday, Mesa announced his decision to resign after mass anti-government protesters paralyzed the country for several weeks. Earlier this year, he also offered resignation, but was turned down by Congress.
The unrest in Bolivia erupted after the National Congress passed a law on May 17 to levy a 50-percent tax on foreign oil and gas companies operating in Bolivia, which has the second largest gas reserves in South America after Venezuela.
The opposition demands higher taxes on foreign firms and the nationalization of the country's lucrative oil and gas industry.
Demonstrations have escalated into riots since May 24 when demonstrators blocked a downtown square in La Paz, where the executive and legislative branches of government are located, and began to smash windows in buildings and cars in the surrounding streets.
In a bid to halt oil and gas production, hundreds of peasants in the eastern Santa Cruz province have blockaded roads and entrances to four natural gas fields operated by foreign firms
After today, this service will ONLY be broadcast to our main costa-rica@yahoogroup.com list, but the regular News Digest will continue to come out twice or three times weekly as needed.
Enjoy!
John
========================================
NEWS BITES
=========================================
Deputy Asks for Hacienda Minister Resignation Over "Cover Up"
Gloria Valerín, a legislative deputy for the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) has asked president Abel Pacheco to fire Hacienda Minister, Federico Carrillo, and is asking the Fiscalía (prosecutor's office) to begin an investigation in the apparent "cover up" by Carrillo of a young man who is accused of rape and happens to also be member of his family.
In addition, Valerín will be asking the Comisión de la Mujer to investigate the case as well.
Valerín is accusing Carrillo of intervening in the case where a young lady was raped outside of a bar in Santa Ana (west of San José) last December 12 by a group of youths well known in the area and accustomed to getting bailed out of trouble by their influent families.
The young lady that was raped was 20 years old and told police that four young men held her pinned to the back seat of their car. The young men did not realize that there were two witnesses outside at the time that promptly called police.
A letter to Valerín by the father of the young girl asked for help in the case, where many strange things have happened. The letter accuses Carrillo of trying to use his influence to help one of the young men, who is his cousin and works at Hacienda.
"These are young men who are used to commit all types of crimes and never see jail because of their families influence on the system", adds the girl's father in his letter.
Forensic evidence points the finger tothe young men accused of the crime, but the young girl's father adds that the men who raped are still free. And that the Minister of Hacienda has talked bad about the girl in the press in defending his cousin, without even knowing her.
Deputy Valerín read the letter to the Legislative Assembly as part of her charges against the Minister and adds that the prosecutor handling the case had requested that the accusers not bother the victim, however, when the young girl was ready to give her testimony to the prosecutor, a former judge who is acting as defense attorney insults the girl's mother. And adds that even though the assailants are not permitted to be in the presence of the girl when she is giving her testimony, one of them is present to frighten the girl and with the approval of the prosecutor.
For his part, Minister Carrillo has refused to speak on the matter and is not making himself available to the press.
* Bolivian Congress accepts president's resignation
Bolivia's Congress Thursday unanimously accepted the resignation of President Carlos Mesa and appointed President of the Supreme Court Eduardo Rodriguez as interim leader of the South American country.
The appointment of Rodriguez came after both Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez and House leader Mario Cossio refused to accept the post in succession, said reports from Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia.
According to the constitution, the interim president is entitled to call new elections.
The decisions were made by Congress in a quick late-night emergency session without debate.
Late on Monday, Mesa announced his decision to resign after mass anti-government protesters paralyzed the country for several weeks. Earlier this year, he also offered resignation, but was turned down by Congress.
The unrest in Bolivia erupted after the National Congress passed a law on May 17 to levy a 50-percent tax on foreign oil and gas companies operating in Bolivia, which has the second largest gas reserves in South America after Venezuela.
The opposition demands higher taxes on foreign firms and the nationalization of the country's lucrative oil and gas industry.
Demonstrations have escalated into riots since May 24 when demonstrators blocked a downtown square in La Paz, where the executive and legislative branches of government are located, and began to smash windows in buildings and cars in the surrounding streets.
In a bid to halt oil and gas production, hundreds of peasants in the eastern Santa Cruz province have blockaded roads and entrances to four natural gas fields operated by foreign firms
Thursday, June 09, 2005
=========================================
>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
=========================================
A publication of Destiny Worldwide Net
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net
Also Visit the Costa Rica Page:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/
Subscribe: costa-rica-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: costa-rica-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
=========================================
TODAY'S CONTENTS
=========================================
*News Digest
=========================================
SO, YA WANNA MOVE TO COSTA RICA?
=========================================
Announcing Costa Rica's FIRST online, multimedia,
always up to date, and FREE retirement and tourism
guide! See us at:
---->http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/wanna/forward.htm
OTHER SERVICES WE OFFER:
*Real Estate, mortgages [both lenders and borrowers needed,
Buyer's brokerage, Businesses for sale and opportunities,
all at: http://www.cr-realestate.com
*Insurance, Gold & Silver Exchange, e-commerce solutions,
innovative shipping solutions, and much more:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/business.htm
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DISCUSSION
=========================================
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Rica discussion group. You will either get an
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the group, and really important issues will be
included in this digest!
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NEWS DIGEST
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* President Pacheco Faces New Investigation
A letter send by the Ministerio Público to the Legislative Assembly confirms a criminal investigation begun by the Fiscalía General de la Republica (prosecutor's office) against President Abel Pacheco.
The letter dated June 7, 2005, and signed by temporary Fiscal General, Jorge Segura Román, is asking legislative deputies of the Control de Ingreso y Gasto Público for a copy of the report the President sent them surrounding the details of his trip to the luxury resort in Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic.
The information provided by the Legislature to the Fiscalía will be studied by the prosecutors to determine the next course of action, if required.
President Pacheco, while still incapacitated and under medical orders to rest after suffering high blood pressure and checking into hospital on Monday, said through the Casa Presidencial press office, that he is open to any type of investigation and will make available to the prosecutor any and all documents they require.
Pacheco (71) became the centre of controversy over the past couple of weeks after allegations that he received unreported gifts on his travel abroad, used free airline passes issued by TACA airlines for personal travel, tickets that are given to the government by the airline and the appointment of the Honourary Consul for Sevilla, Spain, Bernardo Martín.
Martín later became a partner in a land development project headed by Pacheco's former Minister of Tourims, Rubén Pacheco and published presidnet Pacheco's book of poems for free.
Since then, President Pacheco has returned the lifetime membership for he and his wife to the luxury resort in the Dominican Republic and has offered to pay for the airline tickets that brought him to Miami and back from San José.
On national radio and television last week, Pacheco defended his actions, saying that people who he is and what he is about and has a lifetime record to prove that his a man beyond reproach. Pacheco claims that this is all part of a media persecution that has it in for him.
It was he, President Pacheco, that signed the law that prohibits "ENRIQUECIMIENTO ILÍCITO" illegal enrichment that the Fiscalía is using to investigate the President.
* Arias Dominates Presidential Elections Race
Former president and Nobel Prize winner for peace, Óscar Arias Sánchez, remains the top presidential hopeful, according to a poll by Demoscopia published in Al Día.
35.8% of respondents would vote for Arias in next year’s election.
In March 2004, the 63-year-old Arias officially announced his intention to run for president again as the candidate for the National Liberation Party (PLN). The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly opted to bring back presidential re-election in 2003.
Arias headed the government from 1986 to 1990.
Ottón Solís of the Citizens Action Party (PAC) is second with 12.8%, followed by Antonio Álvarez Desanti of the Union for Change (UPC) with 10.4%, Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement (ML) with 8.2%, and Ricardo Toledo of the Social-Christian Unity Party (PUSC) with 7.3%.
The governing PUSC of current president Abel Pacheco has not settled on a definite presidential candidate. Along with Toledo, former government officials Guillermo Vargas, Víctor Morales, Germán Serrano and Everardo Rodríguez will seek the nomination.
Yesterday in Washington, Arias advocated for the swift passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), calling the proposed deal "an unparalleled opportunity to transform Central America into a dynamic economy deeply integrated with worldwide flows of trade and technology."
The election is in February 2006.
Polling Data
If the presidential election took place today, which candidate would you vote for?
Óscar Arias (PLN) 35.8%
Ottón Solís (PAC) 12.8%
Antonio Álvarez Desanti (UPC) 10.4%
Otto Guevara (ML) 8.2%
Ricardo Toledo (PUSC) 7.3%
Not sure 4.8%
Source: Demoscopia / Al Día
Methodology: Interviews to 1,200 Costa Rican adults, conducted from May 21 to Jun. 1, 2005. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
*Bank Error Makes Bank Customer Millionare for a Week
Becoming a millionare (in US dollars) was easier than ever imagined for Don Franciso Barahona, who for a little over a week he held in his possession some us$2.8 million dollars due to a bank error.
Barahona had visited his local branch of the Banco Nacional to renew is investment certificate valued at ¢2.8 million colones (us$5.800 dollars). However, the bank employee issued the certificate in US dollars instead of colones.
Once the bank discovered their error, they sent Barahona, a client of the bank for more than 30 years and former director of the Universidad para la Paz a nasty letter demanding the return of the money or face legal action.
Barahona promptly responded to the letter's request but first asked the bank for an apology over the "nastiness" of the letter and told them that he had had no intention to keep the money, as he had not been aware of the mistake until he received notification.
The certificate had been issued for the same amount 2.800.000, however, the $ sign had replaced the ¢ of the earier certificate, a change he did not notice.
