Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

About a year and a half ago, I brought my 86-year-old father to Costa Rica after he suffered a mild stroke which caused some brain damage. As the months passed, his mental and physical condition deteriorated at a steady pace and, ultimately, I was unable to continue the care he needed in my home. 

I had been looking for a care alternative when a friend alerted me to an ad for Villa Alegria, a skilled nursing facility in Alajuela. I visited the home and immediately felt comfortable with the friendly, patient, caring staff (several of whom are English speakers), homey atmosphere, and clean environment.  I moved my father to the facility a few days later.

Visiting often, I observed each patient enjoy delicious, nutritious home-cooked meals, attentive, loving care by trained geriatric specialists, comfort, clean and pressed clothes, hair cuts, shave and make-up, a weekly visit by the doctor, birthday and holiday celebrations for patients and their families and a combined effort by staff and administration to maintain a patient’s dignity and self-respect.

My father loved the special attention he received from the staff and often referred to them as his Angels.  When he passed away peacefully on Oct. 9, 2004, he had six of his Angels at his bedside.  They wept with me, consoled me and helped me with the many details that followed. 

Are there Angels in Alajuela?  You bet there are!

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I feel I must write in response to a letter written by Sondra Ogle  entitled "The Sound of Taps." I'm not sure where to begin, but first, I must say to Sondra that I'm sure it must easy for her to wake up each morning and blame everything that is going wrong in beautiful Costa Rica on the U.S. 

I came to Costa Rica on a volunteer work trip, and I believe it to be one of the most beautiful places in the world in which I have ever traveled, and that statement not only includes the landscape, but also the nice friendly people I have encountered while there.  (Apparently I have not run into her yet.) 

But, doesn't the government of Costa Rica make it's own decisions?  Is it not a democracy that is also derived from the votes of the citizens?  Isn't it the primary responsibility of any government to first protect it's own citizens? (Whether it be Costa Rica or the U.S!?) The U.S. is not perfect.  In fact, it is far from perfect, but, as much as I love Costa Rica, I believe that it is not yet perfect, nor are some of its governmental policies. 

The sad part about being a U.S. citizen is when you slowly begin to realize over time that no matter how much you try to be a good person in the world, volunteer your time to help others, love all your global neighbors as yourself, or help out in anyway you can (which is true of most of the Americans that I  know!)  you realize that you are "damned if you do" or "damned if you don't". 

American citizens hear all the time about situations where our government or citizens are asked to step in and help, and we do.  You know what we usually hear in return?  Things like..."They gave too much to that little country just so they could push it around. They are just trying to show off and be bullies! Those Americans are so elitist!"...or..."They didn't give enough...those Americans are so stingy!  They only look out for themselves!" 

I am not a George Bush fan, but I am a fan of the morals, values, and opportunities provided to me by a strong democratic society that works to promote global opportunities for ourselves and others.  Do you think the U.S. expects other countries to negotiate for the best interests of their own people? Of course, that is what creates diplomacy.  Besides, the U.S. has a vested interest in looking out for other countries in the world because almost every country in the world is represented in the U.S., by it's own citizens. 

If we "fall" do you realize how many countries will fall with us?  That is a huge moral and economic burden to carry!) Think about how large the U.S. is.  It would take about 75 Costa Ricas to equal the size of the U.S. We have a huge population to look out for.  We have our own problems.  We have poverty and inequality, too.  We have some really stupid laws and some really strange bureaucratic red tape in some situations, and these things need to continue to be improved...always. 

We also have some really stupid people in our government.  One thing I have learned in my trip to Costa Rica is that many of the problems facing C.R society are the exact same ones we face in the U.S.  Do either of us have all the answers? Of course not. 

Yes, at this particular moment in time, the U.S. is considered, as Sondra points out, the "big brother" by many in the world.  Would you like that to change?  Would you like it to be Saddam Hussein "running the global show" or maybe you would prefer Osama Bin Laden? (If that's the case, then you almost had your wish, and to me, that would have been "The Sound of Taps" for all of us!) or maybe Costa Rica?  My vote would be for Costa Rica, for sure, but would anything necessarily be any better? 

