Workers are cleaning off the Plaza de la Cultura in downtown San José to prepare for waterproofing sprays later this week. The idea is to prevent leakage into the Museos del Banco Central below the plaza.

Among others, the famous gold museum, the Museo del Oro, is below.
 

Manuel Ventura Robles, a Costa Rican jurist, has been elected a judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for a six-year term. He got 20 of 23 votes cast at the 23rd General Assembly of the Organization of American States.

The court is based in San José. Ventura is the third Costa Rican to be named to this international bench. He will take his position in January. Ventura praised President Abel Pacheco and Chancellor Roberto Tovar for the diplomatic effort that preceded the voting.

Others elected to the court are Delicia Medina Quiroga of Chile, Sergio García Ramírez of Mexico, and Diego García Sayín of Peru.

Tovar also used the international meeting that was held in Chile as a time to lobby William Grahan, the Canadian representative, for the extradiction of Jorge Martínez, a Costa Rican living in Canada who is wanted here to face embezzlement charges.

Martínez, a former employee of Programa Nacional de Compensación Social, fled to Canada in December 1999. He is a suspect in stealing $2 million of public money. The man has avoided extradiction through various legal maneuvers since.

LONDON, England — The British government has outlined a course of action aimed at eventually adopting the European single currency, the euro. As Prime Minister Tony Blair puts it, Britain cannot afford to cut itself adrift from Europe by remaining outside the single currency. 

But the British leader maintains that, at the moment, conditions are not right to shed the pound-sterling currency in favor of the euro.

Four of the five economic tests that the government has set out have not been met, but Blair's administration insists that clear progress has been noted and says a review of the situation is expected in a year.

Speaking at a news conference, the British prime minister acknowledged that the decision to wait was partly political, as has been pointed out by his critics. But he also said economic considerations carry with them important weight as well.

"Of course there are political considerations," said Blair. "There are constitutional considerations. But in the end, the economics has got to be right. It is 

Closer monitoring of what is being described as, the narrowing convergency gap from sterling to the euro, is promised during the next 12 months.

But public opinion polls continue to show that a sizable majority of British voters are opposed to giving up the pound. Mr. Blair says the coming year also will be a time in which his government will try to persuade average Britons that joining the common currency will make the most sense.

"The benefits are now clearly spelled out. The path is clear," he said. "This is something we want to do. We have got a process in place to remove the obstacles. But in the end, you cannot judge this on anything other than the national economic interest. And that is the position that I think, in the end, the country understands, and it is the only basis, incidentally, in my view that you will ever persuade the country to be part of the euro."

The British government has promised a referendum on joining the single currency, but it is unclear when that might take place. Blair said that could happen before or after the next election. 

Tom Jafek, the operator of the Costa Rica Green Fund, points out that we made an error in a story published Tuesday.

We incorrectly stated that his firm lost $100,000 in the collapse of Savings Unlimited. What Jafek actually told us in May was that he had $100,000 with Savings Unlimited but managed to get the money back before the high-interest operation collapsed last November.

We reported what Jafek told us correctly May 30, but reversed the meaning by mistake in the Tuesday story.

Powell sees Kirchner
for brief pow-wow

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived here Tuesday for his first meeting with Argentina's new president, Nestor Kirchner. Powell said he would convey Washington's intention "to have good relations with Argentina." 

Kirchner of Argentina's popular Peronist Party invited Cuba's Communist President Fidel Castro to his inauguration two weeks ago and declared an end to what he said was Argentina's policy of automatic alignment with the United States.

But Secretary of State Powell has stressed the Bush administration's hopes for a good relationship with the new Argentine government, and said he would discuss plans for an early visit to Washington by Kirchner.

The new Argentine foreign minister, Rafael Bielsa, joined Powell on his flight to Buenos Aires from Santiago, where both had attended the annual general assembly of the Organization of American States. 

A key issue there was how to strengthen the democratic institution of hemisphere countries, like Argentina, grappling with severe recessions and high unemployment.

Kidnappers threaten
to kill their hostages

LIMA, Peru — Police say a group of gunmen who kidnapped some 60 people from a natural gas pipeline camp in the Andes have threatened to kill their hostages if there is a rescue attempt. 

Authorities disclosed the threat in a statement broadcast on national television Tuesday.  The Peruvian government has deployed army troops to the area to try and rescue the abductees. 

Officials say many of those taken captive were foreigners, including two Argentines, four Colombians and one Chilean. They say the kidnapping took place early Monday when more than 100 men raided the camp operated by the Argentine petroleum company Techint. The camp is located in the Tocate area, 600 kilometers southeast of Lima, in the Ayacucho region. 