Another reader told ICR his story of a mistake at the local branch of private bank Scotiabank, when the customer realized that he was short changed for about ¢500.000 colones after making a large withdrawl.
After a call to the bank manager the following morning he was told that all the tellers balanced. Following the customer's insistence of a bank error, the bank manager promised to review the security tape (all banks have security cameras over tellers to record all transactions) the ¢500.000 colones was promptly deposited into his account and with no explanations.
The moral of the story is to always check any bank instrument or cash before leaving the teller. Mistakes can and do happen.
*Early Morning Bank Robbery in Escazú
Three well dressed men entered the local branch of the Scotiabank in Escazú and made away with ¢35 million colones (us$73.300 dollars) around 9:30am, shortly after the bank opened.
Witnesses told police they saw the three men, dressed in a suit and tie, get out of a late model Dodge Durango and the entered the bank, passing by security guards.
A bank employee working on the second floor of the bank, saw the reflection in the mirror of a man in a suit had a gun pointed to a customer and immediately ran back up the stairs to call 911.
One of the first thoughts that went through Virginia Pérez' mind was the assault on Monteverde, when a group of bank robbers stormed the bank and left a number of bank customers and employees dead, she told a reporter for the Spanish language daily newspaper Diario Extra.
The men, apparently entered the bank without raising an eyebrow and within minutes were speeding away with the loot. No one was hurt in the assault.
The Durango, which identified it as belonging to the Municipality of Alajuela, was found about a kilometre from the bank, leading police to believe that they the robbers either made way of foot or had another vehicle ready. The Durango was discovered to have been stolen from the Alajueal Municipal offices last week.
*Sala IV Upholds Internet Cable Service
The Constitutional Court (Sala IV) upheld the agreements the Radiografica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA) has with private cable company operators following an appeal presented by the Sindicato de Empleados del ICE (Sideice) which claimed the contracts are against public order.
RACSA in 2000 entered into a three year contract with Dodona S. A. (Amnet) and Televisora de Costa Rica (Cable Tica) to provide internet connection over their cable television network.
The contract calls for a payment of us$30.000 by Amnet and us$15.000 by Cable Tica monthly, who offer internet service to more than 16.000 customers. The contract is now being renewed on an annual basis.
The ICE union claims that the contracts of internet by way of cable is an exploitation of public property and requires the approval by the Legislative Assembly, based on Article 21 of the Constitution.
Sideice claimed that actions by RACSA were unconstitutional and that RACSA's board of directors and well as the board of RACSA's parent, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) be charged with acting against the country's constitution.
The action was begun in March of 2002, but it was only last week that the Constitutional Court made the ruling against the union.
Both Cable Tica and Amnet provide their customers internet connection up to 512Kbp by way of their fibre and coaxial cable network.
Both companies enter a contract with their customer for cable and internet service, however, require the customer to also enter a contract directly with RACSA for an internet account. In this manner, a customer pays one half of the internet connection cost to the cable company and then other half directly to RACSA.
*Costa Rica 3, Guatemala 2 in World Cup Qualifier
Costa Rica blew a late two-goal lead, but a 90th-minute score by striker Paulo Wanchope saved the home team, 3-2 against Guatemala in World Cup qualifier Wednesday.
Carlos Hernandez scored in the 34th minute and when Ronald Gomez made it 2-0 in the 66th, Costa Rica appeared headed for an easy victory.
But Edwin Villatoro cut the lead in the 75th minute and Mario Ramirez stunned the crowd at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium by tying it two minutes later.
Costa Rica spent much of the night pressing on offense and the strategy paid off when a give-and-go between Gomez and Wanchope ended in a penalty kick. Hernandez easily converted for a 1-0 advantage.
More crisp passing helped Gomez get open in the 66th minute to stretch the advantage to two goals.
That's the way things stood until the 75th minute, when Villatoro pounced on a loose ball deep inside the Costa Rican zone and fired from close range past goalkeeper Alvaro Mesen.
Just two minutes later, Ramirez found a window of daylight ahead of advancing defenders and got the angle he needed to make it 2-2.
Just before injury time, Wanchope made the winner look routine, taking a pass off a set offense and drilling the shot.
With the win, Costa Rica (2-2-1) took sole possession of third place in the region with seven points, behind Mexico with 13 and the United States, which has 12.
*Bolivian lawmakers to vote for president
Bolivian lawmakers meet on Thursday to consider the resignation of President Carlos Mesa. They must decide who will succeed him after weeks of protests in the capital and a growing clamor for early elections.
Mesa has asked the United Nations, Argentina and Brazil to send observers to oversee the process.
The divided Congress is likely to accept Mesa's resignation but many Bolivians are uneasy about who lawmakers will choose to lead South America's poorest nation.
The constitution calls for Congress President Hormando Vaca Diez to assume the presidency. The lower chamber chief and Supreme Court president are next in line should he decline.
However, many Bolivians especially the Indian community see Vaca Diez as unacceptable and are demanding early elections.
The mayors of La Paz and other cities went on a hunger strike late Wednesday to demonstrate against Vaca Diez.
This follows a three-week blockade by the Indian majority who want the government to nationalize energy reserves and call a special assembly to grant them more power.
The unrest has caused severe fuel and food shortages in La Paz, the worst crisis since Mesa came to power in 2003.
Miners and rural peasants are planning to take the protest to southern city of Sucre, where the Congress session will be held.
*Bolivian protesters take over oil field on eve of vote
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Protesters have taken over several oil fields of a Spanish oil company after weeks of demonstrations demanding the nationalization of the country's energy industry. The protests have forced President Carlos Mesa to offer his resignation.
Bolivia's Congress is scheduled to meet today in a special session to decide if it will accept Mesa's resignation and appoint a successor. The president resigned Monday — for the second time since March — in the face of mounting public opposition to his government's policies.
Wednesday, officials said, a group of indigenous protesters took over several oil fields in the eastern part of the country. Growing public protest is bringing the country's economy to a standstill. President Mesa
warned lawmakers that only new elections would end the protests. The president says this is a time for him to resign, not a time for what he calls "betting on madness."
He was referring to lawmakers' suggestion that he should be replaced by the unpopular Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez. The president asked Vaca Diez not to accept the post, and called for new elections instead.
Thousands of demonstrators have clogged the streets of La Paz and other Bolivian cities for weeks, calling for the nationalization of the country's energy industry. They are also demanding a new constitution that would give the country's indigenous population greater say.
President Mesa has warned Bolivians the public disorder is bringing the country to the brink of civil war and called for an end to demonstrations.
*Free concert planned for downtown Saturday
Classical music lovers will be treated to Beethoven and Schubert Saturday at another edition of music in the vestibule at the Teatro Nacional.
One of the three artists will be North American Catherine Hayes, a violinist who plays here with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional.
Also playing will be Eduardo Madigal and Roberto E. Vargas, pianist. Beethoven’s Opus 17 and a piece for a trio by Franz Schubert will be presented.
The trio calls itself the Grupo de Cámara.
The free concert is one of six that the theater puts on each year.
=========================================
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TODAY'S CONTENTS
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*News Digest
=========================================
SO, YA WANNA MOVE TO COSTA RICA?
=========================================
Announcing Costa Rica's FIRST online, multimedia,
always up to date, and FREE retirement and tourism
guide! See us at:
---->http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/wanna/forward.htm
OTHER SERVICES WE OFFER:
*Real Estate, mortgages [both lenders and borrowers needed,
Buyer's brokerage, Businesses for sale and opportunities,
all at: http://www.cr-realestate.com
*Insurance, Gold & Silver Exchange, e-commerce solutions,
innovative shipping solutions, and much more:
http://www.destiny-worldwide.net/costa-rica/business.htm
DESTINY WORLDWIDE -- THE SERVICES YOU NEED, AT PRICES YOU
CAN AFFORD!
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FEATURE ARTICLE
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=========================================
DISCUSSION
=========================================
Please send your discussion topics to our Costa
Rica discussion group. You will either get an
answer from us, or another helpful member of
the group, and really important issues will be
included in this digest!
Subscribe: costa-rica-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: costa-rica-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
=========================================
NEWS DIGEST
=========================================
* President Pacheco Faces New Investigation
A letter send by the Ministerio Público to the Legislative Assembly confirms a criminal investigation begun by the Fiscalía General de la Republica (prosecutor's office) against President Abel Pacheco.
The letter dated June 7, 2005, and signed by temporary Fiscal General, Jorge Segura Román, is asking legislative deputies of the Control de Ingreso y Gasto Público for a copy of the report the President sent them surrounding the details of his trip to the luxury resort in Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic.
The information provided by the Legislature to the Fiscalía will be studied by the prosecutors to determine the next course of action, if required.
President Pacheco, while still incapacitated and under medical orders to rest after suffering high blood pressure and checking into hospital on Monday, said through the Casa Presidencial press office, that he is open to any type of investigation and will make available to the prosecutor any and all documents they require.
Pacheco (71) became the centre of controversy over the past couple of weeks after allegations that he received unreported gifts on his travel abroad, used free airline passes issued by TACA airlines for personal travel, tickets that are given to the government by the airline and the appointment of the Honourary Consul for Sevilla, Spain, Bernardo Martín.
Martín later became a partner in a land development project headed by Pacheco's former Minister of Tourims, Rubén Pacheco and published presidnet Pacheco's book of poems for free.
