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A.M. Costa Rica third newspage
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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 15, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 53

Arias and U.S. ambassador consider status of free trade pact

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

In a visit that free trade opponents certainly will use as ammunition, the U.S. ambassador paid a call on President Óscar Arias Sánchez Wednesday.

The ambassador, Mark Langdale, told Arias that now is the time for Costa Rica to make a decision on the trade treaty, according to a summary provided by Casa Presidencial.

The meeting was in the presidential office in Zapote, and Arias was reported to be explaining the steps the executive branch was taking to have the treaty approved as soon as possible.

Treaty opponents have characterized Arias as a lapdog of the United States, and the visit by Langdale will be used to further that image.

Costa Rica is the only signatory to the treaty that has not ratified the agreement. The treaty was signed nearly three years ago, but former president Abel Pacheco delayed sending the document to the Asamblea Legislativa for ratification for fear of public strikes. Public employee unions oppose the treaty, as do others, including those who seek a stronger socialist state in Costa Rica.

Arias told Langdale that a priority of the Costa Rican government is a positive decision on the treaty. The government has 38 lawmakers, a two-thirds majority, lined up to vote for the treaty. But legislative procedures are slow.

Marco Vinicio Ruiz, the minister of Comercio Exterior who also was at the meeting, said keeping the U.S. government informed is important so that Washington can

Casa Presidencial photo

Langdale airs U.S. expectations with Arias

send signals to its investors that there is confidence that the commercial accord will be approved, said Casa Presidencial.

The only way to enter the U.S. market on a permanent basis it through this trade treaty, Langdale told Arias, according to Casa Presidencial. Treaty opponents have argued that the existing Caribbean Basin Initiative allows Costa Rica to send goods to the United States without import duties.

The ambassador's visit was interpreted as countering this view. He is a representative of U.S. President George Bush, who has the authority to void the Caribbean initiative.
The U.S. Embassy here has as its highest priority the passage of the trade treaty.

Langdale was quoted as saying that the Feb. 26 public protest against the treaty was not very big and had the same dimensions as protests in October. A.M. Costa Rica estimated the protest to be bigger — at about 80,000 persons.

Villalobos witness said he was pressured to drop his claim

By Dennis Rogers
and the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Two cases of supporters of fugitive Luis Enrique Villalobos attempting to influence claimants in the case against his brother Oswaldo came up in testimony Wednesday. Prosecution lawyers only recently became aware of such pressure and have begun to ask witnesses if they had been contacted.

One witness, who was identified as Durk Van Dirk, had attempted to retrieve his $98,000 investment in the months before the July 2002 raid that triggered the eventual closing of the Villalobos high-interest investment operation, but was put off by the staff until it was too late, he testified. He later did his own investigation at the Registro Nacional and found large numbers of properties in the name of Villalobos family members and shell companies, he said. Van Dirk suggested these properties could have been liquidated to pay part of the amount owed.

Responding to questions by private lawyer Luis Solórzano about other investors, Van Dirk described a group with a nucleus of people with “an unnatural faith” in Enrique Villalobos who met and spoke of conspiracies by the government and had hired former Justicia minister José Miguel Villalobos Umaña to represent them. He said he discontinued contact with this group as he thought their claims were “not based on reality.”

Later, Van Dirk said he received “aggressive” phone calls asking him to withdraw his claims. A caller he referred to as Phil Yarmon, was “very rude,” he said.

“He told me, ‘You don’t have any chance, no chance of getting your money back unless you drop your claim,’” said Van Dirk.

Clara Alvarado had also received phone calls, telling her that Luis Enrique would return and pay back the $30,000 she had invested if she rescinded her claim, she said. Ms. Alvarado did not appear to consider the attention threatening.

Neither witness linked Oswaldo Villalobos to the pressure to drop their claims. Oswaldo Villalobos is the defendant in the current trial. Prosecutors are trying to tie him and his Ofinter S.A. money exchange operation to the high interest borrowing operation identified with his brother.

These witnesses, along with Maria Elena Vargas and Ligia Matamorros, who also testified Wednesday, were called by Solórzano as part of a civil action by his clients. Three more could not be accommodated and were rescheduled for Monday. Solórzano had not been present at the trial since the first week.

No progress was made with the continued incorporation of printed evidence into the record. The trial resumes next Monday.

The unincorporated group that calls itself the United and Concerned Citizens has been a main force in getting victims to withdraw their allegations.

