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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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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Officer puts the handcuffs on one of the four robbery suspects
arrested after a chase Tuesday.y Seguridad Pública/Ingrid Luna Four robbery suspects held
after chase through traffic By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Motorcycle policemen chased a car containing robbery suspects from Paseo Colón to an eventual arrest on the Autopista General Cañas Tuesday. The four face allegations that they invaded a cell phone store in San José Barrio México, north of Paseo Colón. The chase took place amid a number of vehicles. Fuerza Pública officers heard about the robbery, and two motorcycle policemen spotted a suspect car on Paseo Colón and gave chase. A tourism police officer in a car joined in. The four were identified by the last names of Aguilar Vars, Vars Herrera, Alemán Jiménez and Duarte Vargas. The four robbers had firearms when they entered the cell phone store. They took mostly merchandise. Police said that individuals in the car began throwing cell telephones out the windows as police closed in. Radio club collecting data for new telecom agency Special to A.M. Costa Rica
All licensed amateur radio operators in Costa Rica, whether they are operating on a Tico license directly or through a reciprocal permit granted by the Control Nacional de Radio in recognition of a foreign license, must fill out a new form and send it or fax it in by April 27 if they do not wish to run afoul of the law. The Radio Club of Costa Rica, the country's national ham radio association, is coordinating the collection effort, and the form must be sent in to the club for inclusion with the documents from other hams to be submitted to government. This is a new regulation due to the nation's new general telecommunications law. The information asked for will be required of all new licensees, but it is also required, one time, from all existing license holders. The form is a simple, one-page form, and can be filled out in a few minutes, the club said. The most difficult information is the model and serial number of the equipment the ham is using. Once the form is filled out and signed, it can be faxed or mailed to the radio club, using the contact information provided at the bottom of the form. The form can be downloaded as a PDF file from http://www.ti0rc.org/aficionado.pdf and then printed, filled out and sent in. Fake flood testing skills of emergency workers By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The national emergency commission is conducting a simulated flood drill centered on Parrita and Quepos. The Central Pacific towns have seen their share of flooding. The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias is getting support from the U.S. Southern Command, which usually shows up during real emergencies, and the Systema Nacional de Protección de Panamá. Among other goals, the commission is testing the local emergency groups and also trying to devise plans so that isolated communities can be reached during such situations. Real storms cut off many Costa Rican towns each year and they have to handle their own medical and food needs, sometimes for weeks. The scenario is all too real: A tropical depression brings heavy rain to the area. A string of such depressions have taken their tolls on the communities, which are known for their heavy annual rainfall. The commission also is testing and training a communications link to the national headquarters in Pavas. The Southern Command has three helicopters involved in the simulation. Our readers' opinions
Castro's standing in Cubadisputed by traveler there Dear A.M. Costa Rica: After reading Mr. McReynolds' (incorrect) opinion, stating that the U.S. embargo was good for Castro and his image, I must comment. I wonder if Mr. McReynolds has ever traveled to Cuba? I doubt it. Otherwise he wouldn't make the ludicrous statement that "The U.S. embargo has united the Cuban people behind Castro and against the U.S." I have traveled to Cuba twice within the last seven years, for a minimum of two and a half weeks each time. I rented cars and flew on the domestic airlines, covering the entire country, staying at casa particulars as well as hotels. I therefore met many Cubans in every part of that country. When in Santiago de Cuba, the "Hero City of the Revolution," one never says anything negative about Fidel Castro. He is still a hero there who can do no wrong. However, in every other city and small town I visited, the Cuban people are fed up with Fidel and his failed Communist regime. They are poor, very poor. Most college graduates cannot even afford to buy a car. Once you get to know the average Cuban, they will confide these feelings to you. Castro has ruined that country, no doubt to the observant tourist. Also there is no doubt that the average Cuban has no ill feelings toward Americans. In fact I found that they were very friendly and inquisitive, because there are not that many American tourists there. Bottom line, they are definitely not all "united behind Castro." Joe Furlong
Cape Haze, Florida Watkins repellent suggested Dear A.M. Costa Rica: With regard to Dr. Connie Lentz's request for an insect repellent that doesn't stink, we use Watkins brand. It is a lotion and does not have an offensive odor. It works really well and comes in a nice travel size container. Eileen Schwindt
Alberta, Canada
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 22, 2009, Vol. 9, No. 78 | |||||||||
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Higher immigration income
requirements confirmed
