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University
students, staff
to meet court president By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Universidad de Costa Rica students, upset that police entered campus Monday in pursuit of a suspect, will be marching to the Corte Suprema de Justicia today. Afterwards, student leaders and university officials will meet with Luis Paulino Mora Mora, president of the Corte Supreme de Justicia, the Poder Judicial said Wednesday. More met privately Wednesday with Yamileth González, the rector of the university. It was then that she asked the court president to receive the delegation, the Poder Judicial said. The supreme court has said that it does not recognize the type of autonomy that university officials say covers the San Pedro campus. Francisco Dall'Anese, the nation's chief prosecutor, likened the university claim to the type of autonomy that the Vatican maintains with the nation of Italy. The students engaged in a brawl with Fuerza Pública officers and Judicial agents Monday after the police chased a university traffic officer on the campus after they tried to trap him in a bribe attempt. Police were blocked by some student leaders, and the brawl ensued. Five persons, including two professors, were detained briefly. The march today is certain to slow downtown traffic. Officials hope that the student effort will not degenerate into the firebombing and burning blockade that took place Tuesday night near the university. Most at the university have distanced themselves from that protest. Queen's birthday Saturday By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The British and freinds will be celebrating the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II Saturday at the ambassador's residences in Los Lareles, Escazú. The theme this year is rock and roll. The event begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m. The birthday celebration is a charity event where the money raised from food and other sales goes to Costa Rican schools in need. Tickets are available at the entrance. Our reader's opinion
Does someone have agendain egging on young protesters Dear A.M. Costa Rica: On university campuses are where are found hot blooded youth, charged with emotions, like gatherings where energies can be released, rebellious by nature, long on intelligence, short on understanding the world, believers in myths. These seem to the ingredients that sparked the confrontation this past Monday when investigative police, judicial agents, entered the campus of the University of Costa Rica in hot pursuit of a criminal. “Get out here. This is our territory. We are autonomous, says so in the Constitution.” These were some of the phrases shouted by the angry students at the cops as they moved in to make the arrest. Pushing, shoving, wrestling to ground, and into the paddy wagon went some of the rebellious students. No head cracking; cops were without clubs. Nearby streets, including a principle artery, the ring road, were blocked for several hours, an inconvenience for hundreds of motorists and buses. Into the fray come professors, university workers, and finally the administration; the dean appears. All say this is our turf. If you want to catch a criminal on the university grounds, you have to coordinate with US. That’s where the myths come in. The Constitution does say that is that state universities are autonomous . . . in the administration, but not sovereign, as in territory, so the cops can enter, and they did. Still believers in myths, or now simply wanting to continue to express mindless youthful exuberance, or maybe something else, the following day, another protest is formed. This time demanding the resignation of the head of the Judicial Investigating Organization. OK, whatever. Maybe, beer allowed on campus, or an exam-free semester. However, this Tuesday protest is different. Masked protesters, people not part of the university, burning tires, and looking for a fight. Could it be that now someone is has an agenda to forward, like giving the outgoing President Arias a smear his international peace reputation when some protester does get his head bloodied by the riot control police, who came armed with helmet, shields, and clubs. Robert Nahrgang S.
