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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 70 | |||||||||
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Queen's Birthday Party set for April 21 in Los Laureles By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Queen's Birthday Party, the charity bash put on by the British community, will be April 21 this year from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The theme this year is "The Jungle Book," based the Rudyard Kipling work and subsequent movies. Those who come are being encouraged to wear costumes reflecting the theme. A best of show prize will be awarded for the best costume, and children are being encouraged to enter, too. The event, as usual, will be at the British embassy residence in Los Laureles, Escazú. Said an announcement: "All are welcome to enjoy a fun-filled family day out with games, stage performances, live music, imported English beers and that quintessential summer drink, Pimms No. 1 to help digest the ‘bangers and mash,’ curries, afternoon teas and strawberries and cream plus other ‘true-Brit’ delicacies for sale." Games are set up for children, and adults can participate in the silent auction, raffles and visit the displays of products that are a traditional feature of the day. Raffle prizes include air tickets to England or a weekend at a Guanacaste luxury hotel, organizers said. Other attractions, according to organizers, include the British products stall with goodies specially brought in for those craving mint sauce and baked beans, home-made jams and chutneys, zebras (disguised as ponies) to ride, coconut shy, lucky dip and tombola, Scottish dancing and bagpipes, a sideshows and plenty of surprises. Tickets at the gate are 2,000 colons for an adult and 1.000 for a child. Those under 5 are free. Organizers promise ample, guarded parking nearby. Money raised by the event goes to the Schools In Need program supervised by the British Embassy QBP Charity Committee. This is the sixth year for the event. School students protest at San Sebastián site By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The first day back from vacation did not go as planned at the Colegio Ricardo Fernández Guardia in San Sebastián. Student there want the director dumped by the Ministerio de Educación Pública, and they demonstrated for several hours Monday. There was a brief confrontation with police. The school joins the list of other colegios that have protested against the adult leadership. In Desamparados a month ago, student there damaged the director's car during their protest. Students said they have been nursing grievances with the director, Zayda Murillo, for two months. Some teachers seemed to support the students. The ministry will be investigating. Bus driver becomes star after just five cans of beer By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A bus driver who is believed to have been drunk was the star on two evening news shows on Costa Rican television Monday. Television camera crews showed up in response to a traffic police alert to stop a Autotransportes Zapote bus Monday morning. Passengers told police that the driver pounded down five cans of beer in less than a hour. Police stopped the bus, and the driver, identified by the last name of Cubero, became argumentative. He tried to attack a television cameraman but fell down instead. Then he shouted vulgarities and wrestled with police. The cameras kept running and the stations aired the footage. This is the fourth or fifth time in two months that passengers have turned in a driver for drinking on the job. But none were so photogenic as the man Monday. Regular gasoline going up By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Regular gasoline is going up 16 colons per liter. The Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos said the price would go from 493 colons to 509 after the decision was published in the La Gaceta official newspaper Friday. Super and aviation gasoline went up a week ago.
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 70 | |||||||||
| Law designed to protect women receives its first approval |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Asamblea Legislativa Monday approved on first reading a law to punish violence against women. The controversial measure passed 43-7. Casa Presidencial quickly lauded the action. Rodrigo Arias Sánchez, the minister of the Presidencia, said the vote was a key and concrete step in the fight to prevent, punish and eradicate a malady that sadly has jolted each time more the Costa Rican society, ending the live of dozens of women in the last few years. Rodrigo Arias pointed out earlier that 30 women died as a result of domestic violence in 2006. The bill was one that had been placed on the agenda of the executive branch and recently moved into first place for discussion at the assembly. During the week before Semana Santa five women lost their lives in domestic violence situations., This provided the stimulus for legislative action. |
In addition to physical violence, the measure seeks to punish sexual
and psychological violence against adult women. Some fear the concepts
are not defined clearly. The measure was one that received backing from all parties in the legislature except the Movimiento Libertario whose members found technical flaws in the proposal. The bill must receive a second favorable vote before it can be sent to President Óscar Arias Sánchez. That action must come on a non-consecutive day under legislative rules. A vote is likely Thursday. The measure has been criticized because it creates special rules for crimes against women. The assumption is that women always are at a disadvantage in a domestic violence situation. After some of the murders of women, the man who did the killing took his own life. thereby avoiding any penalties. |