Since then, President Pacheco has returned the lifetime membership for he and his wife to the luxury resort in the Dominican Republic and has offered to pay for the airline tickets that brought him to Miami and back from San José.
On national radio and television last week, Pacheco defended his actions, saying that people who he is and what he is about and has a lifetime record to prove that his a man beyond reproach. Pacheco claims that this is all part of a media persecution that has it in for him.
It was he, President Pacheco, that signed the law that prohibits "ENRIQUECIMIENTO ILÍCITO" illegal enrichment that the Fiscalía is using to investigate the President.
* Arias Dominates Presidential Elections Race
Former president and Nobel Prize winner for peace, Óscar Arias Sánchez, remains the top presidential hopeful, according to a poll by Demoscopia published in Al Día.
35.8% of respondents would vote for Arias in next year’s election.
In March 2004, the 63-year-old Arias officially announced his intention to run for president again as the candidate for the National Liberation Party (PLN). The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly opted to bring back presidential re-election in 2003.
Arias headed the government from 1986 to 1990.
Ottón Solís of the Citizens Action Party (PAC) is second with 12.8%, followed by Antonio Álvarez Desanti of the Union for Change (UPC) with 10.4%, Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement (ML) with 8.2%, and Ricardo Toledo of the Social-Christian Unity Party (PUSC) with 7.3%.
The governing PUSC of current president Abel Pacheco has not settled on a definite presidential candidate. Along with Toledo, former government officials Guillermo Vargas, Víctor Morales, Germán Serrano and Everardo Rodríguez will seek the nomination.
Yesterday in Washington, Arias advocated for the swift passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), calling the proposed deal "an unparalleled opportunity to transform Central America into a dynamic economy deeply integrated with worldwide flows of trade and technology."
The election is in February 2006.
Polling Data
If the presidential election took place today, which candidate would you vote for?
Óscar Arias (PLN) 35.8%
Ottón Solís (PAC) 12.8%
Antonio Álvarez Desanti (UPC) 10.4%
Otto Guevara (ML) 8.2%
Ricardo Toledo (PUSC) 7.3%
Not sure 4.8%
Source: Demoscopia / Al Día
Methodology: Interviews to 1,200 Costa Rican adults, conducted from May 21 to Jun. 1, 2005. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
*Bank Error Makes Bank Customer Millionare for a Week
Becoming a millionare (in US dollars) was easier than ever imagined for Don Franciso Barahona, who for a little over a week he held in his possession some us$2.8 million dollars due to a bank error.
Barahona had visited his local branch of the Banco Nacional to renew is investment certificate valued at ¢2.8 million colones (us$5.800 dollars). However, the bank employee issued the certificate in US dollars instead of colones.
Once the bank discovered their error, they sent Barahona, a client of the bank for more than 30 years and former director of the Universidad para la Paz a nasty letter demanding the return of the money or face legal action.
Barahona promptly responded to the letter's request but first asked the bank for an apology over the "nastiness" of the letter and told them that he had had no intention to keep the money, as he had not been aware of the mistake until he received notification.
The certificate had been issued for the same amount 2.800.000, however, the $ sign had replaced the ¢ of the earier certificate, a change he did not notice.
Another reader told ICR his story of a mistake at the local branch of private bank Scotiabank, when the customer realized that he was short changed for about ¢500.000 colones after making a large withdrawl.
After a call to the bank manager the following morning he was told that all the tellers balanced. Following the customer's insistence of a bank error, the bank manager promised to review the security tape (all banks have security cameras over tellers to record all transactions) the ¢500.000 colones was promptly deposited into his account and with no explanations.
The moral of the story is to always check any bank instrument or cash before leaving the teller. Mistakes can and do happen.
*Early Morning Bank Robbery in Escazú
Three well dressed men entered the local branch of the Scotiabank in Escazú and made away with ¢35 million colones (us$73.300 dollars) around 9:30am, shortly after the bank opened.
Witnesses told police they saw the three men, dressed in a suit and tie, get out of a late model Dodge Durango and the entered the bank, passing by security guards.
A bank employee working on the second floor of the bank, saw the reflection in the mirror of a man in a suit had a gun pointed to a customer and immediately ran back up the stairs to call 911.
One of the first thoughts that went through Virginia Pérez' mind was the assault on Monteverde, when a group of bank robbers stormed the bank and left a number of bank customers and employees dead, she told a reporter for the Spanish language daily newspaper Diario Extra.
The men, apparently entered the bank without raising an eyebrow and within minutes were speeding away with the loot. No one was hurt in the assault.
The Durango, which identified it as belonging to the Municipality of Alajuela, was found about a kilometre from the bank, leading police to believe that they the robbers either made way of foot or had another vehicle ready. The Durango was discovered to have been stolen from the Alajueal Municipal offices last week.
*Sala IV Upholds Internet Cable Service
The Constitutional Court (Sala IV) upheld the agreements the Radiografica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA) has with private cable company operators following an appeal presented by the Sindicato de Empleados del ICE (Sideice) which claimed the contracts are against public order.
RACSA in 2000 entered into a three year contract with Dodona S. A. (Amnet) and Televisora de Costa Rica (Cable Tica) to provide internet connection over their cable television network.
The contract calls for a payment of us$30.000 by Amnet and us$15.000 by Cable Tica monthly, who offer internet service to more than 16.000 customers. The contract is now being renewed on an annual basis.
The ICE union claims that the contracts of internet by way of cable is an exploitation of public property and requires the approval by the Legislative Assembly, based on Article 21 of the Constitution.
Sideice claimed that actions by RACSA were unconstitutional and that RACSA's board of directors and well as the board of RACSA's parent, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) be charged with acting against the country's constitution.
The action was begun in March of 2002, but it was only last week that the Constitutional Court made the ruling against the union.
Both Cable Tica and Amnet provide their customers internet connection up to 512Kbp by way of their fibre and coaxial cable network.
Both companies enter a contract with their customer for cable and internet service, however, require the customer to also enter a contract directly with RACSA for an internet account. In this manner, a customer pays one half of the internet connection cost to the cable company and then other half directly to RACSA.
*Costa Rica 3, Guatemala 2 in World Cup Qualifier
Costa Rica blew a late two-goal lead, but a 90th-minute score by striker Paulo Wanchope saved the home team, 3-2 against Guatemala in World Cup qualifier Wednesday.
Carlos Hernandez scored in the 34th minute and when Ronald Gomez made it 2-0 in the 66th, Costa Rica appeared headed for an easy victory.
But Edwin Villatoro cut the lead in the 75th minute and Mario Ramirez stunned the crowd at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium by tying it two minutes later.
Costa Rica spent much of the night pressing on offense and the strategy paid off when a give-and-go between Gomez and Wanchope ended in a penalty kick. Hernandez easily converted for a 1-0 advantage.
More crisp passing helped Gomez get open in the 66th minute to stretch the advantage to two goals.
That's the way things stood until the 75th minute, when Villatoro pounced on a loose ball deep inside the Costa Rican zone and fired from close range past goalkeeper Alvaro Mesen.
Just two minutes later, Ramirez found a window of daylight ahead of advancing defenders and got the angle he needed to make it 2-2.
Just before injury time, Wanchope made the winner look routine, taking a pass off a set offense and drilling the shot.
With the win, Costa Rica (2-2-1) took sole possession of third place in the region with seven points, behind Mexico with 13 and the United States, which has 12.
*Bolivian lawmakers to vote for president
Bolivian lawmakers meet on Thursday to consider the resignation of President Carlos Mesa. They must decide who will succeed him after weeks of protests in the capital and a growing clamor for early elections.
Mesa has asked the United Nations, Argentina and Brazil to send observers to oversee the process.
The divided Congress is likely to accept Mesa's resignation but many Bolivians are uneasy about who lawmakers will choose to lead South America's poorest nation.
The constitution calls for Congress President Hormando Vaca Diez to assume the presidency. The lower chamber chief and Supreme Court president are next in line should he decline.
However, many Bolivians especially the Indian community see Vaca Diez as unacceptable and are demanding early elections.
The mayors of La Paz and other cities went on a hunger strike late Wednesday to demonstrate against Vaca Diez.
This follows a three-week blockade by the Indian majority who want the government to nationalize energy reserves and call a special assembly to grant them more power.
The unrest has caused severe fuel and food shortages in La Paz, the worst crisis since Mesa came to power in 2003.
Miners and rural peasants are planning to take the protest to southern city of Sucre, where the Congress session will be held.
*Bolivian protesters take over oil field on eve of vote
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Protesters have taken over several oil fields of a Spanish oil company after weeks of demonstrations demanding the nationalization of the country's energy industry. The protests have forced President Carlos Mesa to offer his resignation.
Bolivia's Congress is scheduled to meet today in a special session to decide if it will accept Mesa's resignation and appoint a successor. The president resigned Monday — for the second time since March — in the face of mounting public opposition to his government's policies.
Wednesday, officials said, a group of indigenous protesters took over several oil fields in the eastern part of the country. Growing public protest is bringing the country's economy to a standstill. President Mesa
warned lawmakers that only new elections would end the protests. The president says this is a time for him to resign, not a time for what he calls "betting on madness."
He was referring to lawmakers' suggestion that he should be replaced by the unpopular Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez. The president asked Vaca Diez not to accept the post, and called for new elections instead.
