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(506) 2223-1327               San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 18, 2010,  Vol. 10, No. 54     E-mail us
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New traffic law is a financial boost for China
By Manuel Avendaño Arce
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Insiders are joking that the new traffic law contains a stimulus plan for the People's Republic of China.

The bulk of the items motorists are required to carry under the new law are products of the Communist country.

At the same time, commerce sources report that imports from the People's Republic have increased 13 percent in the last five months.

According to the new law, drivers who do not make use of security seats for minors are vulnerable for a 77,180-colon fine, some $138. The fine was much higher, 227,000 colons or $410, until legislators reduced the amount last week.

These seats for infants to 7 years can be found in the marketplace for prices from 38,000 to 40,000 colons or from $80 or $90. Seats for youngsters from 7 to 12 years, called boosters, can be found for 10,000 to 15,000 colons, about $20 to $30.

A source at the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio said that the majority of these seats and boosters come from the People's Republic. Costa Rica has agreed to encourage the entry into the marketplace of Costa Rica as part of its growing economic and political relationship, the source said.

The imports from China of children's car seats and boosters was showing an 11 percent increase before the specifics of the new traffic law were made known. After the law was passed, imports increased about 68 percent, said the ministry source.

The Departamento de Exportaciones e Importanciones del Ministerio de Comercio Exterior confirmed these figures and said that trade with China increased 13 percent in the last five months, the period in which local distributors were preparing for the new traffic law.

The value of car seats is well known, but equally important are educational programs for parents because U.S. statistics show that 50 percent of the seats are misused. There are no such programs in operation now.

Under the law, motorists must carry a security kit that contains a rechargeable fire extinguisher, two
Car kit
A.M. Costa Rica photo
The required car kit

 reflective triangles, jumper cables, a flashlight, a basic medical kit and a small selection of tools.

A reporter found that various repair shops and outlets for car accessories, such as Repuestos Gigante, carry merchandise that is mainly from China.

The bulk of the kits are not packed in China, although most of the zippered container bags appear to be Chinese products. Those in the industry estimate that about 87 percent of the items in the kits are of Chinese origin.

China, of course, is constructing a new soccer stadium for Costa Rica in the northwest corner of Parque la Sabana. That was part of the deal when the Óscar Arias Sánchez administration broke off relations with Taiwan and recognized Communist China.

There also is a greater interest in Chinese language and culture. Mandarin will be taught at the Universidad de Costa Rica, and San José is developing a Chinatown commercial area downtown.

Still uncertain is the exact motivation in congress for forcing motorists to carry the selection of items. For example, the first aid kits appear to be useless in case of major injury, and most motorists do not have the specialized training to handle such situations.  And the basic tool kit is inadequate for even the most minor repairs on modern, sophisticated vehicles.

At the very least the law requires Costa Ricans and residents to make involuntary donations to the People's Republic.


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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 18, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 54

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Hearing consultant

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A.M. Costa Rica/Manuel Avendaño Arce  
Police await the arrival of investigators at the chapel.

Unidentified man kills
himself at quiet chapel

By Manuel Avendaño Arce
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

An unidentified man picked a quiet place to die Wednesday.

The scene was the chapel of Santa Margarita in Barrio Amón where nuns affiliated with chapel heard a gunshot about 11:10 a.m.

Fearing the worst, the nuns quickly locked the access to the chapel and waited until police arrived. They said later that they feared a robbery was in progress.

Based on what the nuns suspected, an army of police arrived. When they cautiously entered the chapel they found the body of a man in his 60s dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound to the head.

The man had no identification, and there was no word on his identify. From the flowered shirt and other clothes he appeared to be a foreigner.



hook used to open a car
Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía 
y Segruidad Pública photo 
Policeman displays wire used to open a car door

Quick use of stolen card
leads to rapid arrests

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Police on the Caribbean coast quickly tracked a credit card stolen from tourists and managed to capture three theft suspects.

The Fuerza Pública said that Tuesday three men stole luggage, a digital camera and telephones from a vehicle operated by two foreign tourists. This happened at a Cahuita hotel.

