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were more than $2 billion By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rica took in more than $2 billion in foreign direct investment in 2008, about a 6 percent increase over the $1.9 billion that was invested in the country in 2007. The country's investment was exceeded only by that of Panama's $2.4 billion in Central America. The statistics are from the México-based Comisión Economica de América Latina y el Caribe. The organization also estimated that $128.3 billion, a record, came into Latin America and the Caribbean during 2008. By contrast the organization estimated that Costa Rica took in $417 million on the average in each of the years from 1994 to 1998, The organization said that the situation has now changed and that it expects the flow of direct investments to be 35 to 45 percent lower during 2009. The 2008 figures predate the current economic crisis. Overall Latin America and the Caribbean were up collectively about 13 percent over 2007 in 2008, according to the organization's figures. Brazil, Chile and Colombia were the principal recipients in 2008, getting about 80 percent of the direct investment in South America. That amount was up some 24 percent over the previous year. Country's swine flu cases now 37, health officials say By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire services reports Costa Rica now has 37 cases of confirmed swine flu, according to the Ministerio de Salud. Some 104 cases are still under study. The bulk of the infections come from persons who have been in prolonged contact with those already with swine flu, said the health ministry. There is one confirmed case in Guanacaste, 20 in the Provincia de San José, five in Cartago and 11 in Heredia, officials said. There are just two probable cases at this point, officials said. New figures from the World Health Organization show the global swine flu death toll has risen by three. In its Wednesday report, the World Health Organization also said two more countries, Bahrain and Singapore, have reported their first swine flu cases. The agency said the three new deaths occurred in Mexico, where the overall death toll from the virus has now increased to 95. The World Health Organization said worldwide there are are 13,398 confirmed cases of the flu. Meanwhile, South Korean health authorities confirmed two more cases of swine flu Wednesday, raising that country's total number of infections to 29. Authorities in the Philippines have confirmed four new cases, raising their total to six. The latest reports from these two countries are not yet included in the figures provided by the World Health Organization. In Australia, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has warned citizens to prepare for a significant increase in the number of swine flu cases, especially in the coming days. Ms. Roxon made the announcement after Australian health authorities announced the country's number of confirmed cases had doubled to 61. Two men in murder cases identified by Poder Judicial By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Poder Judicial has identified the two Costa Rican men who are facing allegations of carrying out two drive-by, contract killings at the request of a U.S. citizen. They both turned out to have police ties. One, identified by the last name of Porras Porras, had worked as a Fuerza Pública officer. The second, with the last names of Navarro Alfaro, is a current member of the force. The two men are accused of killing two men at different times. The shootings stemmed from a business dispute involving the U.S. citizen, identified as Jeff Pearson. He has been in prison since Dec, 9 awaiting extradition to the United States because the U.S. Department of Justice said he ran a series of fraudulent business opportunity scams that preyed on U.S. citizens. Porras was his bodyguard. Pearson also was implicated in the murders by the Judicial Investigating Organization. The Poder Judicial said that the two Costa Rican men were jailed for three months preventative detention by the Juzgado Penal de San José. The are facing allegations involving the murder of Diego Henao López in NOvember 2006 and thes killing of Luis Guillermo Rojas Meza in September 2007. Osa ready to collect garbage in whole canton By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Cantón de Osa said Wednesday that it will more than double the number of residents who have garbage service starting next month. Right now there are about 10,000 persons who have the service of the municipality. The mayor, Alberto Cole, said he expected to be making collections from 22,000 persons when the municipal council approved the plan. He said pickups would begin in Dominical and Dominicalito, Coronado, Ojochal, Tres Ríos, Playa Hermosa, Punta Mala and San Buenaventura. He said that nearly 100 percent of the canton would have the service. Disabled bank customer wins access to an ATM By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Banco Nacional customer in San Marcos de Tarrazú got some good news from the Sala IV constitutional court. The court ordered the bank to provide an access ramp for the disabled at its automatic teller location there. The woman, identified by the last names of Chacón Ortiz, said she could not reach a teller machine because there were no ramps. The bank is on the north side of the Parque de San Marcos. The decision was released Wednesday. Police ask for bar to be closed By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fuerza Pública officers made a sweep through Cartago centro over the weekend and asked that the Bar y Restaurante BricK Brac be closed and its business license revoked. Officers said they found a customer with 159 doses of cocaine on his person. Officers checked out establishments in Manuel de Jesús Jiménez, Cot, Quircot, Taras and Guadalupe Saturday night and early Sunday.
