The former boss arrested in the drive-by murder of Ivannia Mora Rodríguez is out of prison.

Investigators took the man, Eugenio Millot, into preventative custody Christmas morning as he was leaving the country by plane. He holds Uruguayan citizenship.

Ms. Mora, 33, died about 8 p.m. Dec. 23 when two men on a motorcycle assassinated her as her vehicle was stopped at a traffic signal in Curridabat.

Millot was jailed, in part, because he had serious business differences with Ms. Mora. she had recently left the magazine Estratagía & Negocios, which she helped found.

Juzgado Penal del II Circuito Judicial de San José allowed Millot to leave prison Monday, according to a spokesperson for the Poder Judicial. The release has been sought by the prosecutors in the case and was based, in part, on Millot’s health, the spokesperson said.

Millot had to agree not to leave the country and post a 3 million colon bond, some $7,140. In addition he agreed not to go near witnesses in the case and to sign in every 15 days.

The release of the former employer is consistent in a change in thinking among investigators who now seem to favor the theory that Ms. Mora was killed due to her journalistic activities. Her reporting took her into contact with many movers and shakers in the business world, and she was known as a diligent reporter who was an aggressive editor.

The triggermen were hired killers, so the search is one also for the intellectual author of the crime. Millot, himself, has said he has received threats, although the source of those threats have not been made public.

Journalistic colleagues of the dead newswoman have posted a $10,000 reward for information that leads to apprehension of the murderers.

Defensor targets
construction at beach

The Defensor de los Habitantes has filed a constitutional case against the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía, the municipalities of Nicoya and Santa Cruz, plus the Registro Nacional.

The dispute is over construction in the Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre de Ostional, which is famous as a breeding spot for turtles.

Since October 2002, the ministry has granted 15 use permits in the refuge even though there is no existing management plan to evaluate the permits, said the defensor. The permits have allowed the construction of building there, the court case says.

In addition, officials have tolerated the construction of structure even though there were no permits, said the defensor, José Manuel Echandi Meza.

The two municipalities are named in the case because the defensor claims they have issued building permits. The registro is named because the defensor said that the official registry of properties has accepted ownership papers on land that clearly is within the protected refuge.

The defensor asked the Sala IV constitutional court to suspend all permits, to seek demolition of illegal structures and to launch an investigation to see how the permits originated.

The refuge is on the Pacific coast of the Nicoya Peninsula just north of Nosara. In fact, the refuge runs to playas Pelada and Guiones, according to the description by the defensor.

Palmares festival
kicks off tomorrow

The Fiestas Cívicas Palmares 2004 kicks off in that community tomorrow.

Thousands of tourists are expected, and police had detailed some 600 officers to keep an eye on possible trouble.

The fiesta is one of the largest in Costa Rica, although the Christmas Festejos Populares in Zapote is larger and attracts more people.

Transportation officials also are bracing for the influx of large numbers of vehicles. Police will maintain a mobile command center during the fiesta that runs through Jan. 26.

Police urged visitors to limit the amount of money they bring and to keep a good eye on youngsters.

Palmares is west of San José and north of Atenas

Airport police nab
man with full belly

Anti-drug police said that a Paso Ancho man tried to leave the country Sunday with 1.3 kilos of cocaine hidden in his stomach.

The Policía de Control de Drogas arrested the man after they became suspicious of his movements at Juan Santamaría international Airport, officers said.

Police took the man, identified by the last names of Zúñiga Barrantes to a medical facility where he was x-rayed. Officers said the man had ingested about 100 small packages of cocaine.

The man had been booked on a flight to Madrid, Spain.

Burglary attempt
leads to shooting

A man tried to break into a storage facility used by the Banco Nacional, but a guard challenged him about 10 p.m. Sunday. The man came at the guard with a pipe and the guard shot him once in the chest, according to the Fuerza Pública.

The man, later identified by the last names of Cerdas Rodríguez fell critically injured. The storage facility is across the street from Hospital San Juan de Dios, so that is where the man was taken by rescue workers.

1. In every disaster — from a car crash to a financial collapse — courts look at degrees of responsibility. In the case of Villalobos creditors, do they not bear a large amount of responsibility for giving their money to an unlicensed and unregulated individual who did not even give them a real receipt or a look at a balance sheet or a profit-and-loss statement or even told them what he would do with the money?

CAINE: I'm a little confused as to why you think that the investors invested in an unregulated business.  Ofinter was licensed, supervised and regulated by SUGEF and the Central Bank. When investors signed up, they signed a document (with little check boxes on it).  In this document, the investors were told exactly what they were investing in: a business that did the buying and selling of dollars and colons and that the guarantee was done with a check from the owner of the company. 

