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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 4, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 67 | |||||||||
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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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Family
of quints receive money and lots of help By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
San José quints generated money and gifts for their family Tuesday even though they still are in the hospital. The five, products of artificial insemination, were born Thursday to Nancy Gabriela Rodríguez Aguirre, 30, and husband Jenner Guzmán Coto, 38. The couple hopes to have the babies home in six weeks to two months. The other child in the family is Pablo, 3. Public officials and representatives of private companies were at the San Sebastian home Tuesday with gifts. President Óscar Arias Sánchez said he would contribute part of his salary, some 1 million colons or about $1,925. The president has said he will apply his public salary to social causes. He is a rich man in private life. Fernando Zumbado, minister of Vivienda y Pobreza, was there to help with financing a second floor for the family home. One of the babies, Arianna, suffered an infection but now seems to have recovered. The other babies are brothers Samuel, Isaac and Derek and sister Raquel. They are in Hospital Calderón Guardia. Fugitive Canadian adman is probably long gone By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Now that Jean Lafleur is a wanted man, Canadian eyes are turning to Costa Rica, but the former adman, known for his wild parties, appears to be long gone. Lafleur faces at least 35 fraud charges in the $250 million sponsorship scandal that helped bring down the former Liberal government of Paul Martin. Lafleur ran an ad agency that seems to have placed much of the money with selected outlets. Lafleur lived for a time in a San Rafael de Escazú condo until late 2005 when he is believed to have headed to Belize. Mario Laguë, the current Canadian ambassador here, also was involved in the scandal. The Canadian press has called him Martin’s spin doctor, although there has been no suggestion that he did anything illegal just that he worked to sugarcoat public perception of the scandal. Lafleur Communication managed more than $30 million in sponsorship contracts in the mid to late 1990s, and Lafleur's son Eric earned more than $1.1 million in salary while his firm acted as his father’s sole supplier of federally branded promotional items, according to Canadian news reports. Canadian newspapers reported that police went to Lafleur's former apartment in Montreal this week to arrest him. This suggests that the police have no idea where he is either. Time off for bug spray in Casa Presidencial By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Semana Santa Holy Week holiday came early for workers in the Casa Presidencial press office. Workers there said they were leaving at the end of their shift Tuesday because employees of the Ministerio de Salud were coming to fumigate for mosquitoes that carry dengue. Most government workers are on the job until 3 p.m. today. The report was unclear if just the press office was considered a source of dengue mosquitoes or if all of Casa Presidencial would be sprayed. Or, for that matter, if there was a high incidence of dengue in the San José suburb of Zapote where Casa Presidencial is located. Government workers will be back on the job Monday. In the meantime, the dry law kicks in at midnight tonight. That means alcohol will not be served or sold until Saturday morning. Police will be enforcing the ban. Many stores, spraying for dengue or not, will be closing earlier Thursday, and nearly everything except emergency and essential services will be closed Friday, Good Friday in the Christian calendar.
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 4, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 67 | |||||||||
| Current
anti-crime proposals don't include revamping courts |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
National development plans by the Arias administration are in danger of being wrecked by a wave of violence and crime. President Óscar Arias Sánchez is a cheerleader for new industry, and hardly a business opens that the president is not there with a scissors in his hand ready to cut the ceremonial ribbon. He often is elsewhere seeking more industrial investments that will mean jobs for Costa Rica. An analysis of the news
Arias also has linked the free trade treaty to his plan to turn Costa Rica into a developed nation by 2020. Along with that plan is efforts to boost tourism. A series of high profile crimes has caused ripples in the foreign boardrooms where decisions are made. Tourism is in danger, and the Arias administration is proposing only legal changes and focus groups to counter the violence. It is anyone's guess if crime is really on the increase. Most tourists only report unpleasant events if their homeowner's insurance policy covers the loss. Most Ticos never had much confidence in the police. So solid statistics are not available. There is no doubt that the crimes are more violent and more obvious. Lunchtime strollers are being murdered in downtown San José over a cellular telephone. A former presidential candidate's home was invaded by young toughs who murdered a maid and shot dead a neighbor on his balcony across the street. The politician's wife had her arm broken in three places. A Jacó woman suffered a battering and sexual assault from robbers who broke into her home under cover of darkness. In upscale Escazú another invasion targeted the home of a U.S. Embassy employee and his wife. Invasions there and in nearby Santa Ana are common. Anyone who reads a Spanish-language daily like El Diario Extra knows that three or four murder stories a day are not unusual. The image of Costa Rica as a tranquil, stable democracy is being challenged by the kind of violence that makes much |
of
Central American unattractive to investment. Even the far Pacific where
billions are being invested in new hotels, condos and other luxury