Thousands of demonstrators have clogged the streets of La Paz and other Bolivian cities for weeks, calling for the nationalization of the country's energy industry. They are also demanding a new constitution that would give the country's indigenous population greater say.
President Mesa has warned Bolivians the public disorder is bringing the country to the brink of civil war and called for an end to demonstrations.
*Free concert planned for downtown Saturday
Classical music lovers will be treated to Beethoven and Schubert Saturday at another edition of music in the vestibule at the Teatro Nacional.
One of the three artists will be North American Catherine Hayes, a violinist who plays here with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional.
Also playing will be Eduardo Madigal and Roberto E. Vargas, pianist. Beethoven’s Opus 17 and a piece for a trio by Franz Schubert will be presented.
The trio calls itself the Grupo de Cámara.
The free concert is one of six that the theater puts on each year.
=========================================
COSTA RICA DIGEST DISPLAY AD RATES
=========================================
This publication is designed to have one display add
between each article or section. Thus, the more
articles or sections we have per day, the more room we
have for advertisements. Advertisements are filled
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Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Below is an excellent commentary on what REALLY happened at the OAS yesterday, and how the OAS told Bush and Rice to shove it!
John
--- narconews wrote:
> Bush and Rice Encounter the New OAS Pro-Democracy
> Buzzsaw
>
> Yesterday, United States President George W. Bush
> and his Secretary of State Condoleezza
> Rice went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to deliver
> lofty but worried speeches to the assembly
> of the newly independent Organization of American
> States (OAS, in its English initials).
>
> It was the first OAS meeting inside the United
> States in 31 years, a fact that Secretary Rice
> noted when she reminisced: "The last time the OAS
> met in the United States, some 31
> years ago, it looked a lot different than it does
> today. Of the 23 member states, 10 were
> military dictatorships."
>
> While taking that walk down amnesia lane, she and
> Bush kept mouthing the word
> "democracy" as if dropping the name of an important
> friend who they really don't know
> that well. The irony was not lost on the Latin
> American delegates. There, in Florida (hardly
> a poster state for electoral "democracy" after the
> last two simulated presidential elections,
> rife with Floridian fraud, in the U.S.) Rice waxed
> poetically about the times of dictators but
> neglected to recall that every one of those tyrants
> was installed and forcefully propped up
> by her own government – from Chile to Argentina, to
> Brazil to Bolivia to Uruguay to
> Paraguay, where a Washington-authored plot named
> "Operation Condor" slammed the
> boot down upon South American dreams of freedom.
>
> Even in the so-called "democracies" of that era,
> such as Mexico and Venezuela, the violent
> repression against authentically democratic and
> civil rights movements, the assassination
> of their leaders and journalists, the censorship of
> their press, the training of their military
> brass in torture techniques at the US's "School of
> the Americas," and the maintenance of
> keeping a few in power while the majorities suffered
> were the daily bread of U.S. policy.
>
> Indeed, many of the same U.S. officials found today
> in the Bush administration, including
> key members of Rice's own staff, were directly
> involved in the 1973 Chilean coup, the
> military waves of terror from Sao Paulo to San
> Salvador, the CIA-sponsored cocaine
> trafficking to form a slush fund for paramilitaries
> in Nicaragua in the 1980s… and yet
> there she was, speaking of once upon a time in
> América, as if her administration had any
> kind of authority at all to speak of "democracy" and
> instruct Latin Americans how to
> practice it.
>
> The Latin American nations yesterday, at that
> Florida meeting, rejected the Orwellian
> vision of Bush and Rice, with their newfangled turn
> of phrases in which "democracy," to
> them, means setting up new ways to impose their will
> upon the democratic aspirations of
> their neighbors to the South.
>
> Countries that only a few years ago could have been
> counted on to back any U.S. venture
> in the Organization of American States – countries
> like Argentina, Brazil, Chile and even
> Mexico, which in this blessed year of 2005 has
> finally halted its lurch away from Bolívar's
> country called América and stood together again with
> the South American and Caribbean
> nations – told Bush and Rice that they don't accept
> their version of making impositions
> and calling it "democracy."
>
> And the new chairman of the Organization of American
> States, José Miguel Insulza, of
> Chile, rebuked the U.S. proposal to create
> mechanisms of force over individual nations.
> (Remember just a few weeks ago when the Commercial
> Media told you that Rice claimed to
> have struck a deal to elect Insulza, as Narco News
> alone explained to you that Insulza had
> been elected, to the contrary, to stand up in favor
> of Latin American democracy against
> the anti-democratic aspirations of the Bush
> administration?
>
> If you missed that report, "Democracy Triple Play:
> Ecuador to Mexico to the OAS: the
> Smackdown of Condoleezza's Agenda Came on the Week
> of Her Latin American Tour"
> (Narco News, May 1, 2005), here's the link:
>
> http://narconews.com/Issue37/article1277.html
>
> It should now be clear, again, which journalists
> were telling you the truth and which were
> not. Insulza, in words as clear as the new day
> dawning in América, said aloud at the OAS
> meeting: "We can never use any mechanism without the
> consent of the country. If the
> states don't want something, then nothing will be
> done."
>
> Or, as Brazilian Secretary of State Celso Amorim
> said, standing up to Rice and Bush at the
> same OAS session in Fort Lauderdale, boomed:
> "Democracy cannot be imposed. It is born
> from dialogue."
>
> Democracy Comes Down from the Hills in Bolivia
>
> At the very moment that Rice and Bush prattled on in
> Fort Lauderdale yesterday, Luis
> Gómez reported to you from La Paz that
> half-a-million citizens from that nation had
> descended upon the administrative capital and shut
> it down cold.
>
> Gómez was there – your authentic journalist, now
> three-and-a-half years with Narco
> News, and its acting publisher - in the streets,
> where a democracy from below surges
> upward even as it comes down from the hills of the
> majority who still live in earthen or
> cardboard shacks.
>
> Gómez and our news team were with these multitudes
> that still struggle and worry each
> day whether their children will get to eat a dinner
> even as billions of dollars of nearby
> natural resources – gas, oil, mineral ores,
> agricultural plenty, and even their millenarian
> coca leaf and its proud traditions of struggle - are
> being siphoned away from their
> ancestral lands as a result of decades of imposition
> from above.
>
> As Gómez described, much like John Reed or Charles
> Horman or Mario Menéndez before
> him once reported from other Latin American lands at
> hours of moral crisis:
>
> "This morning there were more people in the streets
> than before, possibly more than ever
> before in the recent history of social mobilizations
> in Bolivia. Perhaps half a million people,
> perhaps more, according to the calculations of a
> leader from District 8 of El Alto.
>
> "The public school teachers arrived earlier at the
> Plaza de los Héroes. Today is Teachers'
> Day in Bolivia, and there were more than 30,000
> educators in the streets. It was just after
> 10:00 in the morning and they went out alone to shut
> down central La Paz. A half hour
> later the two immense marches from El Alto arrived,
> one made up of the city's southern
> districts and another from the north.
>
> "The mineworkers' federation arrived, as did the
> factory workers, the students, followed by
> the peasant farmers from the communities south of La
> Paz, and the neighborhoods from
> La Paz's eastern slopes, which form the border with
> El Alto. They were all there, together
> with Aymara peasant farmers from several
> provinces…."
>
> In the afternoon, the Mexican-born Gómez, alone
> among the foreign press corps in
> Bolivia, reported to you that Bolivian President
> Carlos Mesa "appears close to resigning."
> Gómez reported:
>
> "…according to a source within the Catholic Church
> who asked to remain anonymous,
> Carlos Mesa has a resignation letter ready and could
> present it, at latest, tomorrow night."
>
> Five hours later, by 10 p.m., Gómez's informed
> prediction became a reality. And the next
> few days in Bolivia will bring the final
> confrontation between imposed power from above
> and authentic democracy from below: Today, Tuesday,
> June 7, 2005, the people are
> coming down from the hills again, and our team is
> (again) reporting it, blow by blow, here
> on Narco News and its Narcosphere. I already know,
> beforehand, where the fastest, most
> accurate, information about what is happening will
> be available. And I'm very proud to say
> it is at www.narconews.com.
>
> An Hour to Protect Our Journalists
>
> But, kind reader, I would not be honest with you if
> I didn't add that these are the minutes
> and hours when I worry most about the safety and
> security of our journalists: these
> moments of immediate history, when imposed power
> from above has its back against the
> wall. These are the kinds of moments when the
> violent coups of years ago happened.
> Because when authentic democracy advances, as it did
> in Venezuela in 2002 and 2004, as
> it did in Mexico this year of 2005, and as it
> bubbles up right now from under indigenous
> Aymara bowler hats in El Alto and the hopeful eyes
> of coca growers, miners, teachers,
> students, senior citizens, farmers and people in all
> the other hot spots of Bolivia, these are
> the moments when those who are losing power have
> historically become the most
> dangerous.
>
> We all need – we being you and I and other members
> of Civil Society – accurate reporting
> from Bolivia this week. We need it like we need air
> and water and food, for authentic
> democracy requires not only a free press, but also a
> courageous press, to be able to
> function. "Without truth," the Proverbs section of
> the Bible says, "the people perish."
>
> I write you from another part of our América, from
> the place where I am here clearing the
> brush for the permanent campus for the Narco News
> School of Authentic Journalism, a
> place with no phone line and no cell phone service
> (yet), but where I have just shimmied
> up a palm tree to install a satellite dish so as to
> be able to speak with you once again at a
> moment of truth.