Xinia Vásquez, director of the Policía Turística said that the pair of foreign tourists went to the local police station to report the crime. That is when officers took them to a center for tourists so they could report the loss of their credit cards. In doing so, the pair learned that one of their cards was in use at a bar in Limón to the north, said Ms. Vásquez.

When police arrived at the bar in Limón Centro they found three men, and one of them had a passport of one of the theft victims in his possession, police said.  The trio also drove a car similar to the one reported by the tourists. The three men, San José residents, were detained. They were identified by the last names of Madrigal, Zamora and Paniagua.

Police said they found the possessions of the tourists within the vehicle used by the men.


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This is a brief users guide to A.M. Costa Rica.

Old pages
Each day someone complains via e-mail that the newspages are from yesterday or the day before. A.M. Costa Rica staffers check every page and every link when the newspaper is made available at 2 a.m. each weekday.

So the problem is with the browser in each reader's computer. Particularly when the connection with the  server is slow, a computer will look to the latest page in its internal memory and serve up that page.

Readers should refresh the page and, if necessary, dump the cache of their computer, if this problem persists. Readers in Costa Rica have this problem frequently because the local Internet provider has continual problems.

Searching
The A.M. Costa Rica search page has a list of all previous editions by date and a space to search for specific words and phrases. The search will return links to archived pages.

Newspages
A typical edition will consist of a front page and four other newspages. Each of these pages can be reached by links near the top and bottom of the pages.

Classifieds
Five classified pages are updated daily. Employment listings are free, as are listings for accommodations wanted, articles for sale and articles wanted. The tourism page and the real estate sales and real estate rentals are updated daily.

Advertising information
A summary of advertising rates and sizes are available for display and classifieds.

Contacting us
Both the main telephone number and the editor's e-mail address are listed on the front page near the date.

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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 18, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 54

Corcovado Lodge has the majority of some 15 tent dwellings just 10 meters from the coastline and well within the 50-meter prohibited zone, said the tribunal.
Corcovado lodge
Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo photo

Eight Osa Peninsula hotels face environmental investigation
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The environmental tribunal is investigating eight more hotels in the Peninsula de Osa and three saw mills that officials think are operating illegally.

The latest cases bring to nearly 50 the individual files of environmental investigations being carried out in the Cantón de Osa.

The latest cases, announced Wednesday by the Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo, are all on the peninsula that also includes Parque Nacional Corcovado. Some of the violations alleged are significant. The tribunal said that some of the hotels have been built, in part, on public land, the 50 meter zone from mean high tide.

The tribunal also is investigating a trail that has been widened into a road with loss of trees. Also under investigation is a private home on Playa Colorada at Drake Bay which the tribunal said has been constructed within the 50-meter zone.

The eight hotels have a total of about 100 rooms. Other allegations included mishandling of waste water, invasion of water sources with construction and inappropriate disposal of garbage. The tribunal has the power to assess penalties and to force individuals to pay for the environmental damage. It also can order properties on public land to be destroyed.

The hotels facing investigation are Hotel Jinetes de Osa, Hotel Águila de Osa, La Leona Lodge, Corcovado Lodge, Hotel Pirata Cove, Proyecto Campanario Albergue, La Paloma Lodge and Hotel Casa Corcovado, according to the tribunal.

The saw mills or lumber operations that are being investigated are Sociedad Agroforestal Hermanos Amaya S.A., the saw mill of Gerardo Céspedes in La Palma de Puerto Jiménez and Depósito y Mueblería York in Cañaza de Puerto Jiménez, said the tribunal. In all three cases, the
tribunal alleges that the operations appear to be illegal and that some of the lumber found at the mills appears to have
been taken without permits. Some of the lumber comes
saw mill
This is one of the Puerto Jiménez saw mills under investigation.

from trees that are not supposed to be cut, the tribunal said.

The inspections that resulted in the allegations took place from Dec. 6 to 10. The peninsula is remote and some of the hotels may have been constructed before the maritime law went into effect. This is a point that will have to be thrashed out at hearings before the tribunal.

The law says that the property up to 50 meters from the mean high tide line is for the benefit of all Costa Ricans and cannot be developed.

The next 150 meters can be put out on concessions by the municipality and the Instituto Costarricensee de Turismo.