housing is not immune to the lawlessness. The crime situation still is modest compared to countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. But if they are going to put substantial sums into Costa Rica, investors want to know that the administration is at least addressing the problem. So far, the actions have been unimpressive. Arias listed citizen security as one of the major planks in his presidential platform. So far most of the effort at the security ministry has been in rooting out internal corruption and trying to obtain resources. Those who took office last May found police stations paid for and not built, fleets of motorcycles and automobiles delivered inoperable, immigration employees altering key computer programs and an ethic of skirting the law. Fernando Berrocal, the security minister, launched an attack on the drug trade. He has promised 4,000 new police officers within a few years. And he helped create a tourism police. These efforts seem to fall short because most observers agree that the biggest problem for law enforcement and citizen security is a dysfunctional or non-functional court and investigatory system, which is mostly out of the hands of the Arias administration. Little has been done to revamp the court system to handle a 21st century caseload. Even the case of a former president accused of massive corruption is falling through the cracks. The courts themselves run on written trivia but guard jealously their right to investigate. There is corruption and the belief among some expats that justice can be bought. A current example of delays is the Oswaldo Villalobos case that took more than four years to get to court. And the trial, which is nearing its end, seemed to lack focus and a well-developed prosecution, despite the preparation time. A so-called high-level panel convened by the Presidencia wants to stiffen some sentences in the hopes of dissuading criminals. But this will only add to the caseload, which the courts can't handle now. What appears to be needed is a new approach to modernize the overwhelmed court system, which happens to be on a week-long vacation now. |
| Crack
price here is stable and low compared to States |
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By Dennis Rogers
Special to A.M. Costa Rica Crack cocaine prices are very stable in Costa Rica at the moment, says Walter Espinoza, the nation's lead drug trafficking prosecutor. “We are very close to the source” in Colombia, so quantities are regular and the domestic market is well supplied, he said. International traffic, such as the seizures of cargoes measured in tons off the Pacific coast this year, do not seem to have much relevance to the local market. Locally, prices are about $1 per dose, Espinoza said. This compares to about $10 for a small “rock” in most U.S. cities. This dose is good for only 5 to 15 minutes of intoxication after which time the user will desire more. It is well documented, including by experiments with animals, that addicts prefer the drug over food in most circumstances. The price has been constant at about 500 colons per dose for at least the last four years, although this means the real price has dipped somewhat with the regular devaluation of the colon. Crack addicts, known locally as piedreros or “rockers” are responsible for much petty crime especially in San José. Crack is readily available in rural areas as well. Anything that can be fenced for more than 500 colons becomes an attractive source of one hit. In metropolitan areas, stealing manhole covers or small-gauge copper wire to sell to unscrupulous scrap dealers does damage to public and private property disproportionate to the small amount of money produced for the addict, officials note. Aluminum cans also provide a good source of income. The scavenger can sell cans for 300 colons per kilo, so approximately 50 cans are enough for a hit. |
 U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
photo
Crack can be produced easily from powdered
cocaine
Another source of income for the addict is to
care for cars parked on
public streets. Some cuidacarros can be quite aggressive, resulting in
problems described in an earlier issue.
Crack cocaine is usually smoked in a small glass tube with a filter of fine wire. Blown-glass drug paraphernalia, sometimes including crack pipes, can be obtained at helpful souvenir shops in Moravia and Jacó. An alternative pipe is a soda can with holes punched in the side and the drug placed in the divot with cigarette ash as a filter. The rock can be smoked directly, or it can be reprocessed by dissolving it in water and boiling off the contaminants, including the baking soda usually used in preparing crack. Typical signs of a place where the drug is used include candle wax, burned aluminum cans used for smoking and cooking, small pieces of aluminum foil from packaging and cigarette packets. |
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Are you considering doing
business with a burglar alarm company?
2970-2/8/07If so, you should contact me first for my opinion prometheusthegreek@gmail.com |
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| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 4, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 67 | |||||||||
| Brazil's president says that stalled global trade talks could be jump-started |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says the dispute between rich and poor nations that has stalled global trade talks could be resolved this month. Da Silva said that U.S. President George Bush told him Saturday that an agreement should be finalized in the next 30 days. The leaders discussed global trade and energy issues during a visit by da Silva to the U.S. presidential retreat in Maryland. During da Silva's weekly radio address Monday, he said he |
would
contact the leaders of Britain and Germany to try to pull the European
Union back to the negotiating table with the U.S. and
the Group of 20 developing nations, of which Brazil is a member. Bush has said he is committed to a fair global trade deal. Washington has not commented on President da Silva's latest comments. The Doha round of the World Trade Organization talks stalled in July after rich nations refused to cut farm subsidies and poor countries expressed reluctance to open up their manufacturing and service sectors. |
| Peru's president says he wants to call in air strikes against jungle drug targets |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Peru's president has urged the use of the military to destroy jungle factories that produce cocaine. The president, Alan Garcia, said Monday in Lima that Peru should use its military attack aircraft to bomb and machinegun coca processing facilities and the airports used to transport drugs. |
Garcia announced Sunday that Peru would resume the destruction of coca
crops in Peru's Amazon region. Officials had previously agreed to allow
farmers to produce coca, a key raw material in the production of
cocaine. A United Nations report released last year said Peru is the world's second largest cocaine producer behind Colombia. According to the report, Peru produces some 30 percent of the world's cocaine. |
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| San
José,
Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 4,
2007, Vol. 7, No. 67 |
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