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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.


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