This document states:  "for each deposit you make, we issue a check on a local bank from the owner of the company.  This is a receipt/guarantee and is a legal document in Costa Rica that makes him as a physical person responsible to you for the amount it shows."  OIJ and ICD/CICAD reports have documented the captivation of public funds was an integrated part of Ofinter's business.  These reports justify this based on the fact that the operations were done in the same offices with the same employees and the managerial structure included managers from the money exchange and captivation operations and the investment/handling/transfer of the captivation of public funds. 

As far as what the investors were investing in, the document also states:  "our business is currency exchange; we buy and sell U.S. dollars and Costa Rican colons."  SUGEF regulates money exchange businesses.  In addition, SUGEF is suppose to regulate currency arbitrage operations per law 7558 (central bank law).  Drug law 7886 (1998) and its reform, law 8204 (2002).  Both state that regulations covering currency arbitrage must be published within three months of coming into force by the executive branch. 

Also, many investors were instructed to write their checks directly to Mercado de Valores S.A., a large stockbrokerage firm supervised by SUGVAL.  As far as a receipt is concerned, the investors have the guarantee checks, as you know, but some also have receipts of deposits. 
 

2. Many creditors and Luis Enrique Villalobos maintain that their relationship was one of friendship and not a business relationship. Does that affect the possible outcome of your international arbitration case?

CAINE: A single person does not have thousands of friends investing hundreds of millions of dollars in dozens of businesses.  To say this is in total conflict with reality.  I am sure that LEV (Villalobos) did have some clients that were long-term friends that invested in the Villalobos operations because of their friendship with LEV; however, the vast majority of the investors were not "friends" of LEV.  They did not spend time with LEV outside of the business environment.  They never had dinner with LEV or went to his home or to a soccer game with him. 

Some may have been members of the same church, but said church has a small active membership of approximately 200 persons, not the thousands who were invested.  People do business with people and companies they are friendly with; those they trust. I feel confident that the investors felt they could trust LEV.  Who would invest with a company they thought that they couldn't trust? 
 

3. Why is the case of the brothers and foreign creditors not just another example of a business going sour and people losing money. Why does this case rise to the level of an international dispute.

CAINE: A host country, such as Costa Rica, has obligations under international law to protect foreign investment.  When there are violations of this protection and there is a loss of the investment, the host country is responsible.  This ICSID arbitration case involves violations of obligations under international law. 

These obligations are under the following headings:  (a) Obligation to negotiate amicable to find a settlement when there is a dispute; (b) obligation to create favorable conditions; (c) obligation of transparency; (d) obligation to provide national treatment; (e) obligation to provide full protection and security and fair and equitable treatment under international law; and (f) obligation not to expropriate without providing prompt, adequate and effective compensation. 

These breaches in obligations are itemized in great detail in the notice of arbitration.   This case rises to the level of an international dispute because it could not be settled amicably between the two parties [and] involves violations of international law.  The ICSID tribunal will most certainly also take into account violations of domestic law by the Costa Rican government in determining the extent of breaches in international obligations.

CAINE: The Villalobos Brothers have been under investigation by the Costa Rican government for money laundering and illegal financial intermediation since at least 1994-5.  In fact, documentation shows that AGEF (the predecesor of SUGEF) knew that Osvaldo was also operating a money exchange business without a license in 1995.  This is kind of sad, since knowing that there was a money laundering and illegal financial intermediation investigation and that there was illegal money exchange operations taking place, the Central Bank of Costa Rica still issued a license in 1996 to the Casa de Cambio Hermanos Villalobos S.A. 

Domestic proceedings against the Villalobos brothers are separate from the ICSID arbitration.  The investors notice of arbitration is against the Costa Rican government, not against the Villalobos brothers.  There is a lot of jurisprudence to support the allowance of concurrent international and domestic legal proceedings. 

The public ministry has put together a large amount of documentation to refute SUGEF and SUGEVAL’s claim that there is no evidence of illegal intermediation.  This documentation comes in the form of reports from the OIJ and ICD/CICAD.  The public ministry is using these documents to build their case against the Villalobos' for illegal financial intermediation and illegal intermediation of stocks.  In addition, the Contraloria General did a major study that was reported in June 2003. 

This evidence, while not intended by the Costa Rican government, has actually documented Costa Rica's violation of obligations under international law.  The issue to the investors (and to the ICSID tribunal) is not whether or not the Villalobos brothers are guilty of these serious crimes, but rather that there was a loss of foreign investment incurred because of violations of obligations under international law.
 