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Government to carry its case
to Limón dock workers June 10
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The central government will hold its weekly cabinet meeting in Limón June 10 as a way of pushing forward its plan to privatize the cargo and tourist docks there and deliver them to a concessionaire. The central government is facing strong opposition from the dock workers union, which has rejected the latest offer of a buyout. The situation is shaping up to be a replay of the battle over the free trade treaty with the United States, and many of the same players oppose the project. Last week the government announced a plan whereby dock workers with 20 years service would get nearly $100,000 as a buyout. The amount is substantially higher than what is required under Costa Rica labor laws. Now the central government, directed by Rodrigo Arias Sánchez, the minister of the Presidencia, seeks to go over the head of the union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Japdeva, and go directly to the workers. The session June 10 also will be to sign the law putting into |
effect the Limón Ciudad
Puerto project which allocates millions for fixing up the sagging
infrastructure. Government officials hope that a dock concessionaire will bring its own money and modernize the port. Proposals will be accepted through August. What Rodrigo Arias would like to see would be an assembly of dock workers and a secret vote on the proposal. The union would prefer to handle the negotiations. Dock workers or at least the union have been consistently at loggerheads with the administration. Strikes and roadblocks are frequent, and there has been no significant improvements in the ports for years. Government officials estimate that 30 percent of the dock workers will either retire or go into private business if the concession plan goes through. Others will continue to work with the current port administration, and others will find jobs with the concessionaire. A similar concession deal at the Pacific port of Caldera has been successful and the concession holder has made substantial investments. |
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Rash of scams leave victims
with empty hands at airport
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Even in crime the tried and true methods work best. That's why more than 15 complaints have come in recently to investigators from individuals who say they were conned by supposed customs agents or brokers around Juan Santamaría airport in Alajuela. The con is so old that it is a wonder the crooks can feed their families. But the Judicial Investigating Organization said Wednesday that the latest round of scams amounts to 60 million colons or about $105,000. Victims have purchased non-existent plasma television sets, other electronic devices, anti-flu medicines and provisions like face masks, even fertilizer. |
The scammer usually approaches the
victim in the vicinity of the
airport and says that some imported products are being held at customs
for non-payment of import duties or for some other reason. The merchandise can be redeemed for pennies on the dollar, the scammer says. In exchange for money, the scammer provides paperwork that the victim can take to the customs warehouse. Of course once there, the victim finds out that the paperwork is phony and that he or she has lost money. A variation is that the scammer takes the money and promises to return with the merchandise. |
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Public diplomacy chief confident U.S. can rebuild image
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. State Department's new public diplomacy chief says she's confident America's image abroad can be rebuilt after sagging badly during the Bush administration. Former media executive Judith McHale spoke on her first full day as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy. Ms. McHale is not predicting a miraculous rebound in America's standing abroad, which opinion polls suggest hit historic lows under the past administration, whose foreign policy was perceived as unilateralist and overly militarized. However, the new undersecretary does say the Obama administration has already made some headway in restoring the U.S. global image, starting with the election and inauguration of the new president, who has family ties to Kenya and spent formative years in Indonesia. "His election clearly helped our image in the world in a number of ways. Certainly his roots in Africa, the time that he lived in Indonesia. He and I actually had a conversation about the fact we both lived overseas when we were younger. I think that does give you a different world view. So yes, I think the world right now is very willing to re-engage with the country. He, in his inauguration, made an important point of talking about reaching out his hand and I think there are lots of people who want to reach out to us now," she said. Ms. McHale said the President's June 4 policy address in Cairo, in which he is expected to urge reconciliation with Muslim states, will be a critically important event in U.S. public diplomacy and an effort to reach out to those countries as partners. |
Ms. McHale, who for 20 years headed the cable TV combine Discovery
Communications, said she developed her interest in foreign and
particularly African affairs as the daughter of a U.S. diplomat in