I'm sorry, but as a citizen of the U.S., I hope the U.S. always tries to negotiate with others, but to still look out for the interests of it's own.  Shouldn't it be the same for Costa Rican citizens, that the first expectation of the Costa Rica government be...to protect the best interests of it's people. 

If the Costa Rican government is not doing that, perhaps that may be the first place for you to lay blame.  Must it ALWAYS be the U.S.?

From an American teacher who, unlike Sondra, will never have enough money to be able to "retire" in beautiful Costa Rice.

Shut down San José!

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

They are wanting to shut down a hotel in Playa Sámara because they are polluting the area with their sewage output.   This is really a government out of control. Why is not the heath department checking out the sewage from San José that goes directly into the river system to Quepos. Well let’s shut down San José. Sala IV should have that one on their desk now! 

Services will be at 3 p.m. today for Nury Garita Sánchez, a national deputy of the Partido Liberación Nacional.

She died Tuesday. The funeral will be at 3 p.m. in the Nuestra Señora del Carmen parish church in her native Cartago. burial will be in the Cementerio General there.

Ms. Garita, a retired teacher, served in many campaigns and occupied a leadership role with her party at the time of her death. She was elected in February 2002.
 

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The minister of Niñez said Tuesday that the problem of underage prostitution is one of demand. She urged the nation’s chief prosecutor to investigate those people who have been revealed as customers of Sinaí Monge Muñoz.

The minister, Rosalia Gil, also is the director of the 

Rosalia Gil

Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, the nation’s principal agency for children. Minister Gil spoke at the weekly press conference at Casa Presidencial that follows the meeting of President Abel Pacheco’s cabinet, the Consejo de Gobierno. If people would not ask for the sexual services, pimps would not exist because there would be no market, she said.

Ms. Monge, a well-known pimp who frequently offered minors to her clients, received a sentence of eight years Monday. However, the names of those who used her services have not been revealed. Investigators had her San Sebastian location under surveillance for a year and also tapped the Monge telephone lines.

Tapes of discussions between Ms, Monge and prospective customers were played at her trial.

However, the minister said that to prove participation of important individuals in the transactions for sex would be difficult because witnesses are facing threats of death and are afraid.

The minister also defended what many consider a light 

Ms. Monge claimed for years that she was above the law and protected by shadowy figures in the government. A judge is believed to have been one of the persons on her client list.

Ms. Gil casts underage prostitutes as victims in such situations.

She was asked by a reporter to explain how the Patronato handles situations where youngsters are on the street, perhaps offering themselves as prostitutes. Ms. Gil said that Patronato employees would talk to the youngster and to the child’s parents at least three times before taking unspecified action.

The chief prosecutor, Fiscal General Francisco Dall’Anesse, has not addressed the Monge case. The prosecutors who carried the case to court have not met with the press either.

So there is no indication if the investigation still is active. Tapes of the telephone calls also implicate a soccer player and an official of the Judicial Investigating Organization.

A statement released later by Casa Presidencial said that Ms. Gil considered those who engage underage prostitutes to be the true aggressors.

Ms. Gil was shocked a year ago when she paid a visit to Parque Morazán in downtown San José. there she met fathers who were dropping off their underage girls to work as prostitutes. The park is a gathering place for underage prostitutes who cannot enter the nearby bars and dance halls that host adult prostitutes, who are not penalized under the law.

The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo will invest $79.5 million in an underground pipeline some 175 kms. (109 miles) long.

By placing the pipe underground, the government-owned company known as RECOPE will reduce the safety and environmental hazards of the present above-ground line.  At some points the pipeline runs alongside the highway some two feet high in the Province of Limón.