The new 3.7-km (2.3-mile) road is from the Escuela de Curime to Playa Caletas. The trail appears to have been widened to 14 meters (46 feet) with permission from the local municipality, but it still may be an illegal effort, the tribunal said.

The Hotel Águila de Osa has construction that invades the zone of protection of the Río Agujas, and the construction involves a restaurant, rooms and a rancho, said the tribunal.
Aguila lodge
Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo photo


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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 18, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 54

Escazú Christian Fellowship
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Notary held for investigation in 15 property fraud cases

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A notary is being held for investigation in the forging of Registro Público documents that involved properties worth at least $2 million.

The man has the last names of González Contrera, said the Poder Judicial, which said that the case on which he is being held dates from 2004. The man was detained in Hatillo Tuesday because he has unrelated open cases there.
                      
There may be as many as 15 cases of property fraud. The Poder Judicial said the man was being investigated for actions involving properties in Guanacaste, Curridabat and Sierpe. At least some of the properties involve foreigners.
The Poder Judicial was not specific in saying what the allegation is against the man. A summary said the man made changes and included false data in property ownership documents that were submitted to the Registro Nacional. The summary said this was done without the knowledge of the foreign owner who had left the country and that the action stripped the foreigner of the property. The notary is being held in preventative detention.

Typically such crimes involve substituting the name of a third party for the name of the true owner.

In Costa Rica properties are transferred with documents signed and submitted by notaries. There are no deeds, as such. Consequently a notary can transfer the title of any property in the country with a false document.



Food safety organization opens regional office in San José

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

NSF International has opened an office in San José to provide food safety auditing, certification, consulting and training services to growers, manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers in Central America. 

The non-profit organization said it will help businesses meet new global food safety regulatory requirements, food safety certification services and sustainability solutions.

Food exports from Latin America and the Caribbean comprise $66 billion or 12 percent of the world’s total food trade. This figure could increase rapidly over the coming decades if food safety and quality standards are improved,  according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health
Organization. Safeguarding the world’s food supply requires collaboration among the government and the entire food industry, including retailers and manufacturers and third-party auditing bodies, said NSF.

“With offices throughout North and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific and now Central America, we are well positioned to help international clients as they source food products from Latin America. We look forward to expanding our services in this area to the produce, organic, seafood, manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors,” said Tom Chestnut, NSF international vice president of food safety and quality.

NSF International, founded in 1944, certifies products and writes standards for food, water and consumer goods to minimize adverse health effects



Two policemen face allegations of enaging in human trafficking at border

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Two Fuerza Pública officers are facing allegations that they helped smuggle Colombian women into the country.

The arrest of one policeman identified as Montoya Gómez was made by fellow officers at a control station in la Unión de Sabalito, said the Poder Judicial. Montoya was off duty but usually works at the control station himself, said the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública.

The ministry said Montoya was in a vehicle heading north from the border with Panamá when he was pulled over. He and the two women passengers fled into the brush but were captured, officers said.
Later, the Poder Judicial said that a second officer, identified by the last names of Mora Otoya was detained with the allegation that he was the one who actually helped the two women cross the border. The woman carried passports that did not have the appropriate entry stamps, said the Poder Judicial.

Two women also were detained. They were identified by the last names of Muñoz González and Fonseca Moya. They are facing allegations of assisting in the trafficking of persons.

The two Colombian women were identified by the last names of Vargas Olarte and Vásquez Zapata, said the ministry.



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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 18, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 54

Medical vacations in Costa Rica

Juárez violence drawing
concern from U.S. side

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

In the border city of Juárez, Mexico, authorities continue to investigate the murder of three people with connections to the U.S. consulate that occurred on the streets of that city in broad daylight Saturday. Many observers on both sides of the border, however, question the Mexican government's ability to solve such cases as the violence continues to rage out of control.

In his third visit to the embattled city of Juárez in recent weeks, Mexican President Felipe Calderón on Tuesday spoke of the need for U.S. cooperation in the investigation of criminal violence on the border.

He said U.S. and Mexican authorities should cooperate, each on their respective sides of the border, and he called on the United States to curb gun smuggling and drug consumption in order to weaken the power of the drug trafficking groups.

