President will promote
multi-cultural designation


The central government says it will support a constitutional amendment to declare Costa Rica to be a multicultural and multi-ethnic state.

President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera. said that he and other candidates signed a pledge to that effect in a November meeting with persons in Limón.

In addition, the government will impanel a commission to promote and oversee the public policies that promote racial inclusion, encourage respect for cultural diversity and fight against racial discrimination.

This would be an expansion of a decree issued by former president Laura Chinchilla that only applied to the public administration.

The proposal already is in the legislature, and Solís said that he would try to expedite the measure even if he had to put it on a special agenda for consideration when the executive branch controls the issues that are discussed in the Asamblea Legislative.

The Constitution's Articúlo 33 already says all persons are equal before the law and discrimination cannot be practiced against them contrary to human dignity.


Heredia notary is suspect
in faking property titles


A notary from Heredia has been linked to a scene to cheat owners of their properties.

The man, identified by the last name of Picado was detained Thursday morning when judicial agents visited his home in La Aurora de Heredia. The Poder Judicial said that he was linked to five cases in which fake documents were files showing that the true owners of property had sold them to third parties. The third parties then either resold the properties or mortgaged them.

Costa Rican law protects innocent third parties who might purchase properties for which fake titles are offered.


Investigators seek IDs
of two murdered women


Judicial agents are trying to identify the two women who were found murdered in a vacant lot in San Sebastián Saturday night. Both women had been tied hands and feet and had a plastic bag placed over their heads.

Both women were described as being between 25 and 35.  Investigators hope that tattoos on one of the bodies will lead them to an identity. The woman has a butterfly on her left leg and the name Haydee on her lower back.

In Cieneguita-Limón Sunday agents detained a 37-year-old woman during the investigation of the murder of one of her relatives, a 24-year-old man with the last name of  Mc Murray. Agents aid that in the midst of a personal dispute the man received a knife wound in the stomach.


Fuerza Pública official
will head traffic police


The new head of the transport ministry has selected a police officer with a long career as the new Director General de la Policía de Tránsito. The man selected is Mario Calderón Cornejo, who had been serving as a ranking officer in the Fuerza Pública.

He has a degree in criminology.

Carlos Segnini, minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes, said that Calderón will apply his background in human resourses, tactics and police strategies.

Usually the head of the traffic police comes from the ranks of that agency.

Alexander Solano Quirós, a 14-year traffic officer and a lawyer, was named subdirector.

Traffic police officers have been arrested for seeking bribes and other offenses.  Segnini's decision to go outside the force appears to be an effort to combat corruption. Both men promise zero tolerance for wrongdoing.


Some foreign students plan
to stay and seek jobs in U.S.


Each year America attracts thousands of foreign students seeking a college education and work experience. Staying in the U.S. after graduation, though, can be more difficult because of visa and job constraints.

It's graduation day for students at The College of New Rochelle in New York.

Some came from other countries to study here and are among 800,000 foreign students in the United States.

Many look forward to taking back to their home countries what they have learned.

“I decided to study for the masters in public education because I always thought about back home," said Cynthia Asare, a student from Ghana. "How best I could utilize this? You can go back home and work even in the government section and be of help to your country.”

Prudence Tolliver, a student from Jamaica, said, “College of New Rochelle is basically my start. My goal is to do as much as I can, to go back to Jamaica, so that they can see that they can accomplish their dreams.”

But some want to stay in America.

“I definitely want to get a start here in the work force," said Jonelle Ward, from Canada. "I feel it’s competitive, I feel you are forced to stretch and reach a certain limit and challenge yourself. And there’s variety and very innovative and creative, which I like.”

For foreign students like these, launching a career in this country will not be easy, even with an improving U.S. economy.

Philip Press, an executive with a job placement company, said, “The challenge for the international candidate is finding the company that’s willing to either sponsor or take them for the amount of time their visa is current. Because once the visa is up and they have to leave, chances are they are not going to get sponsored.”

Generally, if foreign students cannot find a work sponsor, they will have to leave.

Overall, though, the news for the class of 2014 is better nationwide, according to David Smith of the management consulting company Accenture, which conducts an annual survey of job prospects.

“Coming out into the job market this year they are actually giving us signs of much more optimism about their prospects ahead. They are also telling us they are willing to be much more willing to be mobile, to look at job prospects beyond their local marketplace where they went to college or university,” said Smith.

Accenture found 80 percent of the students expect to get training on the job. After one or two years, however, the management company says only half have received training.