>
> And to be totally truthful with you – to tell you
> the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
> the truth – I confess that right at this moment I
> worry about our journalists and about our
> América and about our hopes and dreams for a more
> authentic democracy and a more
> authentic journalism. Because, as everybody knows,
> we don't have the millions of dollars
> that the corporate and institutional newspapers and
> simulator "press freedom"
> organizations have to protect their own, and only
> their own, commercial journalists.
>
> Our coffers are low, too low, which is why I have
> had to shimmy up palm trees to get the
> word to you from the swelter here where it is 90
> degrees in the shade, without an air
> conditioned office, without a company car (or any
> car), without any of the accoutrements
> that less-than-honest corporate reporters are
> provided. For we don't spend your
> donations on such luxuries: we spend it thriftily,
> on just the truth, the whole truth… and
> getting the facts to you.
>
> Luis Gómez and our team in Bolivia have none of
> those luxuries either. And yet day after
> day, hour after hour, they walk at street level
> tapping and adding to the surging power of
> the authentically democratic movements of real
> people who are making real history. They
> and we do this job free of the control by which the
> bureaucratic press flaks of Embassies
> and such that so effectively spin the dishonest
> "news" coverage by our commercial rivals.
John
--- narconews
> Bush and Rice Encounter the New OAS Pro-Democracy
> Buzzsaw
>
> Yesterday, United States President George W. Bush
> and his Secretary of State Condoleezza
> Rice went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to deliver
> lofty but worried speeches to the assembly
> of the newly independent Organization of American
> States (OAS, in its English initials).
>
> It was the first OAS meeting inside the United
> States in 31 years, a fact that Secretary Rice
> noted when she reminisced: "The last time the OAS
> met in the United States, some 31
> years ago, it looked a lot different than it does
> today. Of the 23 member states, 10 were
> military dictatorships."
>
> While taking that walk down amnesia lane, she and
> Bush kept mouthing the word
> "democracy" as if dropping the name of an important
> friend who they really don't know
> that well. The irony was not lost on the Latin
> American delegates. There, in Florida (hardly
> a poster state for electoral "democracy" after the
> last two simulated presidential elections,
> rife with Floridian fraud, in the U.S.) Rice waxed
> poetically about the times of dictators but
> neglected to recall that every one of those tyrants
> was installed and forcefully propped up
> by her own government – from Chile to Argentina, to
> Brazil to Bolivia to Uruguay to
> Paraguay, where a Washington-authored plot named
> "Operation Condor" slammed the
> boot down upon South American dreams of freedom.
>
> Even in the so-called "democracies" of that era,
> such as Mexico and Venezuela, the violent
> repression against authentically democratic and
> civil rights movements, the assassination
> of their leaders and journalists, the censorship of
> their press, the training of their military
> brass in torture techniques at the US's "School of
> the Americas," and the maintenance of
> keeping a few in power while the majorities suffered
> were the daily bread of U.S. policy.
>
> Indeed, many of the same U.S. officials found today
> in the Bush administration, including
> key members of Rice's own staff, were directly
> involved in the 1973 Chilean coup, the
> military waves of terror from Sao Paulo to San
> Salvador, the CIA-sponsored cocaine
> trafficking to form a slush fund for paramilitaries
> in Nicaragua in the 1980s… and yet
> there she was, speaking of once upon a time in
> América, as if her administration had any
> kind of authority at all to speak of "democracy" and
> instruct Latin Americans how to
> practice it.
>
> The Latin American nations yesterday, at that
> Florida meeting, rejected the Orwellian
> vision of Bush and Rice, with their newfangled turn
> of phrases in which "democracy," to
> them, means setting up new ways to impose their will
> upon the democratic aspirations of
> their neighbors to the South.
>
> Countries that only a few years ago could have been
> counted on to back any U.S. venture
> in the Organization of American States – countries
> like Argentina, Brazil, Chile and even
> Mexico, which in this blessed year of 2005 has
> finally halted its lurch away from Bolívar's
> country called América and stood together again with
> the South American and Caribbean
> nations – told Bush and Rice that they don't accept
> their version of making impositions
> and calling it "democracy."
>
> And the new chairman of the Organization of American
> States, José Miguel Insulza, of
> Chile, rebuked the U.S. proposal to create
> mechanisms of force over individual nations.
> (Remember just a few weeks ago when the Commercial
> Media told you that Rice claimed to
> have struck a deal to elect Insulza, as Narco News
> alone explained to you that Insulza had
> been elected, to the contrary, to stand up in favor
> of Latin American democracy against
> the anti-democratic aspirations of the Bush
> administration?
>
> If you missed that report, "Democracy Triple Play:
> Ecuador to Mexico to the OAS: the
> Smackdown of Condoleezza's Agenda Came on the Week
> of Her Latin American Tour"
> (Narco News, May 1, 2005), here's the link:
>
> http://narconews.com/Issue37/article1277.html
>
> It should now be clear, again, which journalists
> were telling you the truth and which were
> not. Insulza, in words as clear as the new day
> dawning in América, said aloud at the OAS
> meeting: "We can never use any mechanism without the
> consent of the country. If the
> states don't want something, then nothing will be
> done."
>
> Or, as Brazilian Secretary of State Celso Amorim
> said, standing up to Rice and Bush at the
> same OAS session in Fort Lauderdale, boomed:
> "Democracy cannot be imposed. It is born
> from dialogue."
>
> Democracy Comes Down from the Hills in Bolivia
>
> At the very moment that Rice and Bush prattled on in
> Fort Lauderdale yesterday, Luis
> Gómez reported to you from La Paz that
> half-a-million citizens from that nation had
> descended upon the administrative capital and shut
> it down cold.
>
> Gómez was there – your authentic journalist, now
> three-and-a-half years with Narco
> News, and its acting publisher - in the streets,
> where a democracy from below surges
> upward even as it comes down from the hills of the
> majority who still live in earthen or
> cardboard shacks.
>
> Gómez and our news team were with these multitudes
> that still struggle and worry each
> day whether their children will get to eat a dinner
> even as billions of dollars of nearby
> natural resources – gas, oil, mineral ores,
> agricultural plenty, and even their millenarian
> coca leaf and its proud traditions of struggle - are
> being siphoned away from their
> ancestral lands as a result of decades of imposition
> from above.
>
> As Gómez described, much like John Reed or Charles
> Horman or Mario Menéndez before
> him once reported from other Latin American lands at
> hours of moral crisis:
>
> "This morning there were more people in the streets
> than before, possibly more than ever
> before in the recent history of social mobilizations
> in Bolivia. Perhaps half a million people,
> perhaps more, according to the calculations of a
> leader from District 8 of El Alto.
>
> "The public school teachers arrived earlier at the
> Plaza de los Héroes. Today is Teachers'
> Day in Bolivia, and there were more than 30,000
> educators in the streets. It was just after
> 10:00 in the morning and they went out alone to shut
> down central La Paz. A half hour
> later the two immense marches from El Alto arrived,
> one made up of the city's southern
> districts and another from the north.
>
> "The mineworkers' federation arrived, as did the
> factory workers, the students, followed by
> the peasant farmers from the communities south of La
> Paz, and the neighborhoods from
> La Paz's eastern slopes, which form the border with
> El Alto. They were all there, together
> with Aymara peasant farmers from several
> provinces…."
>
> In the afternoon, the Mexican-born Gómez, alone
> among the foreign press corps in
> Bolivia, reported to you that Bolivian President
> Carlos Mesa "appears close to resigning."
> Gómez reported:
>
> "…according to a source within the Catholic Church
> who asked to remain anonymous,
> Carlos Mesa has a resignation letter ready and could
> present it, at latest, tomorrow night."
>
> Five hours later, by 10 p.m., Gómez's informed
> prediction became a reality. And the next
> few days in Bolivia will bring the final
> confrontation between imposed power from above
> and authentic democracy from below: Today, Tuesday,
> June 7, 2005, the people are
> coming down from the hills again, and our team is
> (again) reporting it, blow by blow, here
> on Narco News and its Narcosphere. I already know,
> beforehand, where the fastest, most
> accurate, information about what is happening will
> be available. And I'm very proud to say
> it is at www.narconews.com.
>
> An Hour to Protect Our Journalists
>
> But, kind reader, I would not be honest with you if
> I didn't add that these are the minutes
> and hours when I worry most about the safety and
> security of our journalists: these
> moments of immediate history, when imposed power
> from above has its back against the
> wall. These are the kinds of moments when the
> violent coups of years ago happened.
> Because when authentic democracy advances, as it did
> in Venezuela in 2002 and 2004, as
> it did in Mexico this year of 2005, and as it
> bubbles up right now from under indigenous
> Aymara bowler hats in El Alto and the hopeful eyes
> of coca growers, miners, teachers,
> students, senior citizens, farmers and people in all
> the other hot spots of Bolivia, these are
> the moments when those who are losing power have
> historically become the most
> dangerous.
>
> We all need – we being you and I and other members
> of Civil Society – accurate reporting
> from Bolivia this week. We need it like we need air
> and water and food, for authentic
> democracy requires not only a free press, but also a
> courageous press, to be able to
> function. "Without truth," the Proverbs section of
> the Bible says, "the people perish."
>
> I write you from another part of our América, from
> the place where I am here clearing the
> brush for the permanent campus for the Narco News
> School of Authentic Journalism, a
> place with no phone line and no cell phone service
> (yet), but where I have just shimmied
> up a palm tree to install a satellite dish so as to
> be able to speak with you once again at a
> moment of truth.