But many citizens of Juárez are demanding more of their own government. Hundreds of protesters greeted Calderón in Juárez, condemning him for failing to curb the border violence. Mexican news media have shown graphic scenes of bodies lying in the streets and the cries of people who have lost loved ones.

One woman whose husband was murdered blamed President Calderón for the violence that began to soar after he started his drive against drug cartels upon assuming office in December, 2006.

The Mexican government recently claimed that the murder rate has fallen 40 percent in Juárez, but local citizens' groups dispute that, noting that close to 500 people have been killed there since the start of this year. Around 2,600 people died violently in Juárez last year and it is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

Across the Rio Grande River, which forms the boundary with the United States, sits the relatively quiet and peaceful city of El Paso, Texas. At the University of Texas in El Paso, Anthropologist Howard Campbell keeps a close watch on the Juárez violence and sympathizes with citizens there who express frustration with their government.

"There is no way to put a pretty face on this. The Mexican government is failing to protect its own citizens and in the most blatant way is in Juárez. We are talking about two years and almost three months now of constant killings, day after day," he said.

The United States is assisting the Mexican government's war on drug trafficking groups through the Merida Initiative, which has provided more than $300 million in support to Mexico's police and military in the past three years. But Campbell says that aid may not be effective absent deep reforms in the Mexican system.

"A lot of people are arguing that what we really need to do is to help Mexico fix its judicial system and police system and the military, so that these institutions are accountable and do the job, the job they are supposed to do and protect the common people instead of preying on them. That is not an easy thing to do because Mexico is a sovereign nation and the United States cannot tell Mexico what to do. But I think just giving Mexico money and military hardware in the past has not solved the problem, so I do not think that should be the one answer," he said.

Meanwhile, investigators continue their probe of Saturday's killing of two U.S. citizens, one of whom worked at the U.S. consulate, and a Mexican man whose wife worked at the consulate. U.S. law enforcement agents say there is no evidence indicating the victims were targeted because of their connections with the consulate, saying it might have been a case of mistaken identity. If so, it would not be the first time gunmen in Juárez have killed people by mistake.

Gunmen for two rival cartels are battling for control of lucrative drug smuggling routes in the Juárez-El Paso area and are often indiscriminate when they spray bullets into vehicles, homes and businesses in Juárez. What many Mexican citizens and law enforcement experts question, however, is how such murders can take place in broad daylight in downtown Juárez, where hundreds of Mexican soldiers and police are on constant patrol. If the murder of the three people associated with the consulate is ever solved it will also be a rarity. In Juárez, 96 percent of killings remain unsolved.



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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 18, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 54


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Priest who sinned fails
to punish newspaper

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A Roman Catholic priest, sentenced to 12 years in prison for abusing an altar boy, has lost another court battle.

The priest, Gonzalo Muñoz Alfaro, filed a Sala IV constitutional court brief against El Diario Extra because the newspaper had published his photo along with a story about his conviction.  Muñoz is well-known because he, himself, is a newsman, having worked for Eco Católico as well as having been a priest in San Francisco de Dos Ríos for 25 years.

The priest claimed that the newspaper characterized him as one of the biggest criminals in Costa Rica and that their actions damaged his fundamental rights because the photo was published without his consent.

The Sala IV did not accept that argument and dismissed the case in a vote March 2. A brief summary was released Wednesday.

The publication of names and photos in criminal cases and after accidents is traditional, and editors defend the practice as providing transparency to official proceedings.

In Costa Rica, obtaining photos is easy via the records at the Registro Civil.

However, Costa Rica does not go as far as some counties in Florida where photos are published to the Web of every individual who has been arrested, convicted or not.


Exporting help provided

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Small producers in Costa Rica are being encouraged to use the Internet more to sell overseas.

The Cámera de Exportadores along with Banco Nacional and the Promotora de Comercia Exterior have joined together to launch Exporta 2.0.

The program seeks to educate operators of smaller companies on how they can use the Internet to reach foreign markets. The program provides training and assistance in developing a Web presence.

The program also seeks to create a virtual community for helping the small producers.




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