| Two policemen held after another cache of guns is found |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two policemen have been arrested, and law enforcement agents have confiscated 52 guns and more than 28,000 rounds of ammunition. The policemen are active members of the Fuerza Pública. They were detained Wednesday night while still in uniform. The guns were found in Santa Eulalia de Atenas. Fernando Berrocal, security minister, credited a call from suspicious neighbors for information leading to the arrests. Also detailed was a Colombian and a Costa Rican, officials said. The policemen were identified by the last names of Acosta and Rojas. Acosta has five years working with the Fuerza Pública, and Rojas has worked for 16 years, officials said. |
When law officers raided the house where they found the guns they
reported that the weapons were greased up for protection from the
elements. They said they suspected that the weapons would either be buried or shipped out, perhaps used in exchange. Among the weapons were two submachineguns. Berrocal said that an internal investigation at the Ministerio de Gobierno, Policía y Seguridad Pública was under way. He did not discount the possibility that others might be arrested. The individuals involved have been jailed for six months preventative detention while the investigation continues, officials said. |
| Long-time Villalobos associate says the brothers ran separate businesses |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Javier Calderón Granados, a friend and business associate of Oswaldo Villalobos, was the only witness Monday at the Villalobos trial. Calderón, who was testifying for the defense, said that he had known the defendant for 15 years. The key point of his testimony was that once Oswaldo and his brother Luis Enrique Villalobos were in the money exchange business together but that the pair ended their joint venture when the operation moved to Mall San Pedro. |
The prosecution is trying to link Oswaldo to the business operated by
his brother to prove allegations of fraud, money laundering and illegal
banking. Oswaldo Villalobos ran the Ofinter S.A. money exchange house, which had several branchs in addition to the Mall San Pedro location. Luis Enrique Villalobos offered investors up to 3 percent a month in an adjacent office. The allegations relate to that business. Calderón said that Oswaldo Villalobos used to borrow money from him for buisness purposes. And sometimes he borrowed money from Oswaldo Villalobos, he said. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 70 | |||||||||
| Rich Venezuelans seek security outside their native land |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The number of Venezuelans settling in the United States is growing. Experts say the reelection in December of leftist President Hugo Chávez has triggered a wave of migration from the oil-rich South American country. Many of those leaving are wealthy and fear the government's socialist policies. Up the highway from Miami, Florida, is the upscale Fort Lauderdale suburb of Weston. It is known locally as "Little Caracas." Venezuelans gather at the Don Pan bakery. one of a chain of Venezuelan-owned cafes. Among those who come here for a taste of home is Oscar Franco, a Venezuelan lawyer and a director of the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce. "Venezuelans will come here, we have our arepas, our traditional food, and you feel like you're at home," he explains. "And that's only natural. It's a very rewarding experience." Franco, who came to Florida six years ago after accepting a job at a law firm, is one of thousands of Venezuelans now living in the United States. The 2000 census put the number of Venezuelans in the United States at 126,000. But a more recent study by the Miami-based El Venezolano newspaper suggests there may be as many as 180,000 Venezuelans living in Florida alone. Many vehemently oppose the socialist policies of Chávez, whom they accuse of wanting to turn their country into a Cuban-style Communist dictatorship. Miami's Cuban exile community has welcomed the Venezuelan immigrants and found common cause in denouncing the Chávez government's support for Fidel Castro. Unlike some of their Cuban counterparts, most Venezuelans in the United States are wealthy. Professor Eduardo |
Gamarra of Florida International
University said many came to the United States because they were
worried about losing their money. "The future in Venezuela, in the views of many of the migrants that are here, is reserved primarily for lower class people who have been in some measure excluded from the political and economic spoils of the system over the last 40, 50, 100 years," says Gamarra. President Chávez won reelection last year with a promise to push forward with what he calls a "socialist revolution" in Venezuela. His victory with more than 60 percent of the vote came with massive support from Venezuela's poor and working class. Oscar Levin, a leading U.S. immigration attorney, believes rich Venezuelans are looking for both economic and political security, "because they're being threatened or put in jail, they have their properties taken away, they have their families threatened, they have their opportunities to continue to live in a peaceful manner being threatened." But for the rich in Venezuela, leaving their privileged lifestyle behind to move to the United States is not always an attractive option. Business leader Franco says some Venezuelan immigrants go through a grieving process. "You grieve for your language, you grieve for the scenery, you grieve for your family, you grieve for your friends, you grieve for your social status, financial status," he explains." You grieve because you have lost all of that, and it's a very, very difficult thing to adjust to." But life in Venezuela, according to some, has become so difficult that people line up outside embassies to apply to live abroad. Venezuelan immigration to U.S. cities like Miami and New York has risen steadily, and experts believe the trend will continue until Venezuela sees political change. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 10, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 70 | ||||||
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