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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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