>
> And to be totally truthful with you – to tell you
> the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
> the truth – I confess that right at this moment I
> worry about our journalists and about our
> América and about our hopes and dreams for a more
> authentic democracy and a more
> authentic journalism. Because, as everybody knows,
> we don't have the millions of dollars
> that the corporate and institutional newspapers and
> simulator "press freedom"
> organizations have to protect their own, and only
> their own, commercial journalists.
>
> Our coffers are low, too low, which is why I have
> had to shimmy up palm trees to get the
> word to you from the swelter here where it is 90
> degrees in the shade, without an air
> conditioned office, without a company car (or any
> car), without any of the accoutrements
> that less-than-honest corporate reporters are
> provided. For we don't spend your
> donations on such luxuries: we spend it thriftily,
> on just the truth, the whole truth… and
> getting the facts to you.
>
> Luis Gómez and our team in Bolivia have none of
> those luxuries either. And yet day after
> day, hour after hour, they walk at street level
> tapping and adding to the surging power of
> the authentically democratic movements of real
> people who are making real history. They
> and we do this job free of the control by which the
> bureaucratic press flaks of Embassies
> and such that so effectively spin the dishonest
> "news" coverage by our commercial rivals.
=========================================
>>Costa Rica News Digest<<
=========================================
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*President Pacheco Treated for High Pressure, Relinquishes Presidency
Temporarily
President Abel Pacheco was hospitalized on Monday morning with high blood
pressure, although his condition was stable by the afternoon, his spokeswoman
said.
Pacheco, 71, has had a number of health scares in recent years, including a
brief spell in hospital in February for heart problems.
A diabetic, the U.S.-educated president suffered partial facial paralysis
after a brain hemorrhage in 2000, two years before taking office.
Hospital director Luis Paulino Hernandez said Pacheco was in stable condition
and that his "arterial pressure came down in the past few hours."
Presidential spokeswoman Betania Aratavia said Pacheco would remain
hospitalized overnight.
Pacheco's latest health problem are a possible result following allegations
this week of irregularities in accepting gifts, used airline tickets given to
the government for personal and a connection between Spanish businessman
Bernardo Martín and his investment in a Papagayo land development and Paheco
appointing him Honourary Consul to Sevilla, Spain and getting his book
published free by a Martín foundation.
The pressure started when it was made public that Pacheco had accepted as a
gift a lifetime membership for he and his wife to a luxury resort in the
Dominican Republic when he visited there this year.
Next on the list of irregularities is the use of free tickets given as a
customary practice by the TACA Group airline to the government. Pacheco used
the free tickets for the San José - Miami - San José leg of his Spain trip,
which was a personal trip. Pacheco said he would reimburse the government for
the cost of the tickets
Also on the Pacheco watchlist is the connection between he and Spanish
businessman Martín, who was appointed Honourary Consul to Sevilla by Pacheco
and later invested in a land development project in Papagayo, Guanacaste,
which is owned by Rubén Pacheco Lutz, the former Minister of Tourism in Abel
Pacheco's administration and accompanied the president on the Spain Trip.
Also on hand on the Spain trips was also Jorge Arce, president Pacheco's
chief protocol officer at Casa Presidencial, who resigned last Monday
following reports in the media of possible wrongdoing.
Martín's foundation published a book of poems by president Pacheco and
presented last December on the President's second trip to Spain.
Pacheco came out fighting last week, taking to the airwaves on national
television and radio, defending his actions. He admitted that he may have
made some mistakes.
He told Costa Ricans that they know him and know what to expect from him. And
all the accusations are a campaign by the media who are angry at him and want
to smear his good name.
President Pacheco, according to his doctors, will probably be released from
the Calderón Guardia hospital today, following a 24 hour observation.
Hwever, doctors are now "ordering" to stay home for the next five days and
not a recommendation like the last time.
Facing doctor's orders, Pacheco made a call yesterday to temporary relinquish
his presidential powers to first Vice-President, Lineth Saborío, this
according to information released by Casa Presidencial.
Casa Presidencial press secretary, Carolina Murillo, confirmed yesterday that
Saborío will fill in for Pacheco while is out on medical orders.
Under the Costa Rican constitution, a president cannot resign office. The
transfer of power of the president can only occur on the death or "permanent"
incapacitation.
*24 New Political Parties Registered; Bringing Total to 72
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) reports that five new political
parties will be running candidates for the presidency in the 2006 elections.
The parties, Alianza Democrática Nacionalista (ADN) headed for former Justice
Minister, José Miguel Villalobos; Unión para el Cambio (UPC) headed by
Antonio Álvarez Desanti; Unión Patriótica (UP) formed by Humberto Arce and
José Miguel Corrales; Patria Primero by Juan José Vargas; and Unión Nacional
(PUN) all presented their documentation before the 4pm deadline yesterday.
In addition there are 19 new parties that will be fielding candidates for
regional and provincial positions in the election to be held next February,
bringing the total of political parties registered to 72.
Not all the parties are active on a national level or even known outside of
their community, though the number of candidates making a bid for elected
office will make the historic election interesting for Costa Ricans.
The new parties will face the mainstream parties Liberación Nacional (PLN),
Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), Acción Ciudadana (PAC).
Parties who have made a name for themselves in the last couple of elections
are the Integración Nacional (PIN), Renovación Costarricense, Alianza
Nacional Cristiana, Independiente Obrero (PIO), Movimiento Libertario,
Patriótico Nacional, Rescate Nacional and Fuerza Democrática, some of which
will seeking the presidential seat.
The traditional two party system began to disappear in the 2002 election when
the PAC forced a run off vote between the PLN and PUSC which saw president
Abel Pacheco elected, ending the traditional two party system and division of
party as each party would take the presidency in alternate elections.
The new parties are now inscribed in the official records and we will know in
the coming months which will be making a strong bid for the presidency and
other elected posts.
*Probation For Three Women in Trafficking Ring
Remember the case in 2003 when police raided homes in La Uruca and Escazú and
arrested a number of people in connection with a trafficking ring involving
minors?
In all 16 people were arrested and an investigation was begun into the
trafficking of minors that saw Guatemalan children sent to families in the
United States by way of Costa Rica.
One of the persons arrested as lawyer and former manager of the defunct Banco
Anglo, Carlos Hernán Robles.
Most of the accused in the case, including Robles, has yet to see formal
charges levied against them. However, three Guatemalan women also arrested
decided to accept the charges and submitted themselves to a fast track
process.
A has now sentenced the three women to two years and three months for their
role in the trafficking ring. However, since the sentence is less than three
years, the women are free on probation and if the stay clean for the
duration, will not see a prison cell.
*Dead Man's Missing Car is Owned by Police Commander
The Fiscalía (prosecutor's office) in San Ramon, northwest of San José, is
looking into allegations that the second commander of the Fuerza Pública de
San Ramón, Marco Hernández Barrantes, registered the purchase of a vehicle
after the owner had already died and the car had been reported missing.
The accusation is also against a lawyer identified as Barahona Segnini, who
is registered lawyer and notary number 82.
The complaint says that the Suzuki Gran Vitara was the property of North
American James Kent, who died in September of 2003. However, records show
that the sale was made in March of this year.
Kent's family had begun the legal process of possession following his death
in 2003 and was concluded last month. The vehicle in question had disappeared
from Kent's home during this time.
The OIJ was called in to investigate the case of the missing vehicle and
discovered that the vehicle was in the possession of the local police
commander. The national registry shows that the purchase was made this year
for ¢100.000 colones (us$210) while the vehicle has a value of ¢5 million
colones (us$10.500).
Police, once they located the vehicle, confiscated it from the police
commander and turned it over to the family of the deceased man. Police are
now investigating into the complaint against the police commander and the
fact the vehicle was in his possession after it was reported missing.
In Costa Rica the transfer of ownership of a vehicle is handled by a
lawyer/notary, which will make an entry into his "protocol" book and then
submit the required documentation along with taxes and "timbres" to the
national registry.
Both the seller and the buyer are required to sign the "protocol" before the
presence of the lawyer,/notary, but that is not always the case. There are
cases, like in the death of a foreigner, a lawyer, for a fee, will take the
buyer's word for the situation and banks that the deceased of his far away
family will not be around to complain.
The registry verifies that the document is in order, the tax is paid and the
"timbres" are attached to the paperwork. Once the verification is complete, a
owners certificate is issued.
*Two Wheeled Transportation on the Increase
The high cost of gasoline as a result of the high cost of crude oil on world
markets has forced Costa Ricans more ways to get around town.
Many have begun using buses more and those living a short distance from work
make it on foot. However, a growing market has been for scooters and
motorcycles.
According to Demtrio Pérez of the Asociación de Importadores de Motocicletas
(AIMA) the number of motorcycle sales have been steadily increasing over the
last several years and moreso this past year when gasoline prices began
setting record levels.
The AIMA attributes the increase in sales directly to the high price of the
combustible.
Peréz says that in 2002, 4.966 new motocycles/scooters were sold in agencies
across the country. In 2003, the number of sales of new motocycles/scooters
increased to 6.570 and in 2004 7.763 new motorcycles/scooters were sold.
For the first three months of thus year, 2.279 new motorcycles were sold.
Forecasts for this year may reach 10.000 sales.
