| Two men found dead
in separate incidents By Saray Ramírez Vindas
Two men identified as North Americans died in their hotel rooms under suspicious circumstances Wednesday night and Thursday. The bodies of both men were taken to a medical examiner for autopsies. The first of these two separate cases involved a guest at the Park Hotel on Avenida 4 between calles 2 and 4 in downtown San José. The victim there was identified as Gary Van Hussein, age unknown, who was found dead in the room he rented, No. 103, about 8 p.m., according to a spokesman for the Ministerio de Securidad Publica. Investigators said that they thought that the death was due to natural causes even though the room in which the man was found showed a great deal of disorder as if it had been ransacked. One officer suggested that the man may have been frightened by an intruder and suffered a heart attack. The second death was discovered about 2:15 p.m. Thursday in the Quality Hotel Centro Colon. The Judicial Investigating Organization said the dead man, who had not been identified, was in a sixth-floor room. Desk attendants at the hotel denied any knowledge of the incident and had guards escort a reporter off the premises. A spokesman for the Judicial Investigating Organization said that the second man also was a North American. He was found with a plastic bag wrapped around his head, and the apparent cause of death was suffocation. In late afternoon investigators said that the death probably was a homicide. Later in the evening one agent suggested that the man might have committed suicide. He was said to be between 65 and 70 years of age. The hotel faces Avenida 3 between calles 38 and 40. It makes up the
north portion of the Centro Colon office building that faces Paseo Colon
just east of La Sabana Park.
U.S. to train elite unit
Special to A.M. Costa Rica MANAGUA — The United States will help the military forces of nearby Nicaragua to set up an elite anti-terrorist and anti-drug unit of about 1,200 troops. Gen. Javier Carrión, the military chief of staff, made this announcement earlier this week. The force will include airmen, soldiers and sailors, said the general. The units will be able to move at any time, night or day, to counter a possible terrorist action or a narcotics trafficking operation, said the general, who was accompanied by Defense Minster José Adán Guerra. The troops will be trained by U.S. military advisers. Nicaragua got its first military aid in 22 years from the United States this year and the aid will be used primarily to purchase military equipment from the United States. In Washington, Richard Boucher, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, ducked a question on the troop training when asked by a reporter during the daily noon briefing Wednesday. He said he had not seen anything about what the reporter was asking. There is no information on exactly how many U.S. troops will be sent to the country. Governments in Central America are very concerned by the end of peace talks in Colombia and the outbreak of major fighting there. The United States is deeply involved in the Colombian situation because of Plan Colombia, a multi-year investment to try to stabilize the country. The United States sees the rebels in Colombia as a principal source of drugs being shipped north. The United States has designated two of Colombia’s rebel groups as terrorists organizations after the Sept. 11 attack on New York and Washington. They are the FARC or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, established in 1964 by the Colombian Communist Party, and the National Liberation Army, a Marxist insurgent group formed in 1965 that is currently in a dialogue with the Colombian government in Havana. Gen. Carrión said the conflict in Colombia puts more pressure on the Central America states which are being turned into warehouses for drugs and weaponry. Another danger is the development of private armies to defend these stores of weapons and drugs. The general noted that the Río San Juan that runs along the Nicaraguan border with Costa Rica has become a major arms and drugs shipment point equal to that of the Caribbean coast of the country. The use of the river for drug and arms shipments has been well reported
in the press of both countries.
