The unpredictable currents at Playa Negra on the Caribbean proved fatal to a young English tourist, according to officials.

The tourist, a 15-year-old girl identified as Ella Garrot, died Saturday night when she was swept away by a rip tide. The beach is in Puerto Viejo de Limón.

The girl was with two young men but they were not able to save her. Rescue workers found the body by mid-evening.  The Judicial Investigating Organization will handle the case.

Officials said the girl was scheduled to fly back to England today.

Rip tides at Costa Rica beaches kill bathers every year. The tides are so strong that even a chain of lifeguards has difficulty pulling out a victim. The tides are caused by surf receding through small channels in the sand. These amplify the force.
 

Police crack down
on car-theft rings

Investigators have cracked what they said were centers of car thefts in the Central Valley and in Tamarindo.

In Tamarindo, the Guanacaste beach community, police arrested a Canadian man and said stolen cars were being used as pirate taxis.

An arrest in Heredia late last week resulted in the detention of a man Fuerza Pública officers said had stolen two cars within 15 minutes of each other. That took place in San Isidro de Heredia where the man, identified by the last names of Carvajal Trejos, was detailed.

Unfortunately for the suspect, he celebrated his 18th birthday less than three weeks ago and will be treated as an adult for court purposes.

In San Juan de Poás de Alajuela, police apprehended a woman they said was a principal in the car theft ring there. Some five stolen vehicles were recovered.

The Tamarindo case included the detention of a Costa Rican, who was 20. The Canadian, whose name was not available immediately was 21, according to the Judicial Investigating Organization.

Agents said they recovered three vehicles, including two that were being used as illegal taxi cabs. One vehicle was being dismantled for parts. All three had been stolen in San José in April, May and June.

La Carpio suspect
captured by police

Police spotted a man Friday who has been sought for weeks to answer charges stemming from the May 30 riot in La Carpio.

The man, identified by the last names of Hernández Saballo is 20 and is suspected of being the gunman who pumped shots at riot police as they were trying to control a mob of rock-throwing youngsters. 

Six police suffered bullet wounds.

Police raided the man’s home two weeks ago, and he had been a fugitive since. Friday he was spotted back in La Carpio, which is a settlement west of San José. Police quietly surrounded his location and grabbed him about 11:30 a.m.

He was identified as a Nicaraguan citizen without known employment.

Bolívar’s plan OK’d,
and then it was KO’d

For two days in 1823 Simón Bolívar was president of Costa Rica. That was when a citizens’ congress meeting in Cartago briefly agreed to then decided against uniting the country with Bolívar’s Gran Colombia. Bolívar, a Venezuelan, is the "Libertador" to much of Latin America.

Chancellor Roberto Tovar Faja recalled this union last week when he repeated his thanks to Venezuela and President Hugo Chavez Frías for the nation’s support in naming former Costa Rican president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez as the new secretary general of the Organization of American States.

The recognition took place Tuesday, which was Venezuela’s independence day. Tovar met with Nora Uribe, Venezuela’s ambassador here, according to news reports from Venezuela.

A.M. Costa Rica
Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.

James J. Brodell.........................editor
Saray Ramírez Vindas.... associate editor

Avenida 11 bis, Barrio Otoya, San José

 In Costa Rica:                    From elsewhere:

  A.M. Costa Rica                    Consultantes Río Colo.
  Apartado 12909-1000           SB 11 
  San José, Costa Rica              P.O. Box 025292
  (506) 223-1327                    Miami, FL 33102-5292
 

The last and choicest mountainside 35.387 m2 (8.7 acres) development property offered at wholesale price Only $28 per square meter with easy bank & owner financing! Breathtaking 270º views Central Valley, Ciudad Colón, unpolluted fresh air & climate only 8 minutes from FORUM Office Center, quick access Prospero Fernando Freeway, shopping, new hospital, 20 minutes to San José. Zoned and ready to go. Contact Captain Haines, globaltrade@racsa.co.cr Tel (506) 249-4758 Fax (506) 249-1559 

We are very aware these days of the scandal that is brewing between la Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. This is the social security office, the Costa Rican institution that oversees all the public hospitals. The Corporación Fischel, a large drug distribution firm with big government contracts also is involved. Many of us will say, "Hmmm, that doesn’t sound so good." or "Aqui hay gato encerrado." But saying this does not indicate in any way that we are taking sides in the matter. It just means that there is something suspicious that is eventually going to come to light in a not very nice way. 