As long ago as Oct. 31, 2003, the group published a message they attributed to lawyer Villalobos. Among other things, he said " The existence of these charges delays the resolution of the case and makes don Luis Enrique’s return to the country even more difficult. In no way does it help the interests of the very investors who have made the charges, for as long as they remain, the return of the money is even further delayed."

That sums up their position, that fugitive Villalobos would certainly pay his creditors if the judicial process would go away.

That claim has been undermined seriously by the current trial in which the high interest operation was shown to be taking money at 3 percent per month and investing it at 4 percent a year. There has been no hint of outside business activity that would need great sums of creditor cash.

The high interest operation appears to have taken in about $92 million in 2001 and more than $80 million up until the Villalobos Brothers closed their offices Oct. 14, 2002.

More recently a Web site run by unidentified individuals has picked up the drumbeat. It said April 21, 2006:

"Enrique intends to bring a civil suit against the filers for lying against him through their denuncias. You filers are trying to destroy Enrique, what would you expect in return.

"Not only will the filers not get any principle or interest back, but you will also have to deal with a civil suit against you which will surely include the loss of your home and savings."

The Web site has been cleaned recently of exhortations for charges to be dropped, but early editions are available at Internet archive sites.

A San José businessman who continues to have a claim against the Villalobos Brothers said he was visited several times at his place of business by individuals who asked that he withdraw the allegations.

For a time, victims were offered help in preparing documents to withdraw their allegations. And the Oswaldo trial has seen a number of witnesses testify that they had withdrawn their claims and had full faith in the Villalobos Brothers.

The defense has not begun yet to present witnesses. It is likely that Oswaldo Villalobos's lawyers will not attempt to justify the high interest business but stick to trying to show that their client and his Ofinter S.A. money exchange operation had no part in it despite occupying adjacent offices at Mall San Pedro.

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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 15, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 53

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Puppets of the Group Balagan await their curtain call.

Photo by Luis Roverssi

Puppet presentation will relate the resurrection of Christ

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The period between the crucifixion of Christ and His Resurrection is the setting for a puppet drama "Resurrección" being presented Sunday and again March 25 at the Teatro Eugene O'Neill at the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano in Los Yoses.

The show is designed for children, and the puppets are handed by the group Teatro y Títeres Balagan, which is strongly influenced by the Russian puppet tradition. Puppet
manipulation is by Dimitri Ordanski and Marta Rein.

According to a summary provided by the centro, the show is based on the four gospels. Christ's character dominates the show even though He is not present until the end.

The setting is Jerusalem and finally the tomb of Christ. A centro release said the show is especially appropriate for the Easter season.

Ordanski has been in Costa Rica for about 10 years. The group will present "Hansel y Grettel" from May 13 to June 3 in the same theater. Admissions are charged. Co-sponsoring is Neovisión Proyectos Kulturales.

San Carlos will host nine days of arts and culture

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

San Carlos will welcome the VII National Arts Festival- North Huetar Zone March 23 through 31.

The event’s venue will be the Parque Central of the community and its surroundings where platforms and places for adult and children’s plays, dances, music and movies will be installed. The artistic and cultural activities are programmed for nine days.

This year 2,000 artists, including the groups Editus, Gandhi, Mundo Loco, Humberto Vargas, the Big Band, Adrián Goizueta, María Pretiz, and the Orquesta de Lubín Barahona, among others, will perform at the event. Their concerts are programmed every day at 9 p.m. on a special platform on the street in front of the catholic church.

A special place was arranged for the dances where the Farmer’s Fair takes place, on one side of the central park. Recognized companies will present shows, including a

show with groups from San Carlos.

The Casa de la Cultura and the central park will be the venue for shows that have been divided into themes for adults, families, and children. For the children there will be a special guest from Austria, the artist Tom Zabel, who tells his story between himself and its marionette. Also national artists will entertain adults and children with their puppets, stories, and even a circus full of color, fantasy and movement.

The festival will have places for the craftsmen and artists so that they can display their works. Also there will be places for activities like workshops and presentations for children, pasacalles (music played in the streets by bands), musical groups, story tellers, clowns, and street theater.

The arts festival is a program of the Teatro Polular Melico Salazar. All the shows are free and open to the public. More information is available on the the Web site: www.festivaldelasartescostarica.com.

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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 15, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 53

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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 15, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 53