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The Pursuit of Pleasure In All
I’ve been reading Lionel Tiger’s book, "The Pursuit of Pleasure." Lionel Tiger is an anthropologist some of whose other books I read when I was studying the subject. He did what I said I was hoping to do: major in anthropology and a minor in nutrition and then study the people of China by eating my way across their country. (I wanted to prove the adage "You are what you eat.") "The Pursuit of Pleasure" is about enjoying food, as well as the other pleasures of the body and mind, like wonderful smells, sex, play, and being with other people, to name a few. Tiger argues that humans (and probably other animals) have a basic need to experience pleasure. We are not just pain avoiders. We actively seek out pleasure. Learning that tourism is the biggest industry in the world supports the idea. People travel to other countries in the hopes of new, exciting and pleasurable experiences. But thinking about this made me wonder if war was the second biggest industry. Tourism and waging war have something in common. In both, hoards of people invade another country, but the course of war is violence and pain, and the course of tourism is usually friendship and pleasure. And now we get to Costa Rica and the reason people flock here (and return many times). I am sure it is because this little country, which has no means to wage war, offers so many avenues of pleasure — the kind of pleasure Lionel Tiger is talking about. For starters, I can’t think of another country that can offer within the course of one day, a hike in a misty pine forest, swimming in tropical waters from a sandy beach (just lying in the sun is a major pleasure for many), playing a round of golf in spring-like weather, and listening to a world-class symphony orchestra and enjoying a gourmet dinner in elegant surroundings at the end of the day. You might be exhausted, but you could do all of these things in Costa Rica. And almost invariably they are offered by a friendly, gracious, caring people. That certainly adds to the pleasure. Governments, as a rule, seem to find it easier to tolerate violence than to accept pleasure, especially if that pleasure involves sex. Thus, many pleasurable experiences are prohibited, governed, tempered or controlled, as if society were afraid that order would be disrupted if people enjoyed themselves too much. Even private pleasures are frowned upon. Look how shocked so many were when Dr. Joycelyn Elders suggested teaching young people to masturbate to help curb the spread of AIDS. That on top of her support of legalizing some narcotics was just too much and she was forced to resign. It is too bad, because some studies have shown that while intercourse seems to heighten one’s aggressive tendencies, masturbation seems to have a calming effect. Instead, President Bush has announced that he is setting aside something like $125 million to teach abstinence. Maybe that also will have a calming effect if he includes money to teach Cold Showers 101. I cannot speak for other countries, but the United States is one of the most violent, and at the same time, one of the most puritanical countries in the world when it comes to sexual pleasure. The news and entertainment media tend to talk about sex and show violence. The obscenity laws are aimed at censuring what is deemed sexually repulsive or offensive or appealing to a prurient interest. There are no such laws aimed at violence ? unless perhaps, the violence is combined with sex. Although the United States is a religiously diverse culture, officially sex is a moral issue and seen as connected mainly to reproduction rather than to pleasure. Costa Rica, nominally, is a Catholic country, although it allows religious freedom. There is no stricture dictating the separation of Church and State. Yet, in Costa Rica there are discussions on television (complete with illustrations) on sex education and prevention of pregnancy, billboards advertising the use of condoms and warning against SID (AIDS). And prostitution between adults is legal. The prostitutes here are often unmarried mothers who are supporting their children. They are also often lovely, educated and intelligent. One of the dumbest questions I hear people ask prostitutes is why do they "do it." That is, sell sex? Let me see, if I could prostitute my mind standing at a counter nine hours a day for say, to be generous, $20, or prostitute my body for two hours a day for perhaps 200 or more dollars, which would I choose? (when answering this question, please try to remember that not everybody thinks that sex is disgusting and equals sin). The more interesting question would be why do men patronize prostitutes (something they have been doing probably even before marriage was invented)? Since space is running out, I won’t try to answer that question now, but for male tourists’ pleasure, at least, prostitution in Costa Rica is legal as long as everyone is an adult and no one is being exploited. Gambling, also considered a vice in some countries or states, is also legal in Costa Rica. Generally speaking, I do not think the stakes are as high as they are in say, Las Vegas. Only drugs, the third member of this particular "axis of evil" is illegal here. And I wonder, if it were not for the U.S. and its concerns, if Costa Rica would not re-think the role of marijuana. It is, after all, pretty benign as mind altering drugs go, and I can speak from experience that medically, it is indeed a pain avoider. More Jo Stuart can be found HERE |
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