Escazí
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| Our reader's opinion Lack of security threatens Costa Rica's expat economy |
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By Eric Wilkinson*
Special to A.M. Costa Rica My wife I have lived on the beach in Guanacaste for almost four years now. We planned our move for six years and after retiring, we purchased our dream home near the beach and came down to spend the rest of our days in the sun and surf. Our first year here we were robbed twice, once while we slept in our home. Our car has also been broken into numerous times. To date we have had jewelry, televisions, computers, a car, and many other items stolen. Everyone we know, not only in Tamarindo, but in other parts of Costa Rica as well, have been robbed, most more than once. We installed an expensive alarm system and hired armed response in our second year — that worked for a while but they still try. My problem is not the crime rate per se, but the lack of Costa Rican laws and actions against home invasions and robbery or theft. If anyone out there does not know it, if you catch a thief inside of your house (and don't get killed in the process) the laws in Costa Rica only allow for that person to be held for up to six hours by the police. After that they must be released. The police have told me that they are also scared if they arrest some of these criminals, as they and their families lives are being threatened. I have personally been threatened that if I filed a denuncia, they would kill me and my family. That was in front of police, who did nothing about it. Last month my wife was sitting in the living room watching TV when she saw a man climb over our 10-foot wall into our yard. Calling for me upstairs, she opened the door to yell at him. By the time I got downstairs he had attacked her and was fleeing. I called the local police, then chased the car down, which had the man and two getaway drivers in it. We caught them, and the police arrested them. The car had three Columbian men in it, who, I found out later were awaiting trial for numerous other burglaries and assaults, had no tags on their car, and had expired visas. Guess what? The police had to let two of the three go because it is "not a crime" to drive the getaway car. Because of this situation, we along with many of our neighbors have had our houses alarmed and hired an armed response provider. The security company was operating |
effectively until Tuesday when the
municipality of Santa Cruz shut down their office for not properly
displaying their business permit in the window. No warning, no fine,
just locked
the doors, leaving us all vulnerable. Needless to say, there was a lot
of nervousness last night, and anger. Seems the municipality is
concerned that we are finally protected. My question: Why does Costa Rica insist on protecting the criminals when it should be protecting the innocent people who are being victimized daily by runaway crime? Instead of releasing criminals three hours after they are caught in the act, driving a stolen car with no tags, and not carrying identification, why not make it a crime to break and enter and hold them for prosecution? Why not make it a crime to hold and sell stolen property? Why not punish violent criminals, instead of letting them go in an hour or two. It is a crime punishable with prison time to injure someone driving DUI, but will they get prison time if they injure someone during an assault or a home invasion? I have seen how the system works, and, unfortunately, the answer is probably not. As a matter of fact, if I harm someone while protecting my home, I stand as good a chance of going to prison as they do, according to the police. In our Guanacaste neighborhood, many expats either have moved away or are moving, some back to the U.S. or Europe, some to Panamá and other countries. I estimate that we alone have contributed well over $1.5 million to the economy here, as had our neighbors. Costa Rica had enjoyed a boom for a few years. Now they are risking my family and many others simply leaving, 100 percent because of the lack of security or law. That is a far worse blow to this economy than the temporary lack of tourists. A single family like mine probably contributed as much to the economy here as about 1,000 tourist families (by ICT's estimates of tourist spending). I personally know at least 20 families who have moved recently, citing lack of security in Costa Rica as one of the reasons. We all love Costa Rica, that is why we moved here. But security for your family is a basic human right in any country. *Mr. Wilkinson Initially did not want his opinions published, but he changed his mind when the municipality shut down the local private guard service. |
| High criminal court upholds sentences for casino killers |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Criminal appeals court magistrates have confirmed the five-decade prison sentences handed out to two men who kidnapped three casino employees, killed one and raped and tried to kill the other two. The Tribunal de Juicio de Pavas sentenced Carlos Mena Jiménez to 193 years and Christian Mora Cantillano to 179 years. They were convicted Oct. 13 of the horrific robbery, abduction, murder and rapes of the three employees of the Jazz Casino in the White House Hotel in San Antonio de Escazú. As with most prison sentences, the case had to be reviewed and confirmed by the Sala Tercera of the Corte Suprema de Justicia. Despite the long sentences, Costa Rica law limits the prison term to 50 years each. The men intercepted a car containing the three women as they left work early Oct. 28, 2008. Murdered was Yerlyn |
Marín Salazar, then-24 and
the