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A legislative committee drawing up a new immigration bill has established income requirements for rentistas at $2,500 a month and for pensionados at $1,000 a month. The new amounts had been reported April 9, but the figures were not official. The confirmed numbers now come from a summary of action Tuesday in the Comisión Permanente de Asuntos de Gobierno y Administración. The committee concluded the period Tuesday for making amendments to the bill. The committee is expected to send the proposal back to the full Asamblea Legislativa today. Other amendments are possible there but not likely. The pensionado income of $1,000 is well within the range of U.S. Social Security payments. However, there still is uncertainty if the amount will cover a spouse. Under current practices, a rentista applicant has to show that he or she has a steady income of $1,000 per month. This income can come from rents, dividends or interest. Usually an applicant simply deposits five years worth of income into a bank account, and the bank certifies the amount to the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería. With the $2,500 requirement, an applicant for rentista residency would have to deposit $150,000, although the procedure for doing so still is open and subject to |
regulations drawn up by the
immigration department. When the law originally came to the legislature, the monthly amount for pensionados was $2,000 and the monthly amount for rentistas was $5,000. That generated great concern among expats. Also causing concern was a section of the bill that said current rentistas and pensionados would be subject to the new amounts when their terms of residency expired. Whether that still is in the committee's final version is unknown. Olga Marta Corrales Sánchez, president of the committee, said that the bill was of vital importance to the country. President Óscar Arias Sánchez was the person who decided to redraft the immigration law that was approved in 2005. He termed that law draconian and noted that the Catholic Church and others working with immigrants were concerned by some of the penalties. Among other changes, the new proposal would create an immigration tribunal that would have final say on matters like visas and other appeals. Now appeals appear to go straight to the Sala IV constitutional court for resolution. The tribunal also is seen as a way to reduce corruption in the immigration department because the panel would be autonomous. This is the second time that the committee went over the bill. Under legislative rules additional amendments will be minimal. The measure could be passed before the May 1 date when the legislature elects new officers. |
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Plan to lift bank secrecy
draws request for information from Libertarios
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Movimiento Libertario wants to know the context of the country's discussion with an international agency about eliminating bank secrecy. Mario Quirós Lara, a legislative deputy for the party, asked the Ministerio de Hacienda to supply details about exchanges with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Immediately after the G-20 meeting in Germany, the organization published a list of countries and said that Costa Rica and three other small nations were not cooperating with international tax schemes. The listing took Costa Rica by surprise because tax officials here have been working closely with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to modernize the system. Under current law, law officers would need a warrant issued by a judge or at least the assurances of a public prosecutor to provide information from someone's bank account. Under the agreement the country made with the organization, the Ministerio de Hacienda would have broad |
access to anyone's bank account,
and investigators could go fishing for what looked like unusual
transactions. Costa Rica cooperates fully with international money laundering laws, and the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development is mainly interested in countries where First World residents can hide funds. In less than a day, Guillermo Zúñiga, minister of Hacienda, said that a proposed law would be introduced to lift bank secrecy here. The exchanges leading up to that announcement are what Quirós wants to see. The decision also benefits Zúñiga and his ministry investigators because they would have access to bank transactions on a daily basis. He said the proposed law would reduce tax fraud here. "The lifting of bank secrecy for tax reasons is a subject that requires prudence and analysis," said Quirós. Access to bank accounts has been misused here. This year the No. 2 official in the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad was accused of using his authority to hunt for banking customers with large balances so that a band of check fraud artists could rob from them. His case still is pending. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 22, 2009, Vol. 9, No. 78 | |||||||||
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Fractured volcano flank threatens islands in Caribbean
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By the University of Portsmouth news service