5. Investors in other companies from Savings Unlimited to The Vault to other deals that we may not have even heard of also lost lots of money. Do former clients of these companies also have a case in international arbitration?

CAINE: To the best of my knowledge, Cain Lamarre Casgrain Wells, the Canadian law firm handling the ICSID arbitration case for the Villalobos investors, is currently not working on the Savings Unlimited and The Vault cases for ICSID arbitration.  There are several reasons for this; however, one that is extremely basic. Charles Bergeron and I were not investors in Savings Unlimited or The Vault and do not have legal access to the domestic case files of these other businesses and investors of Savings Unlimited and The Vault have not provided copies of this documentation to Cain Lamarre for analysis.  The amount of work involved in analyzing the domestic case files is tremendous.
 

6. The Canadian law firm that is handling this case, Cain Lamarre Casgrain  Wells, or individuals there had considerable money with the Villalobos brothers, so they are unpaid creditors, too. Should they not have hired another law firm to represent them rather than being their own lawyer?

CAINE: To the best of my knowledge, none of the investors represented by Cain Lamarre in this case are employees of Cain Lamarre.  Charles Bergeron and his family have used this law firm for several decades for other cases and businesses.
 

7. There are a lot of financial disasters every day all over the world. Has there ever been a successful international arbitration case in which investors alleged that the country did not exercise strong financial controls?

CAINE: There have been cases in which ICSID tribunals have decided that a host government was correct in intervening [through financial controls] to protect investors.  The example given before, in the issuance of a license for a money exchange business in 1996 by the Central Bank while the Villalobos brothers were under investigation for illegal financial intermediation and money laundering and knowledge that Osvaldo was operating a money exchange business illegally is just one small example of a violation of obligations to protect investors through a "minimum" standard.  We're not even talking about "strong" financial controls here.  We're talking about the basics.
 
 

8. Considering that the Villalobos investigation is continuing and Luis Enrique Villalobos, a possible witness, is a fugitive, is your case, as the lawyers say, "ripe" for international arbitration?

CAINE: Lev's presence is not needed by our side to provide documentation that Costa Rica is in breach of it's international obligations.
 

9. Your case is based on the claim that Costa Rica failed to exercise reasonable governmental oversight of the Villalobos operation for as much as 22 years. During that time, did any of the participants in the current international arbitration file a complaint with the Costa Rican government about the Villalobos operation?

CAINE: Investors involved in the current ICSID arbitration case against the Costa Rican government started filing domestic legal and administrative proceedings to try to recover their investment when they became aware of the loss of their investment and a breach in international law, namely after July 4, 2002. 

Prior to this date, the investors involved in this arbitration had not lost their investment.  Documentation of the violations in obligations under international law did not become apparent until after the investors had gained limited access to the domestic case file.

MONTERREY, México — The leaders of 34 western hemisphere nations are here for the Special Summit of the Americas, focusing on such issues as trade, immigration and the fight against corruption. The main line of conflict emerging at the summit is between the U.S. push for free trade and the desire of some countries to tackle poverty directly.

In his remarks at the summit's opening session, U.S. President George Bush emphasized the benefits of free trade for the hemisphere. "Over the long term, trade is the most certain path to lasting prosperity," he said. "The openness of our market is the key driver of growth in the region and a testament to the United States' belief in the mutual benefits of trade."

To support his case, Bush said, last year, 83 percent of Latin America's exports to the United States entered duty free. He said this amounted to $176 billion worth of goods.

But some nations represented at the summit want to discuss a more aggressive approach to fighting poverty and strengthening democratic institutions. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, whose country proposed this summit, told the regional leaders that the needs of the poor must always be the main concern.

"We must maintain our commitment to the social safety net, knowing that a successful society depends on a healthy, well-educated population," he said. "For some of the countries here, that is not going to be easy. That is why the developed economies must recognize our responsibility to assist, both bilaterally and through the hemisphere's very important regional inter-governmental institutions."

Some nations, including Brazil and Venezuela, have questioned the timing of the U.S. push to a hemispheric free trade accord. But the summit host, Mexican President Vicente Fox, urged them not to delay measures for prosperity.

The summit is to end late Tuesday with a formal declaration of principles.

Corruption would bar
official from U.S. visit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Would-be visitors or immigrants to the United States will be barred from entry to the country if they have been linked to corruption, according to a presidential proclamation issued by the White House Monday. 

The document refers specifically to "corruption in the performance of public functions where that corruption has serious adverse effects on international activity of U.S. businesses, U.S. foreign assistance goals, the security of the United States against transnational crime and terrorism, or the stability of democratic institutions and nations."