Another example of when to use this expression is when we’re offered a deal that really seems just too good to be true, like when we’re buying a car or a house. If the deal seems just a bit to sweet, we might think that aqui hay gato encerrado. Or another case might be when the kids come back from school saying that there is no homework for tomorrow: Aqui hay gato encerrado.

In other words, it may be true that I can get this late model car for what seems like a ridiculously 

The way we say it By Daniel Soto

low price, but I’d better double check before I lay down my hard-earned cash to be sure when I open that box I won’t find an angry cat ready to scratch. 

Another use of this expression is when someone appears to be sharing some gossip with us, when what they’re really doing is trying to get us to divulge some piece of confidential information. Aqui hay gato encerrado because trusting someone who is unworthy of our trust can be very dangerous, like a cat that’s been closed up in a box.

Daniel Soto divides his time between Indiana and Costa Rica, where he owns a home in Santo Domingo de Heredia.

Thinking of sending your Costa Rican grandchild or your employee’s child to the United States for an education? If so, it will cost you more after Sept. 1.

International students, exchange visitors and scholars attending U.S. schools or conducting research in the United States in most cases will be required to pay a $100 fee when applying for visas. The charge is in addition to the fee students must pay to obtain a U.S. visa.

The fee applies to F, J and M non-immigrant classifications. However, participants in certain J-1 exchange visitor programs will pay a reduced fee of $35 or be fee-exempt, said the press release.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is acting to expand protections against bovine spongiform encephalopathy by banning the use of cattle parts that could carry the disease's infectious materials into the manufacture of cosmetics and dietary supplements, according to a press release.

The press release, issued jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, said the departments are seeking public comments on additional proposed regulations. 

The Food and Drug Administration is issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking requesting public comment.

The interim final rule mirrors those adopted in January by the Department of Agriculture to keep those materials out of meat intended for 

Brackett and other officials briefed reporters Friday about new steps the United States is taking to further strengthen safeguards that protect against the agent that causes mad cow disease.

The advance notice of proposed rulemaking raises a number of issues for public comment, including whether to ban all mammalian and poultry protein in cattle feed to prevent cross-contamination.

The proposed rule would require processors and manufacturers of human food and cosmetics that contain cattle-derived materials to keep records showing prohibited materials were not used in their products. This measure is needed to ensure compliance with the interim final rule, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

HAVANA, Cuba — The government has confirmed the arrest of Luis Hernando Bustemante, an alleged leader of Colombia's largest drug cartel. 

In a statement Saturday, Cuba's foreign ministry said Bustemante was arrested July 2 at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport as he was trying to enter the country on a false passport. 

The alleged cocaine kingpin, also known by his alias "Rasguno," is said to be among the top leaders of the Norte de Valle — one of the biggest cocaine exporting organizations and a major U.S. supplier.

PUERTO IGUAZU, Argentina — South America's Mercosur trade bloc has agreed to accept Venezuela as an associate member. 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez praised the decision, which ended a two-day summit here 

Associate membership is a step toward full status in Mercosur. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are full members of the group. Other associate members include Bolivia, Chile and Peru.

MOSCOW, Russia — About 40 friends and co-workers have gathered at Saint Catherine's Church in Moscow at a funeral service to remember the murdered American editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition.

Editor Paul Klebnikov will instead be laid to rest in the United States. He died late Friday, after being shot four times outside his Moscow office. 

Klebnikov also wrote a book critical of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who Saturday told a British newspaper that Klebnikov was "like a bull in a china shop" in reporting on Russia's business elite.