Police believe the Maoist Shining Path rebels were behind the kidnapping. 

Shining Path was one of Latin America's most feared rebel groups throughout the 1980s. The group was considerably weaker after Peruvian police captured its founder, Abimael Guzman, in 1992. 

Agents crack down
on free trade in pot

You won’t find it in the free trade treaties, but Costa Rica still is importing marijuana because the local variety, Talamanca’s finest, just does not compete with that grown in Colombia. Or at least that’s what the experts say.

To address that sentiment among consumers, a lot of smuggling takes place. One 64-year-old resident of El Tajo de La Cuesta near the Panamá border is facing allegations that he was a key source of the weed.

Investigators from the Ciudad Neilly office of the Judicial Investigating Organization apprehended the man with the last names of Solís Calderón Monday afternoon at his home.

Agents said they found 1,349 kilos of marijuana, including 21 sacks of 47 kilos each ready for distribution. In a marketing touch, the marijuana in the sacks was packaged in two-kilo baggies bearing the images of Santa Claus and Bambi.

The marijuana is believed to have entered the country from Pajama after a trip from Colombia, said agents.

Missing children center coming

Rosalía Gil, minister of Niñez y Adolescencia, reported Tuesday that the International Center for Missing and Mistreated Children will open an office in San José. The office here will have reponsibility for much of Central America.

Police find charred body

Fuerza Pública officers in Santo Tomas de Heredia found a burned out pickup containing the charred body of a coffee grower Tuesday.  The man, Bernardo Ocampo, 62, was the presumed victim of a holdup-murder by bandits who then torched his truck to cover their tracks.
 

Investigators arrested two 18-year-old men as suspects in the forcible rape of a 14-year-old girl in Limón early Tuesday. One of the arrested men is the son of a national deputy.

The Judicial Investigating Organization identified the men as Julian Watson and Jermaine Harris. Deputy Harris has the same name as his son. He represents Limón in the Asamblea Nacional and is a member of the Partido Liberación Nacional.

The crime took place about 1 a.m. in Barrio Limoncito where the girl was at a party. She left and returned to look for a friend, and a man offered to help her look. Instead, he forced her into a place where they were joined by two other men, investigators said. A third man still is being sought.

The girl is believed to be a runaway from a children’s shelter in Moín where she and two friends staged an escape.
 

Professional Directory A.M. Costa Rica's professional directory is where business people who wish to reach the English-speaking community may invite responses. If you are interested in being represented here, please contact the editor. Lawyers Adolfo Rojas Breedy Breedy Abogados S.A. —Attorneys-at-Law— Since 1957. Best experience in: • Real Estate Transfer of Title and Title Search • Business • Investments • Commercial & Civil Litigation • Corporate Law & finance • Capital markets Law • International Taxation (506) 233-7203/221-0230          breedy@racsa.co.cr Web page:  www.breedy.com INVESTMENT RECOVERY CENTER Learn how to best protect your interests in the Villalobos case. Explore your options at http://www.irccr.net Also, we invite you to join one of the most active discussion groups on the case.  Find out what people who care are saying. Join at irccr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 232-8/16/03 Arcelio Hernández Mussio, Lic. Attorney at Law, Notary Public Official Translator Corporate, Criminal, Constitutional, Family Practice. Property title searches and transfers. Official English/Spanish translation & interpretation We also offer the following services in association with Morning Star Investments CRI, S.A.: *Real Estate Investment opportunities *Money Management *Accounting Services e-mail: legalxpt@racsa.co.cr           Web: www.forovial.com Cell: 365-3088  132-5/29/ KEARNEY-LAWSON & Asoc.       Lic. Gregory Kearney Lawson,  attorney at law Villalobos and Savings Unlimited Collections *Investments  *Corporations  *Real Estate Sales in Costa Rica *Tax Shelters  *Immigration *Intellectual Property     *Business procedures *Family and Labor Law     *Locate People *Private Investigations        Ph/Fax: 221-9462, 841-0007 gkearney_lawson@hotmail.com attorneykearney@yahoo.com Real estate agents MARGARET SOHN  of Carico 15 years Costa Rican real estate experience Member of the Costa Rican Real Estate Association, Lic. #1000  Member, Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce info@realtorcostarica.com www.realtorcostarica.com (506) 232-5016 home   (506) 233-8057 office  (506) 382-7399 cell  229-8/9/03 Investigators Empresa de Investigadores Internacionales S.A. Telephone (506) 280-5217  FAX (506) 280-5120 P.O. Box 297-2100 Costa Rica Cédula Juridica #3-101-097681-32 investigators@prodigy.net johnniechaverri@policeone.com 112-5/18/03 Web Design Personalized Web Design •Hosting •Promotion •Logo Design Prices so reasonable they will astound you Call for a quote:  220-4602 www.alegria-webdesign.com We have over 12 years international experience 214-7/14/03

A bunch of Internet crooks got jail terms Tuesday in The Netherlands for running what has been called the Nigeria advanced fee scam.