The entry suspension is targeted specifically at public officials, former public officials, and those who have attempted to bribe public officials.

The proclamation is in keeping with previously stated administration goals to emphasize good governance and the prevention of corruption as essential ingredients to economic development. Corruption has been cited by the governments of the Group-of-Eight industrial nations and the World Bank as a threat to public trust, democracy and stability.

U.S. visa policy has been that corruption in itself is not grounds for denial or revocation of a visa.

MONTERREY, México  —  The Summit of the Americas process has had a "significant" effect on improving the lives of the citizens of the Western Hemisphere, according to a new report issued by the Organization of American States.

The report, released before the start of the Special Summit of the Americas here Monday says, however, that this progress has gone "mostly unnoticed" beyond government leaders in the hemisphere and "hemispheric institutions."

The report, called "Advancing in the Americas: Progress and Challenges," highlights progress that has been made in the political, economic, social, and institutional arenas, although it concedes that significant challenges remain, such as the fact that 220 million people in the region (out of the hemisphere's total population of about 800 million) live in poverty, while one-fifth of the population lives in extreme poverty.

The Summit process, which began with the first Summit of the Americas in Miami, Florida, in 1994, has been praised by the United States and other countries for opening the door "for a new level of hemispheric consensus," the Organization of American States said.

Oerganization Secretary General Cesar Gaviria said in a statement Sunday that through the Miami summit and subsequent ones held in Chile in 1998 and Canada in 2001, "the countries of the region are taking a multilateral, cooperative approach to confronting many challenges" in the hemisphere.

John Maisto, U.S. permanent representative to the Organization of American States, said that "concrete results" must come from Summits of the Americas. He said "progress that can be measured" has resulted from the previous summits held since 1994, but added that future summits must continue setting "clear goals" for overcoming problems in the hemisphere.

The new report cites success in the hemispheric fight against poverty through efforts to improve health, education, personal security, and the protection of the most vulnerable groups in the region.

In the political realm, the report says that through the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism, which is a part of the summit process, governments now guarantee broad-based and mutual legal assistance to make possible the prosecution of individuals who plan or commit terrorist acts.

The report also points to the hemispheric response against the scourge of drug trafficking.

Also highlighted in the report is the hemispheric goal to create a "comprehensive" and "fair" Free Trade Area of the Americas in the region by 2005. 

The trade agreement is designed to promote economic growth, development, and integration in the region while reducing poverty, the report says.

The Web page A.M. Costa Rica, in calling itself a "newspaper," has implicitly undertaken an obligation to report the news without bias, despite its editor's apparent desire to further his own political agenda while slamming Costa Rica and its citizens at almost every turn.

Clear examples can be found in the skewed article of Jan. 12, 2004, titled "Summit opens today but skepticism will reign" by A.M. Costa Rica "staff" (i.e. its editor): 

There has been a marked move to the left in Latin America in recent years, and Washington's agenda promoting free trade and economic liberalization is not always welcomed. 

The editor here is clearly stating support for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which is not a free trade agreement at all, by gratuitously linking opposition to the agreement with the spectre of left-wing politics.  Try telling billionaire businessman Ross Perot that he's a leftist!

The editor goes on to claim that the U.S. government has an "agenda" to promote free trade and economic liberalization.  How does he figure?  CAFTA and NAFTA, while calling themselves free trade in an attempt to garner support that would otherwise not be forthcoming were they aptly named, are little more than underhanded back-room deals that allow foreign investors to overrule citizens' democratic rights. 

They call for the easy exportation of jobs and factories to countries like Communist China, which tolerates and encourages the use of forced labor.  Many good U.S. jobs are now in the hands of the Communists.  Who's the leftist after all?

Please don't call this travesty "free trade."  It isn't.  It has a name:  CAFTA. 

In the same article, the editor calls the U.S. Congress  "truculent."  That the U.S. Congress is populated mostly by idiots is pretty self-evident, but it's not up to you, editor, to pass off that point of view as news.  That's what opinion pages are for.

Finally, in the Jan. 12, 2004, article titled, "Big Guanacaste bridge has long-term implications," the following snipe is inserted into the second paragraph:

The viewing area is a place for tourists to take pictures, and motorists can see hundreds of people gazingat the structure as if it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. 

That slap at Costa Rican pride is really an unfair kick in the teeth.  Costa Rica is a small country on the Central American isthmus. It isn't Disneyland.  If you're a fan of corporate welfare and 10-figure pork barrel projects, you'll feel much more at home in the U.S.A.