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Suspect in murders
hangs self in prison By the A.M. Costa Rica staff A man jailed Tuesday after he killed his female companion and their two children killed himself while being held in San Sebastian prison early Thursday, said officials The man, Jhonathan González Alvarado, 20, hung himself with the sleeve of his shirt, Fuerza Pública officers said. The man had been under observation but only every 15 minutes. The death took place about 2:30 a.m. The triple murder Tuesday was in the precario Triangulo de Solidaridad in San Gabriel de Calle Blancos, Goicoechea. A precario is a do-it-yourself informal subdivision of modest homes. The area is north and east of San José. Dead are María Martínez Pichardo, about 30, and her two daughters, Johana, 3, and Yorleny, 4, according to Fuerza Pública officers. The bodies were taken to Nicaragua for burial Thursday morning after an all-night wake in the community where they had lived. González, who was the subject of a judicial no-contact order, is believed to have killed the children and the woman because she would not give him the equivalent of about $100 that she was planning to send to Nicaragua to support four other children that she has there, said investigators. Jorge Sánchez Madrigal, 34, who is being held in the murder of his 8-year-old neighbor also was said to have tried to kill himself last July 11 and early July 12 while being detained in the same prison. He eventually was transferred to la Reforma in Alajuela. The death of the girl, Katia Vanesa González Juárez, generated strong emotions after her body was found where Sánchez lived. The death of Jhonathan González did not generate any sympathy among the neighbors of the slain family. One female neighbor went on local television complaining that hanging was too quick for González and that he should have been killed slowly and painfully. Costa Rica does not have a death penalty, and murderers traditionally get out of jail in much less time than their formal sentence. However, pending legislation would beef up the penalty for killing a child. But they didn’t
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff When the undercover agents set up a deal to purchase 25 pounds of marijuana, he was expecting a suspect but not the horse. But like something out of a modern western, the suspect showed up mounted in order to transport what investigators say was a large quantity of marijuana. The purchase and subsequent arrests happened Wednesday shortly before noon in Piedras Blancas de Osa, said a report from the judicial Investigating Organization. Detained was the horseman, Ramsey Mora Alvarado, 34, and an associate, Alberto Calderón Quiros, 28, said agents. They are facing investigation on a charge of growing, packaging and selling the marijuana. After the arrest, agents raided the home of the men and said they found large quantities of marijuana seeds and implements used to process marijuana. Surprise discovery
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Police found a man sprawled near his motorcycle on a Puriscal highway July 18, and it appeared that the man, with the last name of Mesén, was yet another victim of Costa Rican traffic. He had injuries to the head and face. His body went to the Judicial Investigating Organization morgue for a determination of the cause of death. Forensic investigators found, instead, that the man died from a bullet wound to the right side of the head, and the hunt was on for a suspect. Agents now have arrested Romulo Morales, 67, and held him for investigation of involvement in the death. They said he had had personal problems with the victim. New airport route
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff A new road that connects Juan Santamaría International Airport with points south is now in service. The $600,000 project is two lanes of asphalt for some 840 meters (about 2,730 feet). It connects the airport with Ojo de Agua, San Antonio de Belén and Santa Ana, said the Ministerio de Obras Pública y Transporte in an announcement that the route was open. The new road, now called Calle La Candela, was needed due to expansion and work at the airport, the ministry noted. Employee bus goes
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff A bus taking hotel employees to work lost its brakes and plunged off the road Thursday, injuring nearly all of the estimated 60 persons on board. Several were trapped for a time in the wreck. The bus is the property of the Allegro Papagayo Hotel and most of the passengers worked there, said the Fuerza Pública. The accident was only about 200 meters (some 650 feet) from the hotel entrance, said police. The location is between Guardia de Liberia and Tamarindo on the Guanacaste Pacific coast, they said. The accident happened about 8:30 a.m. At least 24 ambulances, assorted rescue equipment and even a motorized command post were brought to the scene. A Piper Navajo aircraft, operated by the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, brought additional paramedics to the scene from Liberia. Cuban truckers sent
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services The U.S. Coast Guard has sent back 12 Cubans who were picked up this week in the Florida Straits trying to reach the United States. The case is unusual because of the type of vessel the Cubans used in the attempt to flee their homeland. Coast Guard sailors see all types of vessels on the open waters off the coast of Florida, but many say they have never seen anything like the contraption they stopped earlier this week, about 60 kms (some 36 miles) south of Key West, Fla. Lashed to several large oil drums was a 1951 Chevrolet flatbed truck. The makeshift vessel, with 12 Cubans on board, was chugging through the Florida Straits trying to reach the Florida Keys. Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Das says he and his colleagues will not soon forget the sight. "The truck was a 1951 Chevy," he said. "The reaction was surprise. When we got the call it was reported as a surprise. When we showed up it was a truck and everybody was pretty amazed." The Cubans had modified the truck by dropping the drive shaft from the back axle to turn a propeller. The truck had then been placed on a pontoon supported by large empty oil drums. Coast Guard officials say they had no choice but to sink the truck, which would have been worth a small fortune in Cuba. Coast Guard officials also say the 12 Cubans have been sent back home. Under U.S. law Cuban migrants intercepted at sea are sent back to Cuba. Those who set foot on U.S. soil are allowed to stay and apply for permanent residency. |
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GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Violent protests in support of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt have engulfed the capital, forcing the president to call out the army to restore order. President Alfonso Portillo took action Thursday, saying in a nationally televised speech that he will not permit any political movement to disrupt public order. The U.S. State Department also said in a statement that the violent demonstrations in Guatemala City constitute an affront to democracy and freedom of assembly and a dangerous mockery of the right to protest. The reaction came as demonstrators, some carrying clubs and machetes, burned vehicles, smashed windows and blocked traffic throughout the capital. One journalist died of a heart attack while fleeing a mob chasing reporters through the streets. |
Reports say the crowds were angry
with judges who have refused to clear the way for Rios Montt to run for
president in November.
Earlier this week, Guatemala's Supreme Court blocked Rios Montt from registering for the election after the nation's highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court, ruled he could run. Guatemalan law bans former coup leaders from seeking the presidency. The opposition filed a complaint challenging Rios Montt's candidacy. Guatemala's ruling party nominated him for president in May. Rios Montt seized power in 1982 and ruled the country until 1983. During his 18-month rule, the Guatemalan military carried out an anti-insurgency campaign in which thousands of people were killed and hundreds of Indian villages destroyed. Previous courts denied his petitions to run for the presidency in 1990 and 1995. |
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BUENOS AIRES, Agentina — A judge has ordered the arrest of 46 people accused of human rights violations during the country's 1976 to 1983 military dictatorship. Federal Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral ordered the arrests Thursday. The warrants name 45 top former military officers — including former dictator Jorge Videla and then-navy chief Emilio Massera — and one civilian. The Argentine judge acted after the international police agency (INTERPOL)
forwarded extradition requests issued by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon.
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Argentine President Nestor Kirchner
has said his country must repeal the amnesty laws that allowed the killers
and torturers of the dictatorship to go unpunished.
He told The Washington Post newspaper in an interview published Thursday that his country will have independent courts, and that there can be no impunity in Argentina. The center-left Argentine leader met with President George Bush at the White House Wednesday for talks on Argentina's struggling economy. Kirchner said afterwards that he received decisive and unconditional U.S. support for his economic program. The White House says President Bush supports President Kirchner's efforts to return Argentina to a path of sustainable growth. |
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