apartheid-era South Africa. She spent much of the last two years traveling in Africa to launch a mutual fund specializing in investments in African companies, and as such said she rejects the notion that her lack of traditional foreign policy experience will be a liability in her new job. Ms. McHale, whose company operated in some 170 countries around the world, said the key to America reaching foreign populations and particularly youthful audiences is through new media — not only cable television but cellular communications and internet social networking. "We have to understand what's working. What are the things that are most relevant to help us reach and connect with billions of people around the world. There's no other way of doing that unless we employ new media in appropriate circumstances. When you look at the demographics of all the regions that we're trying to reach and you see that in many cases where the population is under 25 or under 20 and you have a younger demographic, they rely and use new technologies increasingly around the world," she said. Ms. McHale oversees a $1 billion a year array of State Department communications, cultural, educational and exchange programs. She promised a top-to-bottom review of U.S. public diplomacy efforts but said she enters the post with no preconceived notions about structural changes, though there are abundant study-commission reform recommendations. |
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U.S. will take exit data
from departing foreigners By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United States is launching a pilot program to collect biometric information from non-citizens who are leaving the country from American airports. The initiative is the latest post-Sept. 11 effort to monitor and correctly identify all who come to and depart from the United States. Since 2004, the United States has collected fingerprints and other physical identifiers, called "biometrics," from non-citizens applying for visas and arriving at U.S. ports of entry. Screening of those leaving the United States has been far less rigorous, until now. Robert Mocny heads the Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT program. "In most countries, you check out of the country," said Robert Mocny. "You go through some passport control. We do not have that in the United States, we never have had that. And so we are trying to implement a new system." Beginning this week, that system will be tested at two U.S. airports: in Atlanta and Detroit. In addition to having their passports scanned, departing non-U.S. citizens will be required to place a finger over a scanner. The resulting prints will be compared with fingerprints given when the individuals applied for their U.S. visa or resident alien card. If all goes according to plan, the system will be extended to all U.S. airports and seaports next year. Mocny says the effort is in keeping with a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The commission urged biometric entry and exit records as the best way to confirm the identities of those traveling to the United States. Speaking at Washington's Foreign Press Center, Mocny said there is an additional benefit. "Once a visa is issued and tied with a biometric, once a passport is issued and tied to a biometric, that passport or visa cannot be used by anybody else," he said. "There are tens of millions of lost or stolen passports that circulate the globe on the black market used by international criminals and terrorists. This puts a stop to that." But what of those leaving the United States by land to Mexico and Canada? Mocny says biometric verification will one day be extended to those border crossing points, as well. But he admits that significant logistical challenges will have to be overcome for that to occur, as most U.S. terrestrial border exits are not set up to accommodate screening of vehicular traffic. |
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Man arrested in Brazil cleared of terrorist links By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Authorities in Sao Paulo, Brazil, have released a Lebanese man who was arrested three weeks ago for operating a Web site that authorities suspected could be linked to terrorists. Federal prosecutor Ana Leticia Absy said a court ordered the unidentified man's release this week after investigators found no evidence that linked him to terrorist groups. In a statement, Ms. Absy said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation initially alerted Brazilian authorities after the man posted inflammatory anti-U.S. comments in Arabic on his Internet site. His arrest was reported Tuesday by U.S. and Brazilian media organizations who identified him as a possible member of al-Qaida. Another Mexican newsman murdered by abductors Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Another Mexican reporter has been murdered. He is Eliseo Barrón Hernández, whose body was found following his abduction on Monday, For the past 11 years Barrón Hernández covered the police beat for the newspaper La Opinión Milenio in Torreón, in the northern state of Coahuila. According to several local media sources the veteran journalist was kidnapped by approximately eight masked men who forcefully abducted him from in front of his wife and young children shortly after 8 p.m. at his home in the town of Gómez Palacio in the neighboring state of Durango. His gunshot body was found Tuesday morning in a field nearby. Although the motives for the killing were not immediately known, Barrón Hernández's newspaper said that he had recently been reporting on an internal dispute in the Torreón Municipal Public Safety Office where 302 police officers were fired for corruption. Many are currently under investigation for alleged offenses, including extortion and abuse of authority. Also murdered early this month in Durango was journalist Carlos Ortega Melo Semper. In February Luis Daniel Méndez Hernández was killed in Veracruz and Jean Paul Ibarra Ramírez in Guerrero. |
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