A distinctive brown belt is about all the investigators have to go on in order to learn the identity of a man whose body was found June 16 near Betania de Cutris.

The man was about 25 to 35 and was dressed in blue pants, agents said.

The belt has a buckle that says Genuine Casual American Jean with the letters GK highlighted. There also are other metal ornaments on the belt that resemble tags for animals. In life the man appears to have been about 5-feet, 2-inches, said agents. In Costa Rica terms that is 1.58 meters.

Anyone with information can call 2460-0922 or 800-8000-645, agents said.

Another trafficking suspect
caught in Nandayure


Anti-drug police captured an 11th person Wednesday in the Playa Bejuco, Nandayure, case where 1,091 kilos of cocaine were confiscated Tuesday.

The man was identified as a Colombian with the last names of  Rodeo González. Anti-drug police said they suspect that the man fled through a window when the initial raid took place. He was arrested in 2002 on a drug trafficking charge, they added.

The other 10 suspects were detained in the raid at a home where the cocaine was located, agent said.

The case began with a suspicious neighbor who contacted police. A fastboat adrift in the sea also was confiscated, agents said.

Obama seeks to double
U.S. exports to world


President Barack Obama says the United States is on pace to meet his goal of doubling its exports within five years.
The president has expanded an advisory committee on stimulating business abroad, and says his administration's efforts to boost the exports of U.S. goods and business around the world are off to a solid start.

"American exports grew almost 17 percent over the first four months of this year, compared to the same period last year," said Obama.  "Part of this, of course, is due to the global recovery.  But we are also moving forward on improving conditions for America's exporters."

The president told business leaders gathered at the White House Wednesday the global marketplace requires American businesses to continue to be more competitive.

"Ninety-five percent of the world's customers and fastest-growing markets are beyond our borders," said the president.  "So if we want to find new growth streams, if we want to find new markets and new opportunity, we have got to compete for those new customers, because other nations are competing for those new customers."

Obama named 18 business leaders to his council on business exports, which advises him on promoting U.S. goods and jobs. The council includes the leaders of large companies such as Ford Motor, Xerox and Walt Disney.

The president said one of his main trade priorities is to promote U.S. businesses and workers worldwide.  He said so far this year, the government has coordinated 18 trade missions to 24 countries.  He said the Export-Import Bank has more than doubled its loans to American exporters since last year, with many of those loans going to smaller businesses.

Obama said his administration is pushing hard to open new markets and remove trade barriers for American businesses. He also promised to do everything within his power to enforce trade agreements.

The president listed some of his administration's accomplishments in the trade area, including agreements to sell poultry to Russia and pork to China, and a World Trade Organization rejection of European subsidies to the aircraft maker Airbus.

Venezuelan critic of Chávez
loses his dairy farm


The Human Rights Foundation said that a Venezuela diplomat lost his dairy farm when police and land institute workers confiscated it and sold off or gave away the cattle.

The foundation said that one of the cows ended up being barbecued for President Hugo Chávez.

The diplomat is Diego Arria, 70, who purchased the farm in 1988 and built it to produce 600 gallons of milk daily, according to Thor Halvorssen of the foundation. This expropriation was punishment for Arria's criticism of Chávez, and Chávez even presented photos of the farm on Venezuelan state television, said Halvorssen.

Arria has served as assistant secretary general of the United Nations, Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations, and as a personal advisor to former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, said Halvorssen., who added:

Arria captured the world's attention when, as president of the U.N. Security Council, he condemned the failure of the international community to act against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic for his brutal treatment of Bosnian Muslims. He was a star witness during the prosecution of Milosevic for the genocide at Srebrenica. Prior to his U.N. tenure, Arria had been a leading political figure in Venezuela, serving as governor of the capital Caracas in the 1970s.

Halvorssen, in a published commentary,said he felt partially responsible for Arria's current predicament because he extended an invitation to him in April to speak at the Oslo Freedom Forum, a human rights conference in Norway that this year included Lech Walesa, Rebiya Kadeer, Anwar Ibrahim, and Garry Kasparov.

Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica photo