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| A.M. Costa Rica Third
News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 28 | |
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Food |
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Jo Stuart |
| Page One is HERE! Page 2 is HERE! Page 4 is HERE! | NEXT PAGE |
| Security officials want to stiffen
penalties for public drug use |
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By
Andrew Rulseh Kasper
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff As schools begin instruction today, security officials are promising rigid enforcement of drug laws in educational areas. Meanwhile, they are looking to beef up the anti-drug law for people caught in public places children frequent. Celso Gamboa, a vice minister of security, said in a press conference Tuesday that introducing drugs into an educational area is punishable by up to eight years in prison. Gamboa said the ministry is attempting to expand the law to include prison time for those caught in other public areas selling, consuming or possessing drugs. The public areas would include parks, stadiums, recreation areas, among others. He said children frequent these areas, and to combat drug use the government can not only focus on schools. He said a draft of the proposal will be sent to the legislature. The goals of the ministry may be at odds with the judiciary where small amounts of drugs have not been a priority. The country's chief prosecutor announced several months ago his agency would not be prosecuting those arrested with drugs for personal consumption. It is common for people to be seen in public in San José smoking marijuana or selling other types of drugs. Also no plan was introduced by the ministry as to where a large influx of prison inmates would be housed. It was recently reported that the country's major prisons were overpopulated, as much as 50 percent in one central prison. In preparation for the start of classes, the Fuerza Pública has dispatched 3,300 police to focus on school and after-school safety in what officials classified as some of the more vulnerable areas. The operation is called Clase Seguro and will last for the 200 days of the school term. Last year the canine drug unit of the Fuerza Pública visited 123 different education centers in the country. |
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Two of the young
drug-trafficking suspects await transportation in San Diego de Tres Riosy Seguridad Pública photo The ministry officials at the press conference also promoted preventative measures to combat drug use, such as the D.A.R.E. program used in the United States. The ministry reported 82,000 children participated in that program in 2011, and 62,000 were in another anti-drug educational program called Pinta Seguro, targeted at younger students and focusing on security and personal safety themes. In an enforcement action, the Policia de Control de Drogas detained Monday six suspects. Two are minors. They are accused of selling drugs in San Diego de Tres Rios. Police had 15 complaints on the group of suspected drug dealers through their anonymous phone hotline, they said. Agents arrested the suspects with 54 doses of crack and 20 doses of marijuana and then placed calls to their parents to inform them as to what had happened to their children, a report said. One suspect is 17, another is 16 and two are 18, one is 19 and the other is 20, the anti-drug police reported. |
| Not every branch of government is
tightening the financial belt |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
President Laura Chinchilla Miranda may have tried to cap executive branch salaries, but the legislature and the Poder Judicial have not taken the hint. Casa Presidencial released a copy of the president's salary decree Tuesday. That is the document that generated protests and marches by public employees. It decrees a 5,000-colon, across-the-board raise for all workers in the executive branch. Casa Presidencial was quick to point out Tuesday that the raise, which amounts to about $10 a month, does not include the president, vice presidents, minsters, vice ministers and heads of other institutions. The decree, which was issued Jan. 17 when salary negotiations with public employees broke down, also noted that the executive branch has no control over the legislature or the judiciary. Lawmakers appear to have given themselves a 150,000 colon-a month pay raise, effective May 1. That is just short of $300 more a month. Some lawmakers are not happy with this decision and may try to block the raise. |
At the Poder Judicial, there also
are raises greater than the small
amount established by the president. In addition, magistrates have
increased from eight to 12 months the cap on severance pay given to
anyone who retires or leaves. That could mean an additional payoff of
up to $100,000 for retirees and those who leave of their own accord. Meanwhile, public employees have declared that they will have a general strike over what they consider to be the meager and insulting pay raise. The strike will be a week from today, according to the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados. Initiating the strike is the Asociación Nacional de Educadores, the teachers union. That means that schools will function on a limited basis while unionized teachers are protesting. The school year begins today. The executive branch says that any money for pay raises will have to be borrowed because the country is broke. The public employee unions respond that there would be plenty of money if the government stemmed tax evasion and took the excess that is now in the hands of the various autonomous institutions. The unions claim that the amount would be three times what President Chinchilla seeks to bring in with her proposed new value-added tax. The president has estimated $500 million, if the tax proposal is passed. |
| Law officers grab three after tourist
victimized on Arenal bus |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police and judicial agents on the San José-La Fortuna bus detained three men and said they made up a band that preyed on tourists by various means. Two of the men were jailed, but a third, who is the subject of an unrelated warrant, was placed at liberty, the Fuerza Pública reported. Agents were following the men when they were on a bus. They had been the subject of at least 11 complaints, mostly by tourists. La Fortuna is near the Arenal volcano. The Policía Turística and agents watched as the men handled the luggage of tourists this weekend on a bus, they said. At Florencia de San Carlos the trio got off the bus, and agents made the arrests. They recovered documents belonging to a |
Norwegian tourist and her portable
computer and skin diving equipment, agents said. Police were able to
interview the tourist. They said the robbery gang also punctured the tires of rental vehicles and used other techniques, such as stealing luggage when the owner was not looking. Detained were a 38-year-old man with the last names of Díaz Díaz, who is the subject of a warrant issued in Liberia for aggravated theft; a 35-year-old man with the last names of Martínez Rivas, who has a record of 14 arrests for similar crimes, and a 28-year-old man with the last names of López Gaitán, who has been turned over to prosecutors 19 times. Police reported that Díaz was let go while the other two men were given preventative detention. They did not say why a judge let the man go. |
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