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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 3, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 86 | |||||||||
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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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Two murders reported
on Central Pacific coast By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Intruders smothered a 71-year-old Jacó man after tying him to his own bed Sunday night, said investigators. The man's wife discovered the body about 7 p.m. Sunday, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. The agency identified the victim as a Russian, although expats who know him in Jacó said he was a U.S. citizen. He was identified unofficially as Pierre Beauvais. Fuerza Pública officers detained at least one man who was believed to be leaving the scene. The investigation was hampered because police could not locate a Russian translator. They issued a call for someone with knowledge of Russian and Spanish. Meanwhile, about the same time in Villanueva about 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) south of Quepos, someone killed a real estate agent with at least 10 bullets. The man was identified by the last name of Brenes, and investigators said he lived in Uvita de Osa to the south. His age was listed as 45 years. Agents said that the man's body was found in a solitary location and that a neighbor about a half a kilometer (about a third of a mile) away said he heard a series of gunshots about 7 p.m. Phone company marketing iPhones and user plans By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The telephone company will begin marketing iPhones 3 and 4 Wednesday, but requirements suggest that most expats will have to get a note from their accountant to sign up. The iPhones themselves will range from $352 for a 3G model with 8 gigabytes of memory to $581 for a 4G with 32 gigabytes of memory. Both prices are for a 12-month contract. Then there are the charges for use. That ranges from 15,435 colons a month to 39,278. The difference depends on the amount of download and the number of cell telephone minutes and the number of text messages. The full description of the plans is HERE. The G4 telephone allowed Internet access, face-to-face communication and a 5 megapixel camera, the company said. Like every transaction with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, there are certain papers that someone seeking to rent a phone must bring. Individuals need a constancia salarial, a document from an employer specifying the salary. Anyone without a salaried job, as many expats are, need to have a statement from a public accountant. The company also wants users to sign up for an automatic debit plan. According to the company, those signing up for an iPhone plan have to rent the phone at the same time. There was no mention of the many persons who already have an iPhone. Resurfacing work is planned on Autopista General Cañas By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There is more work planned on the Autopista General Cañas. This is the highway that has been closed on and off since Christmas to fix a balky bridge. Now the job is resurfacing. The Consejo Nacional de Vialidad, the road agency, said that workers will be sealing cracks with asphalt from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. The stretch from Juan Santamaría airport to Plaza Real Cariari was supposed to have been completed this morning in the Alajuela-San José direction. Early Wednesday workers will be resurfacing from the Río Virilla bridge to the airport, the Consejo said. The highway will be open but traffic barriers will be restricting motorists to one lane.
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 3, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 86 | |||||||||||
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| Country begins massive program to vaccinate children |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The country has embarked on a project to vaccinate 700,000 youngsters this month. The youngsters are getting shots against polio, rubella, measles and mumps. The work is being done through the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. Alfio Piva Mesén, vice president, and the minster of Salud, María Luisa Ávila, kicked off the program Monday morning in Alajuelita. The vaccination program will cost more than $1 million and continue through May 27. The goal of the program is to eliminate many of the childhood diseases, some of which can lead to death. Although vaccinations are readily available, not all parents in lower income families take advantage of the government health services. In addition, some youngsters are new arrivals from other countries that do not have a comprehensive health system. Although polio is considered to have been eliminated in the Americas, the shots are a protection until the disease is eliminated in the whole world. For many children the shots are boosters to fortify the immunity they received by vaccinations earlier in their lives. Some of the childhood diseases are dangerous to unborn children, so the shots are a protection to mothers, too. |
 Casa Presidencial photo
The health minister, María Luisa Ávila, a
physician, administers the shot to a youngster Monday while Alfio Piva
Mesén steadies the child's arm. |
| Liberación bites the bullet and moves into the
