Three men held up an Alajuela hotel late Wednesday and escaped with the office safe that contains money and guest valuables, according to the Fuerza Pública.

Less than 90 minutes later, police in San José spotted what they thought was the getaway car, gave chase and captured two men and recovered the safe.

According to the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, three armed men in ski masks entered the hotel before midnight Wednesday and tied up those they found there. The safe contained 6 million colons (some $14,300), about $2,700 in cash and guest belongings, the ministry said.

Someone at the hotel managed to get a look at the license plate of the getaway car, so police all over the Central Valley were alerted, according to Eduardo Guzmán, chief of the Policía Metropolitana of the Fuerza Pública. Officers correctly guessed that the robbers would be headed for San José.

Just before 1 a.m. Thursday, a police patrol saw the vehicle on Avenida 10 and gave chase, eventually capturing two men, one a Costa Rican with the last names of Reyes Espinoza and the other a Nicaraguan with the last names of Vargas Vega, said police.

Inside the car officers said they found ski masks, gloves, a firearm and the small safe. The case has been turned over to the Judicial Investigating Organization.

The Hotel Pura Vida is popular with tourists because it is convenient to Juan Santamaría International Airport.

Former U.S. official
to keynote for Unity

Dr. Robert Muller, former U.N. assistant secretary-general and co-founder of the U.N. University for Peace, will kick off the Season for Nonviolence Sunday, Jan. 18, at Unity-Costa Rica at 10 a.m. 

Muller’s subject will be "Creating a World of Nonviolence." Douglas Gillies, author of Muller’s 

Dr. Robert Muller

biography, "Prophet the Hatmaker’s Son" will be present for a book signing.  The morning presentation is open to the public on a donation basis. Unity is in Piedades de Santa Ana. A Season for Nonviolence, Jan. 30-April 4, is an educational grassroots campaign, endorsed by the U.N., that demonstrates nonviolent principles are a powerful  way to heal and

empower  lives and communities, said Unity. Inspired by the 50th and 30th memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this international event honors their vision for a nonviolent world, said a unity release. 

The campaign encourages each person to move the world toward peace through their daily nonviolent choices and to build communities that honor the dignity of every human being, Unity said. 

Unity-Costa Rica initiated the Season for Nonviolence in Costa Rica in 1998, which resulted in the government sponsoring it each year. This year, Unity-Costa Rica has invited Muller, whom they characterize as a renowned peacemaker. 

Muller, born in Belgium in 1923 and raised in the Alsace-Lorraine region in France, experienced constant political and cultural turmoil during his youth. His grandparents had five successive nationalities (French, German, French, German, French) without leaving their village as a result of three wars (1870-1871, 1914-1918, 1939-1945). 

Muller knew the horrors of World War II, of being a refugee, of Nazi occupation and imprisonment. He was a member of the French Resistance. After the war he returned home and earned a doctorate of law from the University of Strasbourg. In 1947 he entered and won an essay contest on how to govern the world, the prize of which was an internship at the newly created United Nations.

Muller devoted the next 40 years of his life behind the scenes at the United Nations focusing his energies on world peace and a better world. He rose through the ranks at the U.N. to assistant secretary-general. He has been called the "Philosopher" and "Prophet of Hope" of the United Nations. 

From his vantage point as a top-level global statesman, he has seen a strong connection between spirituality and the political/cultural scene. He is the co-founder of the U.N. University for Peace in Ciudad Colón where he lives half time.

Unity-Costa is in Quizur, 350 meters south of the Restaurant Shang Hai in Piedades de Santa Ana. Call 203-4411 for further information. E-mail: info@unitycostarica.org

Delta adds flight
to Liberia schedule

Delta Air Lines says that it will add an additional flight each week between Atlanta, Ga., and the Daniel Oduber international Airport near Liberia.

The company said it was doing this because of the success of its current five weekly round-trip flights. The new flight will begin April 4, the company said.

The aircraft will be a Boeing 737 with 146 seats, it said.

"We are the first airline to offer during the whole year service to Liberia and this route has been one of the most successful in Latin America," said Leopoldo Hernández, manager of Costa Rican sales for Delta Air Lines.

Child’s death suspicious,
and pair are suspects

A stepfather and a mother are suspects after an autopsy showed that a 2-year-old baby had suffered many injuries.

The baby, Omar Ramírez López, died Tuesday in Quebradilla de Cartago. The inital cause was given as a head injury due to a fall from a bed, but an  autopy showed that the child had a lacerated liver and fractures, suggesting that the child was subjected to continual aggression, said a spokesperson for the Poder Judicial.

The mother with the last name of Ramírez and the stepfather who has the last name of Céspedes were the subject of a court hearing Thursday in the Juzgado Penal de Cartago at which a prosecutor sought preventative detention, according to the spokesperson. No outcome of the hearing was available. 