Two wheel transportation not only saves on gasoline but time, as the roads of
downtown San José become more congested each day. Another benefit of a
motorcycle or scooter is the low cost in maintenance. Repairs to motorcycles
and scooters take less time and the cost is dramatically lower than that of a
vehicle.
Peréz adds that the owners of motorcylces/scooters are not the only winners
in this. With the increased use of motorcylce/scooters, the population in
general benefits also with lower contamination and less traffic congestion.
In Europe, major cities like Rome, two wheel motorized transportation is the
favouite way to get to an from work, as well as shopping and recreational
use. Many automobile owners also own a scooter for the trip into town, while
the auto is for family trips.
In San José, the demand for scooters has increased. When there was only one
or two dealers selling scooters, now along the Avenida 10 and La Uruca there
are a half dozen dealers selling scooters from the original Vespa to the
asian and other european imports.
*Mexico rejects US proposal to "supervise democracy" in L. America
Mexico rejected on Monday a US proposal which calls for the creation of a
so-called "democracy supervision mechanism" in Latin America.
"In principle, we don't agree with any supervision whatsoever, "Mexico's
presidential spokesman Ruben Aquilar told the press.
The US proposal also gives the Organization of American States (OAS) the task
of giving help to countries "where democracy is under threat."
"We agree in extending the guarantees and rights of the nations of the
continent, though. We do agree with extending the respect of human rights,
but never under the supervision of anyone," said Aquilar.
The remarks came at a time when a debate is under way on whether the OAS
countries are ready to have an observation mechanism to prevent and manage
crises at the bloc's annual general assembly being held between June 5 and 7
at Fort Laderdale, the United States.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the "OAS has to be a
valid instrument to help the countries of America whose democracies are in
peril."
She warned that American countries failing to fulfill democratic principles
have to respond to the OAS.
*Bolivian president resigns amid mass protests
Bolivian President Carlos Mesa said late Monday that he would submit
resignation to the congress after mass anti-government protests paralyzed the
country's capital of La Paz, according to reports from the city.
Bolivian demonstrators attend a protest march in San Francisco square in La
Paz June 6, 2005.
"It is my responsibility to say that this is as far as it can go," Mesa said
on national television. "I have taken the decision to present my resignation
from the presidency."
Mesa's decision came hours after tens of thousands of Indians, miners and
labor protesters paralyzed La Paz in their largest anti-government march in
weeks demanding nationalization of the country's natural gas sector and early
elections.
Protesters marched through La Paz waving "Nationalize Now" and "The People
Demand Nationalization" banners, and vowed to maintain roadblocks which have
caused gas and food shortages in the capital after more than two weeks of
blockades.
Bolivian demonstrators attend a protest march in San Francisco square in La
Paz June 6, 2005. The protesters are demanding nationalization of the
country's natural gas sector.
A senior government official said earlier on Monday that it is "very
difficult" for the government and the president to continue in office if
"insecurity and instability" continue in the country amid mass street
protests.
If the social chaos and insecurity continue, "without a doubt it is very
difficult that the president and the government can continue," said Minister
of Presidency Jose Antonio Galindo. "We are on the verge of collapse."
Church leaders had called for a truce to help negotiate a solution to the
stalemate. They held a second day of talks on Monday as some members of the
congress suggested early general elections as the best way out for Mesa.
Earlier on Monday, the embattled president managed to flee his office after
protesters threatened to storm the presidential palace.
The recent unrest began after the congress passed a law on May 17 to levy a
50-percent tax on foreign oil and gas companies operating in the country,
which has the second-largest gas reserves in South America after Venezuela.
The opposition first demanded higher taxes on foreign firms and later the
nationalization of the country's lucrative oil and gas industry.
They also demanded the resignation of Mesa and a rewriting of the
constitution to boost indigenous representation in the congress.
Demonstrations have escalated into riots since May 24 when demonstrators
blocked a downtown square in La Paz, where the executive and legislative
branches are located, and began to smash windows in buildings and cars in the
surrounding streets.
The long-term crisis over the gas issue already forced Mesa's predecessor,
Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, to step down 20 months ago.
NOTE: This article is not entirely accurate. As readers of our Offshore
Destiny list know from yesterday's reports, this whole mess started because
of US interference in Bolivian internal affairs due to their ridiculous
"war on drugs." The coca leaf is a traditional crop of the indigenous
community, but the US government put massive pressure on Bolivia to destroy
the crop and the livelihoods of the Indian farmers who raise the crops, much
of it for their own use as they have done for thousands of years. This
insane and ludicrous "war" is what started this whole thing going, and the
indigenous groups added the gas issue later on. Now, because of this heavy
handed meddling in the affairs of another country, the situation has blown up
in the face of the US government, which is now trying to bring its policy of
"unilateral intervention" in the affairs of other nations to this hemisphere,
using the OAS as its cloak. As reported in the article above, Latin America
now outright rejects the interference of the US in their internal affairs.
And Nicaragua is another case in point where imperialism will no longer be
accepted. The only supporter of Enrique Bolanos is the US government. The
National Assembly and the Supreme Court have already rejected his
"government," which simply does whatever its master in Washington says. It
is my prediction that Bolanos will be impeached and put on trial for his
crimes and corruption, and that there is nothing that Wasthington can do to
stop it now. If they would have stopped their meddling, then this would not
have happened, but they seem to think that Latin American countries are their
colonies and that the colonies must do what master says still. Nothing could
be further from the truth, as people all over the world utterly reject their
policies of telling other sovereign countries what to do.
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*President Pacheco Treated for High Pressure, Relinquishes Presidency
Temporarily
President Abel Pacheco was hospitalized on Monday morning with high blood
pressure, although his condition was stable by the afternoon, his spokeswoman
said.
Pacheco, 71, has had a number of health scares in recent years, including a
brief spell in hospital in February for heart problems.
A diabetic, the U.S.-educated president suffered partial facial paralysis
after a brain hemorrhage in 2000, two years before taking office.
Hospital director Luis Paulino Hernandez said Pacheco was in stable condition
and that his "arterial pressure came down in the past few hours."
Presidential spokeswoman Betania Aratavia said Pacheco would remain
hospitalized overnight.
Pacheco's latest health problem are a possible result following allegations
this week of irregularities in accepting gifts, used airline tickets given to
the government for personal and a connection between Spanish businessman
Bernardo Martín and his investment in a Papagayo land development and Paheco
appointing him Honourary Consul to Sevilla, Spain and getting his book
published free by a Martín foundation.
The pressure started when it was made public that Pacheco had accepted as a
gift a lifetime membership for he and his wife to a luxury resort in the
Dominican Republic when he visited there this year.
Next on the list of irregularities is the use of free tickets given as a
customary practice by the TACA Group airline to the government. Pacheco used
the free tickets for the San José - Miami - San José leg of his Spain trip,
which was a personal trip. Pacheco said he would reimburse the government for
the cost of the tickets
Also on the Pacheco watchlist is the connection between he and Spanish
businessman Martín, who was appointed Honourary Consul to Sevilla by Pacheco
and later invested in a land development project in Papagayo, Guanacaste,
which is owned by Rubén Pacheco Lutz, the former Minister of Tourism in Abel
Pacheco's administration and accompanied the president on the Spain Trip.
Also on hand on the Spain trips was also Jorge Arce, president Pacheco's
chief protocol officer at Casa Presidencial, who resigned last Monday
following reports in the media of possible wrongdoing.
Martín's foundation published a book of poems by president Pacheco and
presented last December on the President's second trip to Spain.
Pacheco came out fighting last week, taking to the airwaves on national
television and radio, defending his actions. He admitted that he may have
made some mistakes.
He told Costa Ricans that they know him and know what to expect from him. And
all the accusations are a campaign by the media who are angry at him and want
to smear his good name.
President Pacheco, according to his doctors, will probably be released from
the Calderón Guardia hospital today, following a 24 hour observation.
Hwever, doctors are now "ordering" to stay home for the next five days and
not a recommendation like the last time.
Facing doctor's orders, Pacheco made a call yesterday to temporary relinquish
his presidential powers to first Vice-President, Lineth Saborío, this
according to information released by Casa Presidencial.
Casa Presidencial press secretary, Carolina Murillo, confirmed yesterday that
Saborío will fill in for Pacheco while is out on medical orders.
Under the Costa Rican constitution, a president cannot resign office. The
transfer of power of the president can only occur on the death or "permanent"
incapacitation.
*24 New Political Parties Registered; Bringing Total to 72
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) reports that five new political
parties will be running candidates for the presidency in the 2006 elections.
The parties, Alianza Democrática Nacionalista (ADN) headed for former Justice
Minister, José Miguel Villalobos; Unión para el Cambio (UPC) headed by
Antonio Álvarez Desanti; Unión Patriótica (UP) formed by Humberto Arce and
José Miguel Corrales; Patria Primero by Juan José Vargas; and Unión Nacional
(PUN) all presented their documentation before the 4pm deadline yesterday.
In addition there are 19 new parties that will be fielding candidates for
regional and provincial positions in the election to be held next February,
bringing the total of political parties registered to 72.
Not all the parties are active on a national level or even known outside of
their community, though the number of candidates making a bid for elected
office will make the historic election interesting for Costa Ricans.
The new parties will face the mainstream parties Liberación Nacional (PLN),
Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), Acción Ciudadana (PAC).