minority |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The opposition slate prevailed Monday as legislators elected leadership for the coming year. Juan Carlos Mendoza became the president of the Asamblea Legislativa in the afternoon voting. He is a member of the Partido Acción Ciudadana. His election was a certainty because Liberación Nacional declined to put up a candidate. The election ended what some called the worst political crisis in years. Named as vice president was Patricia Pérez of Movimiento Libertario. Members of other parties previously in the opposition got lesser officers. Liberación lawmakers did not vote for a candidate. That party had 24 votes, less than the 29 needed to name leaders through April 30, 2012. The other parties were Partido Unidad Social Cristiana, the Partido Accesibilidad sin Exclusión and the single lawmakers from Frente Amplio. President Laura Chinchilla quickly issued a statement expressing her desire to work together with the new leadership in favor of the country. Luis Gerardo Villanueva made clear earlier in the afternoon that he would not be a candidate for the presidency of the assembly and that his party, Liberación would not run a candidate. Villanueva was at the middle of the conflict Sunday when he won the presidency after the opposition parties |
had left the room. He later
resigned. More than a dozen Sala IV
appeals from individuals have been filed over the incident, according
to the Poder Judicial. They appear to be moot now. The chaos was so great Sunday that lawmakers did not meet for the annual state of the state message from the president. This was considered a national embarrassment because foreign diplomats and others are invited to hear the president. Casa Presidencial had to uninvite the guests Sunday afternoon. Ms. Chinchilla was said to be livid at the way the situation unfolded. Insiders say that Liberación made a deal with some members of the opposition party to support Villanueva but only if the voting could be in secret. The opposition parties wanted to hold together their fragile bloc and wanted to oversee the voting by the members of the opposition parties. They walked out over the plan for secret voting. Both groups sought the political high ground. Liberación styled itself as the defender of the right to secret ballot. The opposition parties claimed Liberación had engineered a coup d'etat by changing the rules. The rhetoric flew hot and fast. Earlier Monday, Viviana Martín, the leader of the Liberación party in the legislature, met with opposition lawmakers and reached an agreement for a 3 p.m. meeting at which 55 of the 57 lawmakers attended. That was enough to elect the opposition slate with 31 votes. Costa Rica is not accustomed to hard-nosed politics, so the developments Sunday were covered live and in depth. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 3, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 86 | |||||||||
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| Freedom on the decline in 2010, watchdog
survey reports |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Global freedom suffered its fifth consecutive year of decline in 2010, according to Freedom in the World 2011, Freedom House’s annual assessment of political rights and civil liberties around the world. This represents the longest continuous period of decline in the nearly 40-year history of the survey. The year featured drops in the number of free countries and the number of electoral democracies, as well as an overall deterioration for freedom in the Middle East and North Africa region, the organization said. A total of 25 countries showed significant declines in 2010, more than double the 11 countries exhibiting noteworthy gains, said the report. The number of countries designated as free fell from 89 to 87, and the number of electoral democracies dropped to 115, far below the 2005 figure of 123. In addition, authoritarian regimes like those in China, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela continued to step up repressive measures with little significant resistance from the democratic world, Freedom House said. “This should be a wake-up call for all of the world’s democracies,” said David J. Kramer, executive director of Freedom House. “Our adversaries are not just engaging in widespread repression, they are doing so with unprecedented aggressiveness and self-confidence, and the democratic community is not rising to the challenge.” Published annually since 1972, Freedom in the World examines the ability of individuals to exercise their political and civil rights in 194 countries and 14 territories around the world. The latest edition analyzes developments that occurred in 2010 and assigns each country a freedom status — free, partly free, or not free—based on a scoring of performance on key democracy indicators. Four countries received status declines, including Ukraine and México, which both fell from free to partly free. Mexico’s downgrade was a result of the government’s inability to stem the tide of violence by drug-trafficking groups, while Ukraine suffered from deteriorating levels of press freedom, instances of election fraud, and growing politicization of the judiciary. Djibouti and Ethiopia were downgraded from partly free to not free. Other countries showing declines included Bahrain, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, France, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. The Middle East and North Africa remained the region with the lowest level of freedom in 2010, continuing its multiyear decline from an already-low democratic baseline. The world’s most powerful authoritarian regimes acted with increased brazenness in 2010, said Freedom house, noting: China pressured foreign governments