One week before President Bush heads to Mexico for a two-day Summit of the Americas, a Washington public policy group is calling for an overhaul of U.S. positions towards the Andean region, especially Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

In a report titled Andes 2020, the Council on Foreign Relations says, despite significant expenditures, U.S. initiatives in the Andean region have failed to boost prosperity, increase security or significantly reduce narcotics production. 

"There is serious political instability in the Andean region. In our opinion, it is the most significant security crisis in the Western Hemisphere," said John Heimann, co-chairman of the commission that issued the report. "Net export of cocaine from the region has been essentially unchanged since the year 2000. Per capita real income has not increased one bit. There are some 67 million people who live below their nation's poverty line. What is needed is a new U.S. strategy [for the region]." 

In 1999, the United States launched "Plan Colombia," which was designed to promote economic growth, strengthen the country's democratic institutions, step up the drug war and promote the country's peace process. Under the plan, Colombia became a major recipient of U.S. foreign assistance, with aid growing to more than $300 million a year. 

Has the money been well-spent? According to Andes 2020 commission co-chairman Daniel Christman, U.S. assistance to the Andean region in general, and Colombia in particular, has been heavy on military aid and light on economic help. Christman used the economic analogy of "guns and butter" - with butter referring to non-military U.S. assistance. 

"With respect to Colombia, since the year 2000, the ratio of guns-to-butter assistance is four to one," he said. "For the region as a whole it is two to one. It is predominantly a 'guns' approach." 

The commission, which includes a variety of academics and corporate representatives, has several recommendations. First, it says the United States should abandon a country-by-country approach to the Andean region, and adopt a unified program for the region as a whole. Second, the commission recommends focusing greater attention on economic development throughout the Andes. 

"Invest in infrastructure, public and private partnerships, sewer [systems], electricity, schools, water and roads," Heimann said. "If you live in the countryside, how do you get your products to 

"People have to earn a living. Clearly they are earning a living now in the rural areas by producing coca," he said. "So trade becomes critically important. Trade and economic development. And the biggest market for these countries is not the EU. It is North America, and in particular the United States." 

Are the recommendations falling on deaf ears? Perhaps not. On the trade front, the Bush administration is already pursuing a hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas. At a news conference Thursday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said trade will be on the agenda at next week's summit in Mexico. 

"We have completed a number of free trade agreements. We are committed to the FTAA for our own hemisphere, a subject that will get discussed, hopefully, at the Summit of the Americas next week," he said. 

Separately, two months ago, the United States launched an initiative to negotiate a free trade pact with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia that would mirror a recently-completed pact with Central American nations. 

Meanwhile, Plan Colombia is due to expire next year. What might replace the program? In a recent policy address, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega offered no specifics for Colombia. But he stressed the Bush administration's commitment to freer trade and economic expansion as a means to greater stability and security for the Americas as a whole. 

Peasants in Colombia
killed in coca dispute

BOGOTA , Colombia — Suspected rebels in Colombia have killed eight peasant farmers in a dispute over their drug crops. 

Government officials say the massacre took place Thursday in a mountain village about 150 kms. (90 miles) northwest of this capital. 

Circumstances surrounding the killings are not clear. Media reports say the coca growers were killed either for refusing to pay a tax on the leaf, which is used to make cocaine, or for refusing to sell their coca crops to the attackers.  The suspects are identified as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla army known by the Spanish initials FARC. 

Opponents of Haiti's president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, called for several days of protests and strikes this week, to bring attention to what they describe as growing repression and a lack of economic progress in the impoverished Caribbean nation. Wednesday, two people were killed in violent clashes in the capital. and there are fears that if the violence worsens political instability could overwhelm Haiti. 

The sound of gunfire in the streets of Port-au-Prince is an almost daily occurrence these days. During this demonstration, police fired over the heads of protesters on New Years Day to disperse a crowd calling for the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Violence and instability are growing in Haiti. Since last September, more than 40 people have died in clashes between supporters and opponents of Aristide.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide has dominated Haitian politics over the past decade and a half. Elected president in 1990, the firebrand priest and champion of Haiti's impoverished millions, was overthrown by Haiti's military less than a year later and forced to flee for his life. Returned to power by a U.S.-led invasion in 1994, Aristide is now in the middle of his second term as President. Aristide's Lavalas Party swept national elections in 2000 and he has few political rivals. But two years before his term is set to expire there are growing calls for him to resign and call early elections.

A coalition of students, business leaders and journalists has mobilized over the past year with the common goal of forcing Haiti's president to step aside. Andre Apaid, a leading Haitian industrialist, who heads the coalition known as Group 184, says Aristide and his supporters are trying to turn Haiti into a dictatorship.

"You are not talking about a matter of a simple political difference," he said. "You are talking about the disturbing element of denying us fundamental rights and political liberties. When you obtain that level you are not talking about simple political differences anymore. In spite of trying to change it in a progressive way we have found it literally impossible."

Haiti's current political impasse dates to the 2000 elections, which Aristide won, but which international observers called flawed. The Organization of American States called on Haiti's electoral council to recalculate the vote in some Senate seats, which the government refused to do, and which led to an opposition boycott of the legislature. 