Parties who have made a name for themselves in the last couple of elections
are the Integración Nacional (PIN), Renovación Costarricense, Alianza
Nacional Cristiana, Independiente Obrero (PIO), Movimiento Libertario,
Patriótico Nacional, Rescate Nacional and Fuerza Democrática, some of which
will seeking the presidential seat.
The traditional two party system began to disappear in the 2002 election when
the PAC forced a run off vote between the PLN and PUSC which saw president
Abel Pacheco elected, ending the traditional two party system and division of
party as each party would take the presidency in alternate elections.
The new parties are now inscribed in the official records and we will know in
the coming months which will be making a strong bid for the presidency and
other elected posts.
*Probation For Three Women in Trafficking Ring
Remember the case in 2003 when police raided homes in La Uruca and Escazú and
arrested a number of people in connection with a trafficking ring involving
minors?
In all 16 people were arrested and an investigation was begun into the
trafficking of minors that saw Guatemalan children sent to families in the
United States by way of Costa Rica.
One of the persons arrested as lawyer and former manager of the defunct Banco
Anglo, Carlos Hernán Robles.
Most of the accused in the case, including Robles, has yet to see formal
charges levied against them. However, three Guatemalan women also arrested
decided to accept the charges and submitted themselves to a fast track
process.
A has now sentenced the three women to two years and three months for their
role in the trafficking ring. However, since the sentence is less than three
years, the women are free on probation and if the stay clean for the
duration, will not see a prison cell.
*Dead Man's Missing Car is Owned by Police Commander
The Fiscalía (prosecutor's office) in San Ramon, northwest of San José, is
looking into allegations that the second commander of the Fuerza Pública de
San Ramón, Marco Hernández Barrantes, registered the purchase of a vehicle
after the owner had already died and the car had been reported missing.
The accusation is also against a lawyer identified as Barahona Segnini, who
is registered lawyer and notary number 82.
The complaint says that the Suzuki Gran Vitara was the property of North
American James Kent, who died in September of 2003. However, records show
that the sale was made in March of this year.
Kent's family had begun the legal process of possession following his death
in 2003 and was concluded last month. The vehicle in question had disappeared
from Kent's home during this time.
The OIJ was called in to investigate the case of the missing vehicle and
discovered that the vehicle was in the possession of the local police
commander. The national registry shows that the purchase was made this year
for ¢100.000 colones (us$210) while the vehicle has a value of ¢5 million
colones (us$10.500).
Police, once they located the vehicle, confiscated it from the police
commander and turned it over to the family of the deceased man. Police are
now investigating into the complaint against the police commander and the
fact the vehicle was in his possession after it was reported missing.
In Costa Rica the transfer of ownership of a vehicle is handled by a
lawyer/notary, which will make an entry into his "protocol" book and then
submit the required documentation along with taxes and "timbres" to the
national registry.
Both the seller and the buyer are required to sign the "protocol" before the
presence of the lawyer,/notary, but that is not always the case. There are
cases, like in the death of a foreigner, a lawyer, for a fee, will take the
buyer's word for the situation and banks that the deceased of his far away
family will not be around to complain.
The registry verifies that the document is in order, the tax is paid and the
"timbres" are attached to the paperwork. Once the verification is complete, a
owners certificate is issued.
*Two Wheeled Transportation on the Increase
The high cost of gasoline as a result of the high cost of crude oil on world
markets has forced Costa Ricans more ways to get around town.
Many have begun using buses more and those living a short distance from work
make it on foot. However, a growing market has been for scooters and
motorcycles.
According to Demtrio Pérez of the Asociación de Importadores de Motocicletas
(AIMA) the number of motorcycle sales have been steadily increasing over the
last several years and moreso this past year when gasoline prices began
setting record levels.
The AIMA attributes the increase in sales directly to the high price of the
combustible.
Peréz says that in 2002, 4.966 new motocycles/scooters were sold in agencies
across the country. In 2003, the number of sales of new motocycles/scooters
increased to 6.570 and in 2004 7.763 new motorcycles/scooters were sold.
For the first three months of thus year, 2.279 new motorcycles were sold.
Forecasts for this year may reach 10.000 sales.
Two wheel transportation not only saves on gasoline but time, as the roads of
downtown San José become more congested each day. Another benefit of a
motorcycle or scooter is the low cost in maintenance. Repairs to motorcycles
and scooters take less time and the cost is dramatically lower than that of a
vehicle.
Peréz adds that the owners of motorcylces/scooters are not the only winners
in this. With the increased use of motorcylce/scooters, the population in
general benefits also with lower contamination and less traffic congestion.
In Europe, major cities like Rome, two wheel motorized transportation is the
favouite way to get to an from work, as well as shopping and recreational
use. Many automobile owners also own a scooter for the trip into town, while
the auto is for family trips.
In San José, the demand for scooters has increased. When there was only one
or two dealers selling scooters, now along the Avenida 10 and La Uruca there
are a half dozen dealers selling scooters from the original Vespa to the
asian and other european imports.
*Mexico rejects US proposal to "supervise democracy" in L. America
Mexico rejected on Monday a US proposal which calls for the creation of a
so-called "democracy supervision mechanism" in Latin America.
"In principle, we don't agree with any supervision whatsoever, "Mexico's
presidential spokesman Ruben Aquilar told the press.
The US proposal also gives the Organization of American States (OAS) the task
of giving help to countries "where democracy is under threat."
"We agree in extending the guarantees and rights of the nations of the
continent, though. We do agree with extending the respect of human rights,
but never under the supervision of anyone," said Aquilar.
The remarks came at a time when a debate is under way on whether the OAS
countries are ready to have an observation mechanism to prevent and manage
crises at the bloc's annual general assembly being held between June 5 and 7
at Fort Laderdale, the United States.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the "OAS has to be a
valid instrument to help the countries of America whose democracies are in
peril."
She warned that American countries failing to fulfill democratic principles
have to respond to the OAS.
*Bolivian president resigns amid mass protests
Bolivian President Carlos Mesa said late Monday that he would submit
resignation to the congress after mass anti-government protests paralyzed the
country's capital of La Paz, according to reports from the city.
Bolivian demonstrators attend a protest march in San Francisco square in La
Paz June 6, 2005.
"It is my responsibility to say that this is as far as it can go," Mesa said
on national television. "I have taken the decision to present my resignation
from the presidency."
Mesa's decision came hours after tens of thousands of Indians, miners and
labor protesters paralyzed La Paz in their largest anti-government march in
weeks demanding nationalization of the country's natural gas sector and early
elections.
Protesters marched through La Paz waving "Nationalize Now" and "The People
Demand Nationalization" banners, and vowed to maintain roadblocks which have
caused gas and food shortages in the capital after more than two weeks of
blockades.
Bolivian demonstrators attend a protest march in San Francisco square in La
Paz June 6, 2005. The protesters are demanding nationalization of the
country's natural gas sector.
A senior government official said earlier on Monday that it is "very
difficult" for the government and the president to continue in office if
"insecurity and instability" continue in the country amid mass street
protests.
If the social chaos and insecurity continue, "without a doubt it is very
difficult that the president and the government can continue," said Minister
of Presidency Jose Antonio Galindo. "We are on the verge of collapse."
Church leaders had called for a truce to help negotiate a solution to the
stalemate. They held a second day of talks on Monday as some members of the
congress suggested early general elections as the best way out for Mesa.
Earlier on Monday, the embattled president managed to flee his office after
protesters threatened to storm the presidential palace.
The recent unrest began after the congress passed a law on May 17 to levy a
50-percent tax on foreign oil and gas companies operating in the country,
which has the second-largest gas reserves in South America after Venezuela.
The opposition first demanded higher taxes on foreign firms and later the
nationalization of the country's lucrative oil and gas industry.
They also demanded the resignation of Mesa and a rewriting of the
constitution to boost indigenous representation in the congress.
Demonstrations have escalated into riots since May 24 when demonstrators
blocked a downtown square in La Paz, where the executive and legislative
branches are located, and began to smash windows in buildings and cars in the
surrounding streets.
The long-term crisis over the gas issue already forced Mesa's predecessor,
Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, to step down 20 months ago.
NOTE: This article is not entirely accurate. As readers of our Offshore
Destiny list know from yesterday's reports, this whole mess started because
of US interference in Bolivian internal affairs due to their ridiculous
"war on drugs." The coca leaf is a traditional crop of the indigenous
community, but the US government put massive pressure on Bolivia to destroy
the crop and the livelihoods of the Indian farmers who raise the crops, much
of it for their own use as they have done for thousands of years. This
insane and ludicrous "war" is what started this whole thing going, and the
indigenous groups added the gas issue later on. Now, because of this heavy
handed meddling in the affairs of another country, the situation has blown up
in the face of the US government, which is now trying to bring its policy of
"unilateral intervention" in the affairs of other nations to this hemisphere,
using the OAS as its cloak. As reported in the article above, Latin America
now outright rejects the interference of the US in their internal affairs.
And Nicaragua is another case in point where imperialism will no longer be
accepted. The only supporter of Enrique Bolanos is the US government. The
National Assembly and the Supreme Court have already rejected his
"government," which simply does whatever its master in Washington says. It
is my prediction that Bolanos will be impeached and put on trial for his
crimes and corruption, and that there is nothing that Wasthington can do to
stop it now. If they would have stopped their meddling, then this would not
have happened, but they seem to think that Latin American countries are their
colonies and that the colonies must do what master says still. Nothing could
be further from the truth, as people all over the world utterly reject their
policies of telling other sovereign countries what to do.
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