Up to 30,000 residents and tourists could be under threat from a newly discovered tsunami risk in the Caribbean, according to experts in disaster risk management. The heavily populated coast of Guadeloupe will have little warning if a tsunami is triggered by the collapse of a volcano on the nearby island of Dominica. A team of geologists, led by Richard Teeuw from the University of Portsmouth, have discovered that a flank of the volcano Morne aux Diables ("Devils' Peak") shows signs of collapse and, if so, a million-ton chunk of rock could crash into the sea, producing tsunami waves up to almost 3 meters (10 feet) high. Such a rock fall could also weaken three million tons of rock upslope, potentially resulting in much larger landslides and waves of up to five meters. Teeuw said: “It’s not a case of if this landslide and tsunami will happen, but when. The trigger will probably be a major earthquake, occurring after the heavy rain and coastal erosion of the hurricane season. It could happen in a hundred years or it could happen next week. “Guadeloupe is a densely populated island with popular tourist beaches, many of which are wide with low angle gradients, which leads to tsunami run-up and increased wave heights. In places, there is no protection from coral |
reef which otherwise might absorb some of the tsunami wave energy. “There would be damage to property, and if people were on the beach then there could be loss of life. This part of the world is well-prepared for hurricane hazards, but is relatively unprepared for the rapid impact of a tsunami.” The vulnerable area of rock was left exposed several thousand years ago when the flank of the volcano collapsed into the sea. Teeuw, from the School of Earth and Environmental Science, will study the seabed for evidence of an ancient tsunami next year. Since the original collapse, coastal erosion has undercut cliffs along the over-steepened margin of the volcano, leaving the remaining flank of the volcano unstable. Teeuw and colleagues made their discovery after carrying out geomorphological surveys backed up by 3-D images from Google Earth which show clearly visible tension cracks. The results convinced them that they were looking at a serious landslide and tsunami hazard. The Guadeloupe archipelago is about 50 kilometers north of Dominica, and tsunami waves would hit its shores within minutes of the volcano’s collapse, giving little chance to warn people on the coast. The island of Dominica has the highest concentrations of potentially active volcanoes in the world. The area is regularly exposed to hurricanes and seismic activity. |
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Chávez opponent flees
and seeks asylum in Perú By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A Peruvian attorney representing Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales said his client has formally applied for political asylum in Peru. The attorney, Javier Valle Riestra, made the announcement Tuesday, hours after Peru's foreign minister, José Antonio Garcia Belaunde, confirmed that Rosales had arrived on a tourist visa. As a tourist, Rosales can stay up to six months. Rosales was supposed to have appeared in a Venezuelan court Monday to face corruption charges. He went into hiding after Venezuelan prosecutors accused him of illegal enrichment between 2002 and 2004, when he was governor of the state of Zulia. Rosales maintains his innocence, saying the accusations are politically motivated. Authorities said the charges are based on an investigation of Rosales' assets. They said he has not explained the origin of certain funds he has received. Rosales unsuccessfully ran against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in elections in 2006. Abducted Canadian woman remains hostage in Nigeria By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Nigerian kidnappers are demanding $136,000 in ransom in exchange for the freedom of a Canadian woman abducted last week in the northern city of Kaduna. It was believed to be the first case of its kind in the predominantly Muslim northern region. The Nigerian police say the kidnappers had initially offered to free the Canadian woman held since last week for nearly $700,000 ransom. They were prevailed upon to accept a much lower fee, and it appears the kidnappers will not accept anything less than $136,000. Police spokesman in Kaduna, Aminu Lawal, said investigations are continuing. The kidnapping of the Canadian woman, named as Julie Ann Mulligan, 45, one of five Canadians on a Rotary exchange program in Nigeria, was believed to be the first abduction-for-ransom incident in Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north. The attack has provoked angry reactions from the local people. Ms. Mulligan was seized at gunpoint Thursday while returning from a Rotary meeting, in the company of a local man. The attackers took her to an unknown destination. Ms. Mulligan's group arrived in Kaduna the day before the kidnapping. |
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| Latin
American news digest |
 Daniel Andreas San Diego: He's worth
$250,000
Ex-governor will not debut
in Costa Rican reality show By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Rod Blagojevich, the defrocked former Illinois governor, will not be allowed to travel to Costa Rica to participate in a jungle reality show. A federal judge has decided that. NBC said that the show would still be shot in Costa Rica, said the Chicago Tribune. Also suggested for the show is Manhattan-born Gerald Rivera who goes by the first name of Geraldo. If Blagojevich got what he wanted, he would become the first federal criminal suspect in memory to come to Costa Rica with permission. Many come without permission. One of those may be Daniel Andreas San Diego, who was promoted this week to the FBI's No. 1 most wanted terrorist suspect. He is a fugitive animal rights activist accused of setting off bombs. The most wanted terrorist list is a publicity technique used by the FBI when they are short on leads. In the case of San Diego they said specifically that he might be living in Costa Rica. They also listed a number of other foreign countries. There is a reward of $250,000 offered for information leading to his capture. |
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