to boycott the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony honoring jailed democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez pushed through legislation that allowed him to rule by decree and further restricted nongovernmental organizations and the media. Russia’s leadership showed blatant disregard for judicial independence in its handling of, among other cases, the sentencing of regime critic and former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky after a trial that was widely considered fraudulent. And both Egypt and Belarus conducted sham elections with little hint of transparency. In the case of Belarus, the election was followed by massive violence by security forces against peaceful demonstrators. “It is often observed that a government that mistreats its people also fears its people,” said Arch Puddington, director of research at Freedom House. “But authoritarian regimes will have a much freer hand to silence their domestic critics if there is no resistance from the outside world. Indeed, if the world’s democracies fail to unite and speak out in defense of their own values, despots will continue to gain momentum.” Immigration policies were a topic of concern this year in many countries, including those in Western Europe and the United States. France saw a decline in its civil liberties score due to its treatment of Roma of Gypsies from Eastern Europe as well as its problems in coping with immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. There were a few bright spots in the survey, including status improvements from not free to partly free for Kyrgyzstan and Guinea after both countries held comparatively free and |
fair elections, and
ratings improvements for Kenya, Moldova, Nigeria, the Philippines, and
Tanzania, Freedom
House said. Key global findings, according to the organization: Free: The number of countries designated by Freedom in the World as Free in 2010 stands at 87, two fewer than the previous year, and representing 45 percent of the world’s 194 countries and 43 percent of the world’s population. Partly Free: The number of Partly Free countries increased to 60, or 31 percent of all countries assessed by the survey, comprising 22 percent of the world’s total population. Not Free: The number of countries deemed to be not free remained at 47, or 24 percent of the total number of countries. Nearly 2.5 billion people live in societies where fundamental political rights and civil liberties are not respected. China accounts for more than half of this number. Electoral Democracies: The number of electoral democracies dropped from 116 to 115, the lowest number since 1995. Three countries — the Philippines, Tanzania, and Tonga — achieved electoral democracy status after conducting elections that were regarded as improvements over earlier polls. Declines in Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, and Sri Lanka triggered their removal from the list of electoral democracies. Worst of the Worst: Of the 47 countries ranked not free, nine countries and one territory received the survey’s lowest possible rating for both political rights and civil liberties: Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Key regional findings: Sub-Saharan Africa: Major declines were recorded in Ethiopia and Djibouti, both of which dropped from partly free to not free. In addition, declines were noted in Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Rwanda, Swaziland, and Zambia. Improvements were noted in Kenya, Nigeria, Somaliland, and Tanzania, as well as in Guinea, which received an improvement in status from not free to partly free. Asia-Pacific: Successful elections resulted in improvements for the Philippines and Tonga. Declines were documented in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Fiji, Indian Kashmir, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Central and Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union: The 2010 election in Kyrgyzstan, which followed the collapse of the government earlier in the year, was considered relatively free and fair and resulted in a status improvement from not free to partly free. Gains were also noted in Georgia and Moldova. Ukraine dropped from free to partly free, and Nagorno-Karabakh fell from partly free to not free. Other declines were seen in Hungary and Latvia. Middle East and North Africa: The Middle East and North Africa, which has long been the region with the lowest levels of democracy in the world, continued its steady decline in 2010. In addition to a reduction in Egypt resulting from the country’s sham elections, declines were seen in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iran. There were no status or ratings improvements in the region. Americas: The inability of the Mexican government to protect ordinary citizens, elected officials, or journalists from organized crime caused Mexico’s status to fall from free to partly free. Other countries that saw declines included Venezuela, where President Chávez pushed through damaging legislation just before the formation of a new parliament with significantly more opposition seats. Improvements were noted in Colombia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Western Europe and North America: Western Europe and the United States continued to struggle with a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment. France received a score reduction for its treatment of ethnic minorities, including the mass deportation of Roma. Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 3, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 86 | ||||||||||