mother of a 6 year old. The three women were abducted, and then Ms. Marín was forced to kneel in a roadside ditch where she was shot in the head. That took place near San Antonio de Belén. The two other women, the victim's older sister, Arelis, then-28, and work companion Angie Peraza Fernández, then-25, were taken to automatic tellers and then to a motel where they were assaulted and then individually ordered out of a car for execution. The sister had suffered a bullet wound in the neck at a site near the Autopista Próspero Fernández. Ms. Peraza lost an eye from a bullet wound to her head. Both men were said to be high on drugs and under the influence of alcohol when they intercepted a car. After their arrest just three days later, mostly based on the testimony of the two survivors, agents found the cell phone of a robbery victim who had been gunned down in another crime. Agents also found the car used in the crime. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, April 15, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 73 | |||||||||
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| Another Escazú fraudster gets a
lengthy stay in Club Fed |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Dilraj "Rosh" Mathauda was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard in Miami to a term of 115 months in prison and five years of supervised release for illegally operating a series of Costa Rica-based business opportunity fraud ventures, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced. A hearing to determine the amount of restitution owed by Mathauda will be scheduled within 90 days. Mathauda, a British citizen, pleaded guilty Jan. 13 in Miami federal court to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He was arrested last July 30 following his indictment by a Miami federal grand jury on June 9. The indictment charged that Mathauda and his co-conspirators sold beverage and greeting card business opportunities, including assistance in establishing, maintaining, and operating such businesses. The charges form part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud. Mathauda worked for USA Beverages Inc. and Omega Business Systems Inc. Beginning in 2005, USA Beverages sold business opportunities to own and operate coffee beverage display racks. USA Beverages rented office space in Las Cruces, N.M., to make it appear to potential purchasers that USA Beverages’ operations were fully within the United States. However, USA Beverages actually operated from Escazú and La Sabana. Mathauda also worked for Omega, a Wisconsin and Florida corporation, that in 2007 and early 2008 sold business opportunities to own and operate greeting card display |
racks. Omega
rented office space in
Madison, Wis., to make it appear to potential purchasers that Omega’s
operations were fully within the United States. However, Omega actually
also operated from Costa Rica as well. To fraudulently induce others to purchase the business opportunities, Mathauda and his co-conspirators made, and caused others to make, numerous false statements to potential buyers. Potential purchasers were falsely told that the companies were established years earlier, had a significant number of distributors across the country, and had a track record of success. Potential purchasers were referred to references who told false tales of their success as business opportunity owners. Through these and other misrepresentations, purchasers of the business opportunities were led to believe that they would likely earn substantial profits. Many of the victims were retirees "As the prison sentence the court ordered in this case demonstrates, business opportunity fraud is a serious crime," said Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "This sort of scheme can and does cause major financial hardship for consumers who are trying to start a business and earn a living." "This sentence illuminates our zeal to bring justice to those who threaten American consumers," said the U.S. postal inspector in charge, Henry Gutierrez, based in Miami. "The U. S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Justice and all their law enforcement partners are dedicated to ensuring tough and appropriate consequences for those who opt to engage in these criminal scams." |
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Latin American news Please reload page if feed does not appear promptly |
Gates
visiting Perú denies he seeks a U.S. base there By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Peruvian counterpart, Defense Minister Rafael Rey, say they did not discuss the controversial possibility of establishing an American military base in Perú during talks in Lima Wednesday. But they did discuss other ways to expand military cooperation, particularly in the fight against illegal drug trafficking. Minister Rey said they discussed increasing all kinds of cooperation, but not the establishment of a U.S. base. There has been speculation that the United States might seek a new base in South America, after it lost its base at Manta in Ecuador last year. But Rey said the goal is to deepen the defense relationship, not to station U.S. troops in Perú. Secretary Gates said the United States is prepared to increase efforts to interdict boats and aircraft that carry illegal drugs in the region, and potentially to provide other help as well. But he said the U.S. military is not looking to establish a permanent presence in Peru. "I think the key here, as we look to the future, is how can we best work together, along with Colombia, in the counter-narcotics arena. We clearly want to do that in a way that is comfortable and politically acceptable for our partners," he said. Gates also stressed that his visits this week to Peru and Colombia, and his participation in a Caribbean security summit in Barbados, are not aimed at any other country, an apparent reference to Venezuela, where President Hugo Chávez is highly critical of the United States and is moving to improve his relationship with another country critical of the United States, Iran. Peru's defense minister criticized Chavez, saying that his policies have led to Venezuela's economic problems, and calling on him to respect Peru's rights, including its right to expand its relationship with the United States. Gates called the relationship robust and vitally important to both countries.
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