Littleton Bolton, executive president of the company said today that the pipeline contract had been awarded. The work should be finished in 2007, he said. At that time, RECOPE will save about $25 million a year in transportation costs. Much of the fuel produced by the 

Armed men opened fire on a house early Tuesday and nearly wounded a 6-year-old sleeping inside. Then they led police into a high-speed chase and a standoff that lasted five hours.

The action began in San Rafael Abajo de Desamparados where men riddled a house about 3 a.m. because they had a dispute with the occupant.

When the men, who used two vehicles, fled they were surprised by a police cruiser making the rounds nearby. A shootout began, and the police officers in the vehicle chased the gunmen more than half a mile to Las Tablas, a location where officialdom is not welcomed.

A spokesperson for the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública said that police exercised extreme caution. During the standoff one of the neighbors in the area pegged several shots at a radio reporter. 

Eventually a judge arrived and gave officers permission to enter a house from where the men were believed to be shooting. Two persons were arrested, but one was quickly released. Officers did confiscate the two cars involved in the shootout and chase.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua ? The United States has sent a team of senior officials to Nicaragua for talks on that country's efforts to account for and dispose of its Sandinista-era arsenal of hand-held anti-aircraft missiles. The Managua government has promised to destroy its entire stockpile, but at least one such weapon recently was offered for sale on the black market.

The Bush administration has publicly praised Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños for his efforts to deal with the missiles his government inherited from the leftist Sandinista government in the 1980s.

But the administration is signaling that it has some concerns about the process, and has sent the team headed by Rose Likins, acting assistant secretary of State for political and military affairs, to renew contact. 

Bolaños assured Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2003 that Nicaragua would destroy its entire stockpile of 2,000 of the Soviet-made shoulder-fired missiles, which are capable of downing civilian airliners if they fell into the hands of terrorists.

So far, Nicaragua has destroyed about half the stockpile, but the country's National Assembly, led by Sandinista members, voted recently to require its approval for further destruction.

Questioned at a news briefing here, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher pointedly declined to say that the Bush administration is entirely satisfied with Nicaragua's performance on the issue, and that the assembly vote was among the items of concern for the U.S. team.

"I think we have been satisfied with some of the efforts the Nicaraguan government has made to destroy missiles, to the sting operation that helped identify that 
there might be others out there. But obviously the National Assembly vote creates difficulties. And it is 

Boucher's reference was to a U.S.-assisted "sting" operation in January by Nicaraguan authorities, who arrested two men who tried to sell a missile to undercover police agents posing as agents for terrorists.

A Nicaraguan judge Tuesday convicted the two men of possessing and seeking to sell the portable missile and sentenced one of the men to 18 months in prison and gave the other a one-year term.

Nicaraguan defense officials said at the time of the arrests last month that the missile seized in the case was old and inoperable, and had not come from the government arsenal.

But the State Department said there were reports that elements in the Nicaraguan military or others might be keeping an unaccounted-for supply of the missiles.

Officials from the department called on the Managua government late last month to investigate and find out if, indeed, some of its missiles may have "gone missing or might be in the wrong hands."

Secretary of State Powell said in a November 2003 visit to Nicaragua that the stockpile did not contribute to Nicaragua's security or to a balance of forces in the region, were a burden to the country's military, and should be entirely destroyed.

U.S. officials believe that two missiles of the same type possessed by Nicaragua were fired at an Israeli airliner leaving the Kenyan port city of Mombasa in November 2002 but missed their target.

That attempt came just minutes before a car bomb attack at an Israeli-owned beach resort nearby, attributed to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, that killed 15 people including three suicide attackers.

LIMA, Peru ? Peruvian police say Maoist rebels have killed three policemen in a remote jungle ambush.

Police officials said Monday the three were driving on a highway northwest of the capital when at least 20 members of the Shining Path movement hit their truck with a hail of gunfire. The officers were killed as they 

Police say a hammer-and-sickle flag was left at the scene of the shooting, and phrases associated with the Maoist rebels were painted on the roadway. Peruvian officials suspect Artemio, a high-ranking Shining Path official, is behind the attack. They say the rebels are active in the remote jungle area.