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| Milanes gets questions from his former investors By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Former investors and lawyers got a chance to question Luis Milanes Monday, but there was no decision on his proposal to pay back those on whom he defaulted in 2002. Milanes is the casino owner who has put forth an estimated $10 million in property to satisfy the claims and avoid going to trial for fraud. Those who attended the conciliation hearing said that about 150 creditors were there and that Milanes sat on a platform and fielded questions. The bulk of the questions were technical and related to the trust agreement Milanes has proposed to satisfy his creditors. One women directed her questions amid tears. He is believed to have defaulted on some $200 million when he closed up his Saving Unlimited operation in November 2002. Also there Monday were some of his associates and employees who also face charges in the case. Some creditors wondered where the income from the many casinos run by Milanes figure into his buyout plan. Under Costa Rican law those accused of a crime can avoid trial if they can settle with those that are considered to have victimized. Milanes returned to Costa Rica in June 2009, spent a night in jail and has been free tending to his many businesses since. Like other high-interest operations at the time, Milanes offered returns of some 3 to 4 percent a month. He said he was investing in his casinos. Milanes claims that a former associate now in Europe has made off the with bulk of the money from investors. The hearing lasted just the morning and has been scheduled to continue next week. There are about 500 persons listed as victims in the Savings Unlimited collapse, but many are in other countries. The majority are not listed in the case because they lacked the money, the desire or the time to present their claims earlier. Many have simply written off their losses. Others do not speak Spanish, live in the United States or elsewhere and have no idea on how to press their case. Haitian government to get dictator's cash in Switzerland By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Switzerland says it has begun legal proceedings to return the frozen assets of former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier to the Haitian government. Switzerland says the assets total about $6 million. In February a new law intended to make it easier for Swiss authorities to return illegally obtained funds to their country of origin took effect. The law was prompted in part by the legal battle over Duvalier's funds. It requires that the money be used for civic interests. The former Haitian leader's Swiss accounts were frozen 25 years ago when he was ousted from office. Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. It is struggling to rebuild following a January 2010 earthquake that left more than 200,000 people dead and 1 million others homeless. Hundreds of thousands of people still live in tent camps. Artists helping Coca Cola celebrate its anniversary By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some 50 artists have created giant bottles of Coca Cola to commemorate the 125 years that the company has been in business. The works will be exhibited at the Museo de Arte Costarricense in Parque la Sabana starting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The exhibition is called Destaparte, and the museum said that some of the bottles are two meters high. That's more than six feet. An announcement said that the unveiling would be accompanied by a a show never before seen in Costa Rica. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 3, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 86 | ||||||||||
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Latin American news Please reload page if feed does not appear promptly |
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Police officers inventory what they found in the trucky Seguridad Pública photo Truck in center of San
José
carried coke, cops report By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police stopped a truck in the very heart of San José and discovered what they said was 40 kilos of cocaine. The Fuerza Pública said the incident took place near the main offices of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. They said they approached the vehicle when they thought the driver looked nervous. A 40-year old man with the last names of Rojas Prendas was detained. The Policía de Control de Drogas arrived to verify the contents of the 40 packages in the rear of the truck. Guachipelín and Tibás will have power cuts By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Power company workers will turn off the electricity in Guachipelín and in part of Tibás today. The Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz said the work was necessary for preventative maintenance. The area will be from the southeast side of Residencial Cerro Alto to Don Francisco Apartotel y Café, from 100 meters north of the AM PM grocery north to Residencial Pinar del Río and west to Urbanicación Bosques de Santa Ana. Included will be the Hotel Real Intercontinental, Saint Mary School, Mountain View School, Escuela de Guachipelín, a number of condominiums and the Pequeño Mundo store. Power is expected to be restored by 3:30 p.m., the company said. In Tibás, the company will be replacing transformers from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Affected will be the installations of the antigua Plywood, said Fuerza y Luz. |
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