Reports from Europe say the six Amsterdam residents got between 10 months and four and a half years in prison. The men originally are from Nigeria and Benin.

These are some of the people who have been sending out millions of e-mails promising to split vast sums of money with whoever helps them move money from some country.

The scamsters keep asking for fees and money for other reasons.  In this case, one victim was a Swiss professor who thought he was going to share in some $500,000.  He kept sending the crooks money until he got suspicious, and then he lured the scamsters into a police trap.

The men also are believed to have been involved with Internet lottery scams in which people randomly are advised that they have won a big lottery. All they have to so is send some money for processing fees and taxes.

The scamsters also were ordered to pay some $300,000 in fines.

Hardly a day passes that a Costa Rican Internet user does not recieve some version of these scams. A flood of e-mails hit the Costa Rica mail server Tuesday from an African "princess."

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Nigerian advance-fee fraud has been around for decades, but now seems to have reached epidemic proportions: Some consumers have told the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) they are receiving dozens of offers a day from supposed Nigerians politely promising big profits in exchange for help moving large sums of money out of their country. 

And apparently, many compassionate consumers are continuing to fall for the convincing sob stories, the unfailingly polite language, and the unequivocal promises of money, said the FTC, the U.S. consumer protection agency. 

If you're tempted to respond to an offer, the FTC suggests you stop and ask yourself two important questions: 

Why would a perfect stranger pick you - also a perfect stranger - to share a fortune with, and why would you share your personal or business information, including your bank account numbers or your company letterhead, with someone you don't know? 

And the U.S. Department of State cautions against traveling to the destination mentioned in the letters. According to State Department reports, people who have responded to these "advance-fee" solicitations have been beaten, subjected to threats and extortion, and in some cases, murdered. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission has charged the marketers of a dietary supplement called Coral Calcium Supreme with making false and unsubstantiated claims about the product's health benefits. 

This action is part of a series of initiatives the FTC and the Food and Drug Administration are taking against the purveyors of products with unsubstantiated health and medical claims. 

In a complaint filed in federal district court, the FTC alleges that Kevin Trudeau; Robert Barefoot; Shop America (USA), LLC; and Deonna Enterprises, Inc., violated the law by claiming, falsely and without substantiation, that Coral Calcium Supreme can treat or cure cancer and other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and heart disease. The FTC charges that these and other claims go far beyond existing scientific evidence regarding the recognized health benefits of calcium. 

The defendants promote the product primarily through a nationally televised 30-minute infomercial featuring Trudeau and Barefoot, and through statements made in brochures accompanying the product. The informercial has aired on cable channels such as Women's Entertainment, Comedy Central, the Discovery Channel, and Bravo.

"The commission has voiced strong concerns about deceptive claims for dietary supplements," said Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "These cases demonstrate that the FTC will take aggressive enforcement action, particularly when, as alleged in this case, the products are marketed as cures for serious 
 

In a separate action, the FTC has charged one of the defendants, Kevin Trudeau, with violating a 1998 federal district court order that prohibits him from making unsubstantiated claims about the benefits, performance, or efficacy of any products. The FTC alleges that Trudeau violated that order by making false and unsubstantiated claims about Coral Calcium Supreme, and by making unsubstantiated claims that another product, Biotape, provides significant or permanent relief from severe pain, including debilitating back pain, and pain from arthritis, sciatica, and migraines. 

In both of these actions, the FTC has asked the court for a temporary restraining order that would prohibit the defendants from making the challenged claims and would freeze their assets.

In related law enforcement efforts, the FTC and the FDA are sending strong warning letters to Web site operators who are marketing coral calcium products claiming that coral calcium is an effective treatment or cure for cancer and/or other diseases. In dozens of warnings sent this week, the FTC states it is aware of no competent and reliable scientific evidence supporting such claims and that such unsupported claims are unlawful under the FTC Act. 

Accordingly, the FTC is instructing the Web site operators to remove any false or deceptive claims from their sites immediately. In a similar action, the FDA warned Web site operators that disease claims and unsubstantiated structure/function claims cause their products to be in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.