Opposition to Aristide has grown dramatically with opponents saying his supporters have recruited 

Government officials like Leslie Voltaire, a member of Aristide's cabinet responsible for Haitians living overseas, dispute the charges, saying Aristide is no dictator and that his opponents have nothing to fear from the government.

"I do not think they should be afraid of my government because a lot of people in the opposition were in exile under the Duvalier dictatorship, and they could not speak," he said. "Now you see all the media is talking about what they want to and there is no censorship or censorship on marching, except when you march and you are not given a permit to march, which is given in every democracy. I do not think they should be afraid, this is not a dictatorship."

Voltaire says Aristide has tried to reach out to his critics but they have rebuffed his efforts, in part because he says many also supported his ouster by Haiti's military in 1991. Voltaire says his government supports a plan proposed by Haiti's Catholic bishops to solve the crisis by creating a so-called council of "wise men" to try and mediate a compromise between the government and the opposition.

Government opponents are wary of the plan saying Aristide cannot be trusted, but diplomats in the capital who refuse to be quoted by name, say the plan, with some modifications, could offer a way out of the crisis. However, those same diplomats also warn that time is running out and if a compromise is not reached soon violence could spiral out of control with disastrous consequences. 

New York area Haitians
get museum salute

NEW YORK, N. Y. — Saluting the 200th anniversary of Haiti's independence, the American Museum of Natural History is highlighting the country, its culture and arts as the subject of its "Living in America" series beginning Saturday.

Each year the museum's "Living in America" series showcases a different culture and community.

"The Haitian Experience" celebrates the rich and diverse arts and culture of the more than 500,000 Haitians living in the three states surrounding New York City — New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The series offers a wide range of programs from performances and films to lectures and panel discussions.

SANTA MONICA, Calif — He’s won a race around the world on public transportation in 17 days. He’s stepped foot in over a hundred countries. He’s written a new travel book—number 974,663 on Amazon.com’s list, but climbing. In April 2002, National Geographic Traveler dubbed him the "World’s Greatest Traveler." 

His true love is raising funds for international humanitarian causes. Currently he’s organizing a global travel competition for the world’s truly greatest travelers.

He is William D. Chalmers. He is traveling the globe scouting out locations for this spring’s annual travel adventure competition, GreatEscape2004: The Global Scavenger Hunt. 

"If I can’t participate in it myself, and boy would I love to, what greater pleasure can I have than to actually put together the race course itself? So I’ve been traveling to Asia, Africa, South America and Europe, among other continents still too secret to mention, finding some of the most bizarre and unusual things for our travelers to see and do while participating in this years’ Global Scavenger Hunt," said Chalmers from somewhere out of the United States.

"I’m trying to certify that there are indeed seven wonders of the ancient, medieval and modern world still out there to be seen," said Chambers. "This event is all about adventure and the joy of travel. 

"I can’t wait to see the look on our travelers’ faces when they meet this unique performing artist I found in Africa, who’s, well, let’s just say, extremely dedicated to her craft! Or to locate a lively market I hit upon in Asia that specializes in insects. Or to visit a European museum that 

Travel savvy adventurers who want to take "A Blind Date With The World" over three weeks beginning April 16 and compete for $100,000 in prizes in this once-in-a-lifetime travel adventure competition need only:

• have travel skills, including: foreign language dexterity, 

• be able to overcome cultural differences and multiple international currency exchanges, 

• triumph over logistic snafus (hopefully few!), 

• learn to trust strangers in strange lands, along with 

• conquering potentially awkward team dynamics and the inevitable heat of the competition itself. The top three teams will split $100,000 in cash and prizes with the winners being crowned "The World’s Greatest Travelers" in New York City May 8.

GreatEscape2004: The Global Scavenger is open to just 50 travelers (25 teams of two) that will visit at least 10 nations on four continents over the three-week travel adventure competition that is designed more as a rally than a gruelling race. 

Travelers will also be helping to raise $1 million for global charities. Teams are required to pay or raise at least the $9,900 per-person entry fee that covers all international airfare, 23-nights in first class hotels and about 40 percent of meals. 

Travelers interested in the annual event should visit GlobalScavengerHunt.com to register or call GreatEscape Adventures at (310) 281-7809. 

The United Nations and Guatemala have signed an unprecedented agreement that will give the world body authority to prosecute suspects under that country's justice system. 

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Edgar Gutierrez and Kieran Prendergast, U.N. deputy secretary-general for political affairs signed the agreement Wednesday.

The accord establishes a U.N.-appointed commission that will investigate organized criminal groups and clandestine security services 

U.N. officials say the agreement marks the first time a member country has given the United Nations the power to prosecute under its national justice system. 

Gang violence and drug trafficking have been growing problems in Guatemala since the end of the country's 36-year civil war in 1996. The Central American country has been a transit point for the shipment of narcotics to and from other countries.